According to several sources from 1970 and on, in Mariannelund, Sweden, on September 29, 1959, at 06:55 p.m., Gideon Johansson run outside after an electrical power failure and the power plant he was working, and, with his son and two other people, he watched a brilliant white light hovering over a nearby building.
The light descended, breaking through the top a maple tree, until it was only 18 inches above the street, and 10 feet from Johansson, who said it was an oval, dome-shaped machine, 12 feet long and 8 feet high, light blue in color, with a large window surrounded by rivet-heads at the front.
Inside, brilliantly illuminated by a white light, Johansson said, were two small, seated individuals, with "very high crowned heads", "with 13 large eyes", or "beautiful eyes", small mouths, and pointed chins.
Each had an earphone on one ear. They wore white uniforms with broad black belts crossed over their shoulders and chests. One of them loosened his belt to work on something below the window level. After two minutes, the craft floated along the street for 25 meters, then "disappeared in a flash, with a rush of air".
The story says that "a glassy deposit was found on the power line 1 kilometer away" and that Johansson suffered ill effects to his health, and that the maple tree eventually died.
One of the original investigators who spoke to Johansson and his son and wrote an original article on the case in the Flying Saucer Review explained in a communiqué circa 2004 that Mr. Johansson was actually a very imaginative person who also claimed to have seen Santa Claus and was hearing voice and saw UFOs quite often, that his son actually did not see more than some light in the sky, that there was a military exercise right then at the place, that there was no power loss at the plant, that everyone who knew Johansson confirmed that he was known for inventing stories. Case reports on UFO website however continued to summarize the case as a real close encounter of the third kind.
Towards 2002, ufologist Clas Svahn found in the files of a Swedish ufologist letters by the witness which reveal that he claimed to be in telepathic contact with these UFO occupants. He said they come from a planet on the other side of the sun whose inhabitants do not see the sun because it is too cloudy there, and that in the 21st century his story will be proven true because in a certain cellar of the government, there is a 4 centimeters aluminum pipe from the saucer.
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[Ref. tp1:] TED PHILIPPS:
Case 134s: October 1959. SWEDEN, Mariannelund. 1855 Hrs.The electrical power in the three witnesses' houses failed; when they ran outside they saw a blinding white light, it stopped and hovered. The object started to move, slowly descended and turned to the right, hitting and smashing a portion of a maple tree (top section), it then descended towards the ground. The witness was 10 foot from it. Through a large window he could see two occupants, with large eyes; the heads were high-crowned. The occupants were small in size. The object was oval, about 12 feet long and 8 feet high. It was found that a gray-white substance covered power lines. The witness was Gideon Johansson, his wife and his son. (FSR, 11:70). |
[Ref. as1:] ADOLF SCHNEIDER:
Adolf Schneider indicates that at the end of October 1959 in the small town of Mariannelund in Sweden there was a sudden power failure at about 06:55 p.m.. Mr. Johannson, who was responsible for the monitoring of a small of power station installation, rushed out of his house to discover the cause of the failure. There he saw hovering with his son a brilliant light near a three floors house. The strange object flew slowly down, almost touched the trees Mr. Johannson's garden and finally stopped at half a meter on the road. In the long report that the witnesses gave, other details relate to the shape of the UFO as well as the occupants inside. Mrs. Johannson was in the kitchen during the incident and heard little before the power failure a noise in her radio. The object then started to rise, stopped, turned off its lights and disappeared in a flash. At about one kilometer in the south of the city, one later found a glassy precipitation on the powerlines. The surface of this material was sprinkled with a white gray substance.
The source is indicated as Liljegren in 1970.
[Ref. sc1:] SCOTT CORRALES:
The author indicates that in a Swedish case from 1959 told by Anders Liljegren in the UFO-Sweden Newsletter, Gideon Johansson ran out into the night to see if he could ascertain the reason an area-wide power failure in Mariannelund. He witnessed a glowing object making a slow descent through the trees and coming within a few feet of the ground. The startled onlooker was able to see that it was a craft of some sort, having a high transparent dome which revealed the presence of two occupants "with high-crowned heads and big, beautiful eyes." The occupants appeared to engage in what Johannson took to be repairs and the object soon disappeared "like a ghost in the night."
