UFO SIGHTING REPORTS FROM 1997

1997 Langley

Ok this is not a recent sighting. I was driving to my sister's place in Langley sometime in probably 1997. I had just gotten off the freeway at 232 and was just turning onto 232 driving south when I looked up in the sky to my left and saw a white oval shape in the sky. I didn't have time to stop as I had to go and baby-sit my great niece and nephew and didn't want to be late as my niece had to go to work. If I'd thought about it I could have stopped and taken a picture. But that's it sorry. I'm certain it was a spaceship.

1997 or 1998, Tsawwassen, BC: (5:30 am)

We were driving home to Tsawwassen at 5:30 in the morning on highway 17. We were approaching the intersection of 56th Street and hwy 17 when my boyfriend said: ".........do you see THAT!!" I said, "No, I'm driving." When we pulled up to the red light I did look in the direction of the hills of Tsawwassen and saw this HUGE thing in the sky. It was very shiny, silvery looking, and travelled smoothly in a straight line towards the ocean (direction of the ferry terminal). I had to pull away from the traffic light but my boyfriend who continued to watch said: "..........do you see THAT (again)", I said "No, what is it?" (we were both VERY excited now) he said there were several lights that came out of the big "ship" and flew about. I did not see the lights because of the traffic, but I was able to watch a bit as the "ship" entered the space above the ocean where it just disappeared.

Now the kicker: when I was on my way to work the next day, I was listening to the radio when someone came on and asked the dj's - did anyone else see what I saw over Tsawwassen yesterday morning?! The radio went silent for about 30 seconds, then a song came on. I continued to listen to the radio but there was no mention of the caller - at all. Sometime later - not quite sure how long it was, could have been months maybe more, but there was something, I believe it was a show on TV, when someone said that they had experienced a sighting over Tsawwassen. When asked what they saw, the man said: "I have no idea what I saw, but I can tell you this, whatever it was, it was HUGE." I'm not sure what the distance was but if we had been standing outside and stretched our arms wide it would have just fit into that space, in other words, from where we first spotted it, it was at least a yard wide.

I read your article in our local newspaper The Courier, and I just felt the need to tell you about our experience.

1-Jan-97 Vancouver

Just after midnight K.M. was looking out of the window when he noticed a "meteor" come into view from the west at a steep angle, only this one then suddenly stopped. A second later another one arrived on a parallel course and also stopped. Almost immediately three "stars" (?) came up from the ground. They were white and appeared to pulsate. Forming into a loose circle all the objects headed south and moved out of sight. The night sky was clear.

13-Jan-97 Abbotsford

"Ursula" was heading for work in Chilliwack when she noticed a white, fluffy cloud in an otherwise perfectly clear sky. She was amazed when the cloud "burst downwards" with a bright white light, three times consecutively. After the additional portions of the cloud dissipated, what was left behind was a black bar. After 5 minutes, a solid stream of bright white light came downwards from the black bar, and then there were two black bars! The second one was slightly smaller, and about 45 degrees below the first one. The bars retained their relative position to each other, but started moving east in a "wavy" motion. She lost sight of them when she got off the freeway at the Sardis exit.

Later that morning, about 11 am, two male delivery people arrived at her workplace and described seeing, at the same location, a glowing cloud that was expanding and contracting at the bottom.

14-Jan-97 Abbotsford

About 8 AM, as "Ursula" was heading to work in Chilliwack (2nd sighting - see 13-Jan) she noticed a strange pinkish/grey line across the hazy sky. After a few minutes, the line started to move across the sky. After 10 minutes, as the line "crested the mountain", it broke apart. Where the line separated was an object that looked like a glowing pink coffee bean! That part of the sky was clear.

Later that morning, two male delivery people arrived at her workplace and confirmed that they also had seen a strange pink line in the sky.

15-Jan-97 Vancouver

A young woman had previously seen a strange white light in the southern sky. At about 6 AM on this particular morning, she saw it again, and this time it appeared to approach her residence. Next she knew, a row of flashing green/orange/red lights were located stationary outside her window. A "WHOOSH" could be heard from it. Panic stricken, she ran downstairs, grabbed her baby and then phoned "911". The operator was very interested and asked her a series of questions. After a short conversation the 911 operator gave her another number to call. She called it and discovered it was the Chilliwack Air Force Base. This new operator was very "matter of fact" in her manner. She asked her to stay on the line while she "patched" her onto another phone line. The next stop was N.O.R.A.D. in Boulder Colorado. She had no idea what the acronym stood for! Again she told her story and was told that someone would call her back later in the day. That afternoon, a captain called her from Colorado (?) to say they had found "nothing in your area" and furthermore "we don't believe in UFOs, so it must have been a meteor that you saw".

(N.B. - This is the third report we are aware of in the past 14 months where UFO witnesses have been connected to N.O.R.A.D.)

(N.B. - One wonders how they checked out her story, and with what - satellites?)

(N.B. - This lady has two sons 10 and 6. The eldest boy described an abduction scenario when he was 4 where crystals were involved. Then at 9 mentioned a "clown wearing a mask" appeared at his bedroom window. The 6 year old has been heard talking and laughing with "someone/something" (?) in his room at night. The mother is a keen church-goer. Her fellow attendees have described these events as demonic.)

21-Jan-97 Langley

Around 6 PM, Megan (9) was on the patio building an igloo in the snow. She heard a loud noise and, thinking it was a helicopter, looked up to see a large circular craft moving slowly from across the street to over her home (moving north to south). She estimates the object was at "tree top level" (about 100 feet?). She called her parents but father was on the phone and mother arrived from preparing dinner too late to see it. Megan and her mother dashed upstairs to a south facing bedroom to see a large craft with illuminated windows and flashing lights come to a halt over a field about 1500 feet south of their home. Shortly after, Megan's father arrived with binoculars and they took turns watching it for the next four hours. The vehicle periodically moved slowly south and then returned. It finally receded and was seen only as a coloured flashing "star". They finally ate supper at 10 PM.

23-Jan-97 Langley

(2nd sighting - see 21-Jan-97 Langley) Megan and her parents saw the object again from 7 PM to 8 PM. It was moving back and forth over the field south of their home. There was no accompanying sound.

31-Jan-97 Burnaby

Looking north-west from his apartment patio at about 5:15 PM, a man saw an extremely bright light above Burnaby Mountain, about half a mile west of Simon Fraser University. As it was still light out, he took two pictures of the object(?). It appeared to about 200 feet above the tree line and had no apparent movement. When using a monocular, it looked like a bright spot on a welding torch. With the naked eye, it looked to be 3 times larger than a street light.

At one point a ray of bright light flashed out horizontally, then it resumed its normal appearance. It was as bright, or brighter, than the full moon. Another time it appeared to elongate then resumed its original shape.

At 18:20 it was still there, but gone at 18:30.

Back at 18:40, same location, but much smaller.

Gone at 22:30, but back at 23:15 (last time it was seen).

Not there at 02:30 (Feb 1). The witness reported it to a local radio show at this time. They stated that they had received other accounts.

February, Vancouver (2:00 pm)

"The sky is clear and sunny. As I was coming out from my parked car, about 50 degree latitude West from where I stood, I saw a brown object flying across the sky. It is impossible to be a plane because;firstly, of its size. If that object is close to me, it will be really big. Secondly, the speed. I haven't seen anything can fly that fast across the sky. I can only view it for 2 to 3 seconds. I told my friends about it ... but I am sure none of them will really believing it. To reason it logically, maybe its just a military aircraft passing by."

7-FEB-97 Clearwater

At about 22:10, a married couple going home spotted a bright light on a nearby mountain. They watched it for about 10 minutes whereupon it relocated from a 45 degree angle to a 75 degree position. The couple proceeded home and resumed observation through binoculars. These enabled them to determine the lights were amber or orange in colour, and positioned in a cross (X) formation, with a grey haze around the lights. A short time later the lights formed a square, and soon afterwards they regrouped into a triangle. Then the bottom left light moved out of position, followed by the bottom right. Soon after that, the single remaining light moved out of sight. The total viewing time was around 30 minutes. Weather at that time was overcast with low clouds. The mountain in question has no towers with lights attached.

9-Feb-97 Vancouver

A young woman (2nd report - see 15-Jan-97) suddenly saw a bright shimmery white light with flickering green that flooded her room about 6:40 AM. She dashed downstairs to find her two sons very frightened. She also heard a "hiss" like an electrical sound. The total experience was about 15 seconds. On this occasion she phoned Chilliwack A.F.B. directly, and a man answered. A short time later she was switched to N.O.R.A.D. in Colorado. A woman answered at first, then she spoke to a Captain, who asked many questions, for about 10 minutes. When she tried to ask him about the existence and reality of UFOs, he was very evasive. He later gave her the number of a public relations officer to call.

