Sometimes referred to as the Wartena Case or the Wartena Incident, an apparent landing and contact case on the base of Boulder Mountain in Montana in the heartlands of the United States is yet another that took place before the accepted beginnings of the modern UFO phenomena and such incidents as the Keith Arnold sighting or the Roswell crash, in this instance, seven years before in the early-summer of 1940.

The witness would not speak a word of the incident until just before his death in 1989 when he confided in two close friends. Almost another decade would pass before the UFO researcher, Warren Aston released the incident into the public Arena in the March-April 1998 edition of UFO Magazine.

Might this encounter, if we accept it to be true (and we have no real reason to doubt it) be of importance to the study and research of UFO and alien encounters? It would certainly appear so. And it is perhaps important that such accounts don’t disappear in the continuing build-up of the sands of time.

Mining For Gold On Boulder Mountain, Montana

Udo Wartena, a 37-year-old of Dutch origin was working as a part-time gold miner for the Northwest Mining Company in May 1940 in Townsend, Montana. On this particular morning, at a little after 10 am, Wartena was near a site at the base of Boulder Mountain near Canyon Ferry Lake where he had discovered indications of gold ore several weeks earlier.

He had been returning to the site on-and-off since and was moving boulders in an attempt to divert the waters nearby to aid in his mining mission. As he did this, he suddenly became aware of a strange humming sound. At first, he thought it might be an aircraft flying over the area. However, when the sound persisted, he began to look around a little more eagerly.

Still not able to see anything he began to make his way to a raised part of ground nearby. Perhaps someone was approaching in a vehicle, he thought. However, as he stepped onto to the risen plateau, he could see in front of him where he had made the makeshift dam was a large, metallic object hovering in the air. He would later state:

…(it was like) two soup plates, one inverted over the other. (They were) stainless steel in color, though not as bright and shiny!

As he watched, half in awe and half in confusion, ladder-like stairs began to emerge from the underside of the disc-shaped craft. Then, a “man” walked down them and began towards Wartena’s location.

Aside from the craft, the man looked to be exactly that. Wartena would recall he had on a pair of “light gray overalls” and wore “slippers or moccasins” on his feet. Furthermore, he had a “circular cap” on his head the same color as his bodily attire, covering extremely white hair.

Not “Custom To Interrupt” Or “Allow Themselves To Be Seen!”

At this stage, “somewhat more than interested”, Wartena made his towards the newcomer. As the pair neared, the visitor stretched out his hand to Wartena and shook his hand. This mysterious person went on to tell Wartena that “they” were not aware that there was anyone in the area (meaning Wartena). He would then go on to inform the miner that it was “not their custom to interrupt or allow themselves to be seen”.

Then, the man asked Wartena if it would be OK if they might “take some water” to which he readily agreed. This is an interesting point. We have mentioned numerous times about the connection between close-range UFO sightings and the placement of large bodies of water nearby.

Furthermore, many close contact sightings, including many of the mysterious airship sightings across the United States almost 50 years previously in 1897 also featured occupants who appeared to be human, who would often ask for supplies of water.

While the man signaled for a hose-type device which emerged from the hovering craft, Wartena studied him a little closer. He would later recall that:

…his English was like mine, but he spoke slowly. As if he were a linguist and had to pick his way!

Then, the man turned to Wartena and, motioning to the hovering metallic disc, asked if he would like to go aboard the craft.

Hundreds Of Years Old – As “You Measure Time”

Without hesitation, Wartena agreed and followed the man to the disc. He would later recall that the humming, although not particularly loud, “seemed to go through” him the nearer he got to it. He would later recall his first thoughts as he went inside this futuristic and otherworldly craft:

We entered into a room about twelve by sixteen feet, with a close-fitting sliding door on the farther end, indirect lighting near the ceiling, and nice upholstered benches around the sides!

Incidentally, all of these descriptions match with many other reports of people who claim to have been inside similar crafts.

Wartena would notice another man in the room, as if waiting for them. Like the man who had greeted him outside, he also had pure white hair. For reasons he wasn’t quite sure of, he would ask them how old they were. They would respond that one was “about 600-years-old” while the other was “over 900 years of age” – at least how people on Earth “measure time”.

Perhaps interesting, they would also state that they wished to take water from the stream as it was “free of algae” and purer. With regards to the apparent interest in water supplies such UFOs and their occupants have, Wartena would offer that the hydrogen is converted and used to power the crafts.

A Craft That “Creates Its Own Gravity!”

Even more intriguing, if we accept the claims to be without a doubt true for just a moment, is the information volunteered to him in response to further questions about the craft. According to Wartena’s memories of the conversation, he was told:

…as you noticed we are floating above the ground, and though the ground slopes the ship is level, There are in the outside rim, two flywheels. One turning one way, and the other in the opposite direction!

