Episode's summary
In the early hours of August 27, 1979, Marshall County deputy sheriff Val Johnson was patrolling near Stephen, Minnesota, when he saw a bright light near the road and turned onto State Highway 220 to investigate. Johnson later said he initially thought it might be an aircraft attempting an emergency landing. Then, he said, the light came toward his patrol car, glass broke, and his memory stopped. At 2:19 a.m., Johnson radioed for help. A responding deputy found him dazed beside a damaged 1977 Ford LTD patrol car. Johnson was treated for eye irritation and a head complaint. The vehicle showed a fractured windshield, damaged lights, bent antennas, and other marks that drew the attention of police, journalists, UFO investigators, a Ford glass specialist, and a Honeywell engineer. The car survives today in the Marshall County Historical Society. The incident became famous as a UFO case, but Johnson did not claim to see aliens, occupants, or a spacecraft. He said he did not know what caused the event. Proposed…
In the early hours of August 27, 1979, Marshall County deputy sheriff Val Johnson was patrolling near Stephen, Minnesota, when he saw a bright light near the road and turned onto State Highway 220 to investigate. Johnson later said he initially thought it might be an aircraft attempting an emergency landing. Then, he said, the light came toward his patrol car, glass broke, and his memory stopped. At 2:19 a.m., Johnson radioed for help. A responding deputy found him dazed beside a damaged 1977 Ford LTD patrol car. Johnson was treated for eye irritation and a head complaint. The vehicle showed a fractured windshield, damaged lights, bent antennas, and other marks that drew the attention of police, journalists, UFO investigators, a Ford glass specialist, and a Honeywell engineer. The car survives today in the Marshall County Historical Society. The incident became famous as a UFO case, but Johnson did not claim to see aliens, occupants, or a spacecraft. He said he did not know what caused the event. Proposed…
Episodes
The Val Johnson Incident: What Struck a Sheriff’s Patrol Car From the Sky?
ListenedIn the early hours of August 27, 1979, Marshall County deputy sheriff Val Johnson was patrolling near Stephen, Minnesota, when he saw a bright light near the road and turned onto State Highway 220 to investigate. Johnson later said he initially thought it might be an aircraft attempting an emergency landing. Then, he said, the light came toward his patrol car, glass broke, and his memory stopped. At 2:19 a.m., Johnson radioed for help. A responding deputy found him dazed beside a damaged 1977 Ford LTD patrol car. Johnson was treated for eye irritation and a head complaint. The vehicle showed a fractured windshield, damaged lights, bent antennas, and other marks that drew the attention of police, journalists, UFO investigators, a Ford glass specialist, and a Honeywell engineer. The car survives today in the Marshall County Historical Society. The incident became famous as a UFO case, but Johnson did not claim to see aliens, occupants, or a spacecraft. He said he did not know what caused the event. Proposed…
The Guardian UFO Tape: Canada’s Anonymous UFO Video Mystery
ListenedIn February 1992, UFO investigator Bob Oechsler received an anonymous package from Canada. It reportedly contained a VHS cassette marked “Guardian,” photographs, maps, and documents claiming to describe a strange event near West Carleton, Ontario. The tape appeared to show colored lights and a structured object in a rural field. Its sender gave no verifiable account of who filmed it, when it was filmed, or exactly where the camera stood. The case soon became connected to Diane Labenek, who later described seeing unusual red and blue lights near her West Carleton home on August 18, 1991. Oechsler, local investigator Graham Lightfoot, physicist Bruce Maccabee, Canadian UFO researchers, and later the RCMP all became part of an investigation that moved from anonymous mail to field searches, reported samples, disputed military paperwork, and an unsuccessful effort to identify the person calling themselves Guardian. The strongest evidence is the surviving video imagery and the documented history of investigators…
The RB-47 Encounter: The Military Aircraft That Tracked an Unknown Object for Hundreds of Miles
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The Shag Harbour Incident: Did a UFO Crash Into the Ocean Off Canada?
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The USS Roosevelt Encounters: The Navy UFO Wave Before the Nimitz Case
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