Swamp Gas Journal - 1980 Volume 1 Number 7

Magazine Overview

Title: THE SWAMP GAS JOURNAL
Volume: 1
Issue: 7
Date: April, 1980
Publisher: The Swamp Gas Journal
Country: Canada
ISSN: 0707-7106

This issue of The Swamp Gas Journal features a special report on the Val Johnson UFO incident that occurred on August 27, 1979, near Stephen, Minnesota. The report, presented at the Manitoba Conference on Ufology, details the case which has received wide publicity and is noted for its puzzling nature, involving a trained observer and significant physical evidence.

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

The article begins by introducing the Val Johnson UFO incident, which involved the apparent impact of a U.S. police vehicle with an unidentified flying object. The case is described as one of the most puzzling in ufology, partly because Val Johnson, a Deputy Sheriff in Marshall County, Minnesota, is considered "the perfect witness." He is a trained observer and experienced police officer. The physical evidence suggests a strange event occurred on a lonely road near the Red River, with a firmly established time sequence documented by tape recordings and written logs. Physical traces were examined and measured by trained police investigators immediately after the encounter, and Johnson was taken to a hospital.

At the Manitoba Conference on Ufology (MCU), the case was reviewed by participants, including Val Johnson, Everett Doolittle (who was the first to reach the site after Johnson radioed for help), and Greg Winskowski (who conducted the initial police investigation).

The Physiological Effects

When found by Everett Doolittle, Val Johnson was slumped over the steering wheel and in mild shock. A bruise later appeared on his forehead, presumably from impact with the steering wheel. Johnson reported feeling dazed and that "everything was in slow motion." He experienced intense, "excruciating" pain in his eyes, which he compared to welders' burn, describing the sensation as "as if someone had hit me in the face with a 400 pound pillow." He repeatedly stated that the only pain he felt was from his eyes. This is particularly interesting given dental examinations performed one week prior and one week after the incident. Extensive dental X-rays taken before the incident showed his bridgework, including caps on his front teeth, to be intact. However, the examination a week later revealed that his bridgework was broken at the gums, with no swelling or pain reported.

The Physical Evidence

Upon arrival at the scene, Everett Doolittle found Val Johnson's police car in the left-hand ditch, front-end-first, with its rear end in the left-hand lane. The "impact point" was identified by the location of broken headlight glass on the road, 953 feet from where the car was found. From this point, "yaw marks" (faint skid marks caused by putting a car out of gear without applying brakes) traveled in a straight line for 854 feet, followed by dark skid marks to the car's stopping point. The stopping path was mostly straight, with an abrupt turn into the ditch at the end.

The right member of the left pair of headlights was broken. A round dent, approximately one inch in diameter, was found directly over the master brake cylinder on the hood. This dent appeared to be the result of a hammer strike at an angle between 45 and 75 degrees from the horizontal. A UV filter photograph revealed a deposit on the flat bottom surface of the dent.

The windshield exhibited a teardrop-shaped breakage pattern (point up) on the driver's side. Three main impact points were visible, with the lowest being the largest and most complex. Ford Motor Company testing of the glass suggested signs of both inward and outward motion, a pattern they found unfamiliar. The article notes that while a small stone could shatter the windshield even at low speed, the pattern was difficult to interpret as a direct impact. However, analytical findings bore resemblance to shock-wave-induced breakage.

The roof light's glass was knocked out. The police radio antenna on the roof was bent about 5 inches up at a 45-degree angle, and the CB antenna on the trunk was bent near its tip at a 90-degree angle, 3 inches from the top.

Police investigators observed that all the damage on the vehicle occurred in a path no wider than twelve inches in diameter. This "linear" formation suggested an object struck the car glancingly, impacting the headlight, rolling over the hood, up the window, and over the roof. However, this scenario was deemed insufficient to account for all the damage. An object hitting the front would not have the capability to redirect force downward further up the hood, graze the window, and bend the antennas. The antennas, being spring-loaded, would require extreme speed to bend in that manner. An alternative suggestion was that the antennas bent due to strong deceleration, causing them to whip forward, but their design should withstand strong deceleration without acute bending.

Further Physical Evidence and Effects

The car's battery could no longer hold a charge. It was proposed that the headlight and roof light were imploded by a high-energy electrical source, possibly ball lightning, though this could not explain the dent in the hood, window impacts, or bent antennas. The car's electric clock was found to be missing 14 minutes, and Val Johnson's wristwatch also lacked 14 minutes, despite both being synchronized with police station clocks earlier that night.

The CB radio in the car was described as being "even worse" after the incident. Allan Hendry of the Center for UFO Studies sent a gauss-meter to test for changes in the car's magnetic pattern, but the results were negative. Evidence of dust particles in the shattered glass suggested this dust was the residue found in the round dent in the hood.

Psychological Effects Revisited

When Val Johnson called for help, his voice was described as "weak" and like "someone coming out of a daze." He had apparently been unconscious for 39 minutes, from the time he heard glass breaking and felt a light "hit" him, to when he woke up and saw the red "ENGINE" light on his dash. During this period, the car had traveled 953 feet in a straight line before veering into the ditch. Johnson did not remember applying the brakes, yet the skid marks indicated they were applied.

At the MCU, Johnson stated he believed he "had seen something (he) wasn't supposed to see," possibly stumbling upon something that was not meant to be observed, leading to his powers of observation being neutralized. He denied any interest in regressive hypnosis, even when offered payment by The National Enquirer, and declined a hypnotic regression for research purposes, stating he was not curious about the event.

Everett Doolittle noted that their file on the case was closed and the investigation terminated without conclusions, leaving the matter unresolved.

Discussion

The case was reviewed in detail, with photographs of the car examined. Guy Westcott, a NOAP investigator, found a "burn mark" in the field beside the road, about 6-7 feet in diameter, with no vegetation and resembling a fertilizer burn. Val Johnson mentioned that a representative from the USDA had taken infrared aerial photographs of the site, showing different chlorophyll absorption in the ditches compared to surrounding fields.

After debate, the MCU participants concluded that the incident was inconsistent with the theory of the car being struck by a single object, including ball lightning. The idea of multiple objects was considered marginally tenable. However, the 39-minute unaccounted period, the complex sequence of impacts, or effects caused at a distance by unknown individuals were considered possibilities. It was demonstrably shown that something very unusual happened, and no adequate explanation for the observed effects was found. Many questions remain unanswered, and the Stephen, Minnesota, incident is listed in UFOROM files as "unknown."

Val Johnson was asked if he had since experienced unusual incidents. He revealed that from time to time, three words, "I AM COMMITTED," stick in his mind without reason. He stated that if he ever saw that light again, he would stop the car and "yell for help."

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The issue focuses on a single, highly detailed UFO case, presenting evidence and witness testimony without definitively concluding the nature of the event. The editorial stance appears to be one of thorough investigation and acknowledgment of unexplained phenomena, emphasizing the lack of definitive answers and the need for further study. The recurring theme is the persistent mystery surrounding the Val Johnson incident, highlighting the challenges in explaining anomalous events even with significant physical evidence and credible witnesses.