While there are many UFO sightings from the United States, and Mexico is a known UFO hotspot with many well-documented encounters on record, by comparison, Canada, despite being the largest country (in terms of land area) on the North American continent, is often overlooked when it comes to encounters with strange aerial objects and equally strange otherworldly entities. The fact is, though, Canada has a long history of such things, with incidents going back to long before the start of the Modern UFO Era. So, with the usual caveat in mind of not having time nor space to explore every one of these sightings (entire volumes would be required), we will delve into some of the most interesting and detailed.

Around eight months later, according to an article in the July 3rd, 1911 edition of the Windsor Record, on the evening of July 2nd, 1911, a strange object had been witnessed by the residents of Chatham Township near Windsor, Ontario, hovering overhead before it calmly descended and hovered a short distance above the ground for several moments. Then, without warning, a strange “whirring sound” came from the object, and it began to glow brightly. A moment after that, it shot into the air and disappeared.

Although the exact date isn’t known, around six months later in early 1912, six-year-old Abram Penner claimed to have seen a strange object land in the field of a farm where he was playing in Vancouver, British Columbia. He later stated to his father that several moments after the craft came to a stop, several strange men emerged from it and headed in his direction. He continued that they examined his body, with a particular interest in his hands because, as the young boy explained, “they have different hands than we do!” They also had “round feet, short legs” and “no knees or elbows!” Even more remarkable in terms of details that would show up regularly in alien encounters, including abductions, of the later decades of the twentieth century, Abram claimed that these men “operate on mind power,” meaning that he could understand everything they told him. According to Abram, who spoke of the incident years later, his father ordered him not to speak of the incident.

An equally strange encounter unfolded two years later in early 1914 in Georgian Bay off the coast of Ontario. On the night in question, no less than eight witnesses saw a strange object that was floating on the water. On top of this bizarre vessel were several strange figures who appeared to be working some kind of strange hose into the water. The witnesses watched the scene in front of them for several moments before the figures noticed they were being watched. They immediately scarpered inside the object, which then rose from the surface of the water and took off, disappearing into the distance.

Another intriguing and thought-provoking encounter occurred in June 1929 in Quebec. On the night in question, at around 11 pm, 20-year-old Levis Brosseay was riding on horseback towards the town of Ferme Neuve when he became aware of a “dark object with a yellow light” on it a short distance ahead of him. At the same time, his horse suddenly became agitated and nervous. Levis dismounted and secured the horse at the roadside before setting out towards the strange object on foot. By the time he was around 150 feet from the bizarre craft, he became aware of several strange men moving close to the object, their focus seemingly on the vegetation on the ground below. He remained where he was and watched the mysterious figures until they climbed back into the craft after several moments. Almost immediately, the object rose into the air and sped off into the distance. Levis later estimated that the object was moving around 50 miles per hour. He further recalled that the object was around 50 feet in width and that it had windows out of which shone a bright light.

Without a doubt, though, some of the most intriguing of Canada’s historic UFO encounters occurred three years earlier during a wave of UFO sightings over Maitland in the summer of 1926. The first report of this wave was documented in the July 7th, 1926, edition of the Courier and Freeman newspaper, which reported on several sightings that had unfolded during the previous week. The first of these sightings occurred in the small villages on the outskirts of the city, with some of the witnesses not only reporting seeing strange lights or glowing objects overhead, but also seeing “searchlights” coming from the underside of these objects and sweeping across the ground below. One witness stated that these objects “moved rapidly” and even seemed to be “attached to a flying machine of some description!” Similar descriptions were offered by another, anonymous farmer from the nearby town of Prescott. He claimed that he had witnessed the strange objects moving overhead from his farm, offering that “the head one” had some kind of “powerful searchlight” that was “turned down!” He elaborated that he had the impression that this searchlight was being utilized by the craft’s occupants to look for something on the ground, and was so bright that his horses began to become agitated. Another detail that surfaced in almost all of the witness reports was that these strange lights were completely silent and made no noise whatsoever as they traveled.

One particular encounter, however, stood out from the others and unfolded in the Brockville region of the city. According to the report, the anonymous woman claimed to have seen the strange lights on two separate occasions, each time hovering approximately several hundred feet above her house. Strangest of all, though, she could see a strange figure that appeared to be encased within the light (or the object). This figure, the anonymous woman claimed, was holding something that appeared to be a rifle, a detail that led some people to contemplate whether the strange lights were airships being used by smugglers to take alcohol into the United States (which was still under the Prohibition Act at the time). This is certainly possible – some would say likely. However, it doesn’t fully explain the speed with which the lights moved. Whatever the truth, the strange lights of 1926 over Maitland remain a complete mystery.

