Near Saarijärvi, middle of Finland, November 29 1939.

It is around 5 pm and 14-year old Arvo is out in the forest collecting firewood together with his father. It is getting dark soon and they decide to go home. They have only been walking for a few minutes when they spot something on the right side of the path. On a small rocky hill about 70 meters (75 yards) away, they discover a strange metallic object. They think it might be a moonshining device. Arvo, who has never seen one wants to go and have a look, but his father says no. It can be dangerous. So they observe the object from a distance instead.

The object is partially covered by small trees, but they estimate it to be 4 meters (12 feet) in diameter. It has a conical shape and is wide at the bottom and tapering at the top. The height can probably be about 2.5 meters (7.5 feet). It stands on three long landing legs (each leg consists of 2-3 rods). They now think the object looks more like a craft of some kind. And below, they see an almost 1.5 meter (4.5 feet) long flame shoot out from the bottom. It almost resembles a welding flame. From the lower part there are also 5 – 6 smaller, different colored flames coming out 45 degrees from the hull. They are 0.5 – 1 meter (1.5 – 3 feet) long. The sound coming from these flames is similar to the sound of gas seeping out. Both father and son are now very curious and walk a little further towards the object.

When they got a little closer, they hear strange noises from something moving and they get a little worried. They now see that they are not alone. In front of the craft stands a human or humanoid. He is about the height of a grown man. Or maybe a little shorter. He is dressed in a light gray jumpsuit, almost like one worn by astronauts. On his head he has a full-face helmet with a black oval visor. The humanoid also carries a box with flashing lights. Next to him, Arvo and his father see something they only thought existed in books, 2-3 robot-like creatures. When they walk, they lift their legs high and Arvo can see that their legs are thin rods ending in a plate that appears to be their feet. It looks like the humanoid is controlling the robots from his box. The father and Arvo have a hard time seeing what they doing, since it is dusk and there are a lot of trees in the way. It doesn't seem like the strange visitors have seen them and Arvo and his father are starting to get a little scared now and carefully sneak away and then quickly head home.

The next day the Red Army crosses the Finnish border and the country is at war with the Soviet Union. The Winter War has begun. But despite this, Arvo still wants to go back to the place where they saw the craft and the strange creatures. His father protests and forbids it, but Arvo goes there anyway. At the landing site, he discovers triangular marks from the craft's legs and a disgusting, unpleasant smell lingers in the area.

This strange story was reported to Finnish UFO investigators many years later, which you notice when they are talking about Astronaut suits, which didn’t exits 1939.

Source: Mervi Virtanen & URECAT

Picture 1: The father and the boy first thought they encountered a strange moonshining device hidden in the forest.

Picture 2: A being in white space suit looking clothing was controlling three robot like creatures.