Älvsbyn, north east Sweden, October 1, 1947.

Eleven-year-old Bernt Engström was on his way home from a school friend's house. He was walking along the country road (now Route 94 towards Luleå) at around 10 p.m. as he approached the bridge over the Pite River. His family lived on a farm on the north side of Älvsbyn. It was relatively dark outside—there was still no snow to provide illumination, and streetlights were still scarce at the time. About 10 meters (33 feet) before reaching the bridge, Bernt noticed three glowing rings in the sky above Hundberget ("Dog Mountain"), northwest of the village. The rings were positioned vertically, one above the other, pulsing and rotating in all the colors of the rainbow; they resembled a string of lights with a hollow center and appeared large enough to cover half the mountain. After a moment, he saw the three rings of light merge into one and descend toward a meadow located 150 meters (492 feet) from his family's home. The rings then disappeared behind a neighbor's outbuilding. Bernt estimated that the lights were visible for about 10 seconds.

Bernt pondered the strange phenomenon he had witnessed as he continued walking home. After crossing the bridge, he turned left along the riverbank and followed the smaller road toward his home. Upon entering the yard, he saw a round, transparent bubble—1.5 meters (4.9 feet) wide—floating about 20 cm (7.9 inches) above the ground with a human-like figure sitting inside. It emerged from behind a large woodpile, and shortly thereafter, two more appeared side-by-side a short distance behind the first. All of them were moving forward in Bernt’s direction.

The witness sketch of the beings and the bubbles.

The figures inside the bubbles were dressed in dark clothing and were quite small—perhaps only 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) tall—and while humanoid, they had long, dog-like ears. They appeared to be sitting on some sort of seat, holding a cane or staff that they used to propel the bubble forward with a paddling motion. Bernt could not understand how they managed this, given that the bubble was sealed; he could not see how the rod could pass through the bubble’s gelatinous casing. He remembered seeing the figures' faces clearly—with their long, drooping ears—and noting that they were rather ugly. He then saw two of the beings turn toward each other and appear to converse, though the boy could hear nothing. It also seemed to him that they were looking in his direction—where he stood 30 meters (98 feet) away—and laughing at him.

Map of the area and the encounter.

Bernt watched as the three figures and their strange, spherical vehicles passed by and continued toward the neighbors' two outbuildings. The bubbles then vanished in the direction of the meadow where he had seen the light phenomenon land. After the beings inside the spheres disappeared behind the outbuildings, the boy went inside. To this day, he does not understand why he did not follow them to see where they went. Once inside, he told his mother what he had seen. "You read too many books!" she replied. The only person who believed Bernt was the schoolmate he had walked home from that evening.

Bernt as an old man telling his story to Clas Svahn. (picture: UFO Aktuellt)

In 1947, the concept of UFOs did not yet exist and few knew about the flying saucer phenomenon or speculated about aliens, and it would be a full 68 years before Bernt Engström contacted UFO Sweden and told about what he had been involved in. Even though he was only 11 years old at the time and many years have passed since then, Bernt was considered a credible witness by the investigators.

Source: UFO Aktuellt #4 2015