Ängelholm UFO memorial

The Ängelholm UFO memorial is a monument dedicated to an alleged UFO landing site in the Kronoskogen forest near Ängelholm, Sweden. It includes a concrete scale model of a flying saucer, the purportedly life-size landing impressions on the ground, and copper plaques mounted on pillars. The monument reflects the account of Swedish entrepreneur Gösta Carlsson, who attributed his success in life to encountering a UFO in 1946.[1] The memorial, erected in 1972, is maintained by the local government. Investigations into the account have not corroborated the UFO narrative. Despite a lack of evidence, it has become a tourist destination and national heritage site.

Ängelholm UFO memorial
Native name
Swedish: UFO-monumentet i Ängelholm
A recent photograph of the monument shows a concrete model of the spaceship in a clearing. There are concrete paths beneath and around the model in the clearing. In the background, a forest is visible with two trails.
Drone photograph of the memorial
LocationKronoskogen, Ängelholm, Skåne, Sweden
Coordinates56°13′58.4″N 12°49′8.6″E
BuiltSeptember 1972
Governing bodySwedish National Heritage Board

Background

Gösta Carlsson (1918–2003)[2] founded the herbal medicine company Cernelle in 1953.[3] Sales of its bee pollen extracts made him a millionaire, and he became known as Pollenkungen (The Pollen King).[4][3] Carlsson invested in the local ice hockey club, Rögle BK, and converted a former Cernelle warehouse into an ice hockey arena. Rögle BK signed Ulf Sterner, Sweden's first player to make a National Hockey League roster. In the 1960s, Rögle BK won its division and was promoted to the country's highest league, Hockeyettan.[5][1]

Carlsson attributed his success to a May 1946 encounter with a UFO in the woods near Ängelholm, though he did not make any public statements until the 1970s.[1][6] Carlsson said he was walking back from the beach through Kronoskogen, a forest planted into sandy soil to protect the coast,[1] when he noticed a light at the edge of a clearing. He approached what, from a distance, seemed to be a crew setting up a carousel.[7] Upon entering the glade, he reported seeing a disc sitting on a keel-like fin and a pair of retractable legs.[8] Carlsson claims to have interacted with the crew, one of whom used a device resembling a chest-mounted bellows camera to keep him away. He described the human-looking crew as wearing tight-fitting, white flight suits with dark boots, belts, hoods, and earplugs.[8][9]: 214–223 

After Carlsson witnessed the craft leave, he returned to the clearing to gather what he believed were discarded artifacts, including a quartz rod. He measured gouges in the ground that he attributed to the craft,[9]: 212–223  and created sketches that would later form the basis of the UFO memorial.[6] Throughout 1946, Carlsson reported a series of strange dreams where he said the UFO's pilot would communicate ideas to him.[9]: 222–225  He told Semitjov, "the driver [...] speaks to me. I don't know if it's words or thoughts I perceive."[9]: 223  These dreams, Carlsson claimed, spurred him to experiment with pollen as a natural remedy and start his company.[2][10]

Statements
Aerial photograph
1963
Drone photograph
2021
Aerial photograph of the site in 1963 (monochrome), and drone photo of the completed memorial in 2021 (color)

Carlsson made his first public statements in a 1971 interview with journalist Eugen Semitjov.[4][9]: 211  Semitjov went with Carlsson to the clearing before the memorial's construction. They discussed a circular impression approximately 50 feet (15 m) in diameter, 1 foot (30 cm) wide, and less than 1 inch (25 mm) deep but found no marks left by a keel or retractable legs.[9]: 218  After the interview, Semitjov sent the purportedly discarded quartz to the mineralogical department at Stockholm University. Semitjov did not disclose the provenance of the quartz to the researchers, who found it to be completely mundane.[9]: 219–221  One year later, Carlsson erected a monument in the clearing with landowner Erik von Geijer of Vegeholm Castle.[11][6]

