Best UFO Book of 2022: Willernie

A 1982 sensational UFO sighting in a small Minnesota town and the experiencer’s life story makes for a gripping, emotional read

I was stunned when I saw that a new book had just come out about the incredible UFO encounter that occurred in the small town of Willernie, Minnesota, in the winter of 1982.

This is a case I thought was long forgotten and would remain that way.

I remember it vividly because I lived not so far from where it happened.

I have always thought this UFO event deserved a much higher status among the pantheon of top UFO encounters.

But now the primary witness of the Willernie UFO has come forward. Experiencer Julie Ohlson tells the full story in her just-released book, Dark Secrets and Hidden Lies: The 1982 Willernie UFO Case.

And — wow — what a story she has in store for her readers!

The Willernie case is special for several reasons, not the least of which is that the UFO was observed at a close distance and seen to have dropped a number of solid pieces or artifacts into the snow.

Those artifacts were recovered by the primary witnesses, Julie Ohlson and her mother. Julie still keeps several of them in a tattered little box in her Minnesota home to this day.

BACKGROUND

In 1982, I was a college student in the Mississippi river town of Winona, Minnesota. Just 100 miles upriver is the city of Stillwater. Nearby is another Twin Cities suburban community called White Bear Lake.

My college buddy — Rick, a Native American dude who was from White Bear Lake — returned from a weekend visit home and told me about “a fantastic UFO sighting” near his hometown.

It had made the front page of the White Bear Lake newspaper. Knowing I was an addicted UFO buff, he thoughtfully brought me a copy of the paper.

I read the story with wonder. It was one of the best UFO accounts I had read in a long while. For me, it had the added excitement that it had happened practically “next door” near Stillwater, a town I have visited often.