The Rasanac UFO Incident – The “Probable” UFO Landing Case

A potential UFO landing case in Yugoslavia near the border with Albania in the summer of 1971 was witnessed by seven people from two different locations. And while none of the witnesses can say for absolute certainty that the object definitely touched down on the ground, the incident is another lesser-known encounter that contributes to the ever-growing fuller picture of the UFO and alien mystery.

It is also interesting to note that several other very similar encounters took place decades earlier in the very same location, perhaps suggesting that something about the region is of particular interest to whatever intelligence is behind these seemingly otherworldly objects. As we shall also see, only two years before, there had been another similar encounter that unfolded in a small town just outside of Barcelona in Spain.

Before we look at those cases, though, we will return our focus to a quiet road near a small village in Yugoslavia one evening in the early 1970s.

UFO Landing Incident Near The Yugoslavia-Albania Border

At around 1 am on August 2^nd, 1971, in the small town of Rasanac in Yugoslavia, three men – Kosta Verus, Stojan Klatovski, and Milorad Dusanovic – were traveling along a quiet road close to the Albanian border. ^[1] In a strange turn of events, as they were driving, a frog leaped into the car from the roadside, causing Dusanovic to bring the car to a stop. It was at that point when they saw a strange light overhead.

Dusanovic later recalled that when they first noticed the light it “looked like the light of a spot-light”. Furthermore, they also noticed a “directed beam of light”, as well as noticing a strange sound. This strange sound “grew stronger” – and as the sound grew stronger, so did the light. Before they knew it, the light revealed itself to be an elliptical object hovering in the air in front of them, measuring approximately 30 feet across.

It appeared from their vantage point that the object landed in a clearing in the nearby trees, with Dusanovic stating that although they couldn’t be absolutely certain that the object landed, they “clearly saw rays coming through the forest trees” a little over 100 feet away from them. Then, two of the men, Verus and Klatovski, got out of the car in order to take a closer look.

A Bizarre Incident Takes A Frightening Turn

As the two men walked cautiously toward the glow coming from the trees it began to grow in brightness and intensity. In fact, it became so bright that the men could no longer look at it, or even see where they were going and they were forced to return to the car.

At this point, a panic was rising in the group, and as the four men looked at each other, they could all see that each of them was pale with fright. They decided to put the car back into motion and make their way from the area. A few moments later, they heard a loud noise like a huge clap of thunder, causing them to turn toward the woodland once more. They could clearly see that the vehicle had risen from the trees and had changed direction, now heading toward the Koselska River.

The men eventually arrived at their respective houses, each perplexed and in a slight state of shock at what they had witnessed. Dusanovic’s wife later stated that she had “no words” to describe her husband’s demeanor when he returned home, adding that he was “so pale” and was “unable to say anything” to her.

Although they didn’t know it at the time, there was another witness to the strange events that evening, and it is to his account that we will turn our attention to next.

The Corroborating Account Of N.C.

Referred to as N.C. – an administrator at the Ohrid Museum – in the report, the otherwise anonymous witness was driving toward Rasanac at the same time (1 am) with his wife and her friend in the car with him when he “spotted a luminous body” in the sky, as well as what appeared like lightning, even though the night was clear. A moment or so later, the car radio suddenly cut out as if someone had switched it off.

Then, “an intense light appeared moving through the air at great speed”. N.C. continued that as soon as it had appeared, it came to a stop approximately 50 feet from the ground a short distance away. The three people watched in amazement as the object – which was around 30 to 40 feet across, was “lowering silver-colored wings from its edges. When the wings were completely lowered, it gently landed and again drew the wings back into the body”.

N.C. further described the object as being “like a ball in shape, perfectly round, and silver-green in color”. The trio continued to watch and let out a collective gasp as the object suddenly began to glow intensely.