According to an article in the June 1976 edition of Flying Saucer Review by John Brent Musgrave, at some point in 1933, in Nipawin near Tobin Lake in Saskatchewan, several local residents witnessed a strange object land nearby. Not only that, they soon saw several of the occupants of the otherworldly craft carrying out some kind of repairs to the object. It is important to note that, at the time, this part of Canada – particularly so Nipawin - was yet to enjoy modern amenities such as telephones and electricity, although work was underway to do so. Also during this time, many forest rangers and workers reported seeing bizarre, glowing lights hovering over the region, with some insisting that these glowing lights often came down to the ground. If there was no electricity in the region, which there wasn’t – we might ask just what these strange glowing lights were. While many of the witnesses that evening in 1933 were happy to dismiss the lights as nothing of interest, two men and a woman (none of whom, unfortunately, are named) decided to jump in their small pick-up truck and head out into the woodland where the lights had been reported to investigate further.

They made their way along the quiet dirt road, soon witnessing a strange glow up ahead, and it didn’t take them long to realize that this glow was getting larger, as if it was heading in their direction. Regardless, they continued heading towards it, only stopping their vehicle when the vegetation made it impossible for them to pass. After bringing the pick-up truck to a stop, they ventured out on foot. Only moments later, they could see the source of the light. There in front of them, a short distance away on a clearing, was a “large, oval-shaped object” with a dome on the top and a “slightly rounded” underside.

Just under half a decade later, one afternoon in 1937 off the coast of Vancouver Island, a fisherman referred to as “George” witnessed a “whitish-bluish” sphere hovering just above the surface of the water several hundred feet from his vessel. George immediately put the boat in motion to put some distance between himself and this strange, glowing object. However, to his disbelief, it seemed to follow him, although it maintained its distance as opposed to pursuing. It was because of this that George remained calm while moving away from the object, and as such, managed to take in a considerable amount of detail. He later recalled, for example, that the edges of the object were made up of a “variety of blue tones” and that when it eventually disappeared from his sight, it seemed to “dissipate” instead of moving away from him. Many people who learned of the sighting believed that George had likely seen something similar to St. Elmo’s Fire – or at least some kind of natural phenomenon- and while George himself leaned heavily towards this explanation, he also stated that he had the distinct feeling that the sphere had some kind of intelligence behind it.

If we fast forward just short of 60 years to the evening of December 11th, 1996, another wave of UFO encounters unfolded over Canada’s Yukon region, sightings that were documented by researcher Martin Jasek. The first of these involved a witness that Jasek labeled as “FOX1”, who was driving alongside the waters of Fox Lake when he noticed a strange light that appeared to be floating on the surface of the water. He continued toward the light, and the closer he got, the more he could tell that the light was a solid object. As he continued onward, he momentarily took his eyes from the road as another vehicle headed in his direction. By the time he returned his focus to it, the glowing object was no longer there. He quickly scanned his surroundings and noticed a “group of lights” that were seemingly in the distance and heading towards a nearby hill.

At this point, he pressed down on the gas pedal and headed in the direction of the lights. Eventually, when he spotted a clear view of the lake and the valley – and the hill – he brought his car to a stop. However, by the time he had exited the vehicle, the lights had disappeared once more. He immediately got back in his vehicle and set out for Braeburn Lodge, which was close by. Upon arriving, he jumped out of his car and rushed inside, telling the owner, Steve Watson, what he had just seen while scribbling down rough sketches of the object. Over the next few hours, several other people entered Braeburn Lodge, each claiming they too had seen a strange, baffling object, with Steve taking note of each account.

Another sighting unfolded a short time later, when cousins, referred to as FOX2 and FOX3, were driving along a road that ran alongside Fox Lake. It was a little after 8:30 pm, and the two cousins, who were traveling in separate vehicles, were making their way along the Klondike Highway when they suddenly became aware of a “huge UFO” hovering over the frozen water of the lake. As soon as they did so, both of them pressed down on their respective brakes and brought their cars to a stop. FOX3 remained inside his car and viewed the object through the window. FOX2, on the other hand, got out of his vehicle and headed towards the water’s edge in an attempt to get a better look. As soon as he did, the object began to move in his direction, and within seconds it was hovering directly over the top of him, allowing him to see that it was a “smooth and solid object” with several lights on its underside. It remained there for several moments before retreating and disappearing over a nearby hill.

