Monday, August 31, 2015

 

The Val Johnson CE2 case of 1979


I was recently interviewed at length by a reporter about the Val Johnson CE2 case from 1979, which had occurred near Stephen, Minnesota. The reporter asked me to provide copies of our case investigation plus photos taken at the time.


He didn't use any of it, and the piece which appeared in print teases the reader about what transpired back then. 

 http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/08/26/minnesota-deputy-squad-car-ufo-mystery

 I maintain it's a very good case because of its detail and associated materials. The witness was a police officer. he suffered physiological effects. His police car suffered physical effects. The incident was investigated as an "accident" within minutes of it occurring. The witness and investigating officers all cooperated with both official and civilian investigators. There are many pages of documentation about the incident available, including official police reports. And the damaged police car is still available to view, at a museum as a unique artefact.



Like I said, it's a good case.

 I wrote about it in my ufozine The Swamp Gas Journal, back in 1980. Since the electronic copy of the issue vanishes from the Internet from time to time, I will present it here for (hopeful) posterity.






Volume 1                                 The SWAMP GAS JOURNAL                ISSN 0707-7106
Number 7                                                                                                   April, 1980

Special Report:  Stephen, Minnesota; Not Proof, But ...

A main issue under examination at the Manitoba Conference on Ufology on March 16, 1980, was the Val Johnson UFO incident which occurred on August 27, 1979. The case received wide publicity and has been noted in most ufozines (it was noted in SGJ #6), so it will not be repeated again here. Briefly, it involved the apparent impact of a US police vehicle with an unidentified flying object, near the town of Stephen, Minnesota, The incident was supported by various physical evidence in the form of dents, impact marks and broken glass.
Frankly, it is one of the most puzzling incidents in the history of ufology. This strong statement is partly because of the fact that the case involves a man who has been described as "the perfect witness." Val Johnson is a Deputy Sheriff in Marshall County, Minnesota, and is a trained observer as well as an experienced police officer. The physical evidence suggests that something very strange happened to him in the early morning on a lonely stretch of road near the Red River. The time sequence of events is very firmly established by both tape recorded and written logs of his actions that morning. The physical traces were examined and measurements were made immediately after the encounter by trained police investigators, and Johnson was taken to a hospital by ambulance directly from the site.
At MCU, the case was discussed and reviewed in detail by all participants, as presented by guests Val Johnson, Everett Doolittle and Greg Winskowski. Doolittle was the first individual to reach the site after Johnson radioed for help, and Winskowski conducted the initial police investigation. Many fascinating points were noted, as follows:

The Physiological Effects

When Val Johnson was found by Everett Doolittle, he was slumped forward over the steering wheel and in mild shock. A bruise later appeared on Johnson's forehead, presumably caused by impact with the steering wheel. He was dazed, and said that "everything was in slow motion." He had an intense pain ("excruciating") in his eyes, and, having done some welding in his career, knew what welders' burn was like, comparing his pain to this.
“It was as if someone had hit me in the face with a 400 pound pillow,” he said of the sensation of his head. However, he stated repeatedly that the only pain he experienced was from his eyes. This is extremely interesting in the light of dental examinations he had one week previous and one week after his experience. At the first, he had an extensive series of x-rays taken, in preparation for major dental work. His bridgework, including the caps on his front teeth, was intact. At the second examination, the dentist found that Johnson's bridgework was broken at the gums. Yet, no swelling or pain was felt.

The Physical Evidence

When Everett Doolittle arrived on the scene, Val Johnson's police car was front-end-first in the
left-hand ditch, with the other end sticking out into the left-hand lane of the road. The "impact point" was determined by the location of the broken glass of the headlight on the road, 953 feet from where the car was found. From that point, "yaw marks" (described as faint skid marks caused by putting a car out of gear without applying the brakes) traveled in a straight line for 854 feet down the road. These became dark skid marks from there to where the car stopped moving, going in a straight line for most of the remaining length, turning abruptly at the end toward the ditch.
The right member of the left pair of headlights was broken. There was a round dent, approximately one inch in diameter, directly over the master brake cylinder, on the hood. This dent appeared as if a hammer had struck the hood at an angle between 45 and 75 degrees from the horizontal. A photograph taken with a UV filter showed that there was a deposit left on the flat bottom surface of the dent.