(N.B. - This lady recently discovered another lady in the same complex that has had (is having?) intrusive experiences.)

9-Feb-97 New Hazelton

"This a second hand report, as I thought if you were interested enough you could call the person direct to get the first hand account. Because of the place I work, he called to see if we had recorded any unusual phenomenon.

The sighting was of a white flashing light and a bright alternating yellow or yellow-orange light. The light was seen looking WNW with the light moving toward the north-west at a relatively high speed. The other thing was that no sound was heard. The person seemed to be quite familiar with the usual aircraft that transit the area. The sighting was approximately 9PM, Feb 2.

No aircraft were off the Smithers airport at that time. The time was after sunset, but still twilight till approximately 9:48 pm. Sounded interesting to me so am passing it on."

March 1997, Kelowna: (10:00 pm)

I live in Kelowna BC and back in March of 97, between 10-15th, somewhere around 9:30 pm and 10:30 pm as me and an ex-girlfriend were leaving a friend's as we got in the truck in town (Rutland) she looked up at the sky and said, "You ever see a UFO before?", so I looked up and saw a triangle-shaped vehicle with dim orange-amber round lights on each point moving at a high rate of speed over our heads at high altitude. It was high in the sky but looked like a large object. It was heading from east to west; from horizon to horizon in a straight line, but it was no airplane. Judging from altitude and speed it was 100 times faster that a high altitude passenger jet. I’ve watched them and they take minutes to go mountains to mountains in the valley. This was over in approximately 10 seconds, but has always left me wondering what or who was that. US government or something else? After seeing something like that it has left me excited but when I share my story with others they seem very sceptical. I guess you have to see it to know there’s something going on here!!

2-Mar-97 - Burnaby

A bright orange-red glow was observed through the clouds over Capitol Hill in the early morning hours Sunday. The light appeared to be pulsating and hovered near the woman’s apartment for about an hour. She described it as a "fire in the sky". After interviewing the witness and a neighbour it was found this sighting was not the first. About a year prior to the March 2nd sighting a silent, triangular shaped light formation was observed to the west towards downtown Vancouver. The objects three points were lit amber, orange and blue. As well the woman estimated the craft to be about 5 or 6 blocks in size!

10-Mar-97 Burnaby

At about 3:05 pm, the witness was travelling southeast on the Skytrain between Royal Oak and Edmonds. He noticed something shiny, high up, heading northwest. It was cylindrical. or "cigar-shaped", brownish, and smaller than a plane (estimate). It was moving at a steady pace when it suddenly "jumped up" at a 45 degree angle, and then continued its original trajectory. Total viewing time was about 30 seconds.

10-Mar-97 Vancouver (4:20 PM)

"The sky is clear and sunny. As I was coming out from my parked car, about 50 degree latitude West from where I stood, I saw a brown object flying across the sky. It is impossible to be a plane because; firstly, of its size. If that object is close to me, it will be really big. Secondly, the speed. I haven't seen anything can fly that fast across the sky. I can only view it for 2 to 3 seconds. I told my friends about it ... but I am sure none of them will really believing it. To reason it logically, maybe its just a military aircraft passing by."

14-Mar-97 Surrey

At about 6:30 pm a family was leaving the Guildford library when the 7 year old boy observed what he called a "swarm" around the top of a building. Both parents observed a strange dark spherical object that appeared to be circling the building. It then rose above the building and disappeared. At arms length it was approximately the size of a baseball (Estimated diameter 30 feet). Total viewing time 15 seconds.

19-Mar-97 Vancouver

At about 4 PM, Mr. Arthur McLeod was on his way to have his brakes repaired. He noticed a high flying jet aircraft travelling north to south. Although the jet was too high to discern the type, or even the number of engines, one large contrail was observed. At about 85 degrees elevation, facing north/northwest, a round, very shiny object was seen embedded in the contrail of the aircraft. The observer also noticed a small gap in the contrail on either side of the shiny object. The object did not move as the aircraft proceeded south. After about 4 minutes, the object still had not moved, and Mr Mcleod continued on his way.

1-Apr-1997, Surrey, BC:

UFO details report: Evening of April 1st, 1997. I was leaving the house to go out with some friends and was out in the driveway chatting with a friend of my mothers. They were attending university at that time and she was just leaving a night of studying with my mother. She wasn't a friend of mine and I really didn't know her very well. No drugs or alcohol had been consumed by any of us that evening.

Horizon of stars were very visible in the night sky above us. We were distracted from our conversation when we noticed the stars began to 'twinkle' and 'flash' repeatedly all across the sky. I had never seen stars go from normal stars to that many flashing stars. We were looking up and across the sky trying to figure out what was causing this to happen when something came into view in the sky behind us. We were looking West and the object traveled East-to-West so it came up from behind us and overhead. There are certain details about this object which stand out very clear to me but there are also aspects of this sighting that I have a hard time remembering, almost as if I dreamed it. The two of us said to each other numerous times, "You can see this too, right?". The object was gigantic and seemed to be traveling quite low and far too slow for any aircraft I had experienced in person. It was shaped like a wide arrowhead. Not quite an isosceles triangle because the rear of the craft was curved outwards, not a distinct flat line. I do not recall any lights on this vessel whatsoever. It was really only visible by the lights in our driveway and the outline of the ship against the sky.

I do not recall any sound whatsoever coming from the vessel. I have seen commercial airliners come in to land and the sound is extremely loud from the engines, this craft had no sound and was too slow and too low for me to comprehend what I was seeing. As the vessel moved over our heads continuing West, we could make out vague details of the underside of the craft. Looked like pipes or channels. At the risk of losing any credibility, the only remotely accurate way I could describe it would be to imagine looking up at a "Star Destroyer" ship that is so iconic with Star Wars fans. (note- I myself am not even a fan of Star Wars, I had to Google the name of the ship just now.) This is what I mean when I say I could see dim channeled 'metal work' underneath when I looked up. I am by no means an expert at deciphering air speed or height of a moving craft as I have no flight knowledge. I would describe the speed and distance this way.: 1.) If I were to hold up my hand up over my face, I would still see the craft on all sides. It would not come close to fully blocking my vision of it. 2.) As for speed, it would travel the length of my hand (raised over my head and between my line of sight and the craft) in approximately 3-5 seconds. As the craft continued slowly west and was no longer overhead of our property line, the back of the craft lit up white and it flew high and north before vanishing. The only thing more astonishing with the 'slow' speed of a flying object so large and low is how lightening fast it disappeared from our sight. At the rate it was traveling, we should have been able to see it for another few minutes at least but it seemed to raise higher and vanish heading North in under 3 seconds.

Within a few moments of the object vanishing, the stars began to 'blink' slower and eventually resumed the standard stars in the night sky which could be considered normal. The two of us were at a loss for words to describe what we saw at the time, we went back into the house to tell my mother and other family members. My mother was surprised to see that her classmate was even still there (she thought she went home some 10 minutes previous). We both told the same story and were believed for the most part because we were not 'friends' who would collaborate a story for a laugh, not to mention an age gap of at least 10 years. A family member said, "Good luck getting anyone else to believe you though, it's April Fools Day."

After awhile I kept trying to make sense of what I saw and decided to call the non-emergency police line. (Seems odd to not look up online or on my phone, but it was 1997. We had internet at the time the internet wasn't really the 'go-to' place for real-time alerts and posted updates.) When the operator answered, I told her what we saw and said "You probably think this is a joke because it's April Fools Day, but it isn't a joke." She said "We've had a few hundred calls about this in the last 45 minutes so you aren't the only one." She took down my info and said someone might contact me for more info but nobody did.

2-Apr-97 Surrey

A husband and wife were outside watching the eclipse of the moon. At approximately 9 PM, Mr V. saw three bright lights move away from the left side of the moon and move rapidly to the south. The lights were in a triangular formation and moved together. After seeing the objects, Mr V. told his wife to look. She also observed the lights until they were obscured by a building to their south.

2-Apr-1997, Surrey, BC:

UFO details report: Evening of April 1st, 1997. I was leaving the house to go out with some friends and was out in the driveway chatting with a friend of my mothers. They were attending university at that time and she was just leaving a night of studying with my mother. She wasn't a friend of mine and I really didn't know her very well. No drugs or alcohol had been consumed by any of us that evening.