It would later come to light that only moments before, another couple (referred to as FOX4 and FOX5 in the report) were driving along the same road and were approaching the southern tip of the lake. They reported seeing a “row of lights” that were surrounded by random flashing lights that appeared to be moving close to the surface of the frozen lake. To begin with, they thought they were seeing a small aircraft about to crash into the lake. However, they soon rationalized that the lights were moving much too slowly and controlled to be an aircraft about to crash. Their only conclusion was that they were witnessing a vehicle of “unknown origin” which eventually disappeared over the hill.

By chance, FOX5 happened to look at the clock on the car’s dashboard, noting that it was 8:23 pm. Several minutes later, FOX5 and FOX4 were approaching the two cousins (FOX2 and FOX3) who were both standing outside of their respective cars. FOX5 brought his vehicle to a stop and leaned out of the window, asking them, “What the heck was that?” They spoke for several moments before FOX5 and FOX4 returned to their car and went on their way. Several moments later, they arrived at the Braeburn Lodge, where FOX1 was just leaving. Several moments later, FOX2 and FOX3 also arrived at the lodge.

Amazingly, a sixth witness – FOX6 – also came forward to report their sighting. The anonymous woman was driving along Fox Lake somewhere between 8 pm and 8:40 pm. As she was driving, a glow came out of nowhere and lit up the inside of her car. A moment later, she looked out of the front window of the car and could see a “large arrangement of multicolored lights” making their way across the sky. Then, her car came to a sudden stop, and all of the electronics failed.

Martin Jasek's investigations further revealed another sighting that occurred between 8:30 pm and 9 pm, a short distance away in the small town of Pelly Crossing. The witness, referred to as PEL1, was checking his game traps when he suddenly noticed a strange row of lights moving over the hill in the distance. To begin with, and much like other witnesses that evening, he first thought the lights belonged to a small aircraft that was about to crash. However, he too realized the lights were moving much too slowly to have been a crashing aircraft.

Now, completely intrigued with the possibility that he was witnessing some kind of otherworldly craft, he turned on his flashlight and headed toward the object. As he walked, he inadvertently caught the row of lights in the beam of the flashlight – and as soon as he did so, the lights began to move in his direction. Seconds later, the object was only 300 yards away, hovering silently. Then, a light suddenly appeared on the underside of the craft and began making sweeping motions over the ground below, much like a searchlight. He remained where he was and watched the object, and the searchlight-like beam continued to sweep over the ground. Moments later, several other beams of light were visible; these were a neon green color. At this point, feeling slightly unnerved, PEL1 began to move away from the object, looking away momentarily as he did so. When he looked back only moments later, the object was no longer there.

At around the same time, another couple – PEL2 and PEL3 – were traveling north of PEL1’s location. They too reported seeing a “huge row of lights” moving slowly across the sky. PEL2 was so intrigued by what he was seeing that he pulled his car to the side of the road, later stating that the object was approximately the same size as the Big Dipper constellation as viewed from the ground, which was also visible in the sky that evening. As this was happening, at an evening class at Pelly Crossing Community College, four local women – referred to as PEL4, PEL5, PEL6, and PEL7 – also witnessed the strange and mystifying row of lights as they were standing outside the college during a break in their class. They were certain that the lights were part of a large, solid object that moved silently across the sky. This wouldn’t, though, be the end of the night’s activity.

Around an hour and a half later – between 11 pm and 11:30 pm – a further nine witnesses from two different locations would report sightings of almost identical lights over the village of Carmacks. Four of those witnesses – four men who were driving in their pick-up truck, referred to as CRM1, CRM2, CRM3, and CRM4 – when they noticed the strange lights moving overhead in front of them. After bringing their vehicle to a stop, the men watched the lights, realizing they were part of a solid object, for several minutes. Each recalled how purposely the object moved, as well as the fact that it remained completely silent throughout. At roughly the same time, from their home, a husband and wife, and their three young children (CRM5, CRM6, CRM7, CRM8, and CRM9) witnessed the bizarre lights moving over the trees nearby. Although they told their children the lights were “Santa Claus getting ready for Christmas”, the two parents knew they were seeing something truly out of the ordinary. Interestingly, the family also witnessed the lights disappearing. However, rather than disappearing over a mountain or hill (there is none near their home), the lights just vanished “one by one” as if they had gone “behind an invisible wall!”