[Ref. js1:] JOHN SCHUESSLER:
John Schuessler indicates that on October 1959, in Sweden, in Mariannelund, at 06:55 p.m., according to the Flying Saucer Review, for November-December 1970, Gideon Johansson, employed as an electrician, ran outside to see why there was a power failure, and along with his wife and son watched a blinding white light hovering over a three-story building. The object came down in their garden. They could see two small beings inside the oval-shaped object. Afterwards he felt terrible prickling pains from the waist down. His glands swelled, as did his testicles. He had trouble urinating. His body developed a bad odor. He lost his appetite and food was tasteless.
Effects are listed as: prickling sensation, swollen glands, swollen testicles, urination problems, bad body odor, loss of appetite, loss of taste sensation.
[Ref. gd1:] GEOFF DITTMAN:
Geoff Dittman lists that in October 1959 in Mariannelund, Sweden, Gideon Johannson was injured, had swelling, trouble urinating, a prickling sensation, a bad odor, a loss of appetite, a loss of sense of taste. The source is indicated as "Schuessler."
[Ref. jc1:] JACQUES COSTAGLIOLA:
In his listing of the cases in which witnesses suffered physiological damages, the MD and ufologist indicates that in October 1959, in Mariannelund in Sweden, Gideon Johansson suffered paraesthesias, oedemas, and anorexia. The source is indicated to be the Flying Saucer Review.
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Mariannelund, Sweden, on September 29, 1959, at 06:55 p.m., on running outside after an electrical power failure, Mr. Gideon Johansson and his son saw a brilliant white light hovering over a nearby building. This descended, breaking through the top a maple tree, until it was only 18" above the street, and 10 ft from Mr. Johansson. It was an oval, dome shaped machine 12 ft long and 8 ft high, light blue in color; in front was a large window surrounded by rivet-heads. Inside this, brilliantly illuminated by a white light, he could see 2 small, seated individuals, with very high crowned heads, big eyes, small mouths, and pointed chins. Each had an earphone on one ear. They wore white uniforms with broad black belts crossed over their shoulders and chests. One of them loosened his belt to work on something below the window level. After 2 minutes the craft floated along the street for 25 yards, then disappeared in a flash, with a rush of air. A glassy deposit was found on the power line 1 km away. Mr. Johansson suffered ill effects to his health, and the maple tree eventually died.
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is K Gosta Rehn for Apro and Anders Liljegren for UFO Sweden, and Humcat 1959-12.
[Ref. dj1:] DONALD JOHNSON:
Donald Johnson indicates that on September 29, 1959, an electrical power outage occurred In Mariannelund, Sweden at 6:55 p.m. Going outside during the power failure, Gideon Johansson and his son saw a brilliant white light hovering over a nearby building. The object descended, breaking through the top of a maple tree, until it was 18 inches above the street and only ten feet from Mr. Johansson. It was a domed, oval-shaped machine 12 feet long and 8 feet high, and light blue in color, with a large window surrounded by rivets in the front of the object.
Inside, brilliantly illuminated by a white light, he could see two small, seated individuals with very high crowned heads, big eyes, small mouths, and pointed chins. Each had what looked like an earphone on one ear. They wore white uniforms with broad black belts crossed over their shoulders and chests. One of them loosened his belt to work on something below the window level. After two minutes, the craft floated along the street for 25 meters then disappeared in a flash, with a gust of air.
A glassy deposit was found on the power line a kilometer away. Mr. Johansson suffered ill effects to his health and the maple tree eventually died.
The sources are indicated as David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, case 1959-12, citing K. Gosta Rehn, APRO, and Anders Liljegren, UFO Sweden.