At this point, N.C. went to get out of the car in order to investigate the strange events that unfolded right in front of them. His wife went to stop him, with her friend also urging him to remain inside the vehicle. He brushed off their concerns, however, and opened the car door, stepping outside onto the roadside. As soon as he did so, he “felt a strong ray of light directed toward” him. He continued that instantly he was “shocked and became unconscious”, adding that “the light acted hypnotically” and he was “unable to stay on his feet”.

Further Encounters Come To Light

Following his blacking out, his wife and her friend managed to push and pull N.C. back into the car. He remained unconscious for several minutes before eventually coming to. After taking a moment to come to his senses, he fired up the car’s engine and continued with their journey toward Ohrid. After driving only several feet, he brought the car to a stop near the Porenta Bridge. When he looked in his rearview mirror, he could see “the light was coming closer”.

He continued on his way, the light eventually appearing to lose interest in them as it changed direction. When they had reached the village of Openica, the car radio suddenly burst into life once more.

The following morning, N.C. returned to the location where the bizarre events had played out to see if there was any evidence of the craft’s presence. With him were several friends, including, Sotir Stefanovski, technical education teacher. Although they didn’t find any such evidence, during the morning, Stefenovski revealed to N.C. that an almost identical encounter had occurred almost 20 years earlier, at some time in 1953 in the village of Pesani, when a group of workers were returning home to Ohrid.

It was around 11 pm on the night in question, the workers were walking along the road when they noticed a strange light in the distance. As the light came closer, it was clear that it was a solid object. What’s more, much like the object witnessed by N.C., the object extended “wings” which appeared to aid in its landing, before it began to glow intensely, causing the workers to flee as quickly as they could.

The Encounter Of Pero Krstanovski

Another person, Pero Krstanovski, told of his own encounter in the region just over a decade before, one evening in 1942. According to his account, he was making his way to Ohrid from Bitolj with his horses and a friend, Boris Alac, when the animals suddenly stopped, refusing to go any further. Both men realized that something must have spooked the horses to make them stop so suddenly and defiantly.

It was at that point that the two men noticed a bright light moving away from them over the river, a light they described as an “intensely bright flame”. Interestingly, as soon as the light disappeared in the distance, the horses immediately began forward once more.

It is clear, then, that this region of Europe has a long history of strange aerial objects. Around two years previously, though, in Spain, there was a very similar “probable” UFO landing case, and it is to that incident that we will turn our attention to next.

The Matadepera Landing Case

What is perhaps interesting about the presumed UFO landing case from a small town just outside Barcelona in Spain in the late 1960s is that much like the incidents in Yugoslavia we have just examined, is that the witness didn’t actually see the object land, but appeared to witness it only moments after it had taken off as it ascended into the sky. However, an investigation of the location where the witness had seen the craft revealed strange markings on the ground, markings that were indicative of a heavy object having been there.

Despite the witness’s advancing years, she was described in the report of the encounter as being “possessed of magnificent and most enviable health and strength”, as well as being “sound” in her senses and having a “liveliness and a mental agility” that is not usually seen in an older person. In short, she was a very credible and sound witness, and certainly not someone to perpetrate a hoax.

The witness wished to remain anonymous, and so was simply called “Doria Antonia Soler Rius” (or simply Doria) in the initial reports.

“A Curious Flying Object” Coming From Behind The Trees

At around 10 am on the morning of January 29^th, 1969, 80-year-old Doria was near a verge in the town of Matadepera, near Barcelona in Spain picking herbs when a sudden, loud noise captured her attention. ^[2] She would later describe this sound as being similar to a car passing extremely closely at a very high speed. Stopping what she was doing, she began to scan her surroundings, looking to see where the sound was coming from.

Her attention settled just above the trees a short distance away. To her shock, she could see “a curious flying object” moving upwards, as if it had come from a clearing in the woodland. As the object moved, she noted that it suddenly descended slightly so as to avoid colliding with the powerlines (which gives an indication as to how low the object was flying).

She estimated that the object was approximately 10 feet long, around five feet wide, and seven to eight feet in height. She further offered that the object had the shape of a fish – specifically, a sea bream, which is a flat fish that tapers off towards the end. Although the exterior was definitely metallic, it was “all colored, mainly in green and yellow”.