Horizon of stars were very visible in the night sky above us. We were distracted from our conversation when we noticed the stars began to 'twinkle' and 'flash' repeatedly all across the sky. I had never seen stars go from normal stars to that many flashing stars. We were looking up and across the sky trying to figure out what was causing this to happen when something came into view in the sky behind us. We were looking West and the object traveled East-to-West so it came up from behind us and overhead. There are certain details about this object which stand out very clear to me but there are also aspects of this sighting that I have a hard time remembering, almost as if I dreamed it. The two of us said to each other numerous times, "You can see this too, right?". The object was gigantic and seemed to be traveling quite low and far too slow for any aircraft I had experienced in person. It was shaped like a wide arrowhead. Not quite an isosceles triangle because the rear of the craft was curved outwards, not a distinct flat line. I do not recall any lights on this vessel whatsoever. It was really only visible by the lights in our driveway and the outline of the ship against the sky.

I do not recall any sound whatsoever coming from the vessel. I have seen commercial airliners come in to land and the sound is extremely loud from the engines, this craft had no sound and was too slow and too low for me to comprehend what I was seeing. As the vessel moved over our heads continuing West, we could make out vague details of the underside of the craft. Looked like pipes or channels. At the risk of losing any credibility, the only remotely accurate way I could describe it would be to imagine looking up at a "Star Destroyer" ship that is so iconic with Star Wars fans. (note- I myself am not even a fan of Star Wars, I had to Google the name of the ship just now.) This is what I mean when I say I could see dim channeled 'metal work' underneath when I looked up. I am by no means an expert at deciphering air speed or height of a moving craft as I have no flight knowledge. I would describe the speed and distance this way.: 1.) If I were to hold up my hand up over my face, I would still see the craft on all sides. It would not come close to fully blocking my vision of it. 2.) As for speed, it would travel the length of my hand (raised over my head and between my line of sight and the craft) in approximately 3-5 seconds. As the craft continued slowly west and was no longer overhead of our property line, the back of the craft lit up white and it flew high and north before vanishing. The only thing more astonishing with the 'slow' speed of a flying object so large and low is how lightening fast it disappeared from our sight. At the rate it was traveling, we should have been able to see it for another few minutes at least but it seemed to raise higher and vanish heading North in under 3 seconds.

Within a few moments of the object vanishing, the stars began to 'blink' slower and eventually resumed the standard stars in the night sky which could be considered normal. The two of us were at a loss for words to describe what we saw at the time, we went back into the house to tell my mother and other family members. My mother was surprised to see that her classmate was even still there (she thought she went home some 10 minutes previous). We both told the same story and were believed for the most part because we were not 'friends' who would collaborate a story for a laugh, not to mention an age gap of at least 10 years. A family member said, "Good luck getting anyone else to believe you though, it's April Fools Day."

After awhile I kept trying to make sense of what I saw and decided to call the non-emergency police line. (Seems odd to not look up online or on my phone, but it was 1997. We had internet at the time the internet wasn't really the 'go-to' place for real-time alerts and posted updates.) When the operator answered, I told her what we saw and said "You probably think this is a joke because it's April Fools Day, but it isn't a joke." She said "We've had a few hundred calls about this in the last 45 minutes so you aren't the only one." She took down my info and said someone might contact me for more info but nobody did.

4-Apr-97 Georgia Strait

Observer was travelling to Nanaimo by ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. The ferry left Nanaimo at approximately 20:00. Because the steel construction of the ship hindered the reception, the observer went outside on deck to listen to the hockey game. The observer watched comet Hale-Bopp for a while. At approximately 20:55 he noticed a meteorite falling in the west. As he was looking in that direction he saw passing overhead from behind him a bright object with a short bright tail. The object was moving slowly from east to west on a path slightly south of the observer. The object was in view for approximately five seconds. The object seemed to be surrounded by a fuzzy halo. The object and the halo were white in colour. Three seconds later another object identical in appearance to the first travelled east to west and directly overhead of the observer.

5-Apr-97 New Westminster

Just before midnight, a woman, lying in her bed, saw a yellow "star" through the skylight above her (witness suffers from fibromialga and the pain makes sleeping difficult and irregular). This lens-shaped object remained in view (in the same half of the skylight) for a total of 3 or 4 hours. A blue (detached) beam appeared to be drawing something into the craft. The object would bob, or jiggle, up or down, left or right, but always remained in view. Over the next month, this object was observed on two other nights for extended periods of time.

6-Apr-97 Port Coquitlam

About 10:15, a woman was looking out the window (southeast) at the stars and saw a bright blue flash. She then observed a light, pulsating red, blue and white. Looking at it with binoculars, she saw a disc with red, blue and white lights on the rim. The object tilted up revealing a white light on the bottom, then shot straight up out of sight.

6-Apr-97 Richmond?

About 10:15, witness was looking to the southwest, over Georgia Strait, and he noticed a very bright light, "twice as bright as any other star". The light was pulsating with bright blue, white and red lights. Observer contacted search and rescue, airport and police but no one could identify the object.

7-Apr-97 New Westminster

About 10:15 PM, a young man was outside observing the comet Hale-Bopp. After identifying other bright objects in the sky, such as Mars and Sirius, he noticed an even brighter object in the southern sky. At first it was flashing/twinkling normally, but after 30 seconds it started to sequentially change colours from blue to red to white and then all three colours together. It repeated this exact sequence twice, then the object suddenly shifted 20 degrees to the left! At it's new location it again repeated the colour change sequence before zipping straight up, not overhead across the sky, but STRAIGHT UP! It was totally out of sight, and no more strange things to see, so he ran inside to phone UFO*BC.

15-Apr-97 Burnaby

At approximately 1 PM, a man watched a small bright red object in the sky over Burnaby Lake. Although there was a strong wind blowing, this "balloon" was only moving slowly, from the southeast to the northwest. The estimated elevation was 1000 to 1500 feet. After a short period of observation it came to a halt, wobbled around for a few moments, then began to slowly climb vertically into the sky, and finally disappearing into the low cloud base.

It was in view approximately two minutes. Viewed through a monocular it appeared to have "bands" around it's circumference.

16-Apr-97 Vancouver

On the night of Apr.16 between 11:30 & midnight,from their Mackenzie St. location in Vancouver, Lorrie-Ann and her husband Angus, along with some of their neighbours, watched "several" green coloured lights in the sky performing a celestial ballet of sorts. The lights appeared to be behind the clouds,and occasionally one or more would "dart out from behind the cloud cover". The colour would then change to white. When returning to their original position behind the clouds,they would assume a green colour again. In addition to rapid, erratic movements, these lights would also form "formations", such as an oval shape, with a line running through it, then scatter, then form another formation. The magnitude or brightness would fluctuate, with the 'formations' being the brightest. The last formation formed seemed to be the brightest of all, then suddenly it was over.

Apparently B.C. Telephone was sponsoring a laser light show to advertise their long distance service. Fireworks Productions was contacted and we were informed that they were using their 40 watt green laser on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of April in Victoria and in Vancouver on the 16th, 17th and 18th of April. The times of operation were from 8:30 PM until midnight on these days.

18-Apr-97 Surrey

During the evening of Fri.Apr.18, Ted, his wife and two friends observed in the southern sky, a very bright orange light, described as smaller than a dime at arms length, moving slowly north. The object then stopped, and a very slight up & down, & side to side motion was observed. While looking at the orange object, suddenly a very bright white light shot straight down out of the bottom at "incredible speed", and then made an abrupt change of direction to the right. The orange object remained in a fixed position. After this event, the orange object would fade or 'flicker', then return to it's original magnitude, then fade again, then finally just "disappeared". Total viewing time was about 5 minutes, from the area of 96 Ave. & 128 Street looking toward the Newton area.

21-Apr-97 Surrey

At about 10 PM, near 96th Avenue and King George Highway, a man was on his balcony seeing friends leave when he looked up to see an orange sphere in the eastern sky. The object was about 1/4 of an inch in diameter at arm's length, estimated to be 2000 feet away and 500 feet above the ground. It continued in an easterly direction, stopped, then dropped down before stopping again. It then curved in an arc rising to about 700 feet before "winking out". During the sighting no sound was heard. The wife of the witness was called out and also saw the object for about 15 seconds. Both were familiar with air traffic in the area and remarked that the object looked like nothing they had ever seen before.

