The article below was published in the daily newspaper Sud Ouest, France, on September 1, 1979.
See the case file.
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A US police officer was knocked unconscious, and his patrol car damaged, by a mysterious luminous object near Waren, in northeast Minnesota, Allan Hendry, a researcher with the US Center for the Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, revealed Thursday.
Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson, 35, was apparently unconscious for half an hour following this "encounter". Mr. Hendry underlined the strange aspect of this case, one of the few in which the appearance of a U.F.O. caused property damage.
The damage suffered by the vehicle, in which the policeman was, is also curious, continued Mr. Hendry: a headlight was broken without the surround being undamaged, the windshield was smashed, the two radio antennas which were on the roof were twisted, without the insects which had stuck to them being removed, and a small dent was discovered on the bonnet. In addition, Mr. Johnson's watch, as well as the car's clock, both stopped for 14 minutes.
Deputy Sheriff Johnson is currently resting at his home in Oslo, Minnesota. "I was really depressed the first two days after the encounter, he said. I thought I had mental problems. It's hard for me to admit that; I'm used to working with logic, on precise facts".
