Strange Encounter in Finland: 1970
Encounters with strange humanoids have come from points all over the globe. Sometimes the encounters are simple sightings, other times, they are more extensive and leave side effects on the witnesses.
Case in point, an encounter from Finland that occurred on January 7, 1970 at 4:45 pm in Imjarvi. Imjarvi is in the rural municipality of Heinola, in the south-central portion of the country, well north of Finland’s capital Helsinki.
The two men, Aarno Heinonen and Esko Vilio had been skiing for around a half an hour when they decided to take a break. While resting, the men witnessed something strange in the sky. The object was in the south and had an elongated shape. The object was coming towards them and had what appeared to be a flame trailing behind it. The object disappeared, but moments later, a strange, bright light appeared in the sky above the men.
The pair then observed a round, gray, saucer shaped object. A buzzing sound accompanied the metallic craft. On the bottom of the object, they could see three white colored half spheres. In the middle of this, there was a cone that went inside the object. It was also surrounded by bright light.
As the men watched the object settle, a reddish-gray mist came from it. The mist was dense and had a sulfuric smell. A ball of light was observed in the mist and the craft shot out red, green and purple beams of light. The lights illuminated an area of three feet in diameter and the snow was edged in black beneath the craft.
Heinonen was so close to the object that he could have touched it with his ski pole. He found himself frozen to the spot.
Next, a “small man” around three feet tall appeared in the illuminated area. He was wearing a light green coverall suit with dark green knee boots and white gloves. The humanoid had very thin arms and legs. Its face was pale and had a hooked nose. The skin that was visible had a waxy tone. On the humanoid’s head was a conical shaped metallic helmet. In its hands, it held a black box with a white button on it. The box radiated a pulsating yellow light.
After a few moments, the figure disappeared. The mist appeared to open from the middle then it faded away. Suddenly, the lights and the object were gone leaving the two astonished witnesses.
Within minutes, Heinonen began to experience symptoms. Nausea, joint aches, numbness in the arms and legs, and back pains.
The two men made their way home where Heinonen told his family he was ill. Viljo did not have any symptoms at first. However, a few hours later, his face swelled up and the skin on his face and arms turned red as if he had a severe sunburn. He also began to experience joint aches and a headache and felt pressure in his eyes.
Both men went to see a local doctor who couldn’t figure out what was wrong with them. Thinking the conditions would pass, he gave them sleeping pills and told them to go home and rest.
The next morning, however, their conditions were worse. Heinonen’s back pain had increased and so had the numbness in his limbs. He had a severe headache and was vomiting and passing black urine.
Another visit to the doctor resulted in a prescription for sedatives. They didn’t help. Heinonen became unbalanced and suffered nightmares. It was four months before he was healthy enough to resume his normal routine and return to work.
Viljo’s symptoms also lasted several months. They were similar to his friend’s though not as severe. Viljo also suffered psychological effects from the encounter.
Both men interacted with numerous friends and family members and were seen by a doctor on more than one occasion. There was never any suspicion that the incident had been a hoax and the symptoms were certainly documented and genuine even though the doctor could not determine the cause.
Not long after the incident, the life of Aarno Heinonen took an interesting course. According to Finnish researcher, Tapani Koivula, Heinonen obtained psychic talents after the encounter and became a clairvoyant and healer. After the encounter, he claimed to have frequent sightings of UFOs.
Heinonen also reported having direct contact with aliens, including a “spacewoman” who came from a “green and pleasant land.” The spacewoman had the appearance of a beautiful woman around twenty years of age, though she told Heinonen she was 180!