In 1995, Swedish ufologist Clas Svahn wrote a book with Carlsson about the incident, Mötet i gläntan (The meeting in the clearing).[7] After years of research and over a hundred hours of interviews, Svahn came away disbelieving the encounter,[12] but not doubting Carlsson's conviction. In an interview, Svahn said that the story "became a part of [Carlsson's] reality".[13] Carlsson both maintained that the events occurred and acknowledged that they might sound like dreams to others. He additionally connected the Kronoskogen encounter to subsequent fainting spells, nightmares, and feeling as if his skull was an overloaded radio receiver.[9]: 222–226  Swedish historian Dick Harrison characterized Carlsson's narrative as "alleged but not proven".[1]

Monument
Photograph of a Swedish-language plaque

"A UFO landed and took off at this lo­ca­tion on May 18, 1946.

All cement markings are cast ex­act­ly ac­cord­ing to ex­ist­ing im­pres­sions in the ground and ac­cord­ing to the di­men­sion­al sketch, which an eye­witness to the event drew up on May 19, 1946.

 Vegeholm 1–9 1972
 Gösta Carlsson"

On site plaque,
Translated from Swedish

At the center of the memorial a one-eighth-scale concrete model of a flying saucer sits atop a concrete pedestal. Cast in Carlsson's Välinge factory and based on his sketches, the model has a rear fin, support legs, and a metal periscope-like device protruding from the top. Concrete paths, which depict landing impressions, circle the model. Copper plaques mounted on pillars at the edge of the clearing provide the purported eyewitness testimony.[14][6] The monument is Swedish National Heritage Board heritage site number RAÄ Strövelstorp 47:1.[15][16]

A few kilometers from Ängelholm and within walking distance of the beach, the memorial is a tourist destination.[16] After Mötet i gläntan was published, UFO-Sverige organized a national conference in Ängelholm, and Carlsson allowed a bank to display his alleged artifacts behind bullet-proof glass.[10][17] Guided tours began hiking to the area in 1996, the 50th anniversary of Carlsson's reported sighting. Swedish actress and former tour guide Catherine Jeppsson said that the story was appealing because Carlsson "wasn't just anyone, and the fact that he also claimed that he had the aliens to thank for everything didn't make the story any worse".[10] Tours often begin from the Skåne Line bunkers on the beach, before hiking through the Kronoskogen forest, and into the glade.[18][19] A 2015 initiative allowed Ängelholm Municipality to maintain the privately-owned site. Workers cleared encroaching plants, replaced rotten wood benches, and repaired the concrete paths on the forest floor.[20]