The sightings would become a topic of conversation on many local radio shows and stations over the days that followed. Just what the object might have been, however, remains a complete mystery. It is worth mentioning, though, the similarities to the Phoenix Light episode only several months later, in March 1997, south of the border in Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States. Although there were, admittedly, differences in the apparent shape of the respective crafts, both events featured an object taking a very purposeful and public journey, at relatively low altitude over a public area, and both events were witnessed by multiple people from different locations.

Several years after these events, at a UFO conference on July 8th, 2000, in St. Paul, Alberta, Martin Jasek was approached after a lecture he had given by a man called Kevin who claimed he had undergone a bizarre encounter in the Yukon region in September 1987. Jasek spent a considerable amount of time with Kevin, and between them, they managed to piece together a full timeline of events on the night in question. The account was detailed in the book Encounters with UFOs and Extraterrestrial Life by Michael Pye and Kirsten Dalley, and is one that is widely regarded as very credible, with Kevin being described as “not at all the type looking for attention!”

According to the account, on the morning of September 2nd, 1987, with the grey Yukon sky over Ross River somehow complementing the damp, wet conditions, Kevin prepared to set off on his motorbike to embark on a three-day hunting trip to the rural areas between Macpass and Sheldon Lake. He had arranged for several friends to join him at a private trailer he had rented at Dewhurst Creek so they could spend a day fishing. However, as soon as he put his bike in motion and set off to his lodgings, the grey weather suddenly cashed in on its threat to turn nasty. Not only did a drizzle quickly turn into a heavy downpour, but the temperature dropped considerably. It wasn’t long before he was completely soaked, and realizing he had a friend who had a cabin near Gravel Creek, he decided to take a quick detour there in order to change his clothes to ones more suitable for the wet conditions. By the time he eventually arrived at the isolated trailer, it was sunset, with the nighttime conditions rushing toward him. With this in mind, he quickly prepared a fire, made something to eat, and then headed to bed, aiming to get an early start the following day. The last thing he could remember before falling to sleep was the sound of the rain tapping on the roof of the trailer.

By the time he awoke the following morning, the rain had stopped, and while the roads were still wet, the weather was much better. He gathered his hunting equipment, loaded his bike, and set off along the North Canal Road on the way to Macpass, keeping his speed around 10 miles per hour due to the slickness of the road. As he made his way down the road, with the Yukon Mountains perfectly visible in the distance, he suddenly began to feel “uneasy and anxious!” He looked around the area in front of him, but couldn’t locate any signs of a threat. He then brought the bike to a stop at the side of the road, got down, and left it leaning upright. He then made his way to the side of the road into some long grass so that he could relieve himself. It was as he was doing so that he noticed some kind of movement ahead of him. He turned his head in the direction of this movement, noticing some kind of strange aerial vehicle ahead of him. To begin with, he thought he was looking at a helicopter or a low-flying aircraft. However, when he realized that he could see no wings or propellers, as well as the fact that the object didn’t make a sound, he realized he was looking at something much more extraordinary.

At this point, he went to obtain his camera from his jacket pocket. However, strangely, he suddenly decided to put it back and not take a picture – we might assume that this course of action is a sign of some kind of mental control exerted on him by whatever intelligence was behind the strange craft. He returned his attention to the object, noticing that it was a cigar shape, with a green exterior and several portholes along the side. As he continued to watch, the object appeared to fade out of existence, and even disappeared for a second or two. When it reappeared, it was somehow much more solid than it had been previously. As he watched in complete awe, he also thought to himself that he didn’t “think I should be seeing this,” and he crouched as low as he could into the long grass at the side of the road, the strange craft continuing to descend before it disappeared behind a hill close by. He waited several moments before deciding it was safe to make a run for his bike and to leave the area. Then, a strange metallic thud came from behind him.

He thought another road user had just pulled up a short distance away, and he immediately made his way towards the area from which the metallic sound came, around a slight bend in the road. However, moments after going around the bend, he was “face to face with two grey creatures” that were “insect-looking” and had “pointy faces!” Both figures were wearing the same style of tight-fitting blue suits, and it was clear that both had extremely thin arms and legs by comparison to their bodies. Bizarrely, as he was viewing these strange figures, he heard his voice in his mind telling him, “They’re grasshopper people!”