He would continue that this “overcomes the gravitational pull of the Earth and other planets”. And essentially, that this device gives the craft its own “gravitational pull”. This, he would state, allows the crafts to ride such gravitational pulls or waves like “you do when you sail on ice”.

This is again an interesting detail. And one that is remarkably similar to how Bob Lazar would describe the workings of such otherworldly crafts. Further still, Wartena would recall that these “flywheels” also created “an electromagnetic force”, which again is remarkably similar in detail to information from other researchers, whistleblowers, and people of close contact encounters.

Wartena would admit he was ignorant of such phrases as “electromagnetic forces and energies”. However, he also states that he was made aware of how important it was that humanity understood and developed such energy sources.

Once more, Wartena would begin to relay information about how the crafts could use the energy of a distant star and then “skip upon the light waves” to travel there which, once again, would share distinct similarities to the aforementioned Lazar.

We “Mingle With Your People” And “Give Help” When Required!

What is perhaps also interesting is how Lazar would claim to have learned his information. According to him, while working on top secret projects for the United States’ government. Using recovered alien technology from the 1940s, no less. Most believe that to be the wreckage from the Roswell crash. If we are to believe the accounts, however, there were many such crashes throughout the forties.

These visitors would offer that they also had alternative sources of energy. One of which they derived (and stored) from the sun and other similar stars.

Perhaps even stranger was that, while they didn’t say they were “human” or “alien”, the man would offer to Wartena they “look pretty much as you do”. And what’s more that they:

…mingle with your people, gather information, leave instructions or give help where needed!

They would state they “lived among” humans on occasion. This would suggest a covert, behind-the-scenes agenda that had been in place long prior to 1940. How far back this secret presence goes is perhaps open to debate.

Perhaps also of interest, certainly from the Ancient Astronaut theory perspective, is the response of the “man” regarding their knowledge and beliefs in “Jesus Christ” and religion in general. According to Wartena, he would state to him:

…I would like to speak of these things but are unable. We cannot interfere in anyway!

Many subscribers to the Ancient Astronaut theory suggest that many of the world’s religions are a consequence of “extraterrestrial intervention” in the distant past. Does the response of the white-haired humanoid man suggest that this intervention was unintentional? Or might it suggest interference from a different extraterrestrial race than the ones Wartena met at Boulder Mountain?

A Decline To “Go With Them!”

Before he left the craft they would volunteer other pieces of information to Wartena. For example, his mysterious hosts would offer, and carry out, a scan of his entire body for “impurities”. This, with something similar to an X-Ray machine.

The men would also offer him the chance to “go with them”. Something which seems to come up, for whatever reason, in lots of close encounter incidents. Especially ones from before the 1960s when the “gray alien abduction” phenomena first began to creep into such incidents. His response is also interesting. He would recall years later:

I said that I thought it would be interesting but felt it would inconvenience too many people. Later, I wondered why I said that!

Once more, this is a seemingly “standard” response from people given such a chance to explore the universe with seemingly (and essentially) immortal cosmic explorers. However, with that in mind, Wartena himself would recall an incident of a local man. Who seemingly vanished without a trace only two years previously.

The man in question resided and walked around the same terrain as he. Wardena would often wonder if this young man might have happened upon the same visitors as he. Only he had chosen to go with them.

An encounter already intriguing to the full would take a further twist. The visitors would issue a final piece of advice as he left the ship. They would state to him that he should “tell no one” of his encounter. They would, of course, not believe him. However, “in years to come” he would be able to speak publicly without such fear.

A Cosmic Influence Across The Centuries!

What should we make of the apparent incident of early-May 1940? While it falls outside of the general scope of UFO and alien encounters, at the same time it contains multiple details that can be found on numerous other UFO and close contact encounters with apparent extraterrestrials from other worlds.

What is also intriguing, while many similar encounters of the forties and fifties did indeed take place at night as we might suspect, many others would unfold in broad daylight. Wartena would estimate he was on board the craft for around two hours.

Perhaps also interestingly, after the craft had left the area, all of Wartena’s limbs became weakened. To such a degree that he couldn’t move for some time. Many other witnesses to such otherworldly craft at such close range also report physical consequences of such an interaction.

Despite his search of the area, there was no sign at all that the craft was there. Aside from a small piece of grass that appeared pressed down. Heeding the visitor’s advice, he would decide against speaking of the encounter for almost half a century.

Were these encounters real? And if so, why did they seemingly stop decades ago? Did these cosmic guiders who spent time among us suddenly lose heart or give up on the human race? Or was there a forcing out? Might the apparent abductions of civilians across the United States and the rest of the world by “gray aliens” have some kind of connection to their disappearance?

It is certainly an intriguing encounter. And one that might prove to be of importance to the UFO and alien question? Just what is the interest in this planet to extraterrestrial life? And why is that interest so intense that it stretches across centuries.

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