A 1965 UFO sighting in Minnesota, not far from the town of New Ulm, made the newspapers and was presented to the House of Representatives during a special hearing on UFOs. It may be less well known than the state’s most famous close encounter, but it bears all the same indicia of credibility and had more witnesses, one of whom even snapped a photo of the object.

The most famous close encounter with a UFO in Minnesota took place in 1979.
Minnesota Historical Society/MNOpedia
Known as the ​​Val Johnson Incident, it occurred in Marshall County, near the North Dakota border.
Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson was on patrol around 2 a.m. in August 1979.
John Mattson/Google Reviews
A beam of light sped toward him and collided with his patrol car, knocking Johnson unconscious.
When Johnson regained consciousness, he had suffered some minor injuries, his car was damaged, and he had “welders burn” around his eyes.
Minnesota Historical Society/MNOpedia
The incident was covered by national media, and his patrol car is on display at the Marshall County Historical Society museum. It’s considered one of the most credible UFO reports ever made because of Johnson’s law enforcement background.

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But 14 years before the Val Johnson incident, another Minnesota sheriff’s deputy had a close encounter.
Google Maps
On October 21, 1965, Sibley County deputy Art Strauch was returning from a bow hunting trip with his wife, son, and another couple, when they saw an unusual light in the sky about 2 mile miles northwest of St. George, Minnesota, near New Ulm.
The witnesses watched the object through a pair of binoculars, and Strauch was able to snap a photo of it with a camera he had along in the car.
Arthur Strauch/NICAP.org
Strauch estimated it was about 2,000 feet off the ground, and he reported it was emitting a bright light that pulsed between blue and orange. When it moved over them, the object made a humming, whistling sound.
At least one other witness in the area saw the object that night. Strauch, a military veteran, wrote a letter to the Air Force describing the incident and enclosed prints of the photos he took.
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Astronautics
A composite image of the encounter was also made and submitted to Congress in a July 29, 1968, report. Given the witnesses, the careful documentation of the encounter, and the photographic evidence. The St. George, Minnesota encounter is just as credible as the Val Johnson encounter. It’s probably less well-known because UFO coverage had not yet permeated mass media culture as deeply in 1965 as it had by 1979.
But folks did notice. There were the Congressional hearing and report. And 30 years later, in the mid-1990s, Lunar Models even released a plastic UFO model based on Strauch’s description of the UFO.
Lunar Models/Fantastic Plastic
The model’s no longer being made, but Fantastic Plastic, a seller of vintage plastic models, has a description of it on its website. Click or tap the image for more information.

You can also find UFO models on Etsy – perhaps even an “E” Strauch. So, what do you think – is there life out there, and is Earth as popular a destination for intergalactic travel as we seem to think it is? Share your opinion, along with any close encounters you may have had, in the comments!

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