Mr. Arthur Strauch, Deputy Sheriff of Sibley County, Minnesota, in the company of 4 others, was returning from a bowhunting trip by car when he spotted a strange appearing object which appeared to be 2,000' above the ground and ¼ mile distant in the northwest.They were 2 miles West and 2 miles North of St. George. The group stopped the car and watched.
Strauch got out of the car and watched the object with 7×35 binoculars, while the others watched from inside the car.
The object appeared as illustrated above, through binoculars.
AFter watching for about 10 minutes, the group drove down the road about ½ a mile and stopped.
Strauch got out of the car and snapped the photo shown on this page, just as the object began to move.
It moved into the wind, northeast, for what appeared to be several hundred feet, stopped for a few seconds, at which time its light changed from a bright white to a dull orange several times.
It then moved toward the southeast at a high rate of speed and disappeared out of sight in the sky.
As it passed over their heads, the observers heard an audible high pitched whine, as made by an electric motor starting up.
The witnesses were:
Arthur A. Strauch, 47, Deputy Sheriff of Sibley County, Minnesota, his wife, Mrs. Katherine Strauch, 44, housewife; Cary Martin Strauch, 16, high school student and son of Mr. and Mrs. Strauch, Donald Martin Grewe, 26, technician with Minnesota Valley Breeders Association, and his wife, Mrs. Retha Ann Grewe, 25, registered nurse.
All witnesses check out as honest and reliable.
Te camera used was a 1965 Kodak Instamatic. Strauch was using Kodak Ektachrome X-film, color slides EX 126- 20. His camera was set for infinity. The time was set at .60 seconds, no flash.
While viewing the object as it hovered in the northwest, Straucht took 4 photos, using up the roll of film in his camera.
The photo shown wilh lhis report was taken, as said before, later just as the object began to move. He did not get the rolls developed until he had filled the second roll.
When he took them to the drugstore to be sent for developing, he told the clerk that the 1st roll had not been locked into the camera properly, he found this out when he changed the rolls. The clerk said the roll would be no good and dropped it into the wastebasket.
When Arthur later called for his developed film and found the image of the UFO on the photograph, he asked the clerk to search the trash for the first roll, but the trash had been disposed of, Strauch feels that there may have been a chance that he got better photographs the first time, because the object had been hovering.
Environmental factors were:
Wind from the northeast at 10 mph, humidity about 50%, visibility unlimited, sun had just set, sky was clear.
No fog, haze or clouds and there was complete darkness. The moon had not risen, and Venus was clearly visible in the southwest.
One small star visible to the right and below the UFO.
Testimony of the witnesses differs only in minor details.
Whereas Strauch said the object appeared as large as a quarter held at arm’s length, his wife described it as much larger than the evening star, Gary said it was like a quarter at arm’s length, and so did crewe.
Mrs. Grewe said it was the size of a large star.
Mrs, Grewe, Mrs. Strauch and Gary remained inside the car, while Grewe and Strauch got out to observe the object.
They heard no sound.
Grewe described the sound of the object as it went overhead as an audible whistling whine and Strauch said it was a high pitched whining sound, as made by an electric motor starting up.
Mr. Strauch’s description was most detailed as he viewed the object with the aid of binoculars. He said:
I have no idea what it was. All I can report is that it was different from anything I had ever seen in the sky. I’m positive it was a machine driven by some inner power that has tremendous speed.
The outline was unmistakable through my binoculars, as that of a flying saucer.
In a letter to request for more detail, Strauch stated:
The rounded top of the dome was a metallic silver gray that reflected the rays of the setting Sun, turning it, the object, into a large orange ball. Surrounding the dome were 4 small port holes that emitted a bright yellow light.
Just below the windows or ports was an area that glowed a light blue. This light seemed to be a reflection of some inner light or perhaps exhaust.
From the edge of the blue light’s reflection to the edge ot the flat saucer surface, outer edge, the outer ring was rotating counterclockwise, causing it to throw off an aura or halo of light that changed from orange to white with an overall tinge of blue and gReen.
The extreme outer edge of the saucer glowed a bright orange and this part did not move or rotate.
To my left, or I assumed, the front of the machine, was a black spot or perhaps an intake port lor air. This indentation is visible on the picture but does not show up as clearly as I could see it through my binoculars.
If there’s another one on the other side, I do not know.
The machine was not hanging or hovering parallel to the ground, but was at an angle, the front, as I assumed it to be, was tipped down about 15° while it was hovering, and tipped even a little more as it left.
I do not believe that the light went out in the machine, as it left and we lost sight of it, but rather that it had such tremendous speed that it just disappeared into space.
A little about Arthur A. Strauch: Born Princeton, Minnesota, June 28, 191B, son of a Lutheran pastor. High school graduate, worked his way through school and received diploma in 1964 from Gibbon High School.
Attended special course in journalism and creative writing at Mankato State College. Veteran of World War II with 5 major campaigns and D-Day landing at Normandy Beachhead, also action in Africa. England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany with medals.
Carried rank of First Sergeant, honorably discharged. Married, with daughter and son.
Appointed Deputy Sheriff of Sibley County, Minnesota in 1960. During pursuit of an escaped prisoner in 1961, severely injured and paralyzed from waist down. Although surgery and therapy have helped, Strauch is still disabled, and has turned to writing for a new start, He speaks and understands German and some French.
His writing efforts consist mainly of hunting and fishing articles for the Outdoorsman magazine.