On August 14, 1947, Professor R. L. Johannis was out painting near the Chiarso creek, at Villa Santina, which is in the extreme northeastern province of Italy. It was early in the morning around 9:00 am when suddenly Johannis would spot a 30 ft. disc-shaped object descending and eventually landing nearby. The craft was bright red and appeared to be stuck on the rocks on the hillside.
Two beings seemingly manifested right next to the ship once the ship had settled. The witness stated that they were about 3 feet tall, wearing dark blue overalls with a bright red collar and a belt. Also, they wore circular helmets on their heads that seemed larger than they should be. Strangely, their faces were not covered, and he could see their faces had a greenish color, and their eyes were large and dark purplish with a vertical line. they had no eyelashes or eyebrows. Both had a straight and large nose. The beings hands were claw-like, greenish in color, and they had four fingers on each.
What happened next would truly shock the artist.
He enthusiastically waved at the beings in a friendly manner, however, the entities didn’t interpret the greeting as the artist had hoped. One of the beings touched the center of its belt, and a thin vapor shot at the man causing him to fall onto his back. He was conscious but somewhat paralyzed, and he laid on his back helplessly as the small creatures approached.
They came within about two yards and picked up his easel which had been knocked to the ground. The artist was able to see that the beings were likely smaller than his easel.
Both entities were panting heavily as if out of breath.
After a few mins, the beings returned to the ship. The craft then rose from the ground, hovered and, then instantaneously shrunk before vanishing into thin air.
There’s some disagreement among ufologists about what happened here. Some say the craft flew away at incredible speeds and this caused an optical illusion. Others say the craft actually did shrink. It’s unclear exactly how the craft did disappear, but we should note the professor felt an incredible blast of wind when it left, the wind was so strong he rolled several times.
After some time, the witness regained his strength and got up. Immediately he noticed that his easel had disappeared.
One of the first things that people note when hearing this story today is the year and time this event occurred. It happened in August 1947, just several months after pilot Kenneth Arnold witnessed 9 flying unidentified flying objects that he described looked like saucers. Also, around this time was the Roswell incident in July 1947.
Both events raise many questions about this event. One, is this sighting related to the other sightings at this time. Its surely possible although, with the craft being bright red, that doesn’t match descriptions of the craft from Roswell or the Arnold Case.
Another question concerns the hostility the beings showed. Many have speculated that the beings interpreted the wave as a threat. The witness was waving with his paintbrush in his hand. Did they believe that the brush was some type of weapon. It should be noted there are ither cases where a powder or vapor substance has been used on humans.
One question concerns whether the professor got caught up in the flying saucer craze. It’s certainly possible, but this angle was explored and most agreed the flying saucer craze hadn’t hit Italy at this time. Most of the papers weren’t giving it much press.
One thing that sticks out in this case is the witness saw little green men. This was what most aliens were thought to look like back in the 40’s and 50’s. A classic case where little green men were seen was the Kelley-Hopkinsville incident that occurred in Kentucky in 1955. Did the witness see the same entities that were seen in Kentucky in 1955?
We will probably never get the answer to many of these questions.
