I remember for the first time hearing about
"flying saucers" just after the last war and a lot of people reported seeing
strange objects although I do not remember hearing of them prior to that.
There was one story of two pilots in a
Canadian plane reporting a large silver object had flown alongside for 20 miles and when
the plane edged closer to get a better look the object made three fast circles around the
plane (photography?) and then headed north at an amazing speed.
In August a veteran R.C.M.P. officer who had
headed detachments in the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta was in his detachment
in Hay River in late August of 1947 when two men walked into his office. One was the
commanding officer for the northern region and the other was introduced as
"Charlie" who was an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was told he was to go on
a top secret mission to retrieve instruments from two craft about 140 miles north and west
of Great Slave Lake. A jeep with special balloon tyres was to arrive the next day. He was
to get gas and provisions and supplies for seven days. He was told he and the officer
"Charlie" might have to walk the last 30 miles to the locations. He was sworn
never to mention this assignment for seven years. He told this story in 1954.
They started out and moved out through bush
roads and then onto the tundra. (Check if there is tundra there.) The American plotted
their course with an instrument which was much more sophisticated than a compass. The
officer had plotted two circles (dots?) on the map and he said they were the location of
flying saucers. (Check if that term was used then.) They left at night so as not to
"broadcast" their departure. This "compass" was so designed that it
kept them "on course" to within two degrees. If the terrain led them a bit off
course they had to reverse until the lines evened up so to speak. The jeep had been
re-designed to 20 miles an hour top speed. They made good time. Finally using his bearings
and the speedometer reading and a slide rule (?) he said they were within 30 miles from
Number One. Two hours later they came upon a swath in the scrub and low Arctic trees. They
went north five miles and came upon a large object. It was 40 feet across and had a large
"horseshoe" shape cut out of the rear and six exhaust (?) pipes protruded. The
machine was described as a "huge saucer." It took four hours to unbolt some
instruments from the interior after the officer opened a steel flap door with a key.
Inside the flap in black letters was "U.S. Air Force." (?---it is my
recollection that the army and the navy had air forces but the air force as an entity was
not created until later but I'm probably wrong.) They ate and had a short sleep and then
proceeded another 20 miles across the tundra and came across Number Two and the same
procedure took place. When the officer finished removing the equipment and stowing it in
the jeep he told the policeman to drive off a bit and he placed an explosive in the craft.
Fifteen minutes later driving south they were jolted by a blast and almost immediately
heard a tremendous explosion. Proceeding to Number One the officer placed a second charge
and blew it to smithereens. They returned to Hay River on the fourth day. The policeman
said he was not allowed to take a camera and the U.S. officer took one roll of film of
each craft.
Later the R.C.M.P. officer received an
ambiguous letter (from whom he didn't say) thanking him for his services. All he learned
from the officer was that the two craft had been launched from a secret test field east of
Los Angeles (in the desert) and were operated by remote control, had a speed of 600 miles
per hour (about twice the speed of a jet fighter in those days) and had enough fuel for
six hours. (Check the distance using speed and fuel and destination.) The policeman said
the flights had been "recorded" and that is how they knew where to go so
precisely. (The Americans had air fields in the north then as they had taken over northern
Canada during the war and a spotter plane or planes might have been in the area and noted
their landings by visual sight or possibly radar.) The officer told him that many
(workers, military) knew of the craft but this test was "at a second level of
intelligence." It seems probable that the test craft would be directed north into an
area of tundra which would provide a "soft landing" and also far from any human
habitation. Any other compass point would have landed them in the ocean, inhabited country
or jungle where they might never be found.
Common sense tells one that these were not
"flying saucers" as such but some American military experience, possibly to be
used for surveillance but they were unmanned and therefore would have no combat use. It
probably was an outrageous waste of taxpayers' money as the second generation of high
speed jet planes were already in the works and would make them useless.
I was a newspaperman since 1942 with time
out for the infantry and since 1972 I have been an author, 17 books, and am now virtually
retired. The policeman, I believe, is still alive and despite the skepticism which goes
with the trade of newspaperman-author of non-fiction, I have no reason to disbelieve this
story. In the main, it holds together and besides, there is no reason whatsoever for him
to make up this experience. I have never heard of a similar story although probably your
network has. Also, he told it after the seven years was up.
bye and aye...
Name withheld by request.
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