21-Apr-97 Surrey

About 10:10 PM, "Mr X" was coming out of the the baby's room ("Baby X") and happened to look out the upstairs front window. He saw a triangular object with a round white light in each corner and a rectangular white light in the centre. The object seemed close and moved past the window quite quickly. He thought he heard the same sound as a jet plane flying over, but when he put his ear to the door, he heard nothing. As he was the only one home, and the baby was sleeping, he did not go outside.

End of April 1997, Vancouver

Bruce and two friends were walking down Fourth Avenue near Burrard Street at about 3:00pm when they noticed two triangular black objects hovering over Vancouver's West End downtown area. They thought the objects were about a mile up, and judging by the size of the tallest apartment building, estimated the triangles to be about 25 feet in size on all three sides. Despite a steady breeze the objects continued to stay stationary. Total viewing time about 5 minutes. At this time the witnesses left.

2-May-97, Courtenay, Vancouver Island

"It was about 7:00 in the morning and I heard a noise so I sat up and walked over to my window and there I saw a object in the sky it was moving prettey fast I rubbed my eyes and looked up and there it was the space ship it was coming closer to me then it stoped and I could not take my eyes away from it I could not even call my mom but I opned my window grabed my carma and took a rool of film then it got closer to me until it was so close and it looked like it was staring at me and it looked mad that may sound crazy but it is true then it was gone I sat on my bed and looked at my clock and it said 10:00 and I felt funny my whole body was tingling and I looked at my wrists and there were marks on them. Later that day I decided not to tell anyone but I took the film in and there was only one picture and it was of me laying in bed and it was 9:45.

10-May-97, Richmond

Marcel and a friend were driving down No. 5 Road at approximately 6:30pm on the way to help a friend move in Steveston. Marcel was in the passenger seat and happened to look up towards the north (mountains). At this time he observed what he called "a giant Phoenix" at a very high altitude. The object was black and half as big as the moon that was clearly visible that evening. He told his friend to pull over which he did at a near by convenience store. Both men got out and observed the object transform from the Phoenix to what he said was "like a bird with its wings tucked in." It then changed to "a black bar" before moving off at a rapid speed.

Note: The passenger's wife who is of Asian descent said she heard on the local Chinese radio station the next day, of reports from Richmond of a giant black object seen in the night sky.

17-May-97, Cloverdale

While sitting in the stands at Cloverdale Rodeo, the witness looked up into the sky about 10 degrees. She saw a bright object but could not make out the shape as it was too far away. She then nudged her husband and glanced away for a few seconds. She then looked back to where the object had been ,and it was gone! She looked all over the sky but could not locate it again.

18-May-97 Ymir, B.C. (18 miles south of Nelson)

About 12:15 AM, early Sunday morning, a man and woman noticed a "flashing" in the northwestern sky. This light was about 10 degrees above the horizon in a valley between two hills. A spotting scope (60 power Bausch and Lomb) was brought out of the house and focussed on the object. They zoomed in until it was the apparent "size of a golf ball". The center of the object was circular and a dull, muddy gray in colour, with four circles of white light around it. About once a second the inner and outer circles of light would "pulse an orangey colour" while the middle two would "pulse blue and red". The object continued to pulse while it moved slowly but steadily from the northwest to the northeast. After about 40 minutes it was lost from site behind the hillside.

19-May-97 Abbotsford

Between the hours of 10 and 11 PM, three adults and two teenagers watched two white lights play "hide and seek" in front of, and behind, the clouds. The objects were in the northwestern sky, about 75 degrees above the horizon. Periodically, the uppermost object would emit a red laser(?) beam from it's base. After watching the strange behaviour for about an hour, the witnesses returned indoors. It is also interesting to note that on the following morning, in the same house, it was found that a watch had stopped, a battery powered clock had stopped, and one witness woke up with swollen, puffy eyes. This witness claims to have seen strange objects in the northwest skies before.

End of May, Burnaby

Towards the end of May a man was out walking and exercising his dog about 2:30 AM in Central Park (he explained that he can let his dog off the leash at that time of day without bothering anyone). He suddenly found himself engulfed in a bright blue light. His first thought was that it was from a police officer’s bicycle patrol light (they apparently patrol the park at night with mountain bikes), but he quickly realized that the light was shining down from above. Looking up, he saw a very bright circular light directly overhead, higher than the surrounding trees. After only a few seconds the light flashed away and was gone. Looking down he noticed his dog (a black lab) was still looking up, and all the dog’s hair was standing on end! Afterwards, both the man and his dog found themselves extremely thirsty and could not get enough to drink.

10-June-97, Burnaby

About 4 AM, witness and husband spotted large green glowing object moving west to east on a downward sloping path. The object was moving slowly and emitting white sparks from it's bottom. The object was visible for approximately 30 seconds. While the object was visible cats could be heard howling in the neighborhood. The howling stopped when the object disappeared.

13-Jun-97, Vancouver - FOR A FULL REPORT SEE "A HAMBURGER UFO OVER VANCOUVER"

A woman and her grandson saw a huge object in the sky near Queen Elizabeth Park - "it was the shape of a huge hamburger with the lights coming from the center of the bun". Watching the object through binoculars, they noticed a "circular black mass" underneath it, with lightning-like bolts exploding in the center. Then, all of a sudden, a huge glowing red ship (approximately the size of a 40 story building lying on its side) came out of the mass and flew across the sky in about two seconds! After the red ship left, the lights from the first ship started to fade along with the large mass of electricity beneath it. They ran inside to phone UFO*BC, but when they returned, it was gone.

24-June-97, Prince George: (1:30 pm)

An 11 year old boy was about to take a picture of his pet garter snake when he heard a noise above. He looked up to see a disc shaped object maneuvering through the air. He managed to take two photos before the object was lost to sight.

For a full report, and photographs, see: "The Prince George Photographs"

2-July-97, Richmond

(The following witness has a long history of paranormal events, including seeing and filming UFOs over a period of 20 years. She so far has a collection of about 350 8mm films!).

Having been "alerted" to the arrival of a craft, the witness was regularly checking the sky outside her apartment. Just prior to going to bed, about 2 AM, she saw a huge triangle, stationary in the parted clouds. The object was without illumination, gray and dull metallic in colour, but with a "finely chiseled look". The broad part of the triangle was towards the ground, with the pointed end upwards.

Using her camcorder, she was unable to encompass the object using her zoom lens. Even on a normal setting she still was required to film it in sections due to its immensity. She viewed/filmed it for a period of ten minutes before it departed by shrinking in size over a two minute period. She is not sure if the "shrinking" in size was due to its moving away from her at high speed or it "dematerializing". During the whole event she heard no noise but rather felt enveloped in a vacuum of total silence (Oz factor).

2-Jul-1997, Horseshoe Bay: (9:00 pm)

A man called his wife out to look at 6-7 huge balls of misty white clouds moving around over Elphinstone on Bowen Island. They watched them for 35 minutes. During this time, two of the objects entered the water off Bowen Island without a splash. The man (a bio-chemist and skeptic) was duly impressed.

12-July-97 Surrey

About 5:30 pm, the witness happened to glance skyward from his location at 82nd Avenue and 126th Street, in Surrey. In the mostly clear sky, he noticed a large flock of birds flying at a fair altitude in a westerly direction, and far above that he noticed a white object moving at a good speed in an easterly direction. The object appeared to be round, or possibly tear drop shaped. He reached into the car to get his glasses for a better look, and in the few seconds it took him to get his glasses on, the object had changed directions and was now heading north, still at a good speed. Altitude was hard to determine, but he would guess at somewhat below that of a commercial aircraft at cruising altitude, perhaps 15 to 20,000 feet. While watching the object for a few seconds more, it suddenly disappeared in a clear blue sky.

15-July-97 Prince George, B.C.

Time: 1:05 am EST. Conditions: Clear sky, slightly chilly (13 degrees C).
"I glanced up into the Eastern Sky and noticed an object moving from South to North on an incline of about 20 degrees at a rapid speed, no sound. It was about 30 degrees above the horizon. It was about 3-5 times brighter than the planet Venus (also visible at the time) and deep blue (almost purple) in colour. It was bright for about 3 seconds, then went dim (almost to a pin point) for another 5-7 seconds before I lost track of it."

18-July-97, Burnaby : (Douglas and Sprott)

About 10 pm, a man spotted a blood red, pulsating disc in the northeast sky. He estimates that it was about 1/4 to 1/2 mile away and only 100 feet above the ground. After 30 seconds it faded down to a white light and winked out. Viewed through his monocular it resembles a small sun. The sky was clear with no wind.

