The Val Johnson Incident

Whether you are a believer in extraterrestrial beings or not, 1979 gave us one of the most well-documented cases of a UFO in our recent history.

Val Johnson was out doing his job, patrolling the back roads of northwestern Minnesota, just minutes from the North Dakota border. When he went to turn onto Highway 220, a light appeared before him. Seconds later it was hitting his vehicle, causing damage to the patrol car and himself.  

Some people believe it was ball lightning and that he was lucky to be alive. Others know that lightning would have done a different kind of damage. Johnson lost 39 minutes that night. What happened? We may never know. 

Transcript

We live in a world surrounded by people seeking attention. Clamoring for accolades and approval. Folks will do anything they can to get noticed. Children can have their fifteen minutes of fame and make more of an income than you and I just for having a popular social media account. Trendy dances, unboxing videos, makeup tutorials. Get a loyal enough following and it doesn’t matter the content, if your friends are watching it, you have to as well or risk not knowing the latest and greatest thing. 

Social media has made it infinitely easier to get noticed. It’s not a matter of who will see what you’ve done, but by how many people. We live in a time where the number one commodity is things like ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ and ‘hearts’. 

Craving attention is nothing new, it’s just easier to attain nowadays. The time it takes to convert a thought or idea that pops into your brain onto a public social media platform is seconds. Everyone has a stage now. It’s just a matter of how many people are listening.  

There are, of course, people who just want to wake up and do their jobs and quietly live their lives, but they are becoming more and more rare with each passing day. Here’s what I’m eating. Here’s how good I lipsync, here is where I’m vacationing. Practically nothing is private anymore. There have been plenty of times where people have known something that is going on in my life before I have. 

Sometimes those who try to avoid the spotlight get pulled into it regardless. Everyone has a camera in their pocket. Any event that happens is being recorded by someone. Usually someone looking to benefit from it. You might just be a nice person who likes to help old ladies cross the street but now some famous youtuber took video of it, posted it with a catchy song playing underneath it and heart eye emojis and now you’re an internet star without evening knowing it or seeing any of the advertising money they’re making. 

The following story is an example of one of those people, a man in this case, who became a key figure in the world of unidentified objects and aliens. He was just doing his job one night, when everything changed for him. He was a man wanted by scientists and the media and all he wanted was to go back to work and to be left alone. 

If it had happened today, distancing himself from the event would have been nearly impossible and chances are someone would have gotten it on video and he’d be world famous before he’d been able to finish his breakfast the next day. The lucky part, I suppose, is that if it happened today, it would be old news by tomorrow.

Episode 58 - The Val Johnson Incident

I don’t often discuss visitors from another planet on this podcast. But if I’m being honest with you, I’ll admit that I am someone who believes that we are not alone in this great big universe. I wouldn’t say that I’m a believer exactly, I just wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there is life out there somewhere. 

I will also admit that I believe I have witnessed both a ghost and a UFO. The ghost came when I was six and the UFO was around the time I was thirteen.

As Mo Willems’ Pigeon would say, “I’m a curious bird.” I like to keep my eyes peeled and my mind open to things that are unexplainable. As you’ve no doubt learned from listening to this podcast, I like a little mystery in my life. 

Many UFO-ologists consider the Val Johnson Incident to be in the top 10 of possible alien encounters. After stumbling on to Johnson’s transcripted interview that occurred a few weeks after the incident took place, I thought it would be fun to read it to you in its entirety. We will learn about the night together, through his own eyes.

(Tape recorder sound fx) 

September 16th, 1979

“This is Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson. I report in connection with an incident which happened August 27th, 1979 at approximately 1:40 am, western section of Marshall County, approximately ten miles west of Stephen, Minnesota. 

This officer was on routine patrol, westbound down Marshall County Road #5. He got to the intersection of #5 and Minnesota State #220. When I looked down south #220 to check for traffic I noticed a very bright, brilliant light 8-12 inches in diameter, 3-4 feet off the ground. The edges were very defined. I thought perhaps at first that it could be an aircraft in trouble, as it appeared to be a landing light from an aircraft. 

I proceeded south on #220. I proceeded about a mile and three tenths or a mile and four tenths when the light intercepted my vehicle causing damage to a headlight, putting a dent in the hood, breaking the windshield and bending antennas on top of the vehicle. 

At this point, at the interception of the light, I was rendered either unconscious, neutralized or unknowing, for a period of approximately 39 minutes. From the point of intersection my police vehicle proceeded south in a straight line 854 feet, at which point the brakes were engaged by forces unknown to myself, as I do not remember doing this, and I left about approximately 99 feet of black marks on the highway before coming to rest sideways in the road with the grill of my hood facing in an easterly direction. 

At 2:19 am I radioed a 1088, officer needs assistance, to my dispatcher in Warren. He dispatched an officer from Stephen who came out, ascertained the situation as best he could, called for the Stephen Ambulance to transport me to Warren Hospital for further tests, X-rays and observation.

At the time the officer arrived I complained about having very sore eyes. At Warren Hospital it was diagnosed that I had a mild case of welder’s burns to my eyes. My eyes were treated with some salve and adhesive bandages put over and instructed to keep them on for the remainder of the day, or approximately 24 hours. 