The windshield of the car had an interesting pattern of breakage, in the shape of a teardrop (point up). This was located on the driver's side. There were three main impact points visible, though the lowest of the three was largest and most complex. Testing of the glass by the Ford Motor Company suggested that there were signs of both inward and outward motion of the windshield. They were apparently unfamiliar with the breakage pattern. It is fairly obvious, though, that even a small stone would have been driven through the windshield, even at relatively low speed, so it is hard to interpret the shattering as an actual impact. However, it was noted at the Conference that the analytical findings bear some resemblance to those of a shock-wave-induced breakage.



The roof light which was affected had its glass knocked out. The police radio antenna on the center of the roof was bent about 5 inches up from the roof, at about a 45 degree angle. The CB antenna on the trunk was bent near its tip, at an angle near 90 degrees, 3 inches from the top.
An interesting observation made by the police investigators was that all the damage on the vehicle occurred in a straight path no wider than twelve inches in diameter. Because of this "linear" formation, it was suggested that an object had struck a glancing blow to the car, initially impacting the headlight, rolling over the hood, up the window and over the roof. However, at the Conference, it was realized that this scenario could not account for all the damage in the form it was observed. An object hitting the car at the front would not have the capability to redirect its force downward further up the hood, graze the window and still have enough force to bend the antennas.
The antennas are spring loaded, so anything bending them would have to have been traveling extremely fast to create the shape they are now in. It was also proposed that the antennas were bent by a strong deceleration, causing them to whip forward. But the design of the antennas is such that they can withstand a strong deceleration without acute bending. Any deceleration of sufficient strength to bend them backwards as they moved forward might have killed the occupant. Most curiously, the insects adhered to the antennas were not wiped off from the impact, as might be expected.




The battery of the car can no longer hold a charge. It has been proposed that the headlight and roof light were imploded by a high-energy electrical source. Ball lightning was suggested as a cause, but it could not have created the dent in the hood, nor the impacts on the window, let alone the bending of the antennas. The electric clock in the car was found to be missing 14 minutes. Strangely, Val Johnson's mechanical wristwatch was also lacking 14 minutes. This is indeed odd, because both were synchronized with the clocks in the police station earlier in the night, and all time checks after that agreed, as late as 01:00, only a short while before the incident.
Finally, the CB radio in the car, although It was said not to have been In the best working order before the incident, was described as being "even worse" after it.
Allan Hendry, of the Center for UFO Studies, sent a gauss-meter to the police investigator, in order for them to test for changes in the car's magnetic pattern. These results were, apparently, negative.
There was evidence of dust particles in the shattered glass, and it was suggested that this dust was the residue found in the round dent in the hood.

The Psychological Effects

When Val Johnson called for help, his voice was described as being "weak," and like "someone coming out of a daze." He had been, apparently, unconscious for 39 minutes, from the time he heard glass breaking and felt the light "hit" him, to the time he woke up, opening one eye to see the red ENGINE light on his dashboard. During that period, the car had traveled in a straight line for 953 feet, before veering to the left over the left lane into the ditch. He does not remember applying the brakes, yet the skid marks belie the fact that they were definitely applied.
At MCU, Johnson was asked what he thought had happened to him that morning.  He said that he believed he "had seen something (he) wasn't supposed to see." Questioned on this, he could only speculate that he had stumbled upon somebody doing something that wasn't meant to be observed, and that his powers of observation had been effectively neutralized.
He also was asked if the procedure of regressive hypnosis had ever been suggested to him. He replied that the National Enquirer had asked him to submit to a regression, and offered to pay him for the exclusive rights of the results. He had rejected their offer. He was then asked if he would agree to a hypnotic regression with a clinical hypnotist, for research purposes, and not for publication. He said no, and added that he was "not curious" about what had happened to him that morning.
Everett Doolittle said after this that their file on the case is now closed, and that their investigation is now terminated, after reaching no conclusions. They stated that their investigation was over, and that the matter is now in the hands of the ufologists. They will not subject Johnson to either a polygraph or a regressive hypnosis, as they feel it is not necessary for their investigation. All three were asked if the Air Force, CIA or FBI had approached them, and they all answered to the negative.
Val Johnson was asked if he had since experienced any other unusual incidents such as
extremely vivid dreams, MIB or psi phenomena. In response, he revealed a highly interesting thing; from time to time, he said, he will find himself thinking three words, which somehow stick in his mind. The words stay with him "like a McDonald's commercial," and he can find no reason for thinking them. The three words are: "I AM COMMITTED." He concluded by noting that if he ever saw that light again, he'd stop the car and "yell for help!"