19-July-97 Vancouver : (Knight and 63rd)

Around 7:30 pm Saturday, after doing some work, George decided to lay back in his yard and rest. He lives at 63rd and Knight, and his backyard looks north. As he looked up he noticed a reddish object at what he estimated to be at about 50,000 feet (he was used to normal traffic due to his close proximity to the airport). He called his wife and mother out and they both said they could see it. His wife went and got the binoculars and when he observed the object through them he was surprised to see three distinct circles in a triangular formation. He told his wife to have a look and she said she could only see two circles. He had another look and was very surprised to see only two as well, however at this time the circles were side by side. After hovering for around twenty minutes the object(s) proceeded westerly before turning north and then out of sight

20-July-97 Wasa, B.C. (20 minutes from Kimberly)

Before going to bed, about 3:30 am, Tom opened his window to get some fresh air and noticed a bright orange - white light moving north. He estimated the elevation at about 5,000 feet. He observed it for about 8 seconds before it "dimmed out" in front of him. He is familiar with the night sky and satellites and said it was definitely something else. (Also read July 21 sighting)

21-July-97 Wasa, B.C.

At about 12:30 am, Tom felt an impulse to go outside and noticed a brilliant white light approaching him from the northwest, at about 2,000 feet. The light became even more brilliant as it travelled to the southeast. He described it as having the intensity of a large car headlight and about the size of a golf ball held at arms length. As the object approached even closer he felt uneasy and at that exact moment the object faded out in front of him which left him dumfounded, as he could not see how something that large could just vanish. The witness has stated he will spend much more time looking up.

Note: The witness, and his mother and father, had two daylight sightings in Woodstock, Ontario in the early 70's.

24-July-97, Vancouver

6 am: A man on the second floor of a house, with a northern exposure, awoke to see the "sun" shining in the window. A white ball, with a golden rim, was about 30 feet away, and about 3 feet in diameter! This gentleman has a lifetime of psychic/paranormal experiences.

26-July-97, Burnaby/Vancouver

(Saturday, 12:40 a.m. Boundary and Grandview Highway) "Outside my house with a friend, looking to the north at the big dipper, talking about the comet and satellites etc. Clear night, lots of stars. Saw a large dark orange object flying east to west. No sound, no lights, not an airplane, helicopter, falling star, comet... I noticed it at about 1:00 position to 10:00 o'clock position. Took about nine seconds then blocked by trees. Flew lower than commercial or private aircraft and was much larger...First time I ever saw such a thing. Same went for my friend."

27-July-97, Vancouver : (Knight & 33rd) (probably UBC research balloon)

A man, his wife and two neighbours watched a light stationary in the southwest sky with very bright phosphorescent type lights, strobing downwards. Two small white lights were circling the saucer shaped object.. Binocular observation provided little additional detail. One man watched it from 11:30 pm until 1:30 am. "I have never seen anything like it before."

27-July-97, Vancouver : (Fraser & 31st) (probably UBC research balloon)

A woman and three companions on their way home watched a very large object (or 5 objects in a straight line) with red, blue and white lights blinking sequentially. The object was high in the southwest sky. Observation time 15 minutes.

27-July-97, Vancouver : (UBC area)

Both witnesses were on the swings in Shedacott Park when a dark coloured rectangular object was seen at tree height (100 feet?). It had a rotating(?) red light. This silent vehicle moved silently out of sight, silhouetted against the night sky.

28-July-97, Surrey

At approximately 12:05am, a woman observed from 68th and King George Hiway, in the Newton area, a brilliant white light hovering in the southeast sky. The woman believed the object was hovering over Cloverdale. The object pulsed and faded, at times getting extremely bright, at other times the size of a small star. Several unconventional movements were also observed during the 30 minute viewing.

31-July-97, Richmond

At about 11:15pm, Heather and her husband were out on the sundeck in their Richmond home. Looking up she observed an extremely bright, orange, white object shaped like a boomerang moving from the northwest to the southeast. The object was silent and about the size of a dime at arms length. In her own words "It was an incredibly beautiful sight." She lost sight of it after about 10 seconds due to large trees in the area. Her dog during the time of the sighting continued to whimper and act strangely. Other dogs in the neighbourhood could be heard barking during the brief sighting. Both Heather and her husband are familiar with air traffic as they live so close to the airport.

2-Aug-97, Burnaby

"I was looking out from my balcony.  I live in north burnaby and I was trying to see if I could catch any glimpse of the fireworks last night.  So I faced out towards english bay at around 10:15 PM.  Then I saw this huge object flying northwards.  It was very bright and big.  Compared to what an airplane light flashing in the night sky, this thing was problably 15x bigger than the airplane lights put together. I think it was only flashing one bright white light in the middle while the whole craft was illuminated in white.  I think many people would have seen this if they were looking at the fireworks from Burnaby mountain park.  I think the object was flying near east Vancouver and headed to North Vancouver."

We believe this object to be the FIDO blimp, which is flying around the Lower Mainland. It is 128 feet long, 44 feet in diameter, with internal lighting and external navigation lights and strobe.

11-Aug-97, Pouce Coupe

" opened the door to my back porch in the late evening and saw a light in the south very high up.  A storm was moving in very quickly but half the sky was still clear. Anyhow around eight pm I saw a very large light in the sky - about half the size of a full moon - that moved in a slow methodical zig zig pattern.  It gave me the impression of a mechanical movement.  It didn't flicker, but it looked like a light inside of a light - the outside being lighter of the two.  It also had a distinct shape to it.  I watched it uncomfortably for a few minutes when a small light almost  pinprick like emerged from the large zig zagging light.  It moved quickly, not like a shooting star though - in a straight line towards the ground. It was the first time I have seen something that I could not explain away - believe me when I say I wanted to."

August 12 - Maple Falls, Washington -  Time: 10:25 - 10:45 pm

A family out viewing the Perseid shower were treated to another viewing that they were not prepared for. A bright white object as bright as any of the stars and about 3/4 the size of Jupiter that was also in view that evening was seen approaching from the Northwest heading to the Southeast at a steady pace (not especially fast). The object drifted and did not appear to be on a straight path. As it reached a point of about 80 degrees it stopped and let off a rapid sequence of strobe for a period of 3 or 4 seconds. At this point the original white object was now stationary. It then began to move about the sky doing various movements (triangles, circles, etc). At arms length it appeared to move in the sky 5 or 6 inches. After 5 or ten minutes another object was seen coming from the same direction as the first and this one stopped approximately overhead and then proceeded to mimic the original objects movements. We observed the UFO's for about twenty minutes before leaving the area due to the children's unease.

13-Aug-97, Coquitlam : (7:30 pm)

A man and his wife were sitting outside in the early evening when they spotted a dark coloured object low in the northeast sky, towards Maple Ridge. They watched it for over one hour while it hovered, slowly moved back and forth, up and down, and eventually went over and down behind a tree. Watching with binoculars, they thought they saw lights at one point, and possibly a second, similar object before losing sight altogether.

13-Aug-97, Hope, BC

11:00 pm: A man was sitting in his yard observing the night sky when he noticed a brilliant white light move across his vision coming from west to east. The object was silent and seemed to be lit from within as if it was "hot". As it reached a point directly in front of him it turned a "brilliant cherry red" colour before totally vanishing from his sight. Total viewing time was about a minute.

18-Aug-97, Delta

Witness observed a large tubular shaped craft at a high altitude(?) travelling northeast to southwest on a horizontal path, without any detectable noise. This vehicle had four white strobe lights arrayed in a straight line underneath it, but no red or green navigation lights. It crossed a 25 degree arc of sky in 2 minutes. When the body of the craft could no longer be seen, the lights could!

23-Aug-97, Garden Bay : (near Pender Harbour)

The 3 witnesses were camping at Garden Bay when they saw a pulsing red stationary light, with alternating blue (about 10:30 pm). It was located about 45 degrees above the horizon and visible for 10 minutes before departing at high speed in a southwesterly direction. No sound was heard and the sky was free of clouds.

24-Aug-97, Surrey

9 pm: The 15 year old witness was sitting outside with his mother when he saw a silent gray ball (size of a basketball) pass low over the house then change into a seagull with flapping wings! This family has a long involved history of repeated sightings and paranormal events.

3-Sep-97, Surrey/Delta

7 pm: A man and his wife were driving north on Scott Road when they spotted a brief reflection high in the evening sky. A dark, small ball (?) could be seen against the light wispy cloud cover, then again a bright reflective light. The circular object travelled slowly on a horizontal path from the northwest to the southeast and was seen for a total of three minutes. "Not a plane or the FIDO blimp!"