At 11:00 am Sheriff Dennis Brekke, my employer picked me up at my residence in Oslo, and transported me to an Opthomologist in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He examined my eyes and said I had some irritation to the inner portions of the eye which could have been caused by seeing a bright light after dark. 

That is all I have to add except to say that my timepiece in the police vehicle and my mechanical wrist watch were both lacking 14 minutes of time to the minute.”

(Tape recorder stops sound fx)

It should be noted that Johnson’s retelling of the story during this interview was no different that what he’d first described in the days following the incident. 

Here’s the actual call Johnson made into dispatch after his car was struck.

(Play audio from dispatch)

On March 16th, 1980 the case was the main topic of conversation at the Manitoba Conference on UFology. At the conference, three guests were in attendance to give a recap of the incident. Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson, officer Everett Doolittle and Greg Winskowski. Doolittle had been the first officer to reach the scene and Winskowski conducted the initial interview. 

The more information that was shared, the more interested people became. The staff at the MCU believed that the Val Johnson Incident was one of “the most puzzling incidents in the history of ufology.” This feeling stemmed from the fact that they considered Johnson to be “the perfect witness”. After the conference concluded, the UFology team released a special report. The first portion covered the physiological evidence.

(Tape start sound fx)

“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 in his eyes, and having done some welding in his career, knew what welder’s burn was like and compared 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 in 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 examining dentist found that Johnson’s bridgework was broken at the gums. Yet, no swelling or pain was felt. 

(Tape end sound fx)

The second portion of the special report went on to describe the physical evidence from the vehicle.

(Tape start sound fx)

“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. 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. This was located on the driver’s side. Testing of the glass by the Ford Motor Company suggested that there were signs of both inward and outward motion of the windshield. 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. The CB antenna on the trunk was bent near its tip. 

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 in now.”

(tape stop sound fx) 

Near the end of the conference, Johnson was asked to sum up what he believed happened to him. He told the people in attendance that he believed he’d seen something he wasn’t supposed to see. When pressed further he explained that maybe he’d stumbled upon somebody doing something that wasn’t meant to be observed. They’d spotted him and neutralized his powers of observation. 

Val Johnson turned down an offer from the National Enquirer to submit to repressive hypnosis. They were offering a good deal of money for exclusive rights to the results of the hypnotherapy. The police department ended the investigation, unable to come up with any reasonable conclusions. When asked if the Air Force, CIA or FBI had approached the department, their answer was no.

After the conference, Johnson appeared in a news segment with a Channel Five Eyewitness News Reporter. Here is some of the audio courtesy of KSTP-TV and MNopedia.org.

(Play Audio File)

He then went on Good Morning America in September before growing tired of the interviews. 

He and his wife, Rosanne, felt that the attention was causing their family, which included numerous small children, anxiety. They just wanted to move on. Johnson stayed on as deputy for a bit before taking a job as chief of police in neighboring Oslo, Minnesota. 

In 1982 he was hired to create a police department in another small Minnesota town before losing his job less than a year later over a funding dispute. From there he took a job as a security guard in a Twin Cities mall before working for the 3M company in customer service.

Eventually people quit coming by his home and his phone finally stopped ringing. In a 2015 article from Minnesota Public Radio, a writer was able to track Johnson down in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He was 71 at the time and was a great grandfather. 

According to the limited stalking I’ve done of the man online, it would appear that he and his wife are alive and well in Eau Claire. He’d be 79 now. In the MPR interview, he’s quoted as saying, “It's unexplainable, and will remain so. I'm happy with my mental stability." 

He’s clearly moved on but UFO enthusiasts can not. The case is often brought up in chat rooms and is still highlighted on various mystery shows.

An interesting side note is that when asked about any after effects, strange dreams, Men in Black, etc. He admitted to frequently seeing the words, “I am committed” in his mind. With no rhyme or reason, it just hit him at all hours of the day, like a song or a slogan he couldn’t stop thinking about.  

Most skeptics believe that Val Johnson was hit by ball lighting and is lucky to be alive. True believers will tell you that ball lightning doesn’t fit with the damage done to the vehicle and the personal injuries Johnson sustained. 

What do you think? Was it a warning shot from a UFO? A secret government experiment? A well done hoax?

Though the case has stayed on ufologists radar and is frequently revisited, everyone is in agreement that something strange happened that night. The case has been closed for forty plus years in the eyes of the law but there are folks who still want answers. Similar events have played out in the years since but none with the evidence or credibility of the Val Johnson incident. 

Johnson doesn’t mind that people still want answers or are still coming up with theories, he just wants you to leave him and his family out of it. 

I’ve put together a bunch of great images and information on the Val Johnson Incident which I will post to Curator135.com. 

Thank you to all of the patrons who are supporting the show on Patreon. I couldn’t do this without you guys. Thank you to Dave, David, Jim, Marie, Laura, Vicki and Chris for being a part of the team. If you’d like to become a patron of this podcast, please visit patreon.com/curator135 - There are three tiers of support or you can name your own donation. 

Please like, follow and subscribe to Curator 135 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. And don’t forget about all of the great merchandise available at the shop. I’ll have some new designs coming soon. 

If you enjoyed this or any of my other podcast episodes, don’t forget to leave a five star review. As always, thank you for listening, and remember, be good to one another and be creative. The world needs you. 143