Discussion

This case was reviewed in detail at the conference, and photographs of the car were examined closely. Addition evidence was brought forth and theories were presented to try to account for all the evidence. Guy Westcott, a NOAP investigator, stated that he had found a "burn mark" in the field beside the road, while he was examining the site. This mark, about 6-7 feet in diameter, had no vegetation on its surface and bore some resemblance to a fertilizer burn. Val Johnson said that a representative from the USDA (Agriculture Rep) expressed a personal interest in the case and had taken infrared aerial photographs of the site. These showed that the ditches on either side of the site had a "different" chlorophyll absorption than the
surrounding fields.
After much debate, it eventually was concluded by the MCU participants that the incident was inconsistent with the theory of the car having been struck by an object of some sort, including ball lightning. The idea of hits by multiple objects was considered and found marginally tenable. However, there are 39 minutes to account for, a complex sequence of impacts by several objects and some effects caused at a short distance that still need satisfactory explanations. Actions by unknown individuals can be included in the list of possibilities. It is easily demonstrable that something very unusual happened that morning.

At the present time, there is no adequate explanation for the effects noted in the case, based on the proposed theories. Many questions still remain unanswered, and they may remain unanswered for some time to come. 
The Stephen, Minnesota, incident is listed in UFOROM files as "unknown."

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# posted by rutkows @ 11:32 AM 1 comments

Friday, August 28, 2015

 

Orange Orb


I know there's a lot of hype about "orange orbs" these days. But I can tell you that after investigating and studying more than 15,000 Canadian UFO reports during the past 25 years or so, I'm not convinced they are as interesting and unexplainable as claimed.

 Of the 15,000 cases on file with Ufology Research (survey.canadianuforeport.com), I would say that as many as 5,000 could be classified as "orange orbs." And since most cases can be explained easily, that would mean that only a few dozen of those "orb" reports are truly mysterious. There's certainly not enough evidence to suggest that orbs are "intelligent" or are "trying to communicate with us."


Sheesh.

 And what do "orb" reports look like, anyway?

 Here's a recent actual sighting report, from Wellington, Ontario, Canada:
Was just outside having a smoke and when walking out of my garage i noticed a weird light in the sky. It was the colour of an orange street light. The object was at about the SW position when i noticed and it went throughout the night sky between the moon (the moon been in the S) and the horizon to the SE portion of the sky. I watched the object until it disappeared into the night. It seemed to fly from the SW to the SE and then when it hit the SE portion of the sky it seemed to go straight into the SE as it stayed there and slowly disappeared. It didn’t go down behind the horizon or behind an object it just flew off into the distant sky until I couldn’t see it anymore. There were no flashing lights or anything, it was just like a solid orange ball giving off a orange glow. It seemed to be about the size of a pea. It seemed to be moving at a very fast speed for the amount of are it covered. The night is Aug. 27/15, time was about 11:45pm. Sky was clear. 

 Does that sound like an intelligently-guided object? Trying to communicate?

 Sure sounds like the old chestnut, the Chinese lantern.

 This kind of case is typical or the orange nocturnal lights that are reported. Now, sure, there are cases where a witness may say that their orb zig-zagged, or made a 90-degree turn or "danced" in the sky.

 But after more than 35 years of investigating UFO sightings, I know that upon detailed investigation, such cases do resolve into much more mundane objects with less bizarre trajectories. That's not to say that there aren't good cases like that by reliable observers, just that there are fewer than people claim.



