{"type":"events","slug":"1979-val-johnson-incident","title":"Val Johnson Incident","url":"https://disclosdex.com/events/1979-val-johnson-incident","description":"Deputy Val Johnson struck by blinding light in Minnesota found his patrol car damaged and time missing","date":"1979-08-27T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["Sighting"],"updated":"2025-06-13T13:26:43.000Z","disclosureRating":4,"status":"unresolved","lat":48.2,"lng":-96.7,"connectionCount":2,"content":{"markdown":"## Blinding flash on Highway 220\n\nAround 1:40 a.m., Marshall County deputy Val Johnson spotted a brilliant object near Warren, Minnesota. His cruiser was engulfed by a beam, the windshield shattered, and he blacked out. Johnson awoke half an hour later with irritated eyes and malfunctioning instruments.[^1][^2]\n\n## Investigations and speculation\n\nPhotographs revealed odd dents and a crushed light bar. [NICAP](/organizations/nicap) and [CUFOS](/organizations/cufos) analyzed the damage but found no mundane cause. Skeptics blamed a collision with a road sign, yet no debris matched. Johnson later left the force, and the case remains unexplained.[^3][^4][^5]\n\n\n[^1]: [MNopedia: Val Johnson Incident, 1979](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/val-johnson-incident-1979)\n[^2]: [UFO Casebook: Sheriff Blinded by Light from UFO; Minnesota-1979](https://www.ufocasebook.com/minnesotasheriff1979.html)\n[^3]: [InForum/MPR News: Minn. deputy's 1979 UFO encounter still 'extraordinarily important'](https://www.inforum.com/newsmd/minn-deputys-1979-ufo-encounter-still-extraordinarily-important)\n[^4]: [CUFOS International UFO Reporter, Vol. 4 No. 3-4](https://cufos.org/PDFs/IUR%20issues/IUR%20Vol.%204%20No.%203-4%20Sept.-Oct.%201979.pdf)\n[^5]: [Skeptics UFO Newsletter #64, July 2000](https://centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2022/09/26195452/SUN-64-July-2000.pdf)","readingTime":"1 min read"},"relatedRecords":[{"ref":{"type":"organizations","slug":"cufos","title":"CUFOS","url":"https://disclosdex.com/organizations/cufos"},"direction":"outbound","weight":1},{"ref":{"type":"organizations","slug":"nicap","title":"NICAP","url":"https://disclosdex.com/organizations/nicap"},"direction":"outbound","weight":1}],"citation":{"canonicalUrl":"https://disclosdex.com/events/1979-val-johnson-incident","title":"Val Johnson Incident","publisher":"Disclosdex","retrievedFrom":"https://disclosdex.com/api/v1/events/1979-val-johnson-incident","license":"CC-BY-4.0"},"witnesses":["Deputy Val Johnson struck by blinding light in Minnesota found his patrol car damaged and time missing"]}