The next thing Kevin realized, one of the figures placed its hand to its waist, and onto what appeared to be a flashlight. Immediately, a beam emerged from the flashlight and hit Kevin square on, something that he later stated “pulled him from reality!” Immediately after this strange beam made contact with him, “there was absolute quiet, (and) nothing existed but me!” He also realized that he was completely paralyzed, and that when he tried to call out, he was unable to do so, or even form any words in his mouth. Then, everything went completely black, and he felt a sensation of “rocketing skywards!”

His next memory was of standing on the other side of the road, opposite his bike, which he was now staring at. The two creatures were no longer there, and he could tell from the length of the trees’ shadows that a considerable amount of time had passed. He staggered over the road to his bike, realizing that something truly profound had taken place. He mounted the bike and reached for the keys that he always left in the ignition. They weren’t there. It took him several moments to realize that he was grasping them tightly in his clenched hand. He did his best to shake himself to his senses before starting the bike, setting off back to the trailer. By the time he arrived back, it was completely dark. He made himself a pot of coffee and did his best to recall the day’s events, convinced that he must have blacked out for several hours. Then, an already bizarre and disturbing day got even more so when he heard a strange, “soft humming” sound coming from above the trailer. At the same time, he sensed a slight “vibration in everything” around him. This lasted for around 10 minutes before suddenly ceasing. Although he didn’t know why, he knew that the two creatures he had witnessed earlier were now almost certainly outside his trailer. He quickly checked the locks and decided to remain inside until daylight. As he sat in the trailer – never really sleeping but instead deep in thought about the day's events – he began to have several flashbacks of memory.

He had sudden memories of being in a trance-like state, and even more remarkably, of looking down on the trees below, “as if I was flying!” His next flashback, though, was more disturbing. He recalled suddenly opening his eyes and seeing nothing but absolute blackness. This blackness then moved away from him, and he could see the face of one of the strange insect-like creatures staring right back at him, the blackness seemingly the creature's eye pressed directly against his. At the same time, he heard a voice enter his mind, telling him there was “nothing to worry about!” He looked around him and could see he was in a large room. Moreover, there were several strange creatures around him, although these were different from the two creatures at the roadside, and resembled something more akin to a typical grey alien. He was finally able to speak and asked if they were going to do experiments on him. Amazingly, the creatures responded, once more into his mind, that these experiments had “already been done!”

He could recall being asked by these creatures if he wished to see the Earth from where he currently was; however, he was more preoccupied with a “strange sensation” in his hands. Still rubbing his hands together, he followed one of these grey alien creatures to what appeared to be a window in the room. He could see the vast distance of space beyond this window, as well as a small, bright dot that the creature pointed to, telling him, “That bright white star is your home!” For the first time, Kevin realized he was, if he was understanding things correctly, in deep space.

At this point, his memories became slightly hazy. He remembered, for example, that these creatures were talking about start systems in space, but he simply “couldn’t remember any of it!” This is the first of several interesting and seemingly trivial details that show up in many alien abduction cases. It was Jasek’s opinion – and he is almost certainly correct – that Kevin was shown some kind of star map, perhaps of his hosts’ home planet, perhaps of a region in space that is of importance, information that, while he couldn’t recall it, is most likely locked within his subconscious mind. Furthermore, after declining “taking a trip” with these strange figures, he was told that he would “have to forget” what had happened, and they gave him a “clear glass with a yellow liquid” inside to drink to do so. Once more, this detail of a pale or clear liquid being given so that a person will forget their respective encounters shows up much more than people might think. Kevein, though, had enough presence of mind to realize that he wanted to remember this bizarre event. He took three quick sips of the drink and then discreetly placed the glass on a surface close by. This might be why he began to have flashbacks of memory, unaided no less, only hours later.

His next memory after taking the three sips of the strange liquid was of waking up at the roadside, on the opposite side of the road to his bike, and then of making his way back to the trailer. The following day, a little after daylight broke, his friends arrived at the trailer. Keving remained quiet about the incident, certain that they would not believe him. It was only when he attended the UFO conference in the summer of 2000 that he decided to speak of the incident to Jasek. It is also worth mentioning that, although he didn’t speak to anyone about the incident until he spoke with Jasek in 2000, in 1997 – ten years after the incident – he sent a letter to one of his friends who arrived at the trailer the following day – Doug – in which he detailed the encounter. During his investigation, Jasek managed to track Doug down. Doug admitted he hadn’t spoken to Kevin since receiving the letter, but he vouched for Kevin’s honesty and credibility. Moreover, the details in the letter matched entirely with the verbal account Keving had given to Jasek. We might also recall the strange sensation in Kevin’s hand – something that Jasek determined could have been Dupuytren’s Contracture, where the fingers lock into a bent position. We might recall that Kevin discovered his keys in his tightly clenched hand. Could the truly surreal nature of the events have caused his hand to lock tight around his keys for the duration of the incident?

