What happened
On August 27, 1979, at around 1:40 a.m., Marshall County sheriff’s deputy Val Johnson was patrolling a road west of Stephen, Minnesota. He noticed a bright light above the road and drove toward it to check it out. Suddenly the light rushed at the car, blinding him. Johnson came to after about 40 minutes, with the patrol car stopped crosswise on the road. He called for help on the radio. The windshield was cracked, one headlight was smashed, the roof antenna was bent, and both the car’s clock and Johnson’s wristwatch were 14 minutes slow. A doctor found that his eyes were irritated in a way resembling welder’s flash burns. The patrol car is now on display in a museum in Warren.
Witnesses
Deputy Val Johnson; the damage to the car was examined by the sheriff and by investigators from UFO organizations.
Explanations and hypotheses
Investigators, including Allan Hendry of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, found no signs of a hoax, and analysis of the damage to the windshield and antenna gave no clear answer. Skeptics suggested ball lightning, light reflected off fog, or a collision with a bird, but no explanation accounts for all the damage. To the end of his life Johnson never claimed he had seen an alien spacecraft.
Unexplained There is no convincing explanation.
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