By Charles Lear
The history of UFO reports in Finland is much like that of other countries except that it starts earlier than most, dating back to the early 20th century. As was the case for much of Scandinavia, Finland had reports in the 1930s and 1940s of mystery lights, aircraft and rockets but, unlike its neighbors and much of Europe, the government of Finland has been quite secretive regarding official UFO investigations. Despite the government’s secrecy, documents have been released and were examined by private researchers. These documents revealed that Finnish defense organizations were actively investigating UFO reports from the very beginning and some intriguing cases have been brought to light.
Finland has the distinction of having an abduction account from 1917. The first printed version of that account appeared in the June 9, 1978 edition of the newspaper, Kurkijokelainen, and was written by Latomäen Aino. According to the story, a widow, Anni, was missing from her house in the community of Jyrinvaara for several days. Neighbors had thought she’d been away visiting her daughter but, when she reappeared, she had an unusual explanation for her absence. According to her, a large craft, shaped like a washbasin, had descended next to her house and small creatures came down out of it using a ladder. She was able to partially understand their language and, after refusing their invitation to come aboard, was taken by force. The craft flew off and she described being taken all over the planet and then among the stars.