See also

References
  1. Harrison, Dick (April 28, 2017). "UFO i Skåne?" [UFO in Skåne?]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023. Det minner om en påstådd men inte bevisad landning av ett icke-jordiskt rymdskepp ("flygande tefat", avbildat i vad som uppges vara skala 1:8) den 18 maj 1946. [It commemorates an alleged but not proven landing of a non-terrestrial spacecraft ("flying saucer", depicted in what is said to be a 1:8 scale) on May 18, 1946.]
  2. "Sannsagan om Pollenkungen" [The true story of the Pollen King]. Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish). November 23, 2003. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  3. Cernelle (2023). "About us: History". Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  4. Svahn, Clas (May 5, 2021). "'Pollenkungens' möte med utomjordingar skapade Rögle BK:s första storhetstid" [The Pollen King's meeting with extraterrestrials generated Rögle BK's first heyday]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Sweden: Bonnier. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  5. Carlsson, Bo; Backman, Jyri; Stark, Tobias (June 2022). "The hegemonic impact of the NHL and the 'Americanization' of Swedish ice hockey and resistance: Rögle BK as 'hockey culture'". Sport in Society. 25 (6): 1125–1141. doi:10.1080/17430437.2022.2063581. ISSN 1743-0437. S2CID 248440213.
  6. "Världens första monument över "flygande tefat"" [The world's first "flying saucer" monument]. Arbetet (in Swedish). September 29, 1972. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  7. Svahn, Clas; Carlsson, Gösta (1995). Mötet i gläntan - Sveriges mest kända närkontakt med UFO [The meeting in the clearing - Sweden's most famous close contact with UFOs] (in Swedish). Sweden: Parthenon. ISBN 9789185044139. Min första tanke är att det är en tivolikarusell som någon kört dit. [My first thought is that it's a funfair carousel that someone drove out there.]
  8. Torgny, Ove (April 4, 1977). "Bemannat tefat ságs i Ängelholm" [Manned saucer seen in Ängelholm]. Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar (in Swedish). Ängelholm.
  9. Semitjov, Eugen (1974). "13 Mannen som teg i 25 år" [The man who was silent for 25 years]. De otroliga tefaten [The incredible saucers] (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden: Askild & Kärnekull. pp. 210–226. ISBN 9789170089268. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  10. "På jakt efter utomjordingar" [In search of aliens]. Skånska Dagbladet (in Swedish). August 6, 2008. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023. Han var ju inte vem som helst och att han dessutom påstod att han hade utomjordingarna att tacka för allt gjorde inte historien sämre, säger Catherine Jeppsson.
  11. Johansson, Eric (July 4, 1972). "Säreget monument i Vegeholmsskogen: Ska Minna Om Besök Utifrån" [A special monument in Vegeholmsskogen: Will Remember Visitors from the Outside]. Arbetet (in Swedish).
  12. Hansson, Dan; Berger, Lars (November 23, 2008). "Tefaten flyger igen" [The saucers fly again]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  13. Oscarsson, Mattias (December 18, 2022). "Finns sanningen om utomjordingarna i ett arkiv i Norrköping?" [Is the truth about the aliens in a Norrköping archive?]. Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023. Historien blev en del av hans verklighet, ett sätt för honom att leva. Han var en mycket speciell person som hade svårt att skilja på fakta och fiktion. [The story became part of his reality, a way for him to live. He was a very special person who had difficulty distinguishing between fact and fiction.]
  14. Assar, Mac (May 25, 1972). "'Rymdgläntan' i Ängelholm har nu fått gjutet 'tefat'" ['The space glade' in Ängelholm has now had a cast 'saucer']. Helsingborgs Dagblad.
  15. Högberg, Anders; Holtorf, Cornelius (2020). Cultural Heritage and the Future. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. p. 14. ISBN 978-1138829015.
  16. RAÄ-nummer Strövelstorp 47:1 Archived August 28, 2023, at the Wayback Machine (2 October 2018) Sweden: Riksantikvarieämbetet – via Fornsök.
  17. Anderson, Peter (May 17, 1996). "Mytomspunnen rymdstav visas" [Mythical space wand appears]. Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar (in Swedish).
  18. Niklasson, Anette (July 11, 2022). "Guidade turer vid ufo-monumentet" [Guided tours at the UFO monument]. Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish). Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  19. "Guidad Tur Vid Det Berömda UFO-Monumentet I Ängelholm" [Guided tour at the famous UFO monument in Ängelholm]. Magasin Laholm (in Swedish). July 27, 2022. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  20. Gunnarsson, Evelina (July 20, 2015). "Nu röjs det kring ufot" [Now it is clear about UFOs]. Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish). Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  21. Jasińska, Joanna (July 11, 2020). "Close encounter of third kind: the mystery surrounding an alleged alien abduction that still captures the imagination". The First News. Polish Press Agency. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  22. Brocklehurst, Steven (November 9, 2019). "The UFO sighting investigated by the police". BBC Scotland News. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ängelholm UFO Monument.
External image
image icon Painting of the account
Dan Sternoczky illustrated Carlsson's account in UFO-Aktuellt (1985).
  • Pollenkungen – The image gallery from the Pollenkungen (Pollen King) documentary contains news clippings and photographs of the memorial's construction.
  • UFO-Monumentet Ängelholm – Video drone tour
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