October 23, 1965 — Long Prairie, MN
Night. KEYL-AM radio announcer James F. Townsend, 19, is driving on State Highway 27 four miles east of Long Prairie, Minnesota, when he slams on his brakes to avoid hitting a rocket-like device resting on three legs or fins. As his car skids to a stop 20 feet from the object, the vehicle’s motor and electrical system die. The object looks like it is made of stainless steel, stands 30–40 feet high, and is 10 feet in diameter. In a circle of light under it, Townsend sees three things that resemble beer cans with “tripod legs and three matchstick arms.” They have no eyes, but Townsend feels as if they are looking at him. He gets out of the car to try to knock one over, but they come over to him and they stand there looking at him. Eventually they turn around and “scoot under the ship,” disappearing into the light beneath it. An ear-splitting humming sound emanates from the UFO, which assumes a bright illumination and shoots off. The Todd County sheriff and UFO investigators assume that Townsend, a deeply religious man, is sincere. [Eberhart]
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Sources:
“‘Space Things’ Stop His Car,” Minneapolis Star, October 25, 1965, pp. 1, 4;
“‘Little, Little Men’ in Minn.,” APRO Bulletin, Nov./Dec. 1965, p. 8;
Clare John Jansen, “Little Tin Men in Minnesota,” Fate 19, no. 2 (February 1966): 36–40;
Saucer News 13, no. 1 (March 1966): 25-26;
Jerome Clark, “The Greatest Flap Yet? – Part III,” Flying Saucer Review 12, no. 3 (1966), pp. 13-15;
Brad Steiger, Strangers From The Skies, 1966, pp. 126-129;
John Keel, "Never Mind the Saucer! Did You See the Guys Who Were Driving!,” TRUE Magazine, February 1967, p. 82;
Lorenzen, Flying Saucer Occupants, 1967, p. 136;
Bill Adler, Letters to the Air Force on UFOs, 1967, pp. 63-64;
Coral Lorenzen, in “The Humanoids: A Survey of Worldwide Reports of Landings of Unconventional Aerial Objects and Their Occupants”, pp. 168-169;
Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, pp. 319-320; [Case 712]
Center for UFO Studies, HUMCAT Index 1965, Case 65-65, p. 87;
J Allen Hynek, The Hynek UFO Report pp. 206-208;
MUFON UFO Journal, no. 270 (October 1990): 20;
Peter Brookesmith, UFO: The Complete Sightings, 1995, p. 85;
Patrick Huyghe, Field Guide to Extraterrestrials, 1996, pp. 100-101;
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 1643, p. 308;
Jerome Clark, Extraordinary Encounters;
Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed., p. 280;
Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 4th Ed., p. 320;
Michael Swords Files, 81E, 119H;
NICAP, “Road Blocked By “Rocket”, Three “Creatures”“;
Patrick Gross, URECAT, January 5, 2008 October 23, 1965;
UFODNA, “23 Oct 1965 - Long Prairie, Minnesota, USA”;
Peter Rogerson, “INTCAT 1965 JUL-DEC”;