Without a doubt, one of the most remarkable – and credible – UFO encounters to have unfolded in the Canadian skies occurred in Montreal over the Place Bonaventure Hotel. At around 7:20 pm on November 7th, 1990, a guest at the hotel was in the swimming pool on the roof of the building when she suddenly became aware of several strange, glowing lights overhead. The lights were an otherworldly mix of green, yellow, and amber, and they appeared to be part of a large, solid object. The woman quickly realized that this object was coming towards them, and several moments later, it was directly overhead, hovering in absolute silence.

It didn’t take long for more and more people to venture onto the roof to view the lights, including several members of the hotel’s staff. By the time another hotel guest, Marcel Laroche, arrived at the hotel just after 9 pm, not only was the object still overhead, but over 30 people had made their way onto the roof to view it. Laroche managed to capture several photographs that were later widely circulated, and they do appear to show a solid object. At one point during the sighting, the lights on the object suddenly began to glow much brighter, causing the hotel staff to contemplate if they were in any danger, so much so, they decided to call the local police. Officer Francois Lippe arrived at the hotel a short time later, and after viewing the aerial anomaly for himself, he immediately contacted his superiors, requesting they attend the location.

Robert Masson was the chief police officer in attendance that evening. He recalled years later on a Canadian television show in 2005 exploring the case that he was “convinced that I saw something that wasn’t made by any inhabitants of this planet. There’s no doubt in my mind it came from somewhere else (other) than Earth!” As part of his initial site investigations – and before the arrival of the RCMP – Masson ordered that spotlights from a nearby construction site be turned off to rule out that they were causing the lights overhead. After they were turned off, the lights remained in the sky. Masson also contacted the local airport and a military radar facility that was situated close by to see if either could confirm an anomalous object on their radars. Both responded that they had no such radar anomaly. Interestingly or not, Masson later stated that he had the feeling the person he spoke with at the military radar facility was “hiding something from him!” After a cargo plane passed over the hotel directly below the object at an altitude of 6000 feet, it allowed Masson to accurately estimate the object’s altitude to be somewhere between 8000 and 10,000 feet. This, in turn, led him to conclude that the object was likely the size of “five football fields!”

As the night went on, the cloud overhead began to thicken considerably, and by 10 pm, the object was almost completely covered. It isn’t known just how long the object remained hovering overhead that evening, although it was clear that something truly out of the ordinary had taken place. The fact that all records of the encounter, including police records, were classified within the 24 hours after the sighting would perhaps confirm this. Just what was hovering over the Place Bonaventure Hotel that evening in 1990 remains a mystery. However, it is worth highlighting the conclusions of NASA scientist, Dr. Richard Haines, who stated in his 1992 report of the incident that “evidence for the existence of a highly unusual, hovering, silent, large object (over Montreal that night) is indisputable!”

Around two decades previously, in the opening hours of New Year’s Day 1970, another thought-provoking and well-documented encounter unfolded, this time in British Columbia. The initial witness, nurse Doreen Kendall, began her shift that evening at the Cowichan District Hospital at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1969. As 1970 began, Doreen went about her usual duties, with nothing to indicate the night would be anything other than a normal eight-hour night shift. This particular night, however, would soon prove to be anything but normal.

By 5 am, when she was going about her rounds of the patients with fellow nurse, Frieda Wilson, she noticed that one of them appeared somewhat agitated. She went over to check on them, deciding to pull back the heavy curtains to allow some fresh air into the room. As soon as she did so, however, a bright light from outside illuminated the entire room. After her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the light, she could make out a “Saturn-shaped disc” that was hovering around 60 feet from the window. She recalled that the object had a silvery, metal exterior and was bowl-shaped with a clear divide between the top and bottom. She also estimated that it was around 50 feet in length, with the top section “made of something like glass!” She soon realized that the intense light was coming from this upper section. Moreover, she could see two “masked figures” standing in this top section. She stated these figures were humanoid and around six feet in height, and each appeared engaged in some kind of activity on what she presumed was the control room of the vehicle.

