During the summer of 1967, the tranquil rural setting of Suomussalmi, Finland, became the stage for a peculiar and highly scrutinized UFO sighting. This event was unique for several reasons: the object observed was of a rare type, it was viewed up close in broad daylight, witnessed by multiple people, and examined by a diverse group of experts who were left baffled.
On June 14, around noon, farmer Arvi Juntunen was busy greasing his farm equipment in the yard while his brother Veikko was a few meters away, tar-coating sled runners. The weather was sunny and calm, but suddenly, a strong whooshing noise akin to an approaching whirlwind filled the air. Arvi noticed the top of a rowan tree in the yard swaying violently and turned towards the noise.
To his astonishment, about six or seven meters from him, a small object resembling an upside-down cooking pot had descended and was now hovering approximately half a meter above the ground. Arvi estimated the object’s diameter to be around 70-80 centimeters and its height about half of that. The sunlight glinted off its brownish surface, which featured a wing-like protrusion, and its separate lower part seemed to be spinning rapidly.
Initially, Arvi thought the object might have been carried by the storm. Curious, he approached it, intending to capture it. As he got about three meters away, three thin wire-like antennas suddenly extended from the side of the object. As the outer antennas aligned with the middle one, they didn’t touch him, but he felt a pulsating shock as if he had been electrocuted.
Startled but undeterred when the object seemed ready to move again, Arvi threw his hat at the antennas in a reflex. This action merely caused the strong air pressure surrounding the object to fling his hat over ten meters away.
What followed seemed completely aimless. The object rose higher and began darting around the yard like an agitated horsefly, antennas pointing forward, moving in all possible directions—up, down, and sideways. Arvi realized that this spectacle was something others should see and shouted for the household and children to come out. They didn’t hear him, but Liisa Keränen and Sirkka Keränen from the neighboring house did, along with five-year-old Aarne Keränen, who had already tried to alert them about the strange flying object.
Five witnesses now watched what was probably the most bizarre display of their lives. The erratic flight of the small craft lasted long enough that it could have been filmed, but unfortunately, no camera was available. Eventually, the object gently ascended in a northwesterly direction and disappeared into the sky. The entire silent spectacle lasted about fifteen minutes.
It is possible that this same “ghost” had been in the area earlier that day, as the children of the Pyyvaara house had suddenly come inside asking adults to look at a “helicopter.” However, nothing was seen or heard at that time.
The incident attracted significant attention, and among those who came to interview the witnesses were representatives from the Kainuu Border Guard, ufologists from Oulu, and journalists. All investigators involved were left puzzled. Later, it was revealed that a similar object had been spotted six weeks earlier at Lake Vuossel in Kuusamo, where three local men were fishing. They, however, decided to keep their experience to themselves and only shared it a couple of years later—likely after learning about the Pyyvaara sighting.
For more intriguing reports like this, visit the Finnish UFO Research Association at www.fufora.fi, which hosts a comprehensive archive of UFO sightings across Finland. The Pyyvaara incident remains one of the most fascinating, unexplained events in the annals of Finnish ufology.
Source:
https://www.fufora.fi/artikkeleita/tunnetuimpia_suomalaisia_ufotapauksia