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# posted by rutkows @ 9:28 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

 

What are the "Good Questions" in Ufology?


Recently, Mark OC (the blogger of highstrangenessUFO.com) announced he was going to be a guest on Martin Willis's Podcast UFO (podcastufo.com), on September 9, 2015.

 Willis asked him to prepare a list of questions about ufology that he could talk about.

 The list is actually pretty interesting, and with additional questions added by readers of the blog in the comments, it's a good set of things that could be asked about the subject, really covering the waterfront.

 We'll see what Mark has to say.

 Here's his list, plus the added ones by others.

1.       Triangles or circles?
2.       If an alien said "Take me to your leader" to you, who would you take it to?
3.       Would you rather be abducted on a lonely road or in your bedroom?
4.       What is there to say about Rendlesham Woods, really?
5.       Can the Drake Equation beat the Fermi Paradox in a fair fight?
6.       Which cable TV UFO show does the best -- or the least worst -- reenactments of UFO cases?
7.       Who would you least want to meet up with in a dark alley in Roswell: a grey, a Reptoid, a mantis or a 'Majic Man'?
8.       Why hasn't 'Disclosure' happened yet?
9.       When will 'Disclosure' happen?
10.   What will happen the day after 'Disclosure'?
11.   What will happen the next day?
12.   When will you be taking over MUFON?
13.   What happened to the rest of Joe Simonton's pancakes?
14.   Should the 'Three strikes, you're out' rule apply to Roswell 'smoking guns'?
15.   Interplanetary or Interdimensional?
16.   Who's been exploited to the most egregious degree: the Atacama Humanoid or the mummified child in the Roswell Slides?
17.   Why are UFOlogists so grumpy and irritable?
18.   What's the worst UFO/alien movie ever made?
19.   Which is your favorite level in Dulce Base?
20.   Should Kenneth Arnold have just kept his lip zipped?

And then:

21.   Out of all the UFO experts, who would you like to have with you in the event of an abduction?
22.   Orthon or Aura Rhanes?
23.   Would you rather be taken for a ride to Venus, Clarion, Zeta Reticuli, or the Pleiades?
24.   Is George Adamski really a distant relative of Billy Meier?
25.   What is your favorite UFO conspiracy theory?
26.   How much does Element 115 really weigh?
27.   What alien species is most likely to honor a secret treaty?
28.   What kind of food did they serve at a Restaurant X?
29.   Have you seen any good slides lately?
30.   When was the last really good UFO crash?
31.   Is there anything we should know about planetary alignments, comets, or 19.5 degrees?
32.   Is Alien Amber a better brew than UFO Hefeweizen?
33.   Does MUFON have a secret signal that can be used in the event of an abduction?
34.   As Jimi asked, are you experienced?
35.   Have the Men in Black warned you against answering these questions?

Also:

36.   What is MAJIC's worst kept secret? Their best kept secret?
37.   What is the secret that you are pledged not to reveal about Roswell?
38.   What is Plan 10 from outer space?
39.   If you could solve any UFO mystery, what would it be?
40.   Are some high strangeness matters better left strange?

And finally,


41.   "Is Nick Redfern actually an alien, and I don't just mean is he from Great Britain?"

I'll post my own replies soon. (I doubt that they can be called "answers.")

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# posted by rutkows @ 2:22 PM 0 comments

Saturday, August 15, 2015

 

Back issues of the Swamp Gas Journal online


Following a discussion in the UFO Updates facebook group about preservation of UFO files and research documents, someone asked me about ufozines.

It occurred to me that I still haven't scanned and uploaded all the issues of my ufozine, the Swamp Gas Journal, which was published from 1978 to 2003 (making it one of the longest-running UFO publications). However, a few websites have quite a few issues online. in fact, there are 15 issues online at:

https://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/zines/swamp_gas/index.html

So, if anyone wants to read about the development of ufology during the 80s and 90s, at least some info is out there.

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# posted by rutkows @ 1:13 PM 0 comments

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