File 142 · 27 August 1979

Val Johnson, Minnesota

Marshall County, Minnesota, United States

Opened 9/4/2026

Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. Red River Valley night road. — Night Ledger illustration of the file

LightsHynek CE2officialArchive1 witnesses

Standing

Unidentified

On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.

What was claimed

A deputy’s patrol car was damaged and the officer injured after he reported a blinding light on a rural road. State police documented the car.

What is on the record

This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.

Deputy Val Johnson, Marshall County, radioed that a bright light had come down on County Road 5. He was found unconscious, the windshield starred, a headlight and a red lamp damaged, and a small antenna bent. His wristwatch and the car clock were running fourteen minutes slow, he said. The Minnesota Highway Patrol photographed the cruiser.

A black-hole remnant, a stone, and a hoax have all been offered. Johnson returned to work and did not embroider. The damaged Ford and the police Polaroids are the file.

Could this have been ours?

The known sky, that night.

Satellites were already up. The station was not. Starlink was not.

Always

Venus and the bright planets

A fixed brilliant point. Does not streak. Does not hover over a street then leave. Often the first misread light in a rural report.

Always

Aircraft, balloons, meteors

Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.

Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.