8-Sep-97, Whitehorse

Noon: Looking northwest, the witness spotted a "jet trail" moving past the nearby trees at a slow speed, apparently heading earthwards beyond the nearby mountains. The object and accompanying jet trail were unlike any she had seen before, but identical in description to the object filmed on Oct 11th and shown on BCTV (see entry for Oct 11). She is familiar with normal air traffic in the area.

18-Sep-97, Surrey

7 pm: Looking west, a young man and his mother observed a brilliant silver-white "lemon shaped" object. As it moved to the south it appeared to pulse and flash before disappearing. The total viewing time was less than a minute.

NOTE: In a recent magazine, "Encounters", there was a report of a bright silver "lemon shaped" object seen travelling over the English countryside.

21-Sep-97, Burnaby

"About 12:24 PM, I was proceeding south on Willingdon, just approaching Canada Way. I turned into the left turn lane and stopped. The sky was clear and cloudless. A flash of light caught my attention. I looked up and saw a white cylindrical object moving west to east approximately 50 degrees above the horizon. No sign of wings, tail assembly, or navigation lights. The shape was a constant cylinder, not tapered. If object had been the size of a Cessna 172 it would have been approximately three miles away. Speed was appropriate to a light plane. As I watched the object it vanished completely and instantly."

24-Sep-97, North Vancouver

Email report: I was unable to sleep and happened to glance out the window noticing a very low, bright star that should not have been in that portion of the eastern sky. As I watched, it appeared to be moving, and due to atmospheric conditions, seemed to be moving from side to side slightly. As it approached, it became clear that the object had five very bright lights in a row in the shape of a V, giving the impression that it was triangular.

Intrigued, I grabbed my camera and ran out to the deck. It flew directly over my house, totally silent at an approximate elevation of 2500 feet. As it was passing, I took one picture that probably will not turn out, but I noticed that the five bright white lights in the front gave way to five red lights facing backwards in the same location as the white, as it passed. The direction was from ESE to WNW. The actual shape was impossible to determine, other than the front of the craft was in fact in a flying Vshape.

Still unable to sleep, the second craft at 3:54 a.m. appeared in the exact same spot as the first, exactly the same forward light configuration and travelling exactly the same flight path. I woke my wife, and retrieved my camera and binoculars.

My wife reported that it was sparkling white to red to white while I was getting the binoculars and she felt it was moving gently from side to side. This time, I took several pictures of its approach and again went out to the deck and took a number of pictures as it passed overhead.

The shape of the craft was triangular at first, but as it passed above my house in total silence, the rear pointing five red lights were replaced by one flashing red light and a small white light following behind approximately 100-150 feet to the rear of the craft as if it was being towed.

At 9 a.m. I placed a call to the Vancouver Airport to confirm that what I saw were two aircraft, and I was intrigued that they were both totally silent.

The public relations gentleman I talked to, Peter, was kind enough to call me back in the afternoon after they had checked radar and tapes, and reported that they have a contact at exactly 3:27 a.m. when a military mail plane flew overhead on the North Shore, and that there was a second aircraft, Not over the North Shore at 3:34 a.m. At the time of the second sighting, there were no aircraft in the air, and they had no radar contact. It was strange as I was sure that the second craft was in fact an airplane and that the first was something else. As soon as the film is developed, if anything turned out at all, I will forward it for comments.

25-Sept-97, Aldergrove

" On September 25, I was out on my back porch, letting the dog out before bed. It was cloudy with large clear patches. I noticed a very large object flying from the south east and heading north west. It was going so fast it only took about 5 seconds to cross the sky. It was very long, lights were visible at each end and a vapor trail was clearly visible. I have never seen anything prior to this. It was really a spectacular experience."

30-Sep-97, 100 Mile House

7:30 to 9 pm : A family was driving north on Highway 97 from Clinton to 100 Mile House when they noticed orange flashes of light low in the northeast sky (about 7:30 pm). At first they thought it was a forest fire, but they never saw any flames or smelled any smoke, and they continued to see the flashes, always in the northeast, for over an hour. After they passed 100 Mile House and were heading towards Lac La Hache, they saw a round silvery object, with a white vapour trail, travelling from west to east. The object’s path was horizontal and lasted for about 10 seconds, before turning red and fading away (2 seconds). After viewing this object, they no longer saw any of the "ground flashes".

30-Sep-97, Burnaby

8:30 pm : The witness was in east Burnaby, by Robert Burnaby Park, and noticed something unusual coming from the northeast. There was no sound but bright "scintillating" lights, flashing in some kind of rhythm. The object disappeared in the west. He says it was faster than the FIDO blimp, but slower than a jet.

6-Oct-97, Kelowna

Saw the very same thing as that to be recorded in the BCTV video of Oct 11 (See notes: Langley). Moving slow in southwest sky, in mid-afternoon.

6-Oct-97, Whitehorse, Yukon (3:00 – 4:00 am)

The witness got up in the night and came out to the living room of his home in Takhini Subdivision which was situated on the bluff edge, offering an impressive view of the skies through his big front window. There was high cloud in the area and the stars were not visible.

He had just gotten comfortable lying down on the floor facing the window when he caught sight of a glowing green orb or ball streaking through the sky and out of sight in what seemed to be no more than 1/2 second. "What the hell was that?!", he wondered.

Having lived near an airport at one time made him familiar with all sorts of aircraft, which in no way looked or moved anything like what he had seen. Nor did satellites, shooting stars, comets, meteors or northern lights, and concluded that he didn't know just what he had seen though whatever it was, was incredibly fast.

The Witness was most amazed at the incredible speed it was moving at!

The object was 70 degrees above the horizon when first noticed and disappeared behind Grey Mountain towards the southeast. The object was perfectly round and had no trailing tail. At arms length it was the size of a dress shirt pocket button.

9-Oct-97, Maple Ridge

5.30am: While preparing to leave for work the witness observed two white lights, each with the apparent size of a 25¢ coin at arms length. They were travelling parallel to each other in a horizontal plane, tracking south west. Total viewing time was 4-5 seconds.

10-Oct-97, Whitehorse, Yukon (4:00 am)

A man was star gazing as he walked through a back alley in downtown Whitehorse when he spotted a bright craft shoot between the buildings of the mouth of the alley he was walking through. The object moved north to south quickly towards Grey Mountain. It flew level and straight. Moved silently with constant speed and direction. Flew at jet speed. Estimated elevation above ground was 4000 to 6000 ft. If held at arms length the object was the size of a gelatin medicine capsule.

The craft was also shaped like a gelatin medicine capsule, same shape at both ends, had a strong glow, had 5 bright red spikes around its vertical midsection, and short pinkish bristles of light covered the rest of its body.

Though only seen briefly, the witness was able to recall a surprising amount of detail about the craft, and is firm that it was not a plane or meteorite, and felt somehow weird all the way home. He just couldn't resolve what he'd just seen.

11-Oct-97, Langley (known as the "BCTV Video" case)

On Saturday, October 11th at approximately 4PM what was believed to be a UFO was video taped over Langley by a local man. Several witnesses viewed the object under perfect conditions travel in a south easterly direction. What was believed to be a sonic boom sound was also heard by the gentleman videotaping as well as other observers. At this time a jet was seen approaching the object before the UFO went out of view. A NORAD spokesman was quoted as saying if he had to guess he thought it was probably a US Military exercise involving two US Military jets. It appears this time we have to agree with NORAD as the said object never seemed to characterize typical "UFO" movements and traits. It travelled in a steady path with a contrail observed at all times the object was in view. With the hoopla surrounding this event, we only wish our friends at BCTV would give some of our more mysterious cases and reports as much coverage.

Was it the Aurora? - On October 28 we received the following e-mail:

Hi, I wondered if you were aware that the US airforce has been doing test flights of it's ultra secret Aurora in the Pacific NW. In September on BCTV there was an article about some high flying V shaped craft that was noticed by several people. The Aurora is the shape of an arrow head (in a general term). In the first week on September I noticed a tell-tale rope-of-knots contrail at a very high altitude. Once my high powered glasses were zeroed in on it, there was the Aurora. It was heading north to southwest at about 70-80,000 feet and probably mach 5. As much as the airforce tries to hide it, the Aurora has been seen on several occasions around the world. It is easily mistaken for a UFO because of it's very strange shape and signature contrail. Bye for now, Dale.

Many thanks to Bill Krech for Aurora illustration.