[Ref. al1:] ANDERS LILJEGREN:
This is a statement published in 2004, from Anders Liljegren, who investigated the case thoroughly:
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I most certainly have further info on the classic Swedish Gideon Johansson case! I wrote an article on the case for Britain's Flying Saucer Review in 1970 (Nov/Dec 1970 pp.14-17). Today I must admit that the case was much overrated at that time. My own evaluation today is that this case should (must) be labeled as 'psychological'. Gideon Johansson was a man who saw many things in his lifetime (ghosts, revenants, 'UFOs' (five or six times), etc). He even reported seeing a small Santa Claus-like figure in the industry area where he worked prior to the saucer landing. And he heard voices speaking in Russian from large tanks at the industry area where he was working. No one else heard the voices. Following up on the case, I have read local newspapers of the time, interviewed about fifty of Mr. Gideon Johansson's workmates, neighbours, relatives and inhabitants of Mariannelund. I have also talked with Gideon's son Rolf, who was a witness together with Gideon, but who only confirms the FIRST phase of the sighting: a brilliant light over the nearby three-storied building. The supposed two other witnesses except for Gideon and Rolf have never been found and interviewed by anyone. I have been able to prove beyond any doubt that Gideon was and overenthusiastic UFO believer before the claimed landing (with EM effect) in 1959. The case was 'the master case' of Swedish ufology in the 1970's. Big shame on us! Gideon had had a 'UFO' sighting in the summer of 1958 which can very certainly be traced to a bright bolide seen over half of Sweden. Most other witnesses saw two streaks of light going towards the northwest while Gideon saw a 'flying telephone receiver' and sent detailed and colourful accounts of this sighting to anyone interested. Despite the great distance (8000 meters of more) Gideon was able to see details no one else saw. He first reported this first (meteor) case to Mr. Sven Schalin, NICAP representative for Sweden, in a letter to Schalin in January 1959, nine-ten months prior to the landing. Mr. Schalin visited Gideon at his home in August 1959, just six weeks prior to the 'landing'. Mark Rodeghier kindly digged out Schalin's orignal report on the meteor from the NICAP archives at CUFOS for me. In spite of Schalin's visit -- Schalin's interest in UFOs was widely published by Swedish media after the Domsten affair (now known as a outright hoax) -- Gideon did not contact Schalin to report the landing just six weeks later. This is extremely curious to me! In fact he waited until 1967 to send his detailed report to K. Gosta Rehn (APRO representative). Of all Gideon's workmates -- and I have interviewed all of his closest mates at the electrical department of the factory as well as many others who knew him well -- no one had heard about the landing until after K.Gosta Rehn wrote about it in his 1969 book. The local newspaper reporter (who moved from the town in 1964) had never heard of the story when I phoned him in 1996. Gideon's story grew in size as the years went by. In fact, most people I have talked to regard Gideon as a storyteller, not just because of his UFO reports. In the contemporary autumn 1959 local newspapers I found several interesting things: There was a large military exercise -- involving more than 900 infantry soldiers close to Mariannelund alone -- at almost the exact reported time of the landing. In fact the exercise was all over eastern Sweden and involved hundreds of Swedish Air Force planes swarming also over Mariannelund. It is reported that a council meeting in the town had to be postponed, the day before the reported landing, because of the repeated noice of air force jets. None of the soldiers saw anything, no 'UFO' reports. There are no reports of a saucer at this time in the military archives we have copied. This makes me suspect that what Gideon and his son really saw was a military parachuted light or some other light connected to the exercise which was going on right in the direction where the light was seen. In fact Gideon's son today says that Gideon's landing and humanoids was an effect of his great immagination. The William Gill sighting was published, as a short notice, by the newspaper Gideon was reading daily (a newspaper called Smalandstidningen), just about one week before Gideon should have seen his saucer. The Gill sighting - as reported then in Sweden - has many elements common to the Gideon sighting: humanoids, the witness waving to the humanoids, UFO vehicle being 'repaired', etc. To me the Gill sighting was one source of inspiration, as was the contemporary Swedish UFO literature (Adamski, etc) and, possibly, Schalin's visit to