The small town of Mission lies approximately
twenty miles east of Vancouver, BC and can best be
described as an average, semi-rural, community. In
August of this year UFO*BC was made aware of some
activity that was anything but average. The first
call came through to our hotline from the Millie
McConnell (see
Jeff Rense interview) who sounded very
excited by what her brother was witnessing in the
skies. A group of us made our way out to John's
trailer that was nestled amongst others in a
trailer park on Wilson Road near Rolley Lake. On
first meeting with John he appeared very tired, by
his own admission he had been without sleep for
four nights. Chain smoking and pacing, he was
somewhat belligerent and curt with his answers,
again most understandable to my colleagues and
myself. This is common in people who have
undergone a traumatic experience. However, in
general, John was most forthcoming in relaying his
story, along with sister Millie, who has also been
witness to the activity in the area. As previously
mentioned, I will not attempt to rehash their
story but allow the reader to enjoy Jeff's
interview with John and Millie.
What I will go into however is an equally gripping
report that came our way a short time later from a
gentleman, his daughter and his mother who are
also residents of the same trailer park. Ray was
outside hoping to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower,
a spectacular display we look forward to every
August, but was initially alerted to two bright
lights in the eastern sky a short distance from
where he stood. Ray's view was semi-obscured by
the lights in the trailer park so he went onto his
neighbour's porch where he could get a better
look.
The two lights, one on either side of a group of
trees, then became part of a larger flash of light
which Ray said illuminated a large saucer a
brilliant white for a brief second or two. On
either side of the saucer a group of coloured
lights, red, blue, green and white were going off
and on in sequence. Ray estimated the UFO to be
about three hundred yards away and figured the
tree grove to be about fifty feet in width. With
Ray approximately four or five hundred yards away,
he estimated the craft to be three hundred feet in
diameter! The object was silent at all times and,
as is so commonly reported, a total shutdown of
animal, bird, and insect sounds was evident in the
immediate area, a phenomenon known as the "Oz
Factor". Perhaps the most visual effect from the
craft is how Ray described the nearby Ruskin Dam
power house "lighting up like a skyscraper" with
all windows illuminated. This especially excited
Ray as he said normally only a few lights were
visible at most times from the service building.
It was now decided this was worthy of a call to
the RCMP and asked his daughter Raylene to get the
telephone. He called 911 and told the operator
that "you will probably think I am nuts or that I
have been drinking or on drugs". Ray described
what he was seeing to the operator who reassured
him by saying that they had received several calls
already regarding the sighting. Within thirty
minutes two patrol cars arrived at Ray's trailer
home and four police officers disembarked. One
officer accompanied Ray further up the hill to
view the object. This was now joined by a second
illuminated craft hovering further above the
hills, five or ten miles away. The police officer
told Ray "I can't believe this!" and was at loss
as to how he would write up the police report. He
then ran back to his car for his binoculars for
further viewing and asked the female RCMP officer
what she thought was happening. The woman was so
taken by what she was witnessing that she did not
even respond to the question and continued staring
straight ahead. It was over the next period that
the object illuminated itself another six or seven
times to the amazement of all. One RCMP officer
said, "I don't know what I am going to do, I have
to report this to higher authorities". Ray asked
him if he thought it was a UFO and the officer
told him it was certainly an "unidentified flying
object". Ray then told him he had to go to bed and
that he had seen enough and had to get up early as
by now they had been viewing the mysterious
objects for almost two hours. By the time Ray had
washed up and was ready for bed he heard the
police drive off. A few nights later Ray and his
wife observed the strange lights again, this time
viewing from the Ruskin Dam, for about 90 minutes
before returning home.
Keeping it within the family, Ray's daughter who,
along with her friend, had remarkable stories to
tell as well. Although a witness to her father's
major sighting she told of two equally compelling
experiences, one being a sighting of a glowing red
u-shaped object just a few feet above the Stave
River that she viewed with her cousin Amy. Her
closest encounter however was witnessed while
talking on the portable telephone just outside the
trailer when she was alerted to a brilliant shaft
of blue light approximately two or three feet in
diameter and only inches from her. The light
appeared, in her own words, "to be scanning me".
She went inside at this time and lay down on her
bed and told her friend she wasn't too keen on
going outside again, as she was too scared. After
talking to her friend who convinced her she was
safe the two girls continued to scan the skies for
UFOs for a while longer before going to bed.
Ray's mother, Vina, has had several sightings as
well and at one time viewed a craft the size of "a
large jet" fly by low, and very near, the trailer
park. Never a believer before, her views changed
quickly after the activity so close to home. Vina
told of awaking early one morning about three
o'clock to see her entire living room bathed in
bright orange light. Her initial thought was that
the trailer was on fire however by the time she
walked down the hall the light had disappeared. A
daylight sighting of a strange craft capped her
experiences when she described what she thought to
be a "big white boat" in the Stave River. She
estimated the craft to be about 60 ft in diameter,
oval-shaped, and viewed it about thirty minutes.
As the water was only three or four feet in depth
it is unlikely such a large boat would be in the
shallows. A mystery indeed!
After speaking with the witness's we at UFO*BC
agreed that the group was most sincere in their
story and remain consistent in their description
during follow-up interviews.
This area of the lower mainland near Vancouver has
had a long history of UFO sightings going as far
back as 1947 when a 300-foot "flying saucer" was
spotted in nearby Maillardville. Other reports
mentioned anomalous lights over Dewdney Mt in the
early 1980s and a dramatic sighting of triangular
craft in 1995.
We will keep an eye and an ear to the Mission area
and keep our readers appraised of anything we
shall think worthy of a report.
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