11-Oct-97, Saanich Peninsula

"Saturday last, at approximately 10:30 PM, while we were out walking we noticed a red glow, (with some yellow) in the sky. It appeared to be covered with light cloud, also a weird shaped cloud seemed to stretch across the sky. We live on the Saanich Peninsula in Central Saanich area. We stood and watched "the thing" for several minutes, than continued walking and it just vanished....."

31-Oct-97, Greenville (8:00pm)

A Nass family reported having seen a bright light the size of a house in the sky on Halloween night.The family said the object passed over their car as they were driving along the Nass road just outside of Gitwinksihlkw. The huge light passed closely over the mountains and didn't make a noise.

31-Oct-97, Beaverdell

"October 31, 1997 early evening and just after dark, a group of us were camped in back of Beaverdell on Wallace Lake Road...there wasn't anyone else in the area...we were all sitting around the campfire when a tilted light in the sky caught my eye...it was luminous green and shaped like a square cigar with 4 very bright lights around it.  I just caught it as it was disappearing behind a hill.  There was no sound associated with it. I asked if anyone else had seen it but they didn't so I just chalked it up as an airplane or possibly fireworks although in reality I feel it could have been a UFO because its shape and lights were different from anything I've seen before and was not consistent with fireworks or an airplane." (e-mail report by Deborah)

November 1997, Colwood: (8:30 pm)
 
 "In 1997 I had another sighting [see 12-July-2002] of a solid, white light that flew right over our house. Strangely enough, I had spotted it flying towards our neighbourhood while leaving a local shopping mall and briefly wondered if it was a UFO. It too was up around 1,000 feet. I drove home (about a 5-minute trip) and when I got out of the car I instinctively looked up. It was flying right over the house and I knew immediately it was no conventional craft. I could see it very clearly against the background of stars, and it seemed smaller than an airplane. I sometimes get annoyed when witnesses are unable to estimate height and size of a UFO, but from these experiences I can tell you it is no easy task. You have no idea exactly what you are seeing and without reference points, meaningful estimates are very difficult. Anyway, I got back in the car and chased it but soon lost sight of it."
 
 UFO*BC Responds:
 
 Thanks for your two sighting reports. Yes, estimating the size and elevation of an unknown object in the night sky is virtually impossible, but it is human nature to try. Do you remember the time of year and time of day of the 1997 event?
 
 Witness Responds:
 
 I believe it was late November 1997 and the time was around 8:30 p.m. I had been at the CanWest Mall on Jacklin Road grocery shopping and the light was about a mile east of the mall flying south towards our neighbourhood. When I got home, what I saw when I looked up is burned into my memory because it was so ethereal -- just a soft white glowing object floating silently along against the backdrop of stars. There was something in its silent motion that was just awe-inspiring. I got back into the car and raced around to Metchosin Road above the gravel pit because I expected to see it flying across Juan de Fuca Strait. From this point there is a panoramic view of Victoria and the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. I was probably there within two or three minutes but it had completely disappeared.
 
 A friend of mine who also lives in this area has had four sightings in the last two years, mostly from his front porch. His first sighting was in the summer of 2000. He saw a spear-shaped object that paced a military jet for a few seconds and then angled upwards and disappeared at lightning speed. If you'd like, I can ask him to provide details.

November 1997, Apex Ski Resort BC Canada:

Please follow link for full sighting report. Click HERE.

3-Nov-97, Delta

11.25pm: A small, white light was seen over the Fraser River, reported as moving erratically up and down like an "insect". A short while later a second light joined it and they moved in "tandem". At times the lights disappeared, reappearing in a different position. No sound was heard during the 15 minute observation. The lights finally "faded" and were not seen again.

8-Nov-97, Surrey

3.30pm: Proof that shopping is not always dull. Two witnesses outside Wal-Mart in Guildford, one an experienced light aircraft pilot, observed a white cylindrical object in the sky that was apparently lacking "appendages". A 'metallic' glint first attracted their attention. As hard as they looked they could make out no visible wings on the object and they could hear no sound. It was a clear blue sky, the object about 75 degrees above the horizon and moving at a speed and in a mode comparable to that of a light aircraft. It was estimated by the light aircraft pilot to be about 3000 feet above the ground (provided it was the size of a light aircraft). It was 'lost' after 5 minutes viewing, tracking eastwards. (See also New Westminster sighting, 11 Nov).

11-Nov-97, New Westminster

3.20pm: The witness, driving east down Columbia Street, noticed a reflective flash high up in the clear blue sky. A tiny, white indistinct 'dot' was seen, apparently positioned at "high altitude" between the Patullo and Port Mann bridges. It tracked SSE towards Langley. The object did not engage in any erratic motion. No wings or other appendages could be seen. Compare with the Surrey sighting a few days earlier (8 Nov).

12-Nov-97, Vancouver/Burnaby border

"I left work at 3:12 approximately. Clear blue sky. I was looking around, and I saw a white cylindrical object due north on Boundary approximately 45 degrees up from the horizon. The object seemed to by about one mile away if the size of a light plane. The object was moving extremely slow. I could not see wings, tail,or navigational lights. Time was 15:15. I looked away to watch for traffic (2 or 3 seconds), then when I looked up I noticed what seemed to be a large rounded vertical stabilizer on the left of the object (object was moving from left to right (west to east)). I intended to get to my van and observe through my binoculars. This seemed possible as the object was just crawling along. I waited for the traffic light on Boundary while watching the object. When the light turned green I hurried across, then turned to go north on Boundary. I looked up to where the object had been. Nothing. It took me 3 seconds to cross the street. I continued to look as I quickly walked north on Boundary. Then off in the distance I saw a white object, moving slowly from east to west. If it was the size of a light plane it would be 4 miles away. I had been walking for approximately 15 seconds. I continued to watch the object as I walked toward my van, only looking away to cross the road. I looked back, nothing. When I was first looking at the object I thought it might be a dirigible or blimp, but the shape and size were wrong."
Refer to: 12 July 97, 21 Sept 97, 8 Nov 97 and 11 Nov 97 . GMc

14-Nov-97, Brilliant, streaming lights over the Pacific West Coast

On Friday November 14 as UFO*BC's Graham Conway was speaking on Jeff Rense's "
Sightings On the Radio" a caller reported a brilliant light display seen over Bellingham, Washington which lies just south of BC. Our own hotline began to ring and we received many calls throughout the area confirming the same object was being seen in British Columbia.  Reports came from Campbell River, Langley, North Vancouver and Vancouver. Some spectacular video was filmed over the Maple Ridge area and shown on VTV (Vancouver Television). The object was seen travelling slowly moving from west to east and appeared as one witness described as a " landing strip in the sky".  Early reports had  it pegged as a meteor shower, a satellite and a Russian rocket.  However one conflicting bit of information had it crashing in the Pacific ocean.  This does not match with the countless reports of the aerial phenomenon travelling inland over BC and Washington in a definite west to east direction.

We at UFO*BC believe this really was debris from a Russian rocket.

14-Nov-97, Deep Cove

"I witnessed the most incredible things in the sky.  It happened about 9:09 Friday evening.  I looked up to the WSW and saw what appeared to be fire works. However what ever it was kept on heading to the east and passed directly over Deep Cove.  As they passed overhead there appeared to be about of dozen or more of them with long tails and they continued towards the east and eventually disappeared over the horizon.  They were very bright and made no noise. I wouldn't mind hearing if someone else witnessed the same thing.  I saw a small plane fly over just to the south, they couldn't have missed it."

Also believed to be Russian rocket debris.

20-Nov-97 Delta

6pm: Four workers outside for a smoking break noticed a flickering/pulsating yellow/orange light at tree top height to their west 'above' the Massey tunnel (Fraser River crossing). It appeared to be stationary. They returned to work but watched it for 15-20 minutes more until is faded from view. Sounds like a bright star or planet sighting.

23-Nov-97 Burnaby

7.20pm: The two witnesses were standing outside their basement apartment when a black, 5 foot tall figure passed about 15 feet before them "at very high speed" along a concrete driveway after coming out of the bushes of a park. There was no accompanying sound or odours. It was dark, and the figure was determined by the way it blocked out the lights behind it. One of the witnesses has recently lost 3 cats in the area (incidents involving lost or mutilated cats are beginning to be uncovered in our investigations).

24-Nov-97 Coquihalla Highway, Kamloops

3.05 pm: The witness was driving home when he spotted a bright white light "the size of a pencil stub" at arms length. On arriving home he, his wife and children watched the light brighten and dim. He later drove to a high elevation on the Coquihalla Highway to view the light better. The light was lost to view about one hour after first sighting. The witness is an ex RCAF employee.