Gideon's home just six weeks prior to document the meteor case for NICAP. There is no documentation at all of an electric blackout at the factory. The local newspaper reported about the lack of water in the local river, which almost prevented pulp production at the factory where Gideon was working, but said not a word about an electric blackout, or for that matter damages to power lines. Archives for UFO research [www.afu.info] has saved many correspondence files (early ufologists like K.Gosta Rehn, Sven Schalin and Lars Andersson) which give unique insights into the case and Gideon's personality. This spring I prepared a 30-page document on the Gideon case for the upcoming UFO-Sweden CD on ufology. We have used the case as an instructive example at the regular two-day training courses for the chain of UFO-Sweden field investigators. It was originally my intention to let 'The Gideon saucer' become my contribution to the Hilary Evans-Denis Stacy collection published this year by John Brown (Fortean Times) but lack of time prevented this. I hope to make a special issue of the AFU Newsletter some time in the future but I don't know when this can happen. Anyway, the case is most instructive as an example of a psychological explanation. The Gideon saucer case should be regarded with very great caution. I repeatedly see it here and there, but it would take a lot of effort to stop that tide. It only makes one suspicious of so many other similar cases reported from near and far. Best regards to you all, Anders Liljegren, Archives for UFO research (AFU), P O Box 11027 S-600 11 Norrkoping Sweden, anders.liljegren@norrkoping.mail.telia.com |
[Ref. al2:] ANDERS LILJEGREN:
Ufologist Anders Liljegren indicates that in July 2002, ufologist Clas Svahn fetched UFO documents from Gunnar Schelin, a very active Swedish ufologist from the island of Öland, who died in 2000 It comprised about ten pages of correspondence, rusty from metals of a binder, between Schelin and Gideon Johansson, from the mid-1970's.
Liljegren reminds that he had collected many documents on the much-published case, that his own report "Mariannelund UFO and occupants", was published by Charles Bowen in the Flying Saucer Review for November/December 1970, and that he since collected quite an extensive file on the case and researched it by talking to dozens of member of the Mariannelund community and searching archives collections; the sum of which up to the mid-1990's being published on the UFO-Sweden web site at www.ufo.se/fakta/artiklar/mariannelund.shtml and a brief review in English for the Project 1947 List, available at www.temporaldoorway.com/ufo/catalog/hoaxanderror/gideon.htm
The letters found by Clas Svahn support even more the theory that the witness was essentially "a mystic", with new details about the telepathic contacts with the space people immediately after the close encounter.
Gideon claimed he was sent mental images of the visitors' home planet, a world "on the other side of our Sun" where the people never saw sunlight because of a thick layer of fog that enveloped their planet, an idea similar to [self-proclaimed contactee] Truman Bethurum's Clarion planet.
An information exchange on the Project-1947 mailing list with Barry Greenwood and Jerome Clark made it clear that an American science fiction cartoon, "Twin Earths", first released in May 1952, may have influenced both Gideon's and Truman's stories. In this comic book, earthmen are contacted by a race of women from Terra, a sister planet to Earth never seen because it is permanently positioned on the other side of the Sun.
In the newly found correspondence between Johansson and Schelin, there is a letter of June 28, 1976 in which Johansson states: "There are some things that I have kept secret, it is archived in[side] [of] a 40 mm pipe made of aluminum [kept] in a government basement somewhere. It will surface sometime in the 21st century. No one has anything to do with it until then." Johannson does not specify which government basement.
[Ref. wk1:] "WUNDERKABINETT" WEBSITE:
Someone posted to this website that a dramatic encounter was reported by Mariannelund resident Gideon Johansson in September 1959: after an unexpected power cut in his home, he stepped out into the garden and was startled to see a bright light hurtling down towards him. The light took on the appearance of a dome-shaped craft, inside which stood two small beings with hauntingly beautiful large eyes. The craft swerved past the house and apparently out of control, swept through the branches of a maple tree in the garden before disappearing in a brilliant flash of light.
After the sighting, Johansson suffered from persistent nausea and acute tiredness, and his testicles became swollen. The maple tree suffered an even worse fate: it was dead within a couple of months.
