The Sighting
On March 30, 1997 the mother had taken her three
children to the Takhini Hot Springs for a swim Easter Day and they stayed until the pool
closed at about 10:00 at night. They were on the road on their way home by about 10:30
with the teenage daughter in the front passenger seat and the two younger children in the
back seat. From the Hot Springs Road they turned right, onto the Klondike Highway and
headed home towards Whitehorse.
When they went to cross the Takhini River bridge
heading for Whitehorse, they noticed a huge white light on the riverbank. It was about the
size of a satellite dish although the mother couldn't discern the shape and size exactly.
At times she noticed white and yellow lights and then
white and red blinking lights that almost made the single ball of light look like it was
two.
They were the only people on this portion of an
otherwise busy road.
The mother rolled down her window and slowed the car
for a better look. The light came up from the riverbank and began following them at a
discrete distance from the other side of the ditch above a continuous stand of trees,
almost as if following a ravine. It flew at treetop level. The two younger children in the
back seat got scared of the light and started crying, and the mother, usually very
attentive, was not concerned about their distress.
"What is that?" the mother and the teenage
daughter asked each other, and then the daughter asked, "Why are you stopping, why
did you roll down your window?" "Mom let’s get out of here!"
The UFO followed them along the Klondike Highway
until they got to the first houses along the road, then it went straight up and continued
following them from above. At this point during the encounter, the light was larger than
thumb size at arms length, didn't shine out, and yet wasn't flat light.
At the junction of the Alaska and Klondike Highways,
the mother stopped the car even though the two younger children were scared. The Mother
just wanted a real good look; it had been difficult to drive and watch the object at the
same time even though the teenage daughter was continuing to tell her where it was.
They stayed in the car watching for about five
minutes. The UFO went in one direction, then the other, slowed, went faster, went straight
up, hung in mid-air, stopped, and in general seemed to be doing maneuvers for them.
The mother and the teenage daughter had no problem
observing the UFO, even when it came closer. They were still more curious than scared. But
the UFO paralleled them easily and seemed to be having fun with them rather than stalking
them. "I was still amazed at its very existence" the mother said.
The weird thing was that there was no sound and also
no definition to the light at this point and the UFO seemed to be knowingly following
them.
When they neared the Crestview Subdivision area
(still on the Alaska Highway) the mother stopped and got out of the car, her teenage
daughter joined her. It was a well lit area and she had seen some traffic – finally.
"Mom, why are you getting out of the car" the kids in the back shouted, they
started crying even louder and at this point and were crouched down in the back seat.
Cars passing didn't notice the UFO (an estimated six
cars passed the witnesses at this point). The Mother and the daughter stood looking at the
sky, and even then, no one joined in the looking, or even stopped to see if the woman and
three children pulled over on the side of the road at night in winter were in trouble.
Suddenly, the UFO started moving in their direction
very quickly. Because of this, the mother finally got scared. "Get in the car and
go!!!" was all they could think.
So they got back in their car and took off,
continuing along the Alaska Highway and saw the light over Porter Creek but lost sight of
it on their approach into Rabbits Foot Canyon.
As they began passing through the canyon, just before
the dump heading towards downtown Whitehorse, the teenage daughter, looked up through the
windshield said, "I see it, it’s a round shape, go, go, it’s right above
us!"
By then the Mother was up to 120 kilometers per hour
and scared with the kids crying in the back of the car. And again nobody, just absolutely
nobody, on an otherwise busy stretch of road.
The teenage daughter had also rolled down the window
and got a good look at the object. Too her great surprise, it was no longer just a light,
in fact, there was no light at all. What she saw was the underside of a round or
elliptical shaped object, the surface of which looked like it could of been made of dark
shiny metal. It was about the height of the lamp post above their car and seemed to be
moving along with them as though they were connected. The object was slightly bigger than
their vehicle.
 |
Rabbit's Foot Canyon on the Alaska Highway in
Whitehorse looking southbound. At one point in the encounter, the teenage daughter
looked up through the windshield and saw a dark metallic object at about lamppost height
directly above their car pacing them as though they were connected. Prior to this the ufo
only resembled a large bright light. Approximate position of UFO and direction of travel
are drawn in red in the figure.
|
They finally made it to Hamilton Blvd, the last major
turn to home and the top of Two Mile Hill which looks down over downtown Whitehorse.
To their great relief they parted company there. The
Mother stopped for about five minutes and they saw the UFO (now about one and a half times
the size of a fist at arms length) hanging right over the city, slowly moving off towards
Grey Mountain, about 1/4 way up on the horizon, just above the clay cliffs.
The Aftermath
The Mother contacted the police, the airport, and
National Defence to report it. At National Defence, she only left her name and never even
got a call back and wondered how they could just dismiss her; not knowing who she was or
the reason for her call.
So, with no answers and no support she finally told
co-workers who did give her lots of support. Many people have seen things out on the
Klondike Highway just outside of Whitehorse she was told. One lady’s husband saw
something go over his tent while out hunting. "I did not feel alone nor crazy !
" the Mother said.
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Sighting investigated and documented by Lorraine
Bretlyn
and Martin Jasek. 
1997
YUKON SIGHTINGS