Today in UFO History

September 17, 1966 - Gwinner, North Dakota, USA:

The Gwinner UFO Incident

On the morning of September 17, 1966, near Gwinner, North Dakota, 12-year-old Randy Rotenberger reported seeing a strange metallic object while waiting for his school bus.

He described a silvery, saucer-like craft resembling two bowls joined together, topped by a transparent dome and surrounded by red and green lights. The object reportedly descended into a nearby field about 300 yards away, resting on three landing supports while producing a low-pitched whining sound.

After roughly five minutes, Rotenberger said the craft suddenly accelerated away at tremendous speed. Investigators later examined three depressions in the field, arranged in a triangular pattern and suspected by some to be landing marks.

The incident was investigated by the U.S. Air Force and ultimately remained listed among Project Blue Book's unidentified cases. Although the ground marks never proved that an unusual craft had landed, the combination of a close-range sighting, apparent landing, physical traces, and official investigation has made Gwinner an intriguing but relatively obscure UFO case.