On the underside was a distinct circular section that glowed an orange-yellow color, with a ring of dark blue encircling it. Behind this circle, was a small round section that glowed the same green and yellow color as the main body. She didn’t, however, recall seeing any windows or portholes, noting that the surface of the exterior appeared seamless and smooth.

Doria continued to watch the strange craft as it began ascending once more as soon as it was clear of the powerlines. As it did so, its speed began to increase rapidly. Within moments, it had disappeared behind some houses in the distance.

Evidence Of A UFO Landing Incident

When UFO investigator, Joan Fonolleda Prat learned of the incident, he visited Doria and asked her if she could take him to where she had seen the object, which she duly did. Upon arrival, a short distance from where she was standing when she first noticed the craft, in the direction of where it appeared to come from, they discovered “curious marks” on the ground suggesting that the object had landed and then taken off from this very spot.

The markings featured two sets of two lines, each group spaced several feet apart and running parallel to each other. The report noted that these marks “presented a raised appearance”, as if something had been “introduced to the ground and run along almost parallel to the surface and at no great depth”, even comparing them to the “superficial tunnels that moles make in the fields”.

Investigators also noted that the markings on the left side were “a lot more pronounced” than those on the right, although the reasons for why this might be are unclear. We might ponder if the left-hand side of the craft touched the ground before the right, and so took more weight, albeit temporarily. Or maybe these increased indentations on the left-hand side was a result of the take-off, for similar reasons.

Other UFO researchers investigated the site, and no reasonable explanation could be reached as to what the markings could be. The markings were not, for example, made by an animal or anything else in nature. Furthermore, no investigator could think of a technological device that would be utilized in such a way that would have made these markings.

Ultimately, it was decided by those who investigated the case that it was certainly very likely that a landing event had taken place.

A Solid Witness To A Credible Sighting

As for Doria, she experienced np physical or mental distress as a result of the incident. In fact, she was positively pleased at having witnessed “something so pretty”, and had not contemplated at the time just what the object might be, much less that it could be a vehicle from another world. She further offered that while she knew she wasn’t looking at an airplane or helicopter, she had not heard anyone speak of UFOs before she had her encounter.

Ultimately, although she was insistent that what she had seen was very real (and the apparent markings left behind would indicate as such), she had no idea what the object might have been, other than it was “absolutely unknown to her”. Perhaps in an attempt to rationalize the incident, she offered to investigators that she had the feeling that the object was likely some kind of vehicle “from abroad” (another country).

Of course, whether there is a connection between Doria’s encounter and the incident in Yugoslavia witnessed by multiple people from different locations remains open to debate. There are certainly many similarities, though. The apparent landing in a clearing in woodland, for example, or the quick disappearance from the respective areas, or even the bright glowing lights and the strange noise accompanying the objects’ presence.

Another Layer To The UFO Mystery

We might ask, with regard to all of the encounters we have explored here, just why these potential visitors from another world chose to land their vehicles in the first place. Were these landings unplanned, possibly for repairs? Or might they have been part of some kind of cosmic reconnaissance mission? Might that explain why these mysterious crafts, for the most part, appeared to make every effort to leave the scene once they realized there was a human presence?

Or might we consider there was more to these encounters than first meets the eye? While this is pure speculation, make no mistake about that, but could it be that at least some of these witnesses had other encounters, perhaps ones they couldn’t recall? Could it be that some of these encounters were abduction attempts that for reasons unknown were aborted? Or were they pre-abduction missions to ascertain a potential abductee’s location? Again this is speculation, and perhaps unlikely speculation at that, but it is something to keep in the back of our minds.

We might also consider that the objects were part of some kind of military test flight for an advanced experimental aircraft. But if that was the case then the same questions remain, not least why would such experiments and test flights take place in locations where the general public might, and in this case, did, notice them?

One thing is certain, these cases add further layers to the already complex mystery of the UFO and alien question.

The short video below looks at some of the most interesting UFO sightings on record.