The author wonders if flying saucers come from the outer reaches of reality to really pop in and out of our world merely to mesmerize housewives and destroy maple trees.
[Ref. lg1:] LUIS R. GONZALES MANSO:
Luis R. Gonzalez Manso notes in his FirstHumCat catalogue that in October 1959, in Mariannelund a hoax case occurred. At 18:55, the electrical power in the three witnesses' houses failed; when they ran outside they saw a blinding white light, it stopped and hovered. The object started to move, slowly descended and turned to the right, hitting and smashing a portion of the top section of a maple tree, it then descended towards the ground. The witness was 3 meters from it. Through a large window he could see two occupants, with 13 large eyes; the heads were high-crowned. The occupants were small in size. The object was oval, about 4 meters long and 2.5 meters high. It was found that a gray-white substance covered power lines. The witness was Gideon Johansson, his wife and his son.
Luis Gonzales indicates that his sources are Anders Liljegren, "Mariannelund UFO and occupants", FSR 16:6; and "The Gideon Saucer - A Psychological Case", at www.temporaldoorway.com/ufo/Catalogue/hoaxanderror/gideon.htm
[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The web site indicates that on September 29, 1959, at 18:55, in Mariannelund, Sweden, an object was observed. Occupants of the craft were seen. Electromagnetic and physiological effects were noted, traces were found, there were multiple independent witnesses.
One disc, about 20 feet across, was observed by two male witnesses, one of them name Johansson being an experienced observer, in a yard for two minutes. On running outside after an electrical power failure, Mr. Gideon Johansson and his son saw a brilliant white light hovering over a nearby building. This descended, breaking through the top a maple tree, until it was only 18" above the street, and 10 feet from Mr. Johansson. It was an oval dome shaped machine, 12 feet long and 8 feet high, light blue in color; in front was a large window surrounded by rivet-heads. Inside this, brilliantly illuminated by a white light, he could see 2 small, seated individuals, with very high crowned heads, big eyes, small mouths, and pointed chins. Each had an earphone on one ear. They wore white uniforms with broad black belts crossed over their shoulders and chests. One of them loosened his belt to work on something below the window level. After 2 minutes, the craft floated along the street for 25 yards, then disappeared in a flash, with a rush of air. A glassy deposit was found on the power line 1 km away. Mr. Johansson suffered ill effects to his health, and the maple tree eventually died.
The website comments that there was a firsthand personal interview with the witness by a source of proven reliability; a site visit by a skilled analyst; and no natural explanation is possible, given the evidence.
The sources are listed as Webb, David, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports; Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, APRO Bulletin, APRO, Tucson; Lorenzen, Coral E., Encounters with UFO Occupants, Berkley Medallion, New York, 1976; FSR, London, 1966; Schoenherr, Luis, Computerized Catalog (N = 3173); Rogerson, Peter, World-Wide Catalog of Type 1 Reports; Bloecher, Ted R., Ted R Bloecher investigation files; Phillips, Ted R., Ted Phillips investigation files; Phillips, Ted R., Physical Traces Associated with UFO Sightings, CUFOS, Chicago, 1975; Rehn, Karl Gosta; UFO Information Sweden; Rosales, Albert, Humanoid Sighting Reports Database.
[Ref. cp1:] PAGE WEB "CENTRE FOR PHYSICAL TRACE RESEARCH":
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10/??/59 Mariannelund, Sweden 1855: multiple witness, disc, EM, humanoid, gray-white substance found at site. |
[Ref. cp1:] "LES MYSTERES UFOLOGIQUES" WEBSITE:
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October 1959 Mariannelund, Sweden, 06:55 p.m.: multiple witness, disc, EM, humanoid, gray-white substance found at site. |
The source is indicated to be www.rr0.org.
The case is clearly explained.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
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| None. | ||||||||
"Contactee"-type inventions added to a possible confusion.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
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| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 28, 2008 | Creation, [tp1], [as1], [sc1], [jc1], [js1], [gd1], [ar1], [al1], [wk1], [lg1], [ud1], [cp1], [mu1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 28, 2008 | First published. |