At this point, the object tipped forward slightly, allowing her to see more of this upper section. Behind the two figures, for example, were what appeared to be two stools, as well as some kind of metallic “instrument panel” containing multiple lights and symbols that covered the back wall. She could see that one of the figures was concentrating on this instrument panel, and she had the feeling that “something very important was going on!” She had the feeling that the vehicle was experiencing some kind of malfunction. Then, one of the figures turned to face her, and she got the immediate feeling that he was looking straight at her. She maintained her focus on the figure, who then seemingly went back to the instrument panel. A moment later, the craft began to turn in an anti-clockwise rotation.

Doreen suddenly realized that Frieda was standing behind her. Not wanting to move and cause the figures to look at her, she discreetly motioned for her to come to the window. She did so, getting to the window in time to see the object begin to move away, heading off into the distance. She later stated the object was like a “big, green circular light” and was “quite a bit larger than a car!” The two women suddenly called out to other members of staff on duty, with two nurses arriving in time to see the craft in the distance. All four nurses then witnessed the object begin to rotate before disappearing “like a streak!” Kendal recorded the sighting in the hospital’s official work records book. It read:

“At 5 a.m. I saw a flying saucer as low as the third floor of the hospital when I pulled the curtains. There were two men or figures in the dome flying towards Victoria. The bottom of the saucer was brilliantly lit, and also the dome — New Year’s morning.”

The following week, a report of the sighting appeared in the Cowichan Herald, and in the days that followed, several people came forward to state that they too had witnessed the strange object that day. A husband and wife, for example, who were driving home from a New Year’s Eve party at a little after 5 am, witnessed a bright, glowing light that was “as big as a house” hovering overhead. There was, though, a much more detailed encounter that unfolded later that evening.

At around 7 pm, Bea Drummond was preparing a New Year’s Day dinner at her home, which overlooked the Mill Bay coast, when she went to the front door to call her adult son, Jim, who was in the family boat off the shore with his wife, Dianna. Upon looking out, however, she noticed a “yellow-orangey” glow moving slowly across the sky. She alerted Jim’s attention to it, who worked as a ship’s pilot, and he immediately reached for his telescope. He estimated the object was at an altitude of around 900 feet, and was “egg-shaped” with a “transparent top!” In this top section, he could see “a set of lights”. We might note how this description is almost identical to the craft described by Doreen Kendall earlier that morning.

At this point, Bea began to fear for Jim and Dianna’s safety, and she called for them to get off the boat and come into the house. She then turned on the floodlights over the back porch to better light their way. However, as soon as she did so, the object moved suddenly, dropping to around 300 feet above the ground and now in a position between the house and the boat. Then, things turned even stranger.

Suddenly, a “ray of light” that was described by Jim as looking like a “very thin neon tube” emerged from the object. Even stranger, within the light, were “dots and dashes” that the witnesses described as being similar to Morse code, while the light itself appeared to swirl and curve. Then, a moment later, there was a bright flash and the neon tube vanished. A moment after that, the object shot directly upwards and shot off into the distance.  

As well as the Drummonds, their neighbors – the Hallets – also witnessed the object from their property, which was behind and above the Drummonds’ house. They recalled seeing a “large orange light” just as they were about to eat their evening meal, which then moved over the water. George Hallet further recalled that he was certain “this was no ordinary aircraft” and that the object remained completely silent. Further witnesses were later found at the Deer Lodge on Mill Bay, where several of the diners witnessed a “large ball of light” near the water, with one witness offering that, given their location in relation to the water, “it must have been very bright!”

Just what the object might have been and what its reason for being was remains a mystery. However, that something truly out of the ordinary was above the Vancouver Islands in the first 24 hours of 1970 is surely not in question.

As we can see, Canada has a rich and varied history of UFO sightings, many of which predate the Modern UFO Era by several decades. And, while some regions are undoubtedly more active than others, these sightings occur all over the country. And we need to remember that the cases we explored here represent only a tiny portion of the many, many such cases on record. Just what might attract these strange objects and their occupants to this region of the planet is perhaps as much of a mystery as the objects and their occupants themselves. Perhaps it is vast water networks locked within the Canadian borders, or perhaps the vast open terrain serves as a launching point to wherever they need to go? One thing is certain: these reports continue in Canada today and look set to continue for the foreseeable future.

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