“Every now and then a reporter from one of the city papers shows up with a kind of a smile on his face and says, ‘I hear you people have been seeing flying saucers around here. How about a story?’ Well, I haven't anything to say to him. If they think this thing is a joke or some kind of publicity stunt, they can forget it.”

The speaker was Brian Grattan, a young man who, with his wife Pat, operates the “Big G” Guest Ranch on the broad cattle country at Lone Butte off the Cariboo highway. He was the first contact we made in gathering material on the strange incidents that happened in that country two years ago, and which to a lesser extent were still going on.

Friendly and approachable as they were, the time needed for our interview with Grattan and later with his neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Hills of Green Lake, was not easily spared. Even though the visitors' season was over, these people were hard at work preparing for the harsh bite of a Cariboo winter and making plans for next season.

But as we sat over coffee with Brian Grattan and he carefully drew sketches on a paper napkin to illustrate what he, his ranch-hands and guests had seen, we understood what a deep impression his sightings had made. He wanted to discuss them as long as there was no suggestion of disbelief. And, of course, there was not.

“There were several scattered things that happened,” he said. “So many, in fact, that I can't sort them out any more. But there were three incidents in particular that I do remember, and one of them was the very first sighting we had that summer. (1967)

“I remember the time distinctly. It was the eleventh of July, in the evening, and I was with Sean Broc, a wrangler from Texas, when I saw a peculiar red light over Taylor Lake. I asked Sean what he thought it was and he didn't know, so we went over to the lake to have a better look.

“Well, there were five of those things there. Four smallish ones in a neat rectangle and a larger one in front.”

At the time of this interview the last issue of Canadian UFO Report was just going to press. On its cover was a remarkable photo of a carefully investigated sighting over Victoria, B.C., in 1968. It showed four strange lights in rectangular formation with a larger one in front!

“The lights were red with a bit of green in them,” Grattan continued, “and they were making a loud hum, as if they were charging up. It was in a low frequency of about 400 megacycles, sounding like the key of F. It was so loud it was uncanny.”

Fascinated, the two men stood on a pier and watched and listened as the uncounted minutes ticked by. Suddenly a sixth object appeared. To illustrate, Grattan made a circular design on his napkin.

“It was moving so fast we couldn't make out all the details, but it had a red light on the top which I think was revolving, and the rim was lit up and it may have been revolving, too. Anyway, it came down at a terrific speed, went right between the other lights, then shot up out of sight. How it missed diving into the lake I don't know.”

Although this occurred in split seconds, the witnesses had a definite impression the sixth object was acting in concert with the others, perhaps as a scout ship.

“It must have given them some kind of signal,” Grattan said, “because pretty soon after that they disappeared. They all shot off in different directions.”

After that, strange red lights were seen on various occasions, though never in such dramatic fashion as that first sighting. Grattan recalled a night he saw one low overhead just after one of his ranch-hands, Billy O'Neil, had left him to go to bed.

“I called Billy and he was out of the bunkhouse in about six seconds, but by that time it had climbed way up and looked just like a very bright star. That's how fast they can travel.”

On another occasion a glowing red object made a Saturday night appearance over the local dance hall as if interested in the action. But then the crowd started shining lights at it and the object took off.

“In a fixed position those lights are greenish-red,” Grattan said. “But when they move they are completely red.”