28-Nov-97 Vancouver

"On Friday November 28 1997, at around 1400h in the West End of Vancouver, I noticed what appeared to be a vapor trail from a very high flying aircraft (>30,000 feet). There were no clouds in the surrounding airspace. With my hand held at arms length from my body, the length of the vapor trail was close to 1 inch. It appeared to be traveling east to west over the area between downtown Vancouver and the North Shore Mountains. I saw it only for about 5 seconds. As I went to look through my telescope, only 6 feet away, it had disappeared from the sky. The vapor trail was not to be seen, nor any other vapor trail or cloud." (report by Nuri Grundig)

28-Nov-97 Vancouver

As reported by the gentleman prior: Myself and a workmate were working at Vancouver Tech school Friday afternoon when we noticed a contrail at a fairly high altitude. Although unable to make out any detail of the object, the contrail remained consistent for the whole time of viewing (well over a minute). It moved from the northwest to the southeast until it was out of view. It looked very much like the BCTV (11-Oct-97) footage and must have been seen by anyone who was looking up at the time. It did not seem to match the characteristics of the recent "white orbs". (report by Bill OLiver, UFO*BC)

4-Dec-97, Sheldon Lake, Yukon (5:10 pm to 7:30 pm)

On a clear and cool evening two men were travelling on snowmobiles on the North Canol Road, Yukon Territory, about 125 km northeast of the small community of Ross River. The road is closed to normal vehicular traffic throughout the winter.

They arrived at a trappers cabin near Sheldon Lake. The trapper mentioned that he had seen a strange light (lights ?) moving about the day before and asked the two men if a helicopter had been in the area. The two men replied that they didn't know of any. They would have likely known or noticed if a helicopter had been dispatched the previous day from Ross River.

They continued on their journey in a north-northeast direction and looked back towards Sheldon Lake and spotted a huge bright light, white in color at around 5:10 pm. Other colors were seen from time to time and the light was the size of a nickel or a quarter at arms length. No noise was heard. At one point a pole protruding from the original object with another light on it was seen. The light did not appear to have any sudden movements while the men observed it.

The object appeared to follow the men but kept its distance. It appeared to be moving in an easterly direction and gaining altitude and brightness as the evening progressed. As they travelled they kept checking about every five minutes to see if the object was still there. It remained with them until about 7:30 pm when they decided to check for it again and it was suddenly gone.

The two men have extensive experience in the outdoors and are adamant that it was no star or planet.

Investigators Note:

Although the planet Venus was exceptionally bright in December 97 and in the south-west portion of the sky, the size of the object seen in this case and the unusual pole with a second light does not agree with a sighting of a bright planet.

Previous Sightings in the Area:

An (object or light ?) followed a man from this area all the way back to Ross River in September 1997.

Strange lights were photographed over Sheldon Lake by a trapper on December 20, 1994. The story appeared in the Whitehorse local Paper (Whitehorse Star Dec 30, 1994) on the front page and continued on page 3 along with the photo. The trapper was not the same person as in the above case. Chris Rutkowski the compiler of the annual Canadian UFO Survey was also interviewed for the article.

8-Dec-97 Surrey

On Monday, December 8 at about 10:45 pm a brightly lit object as big as a nickel at arms length was seen in the eastern sky by a couple driving into a cul-de-sac in Surrey, BC where one of the witnesses (Sarah, age 20) lives. As they turned and approached to park across from her house they kept their eyes on the object as it now moved at a steady pace heading west. It seemed to make several unorthodox movements (ups and downs) as it went across their vision. It was at this time Sarah became somewhat agitated and her only thought was to get her key out of her bag and get into the house. While she was looking down at the seat and her purse, her boyfriend Craig (age 22) said "Look! Another one!". Sarah looked, but the second object had vanished, although Craig said it followed the same path as the first light. Both of them were very excited and Sarah said "I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I could feel my heart beating through my sweater".

It was now the main event was about to begin. What Sarah called "The Grandaddy" appeared in their view, approaching again on the same path as the prior object(s). They both said it was very large, the size of two $2.00 coins held at arms length, about a mile north from them and about two inches above the tree line, the trees being about 50 - 60 ft high. They could plainly see it was a disc shape, pewter in colour, with a row of white lights around the centre. Sarah said she was absolutely amazed how well she could see the object's shape and colour in the night sky and how its lights enabled her to make it out. She said it looked like it was "out of a fifties movie" and she was surprised that a UFO "would really look like that".

It was spinning and seemed to dip in the sky as it spun, and according to Craig, at one time "looked like it turned on its side". Sarah told Craig to turn off the headlights of the car as the object grew very bright. They were not sure if it was coming closer or just glowing brighter. It was also at this point the object started to make up, and down and back and forth, movements. They at this time decided to follow it and went in pursuit of the UFO. They drove to Crescent Beach where they thought they would be afforded a better view of the sky. However they could not see anything and after waiting 15 or 20 minutes left for home. One particular strange note was when asked why they decided to follow the object after being so frightened, Sarah became puzzled and said "You know, I don't even remember it leaving".

At the time of the interview (Dec10) Sarah still had not eaten and was having a hard time sleeping. It was important she said to talk to someone and she thanked us for listening to her. She had called the local RCMP who brushed her off saying " lady we haven't had any calls like this for a while". Her sister then phoned the airport and was given UFO*BC's number.

Sarah had two previous sightings each being remarkable themselves. A full report will be written and posted on our website soon. Once again we find ourselves back in the Surrey Corridor where so many of our cases are reported.

14-Dec-97, White Rock

(12:30 - 1:00 AM) The seven witnesses were coming up from the beach near the pier and about to leave in their cars when they first observed the object. It was coming from the southwest near Boundary Bay and appeared very small, about the size of a match head. It approached at a rapid pace and came to an abrupt halt about 1000 yards directly in front of them and about 1500 ft up. It was shaped like a slightly rounded reverse six (6), and a very dense reddish orange colour. The only place any reflection could be seen was off a silver pyramid shape on top of it. The object hovered for a few seconds then flew to the right about 50 or 60 ft. It then moved forward about 50 feet then to the left at the same distance. It now hovered for a few seconds before making movements like a "wimpy yo-yo" slightly fluttering, up and down about 60 ft. It  stayed still for another 5 seconds but now the silver pyramid was on the bottom of the reverse six. Then, like someone turned off the light, it was gone. Total viewing time - 5-10 minutes

14-Dec-97, Surrey

"I was driving up King George Highway shortly after 9:00 pm and noticed out of my front window a bright yellow -white light moving at a rapid speed to the south, slightly southwest. It was below the cloud cover which I estimated at about 2,000 ft. Total viewing time was probably less than 5 or 6 seconds. I gave a call to a work mate of mine (Bill Oliver) who I knew to have an interest in UFO's."

14-Dec-97, Surrey

(9:04 PM) Driving south down King George Highway (from Patullo Bridge to Whalley), two people witnessed a small(?) gold white light with flashing red travelling at high speed below the clouds. In view 2-3 seconds. The car windows were open but there was no sound of possible jet noise. This particular flight path is not the customary Vancouver arrival route.

18-Dec-97, Revelstoke

"I have to interview the three train crews that witnessed a sighting while working the mountain sub-division of CPR. The information I have so far is that two train crews operating in the area and another crew deadheading in a taxi, heard a very large booming sound. Then instantly the whole valley east of Revelstoke, BC lit up as if daylight. A large ball of light was seen hovering above the peak of Mount Sir Donald. After about 10 seconds, the ball of light shot straight up in to the night sky and disappeared. The event happened at 01:30 on December 18th 1997. Being that 3 separate train crews and one taxi driver, (a total of 7 people), saw the event, I will be able to collaborate the information and compile a report. I will keep you all posted."
Alan M. Young, Locomotive Engineer

On January 23rd we received the following update:

Regarding the sighting by several employees of CPRail in December:
I have contacted one person so far. He was reluctant to converse with me. He was embarrassed when talking about his experience. This is what I got out of him:

"We were travelling westbound at Flat Creek (35miles E of Revelstoke). We heard this very loud bang, like an explosion. The night sky light up as if it were daylight. We saw a large glowing ball of yellow light streaking across the canyon. It then stopped for about 10 seconds and hovered. The ball of light then streaked away and everything went back to night again."

I asked him if there was any other sounds and he said that all he could hear was the roar of the locomotives after the initial bang. This fellow was the conductor of the train. I am trying to make contact with the Engineer to compare notes. I will keep you informed.

Sincerely, Alan M. Young

 

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