121 lines
8.0 KiB
Plaintext
121 lines
8.0 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: CANADIAN UFO WAVE 1989, FROM IUR FILE: UFO1426
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following is from:
|
|
|
|
IUR - International UFO Reporter - Nov./Dec. 1989 Vol. 14, Number 6 p 7-9.
|
|
|
|
********************************
|
|
|
|
THE CANADIAN UFO WAVE OF 1989 by Chris Rutkowski part 2
|
|
|
|
The sighting that received the most attention in the Winnepeg area began
|
|
at about 11:15 p.m., on October 9, and ended over two hours later. Carl Weselak
|
|
a self-described `volunteer astronomer,' decided that he would observe a meteor
|
|
shower from his third-floor apartment window in downtown Winnipeg. Almost im-
|
|
mediately, he saw a large `boomerang-shaped' object flying north to south over
|
|
the city. He was keeping accurate time for his meteor observing, and therefore
|
|
knew this occured at 11:30 p.m. exactly. Its angular size was thought to be a-
|
|
bout 1/8-inch at arm's length. Over the next few hours, other UFOs were seen,
|
|
ranging from balls of light to the now-familiar boomerang. He was sure that
|
|
none were aircraft, but were indeed extraterrestrial spacecraft.
|
|
The case received publicity because as he watched the objects, he telephoned
|
|
a newspaper to have a reporter verify the sightings. A major article appeared a
|
|
few days later, after reporters had interviewed Weselak and received comments
|
|
from planetarium representatives. Investigation by UFOROM showed that the air-
|
|
port had never been called regarding flight plans of aircraft about the time of
|
|
the sightings. It turns out that several landings and take-offs over Winnipeg
|
|
corresponded to the minute with Wesalak observations. (This does not mean, how-
|
|
ever, that the sightings are fully explained in this manner, and both UFOROM and
|
|
the planetarium are still checking further with airport officials regarding cer-
|
|
tain details.)
|
|
This was enough to spark a local media furor about UFOs. Several more sight-
|
|
ings were reported throughout the week to media and investigators. But unknown
|
|
to Winnipeg residents, the wave had moved westward. The same night as Carl Wes-
|
|
elak's multiple sightings, two radio announcers in Dawson Creek, British Colum-
|
|
bia, were alerted to some lights in the night sky. They wnet and watched an ob-
|
|
ject that `did not seem to be an airplane' move silently in the night sky.
|
|
On October 11, at 7:30 p.m., a group of five elementary school children
|
|
skateboarding in Langenburg, Saskatchewan, suddenly saw an arrangement of col-
|
|
ored lights moving toward them across a field. One boy told reporters, `It sort
|
|
of came down when it saw us. It seemed to come to a stop, and then it took
|
|
off.' The five boys instinctively ducked down in some tall grass because they
|
|
feared they would be `abducted.' When the object moved off, they went to tell
|
|
two of their teachers in the schoolyard. Together, they all watched the object
|
|
for another 10 or 15 minutes. One of the teachers said that the object had a
|
|
`bright flashing light on top and a red light on the bottom.' It appeared to
|
|
him to be over a kilometer away, but only 200 meters in altitude. The top light
|
|
appeared to flash on and off every 15 to 20 seconds.
|
|
That same night, Edwin Fuhr had his second UFO sighting in 15 years when he
|
|
too saw `colored lights in the sky.' And in Winnipeg about 400 km away, a shift
|
|
worker was returning home through a park at about 12:20 a.m. when he saw a
|
|
`shimmering boomerang' in the sky. He went closer, and he heard a high pitched
|
|
whine coming from its direction. As he walked closer, it started to move slowly
|
|
then shot away making a noise like a `sonic boom.'
|
|
The sighting that drew the most attention in Saskatchewan occured on Octo-
|
|
ber 13. At 10:00 a.m. Rose Neumeier was in her kitchen talking on the telephone
|
|
and blankly looking out a window. A flash of light drew her attention toward a
|
|
shed about 15 meters from the farmhouse. An object `like two pie plates rim to
|
|
rim' was motionless in the air only about 15 meters above the shed. It appeared
|
|
nine meters long and three meters thick, with a flattened top and a `corrugated'
|
|
bottom. It was shiny and metallic, and light was shining brightly from the
|
|
`joint' between the two halves. It made no noise and animals were not disturb-
|
|
ed. After a few minutes, the object `rose in slow motion. It went north of the
|
|
yard, curved through the hayfield, then circled over the barn and went back a-
|
|
cross the pasture.'
|
|
Three days later a woman was driving near Langruth, Manitoba, at about
|
|
7:45 a.m., when she saw a `star with a tail of smoke going up' in the eastern
|
|
sky. After a few minutes the object took on the appearance of a `dome shape,'
|
|
and its tail was no longer visible. Twelve hours later, a man in Langenburg was
|
|
driving with his daughter when they observed an object in the night sky. The
|
|
object was `as wide as a small airplane is long,' with colored flashing lights.
|
|
As they watched, it coasted over the highway `right over our heads,' It made no
|
|
sound and they were both mystified. The sighting spurred the man to watch the
|
|
sky every night after that, and he made several additional reports during the
|
|
rest of the month.
|
|
According to RCMP, a `reliable' resident of Gilbert Plaines, Manitoba, ob-
|
|
served a large object with red flashing lights on October 25 at 7:45 p.m. It
|
|
moved slowly and silently at an estimated altitude of 60 meters and did not ap-
|
|
pear to be an aircraft.
|
|
Finally, the last case of the major wave was called in to UFOROM on Novem-
|
|
ber 1. At 6:60 p.m., a pilot flying a small plane 20 miles north of LaRonge,
|
|
Saskatchewan, reported seeing a pair of blinking lights moving across his path
|
|
at an altitude of 8500 feet. Air Traffic Control confirmed that there were no
|
|
other aircraft known in the area at the time.
|
|
The geographical spread of the reports throughout the wave is very inter-
|
|
esting. Sightings were made hundreds of kilometers apart within a matter of
|
|
hours or days of each other, without any way for the witnesses to know of the
|
|
other cases. This in itself is unusual, though there may be a number of con-
|
|
tributing elements. First, the Soviet media circus probably raised people's
|
|
awareness of UFOs. Second, a little known meteor shower (Draconids) peaked on
|
|
October 9-10, and it is possible that some of the sightings could be traceable
|
|
to this cause. Yet, a better known meteor shower peaked on October 21
|
|
(Orionids), and this did not precipitate any reports.
|
|
Another possible explanation that should be mentioned is the TST (Tectonic
|
|
Strain Theory of UFOs). This theory attempts to link UFOs and the release of
|
|
seismic energy, and good correlations have been claimed, though disputed. The
|
|
San Francisco earthquake occured on October 17, admittedly during the 1989 wave.
|
|
It has been suggested that the wave was an indication of pending seismic re-
|
|
lease, but how and why the energy manifested itself over 1500 kilometers from
|
|
earthquake epicenter are questions that need answering before the two can be
|
|
considered related through anything other than coincidence.
|
|
Finally, the Canadian wave had counterparts throughout North America, and
|
|
it will be interesting to assess the full scope of UFO phenomena observed dur-
|
|
ing the fall of 1989. Ufologists will have plenty new data to study in the com-
|
|
ing years. As usual, many of the reports appear likely to have conventional ex-
|
|
planations, while still others require more information for analysis. A few do
|
|
not seem to have simple explanations, and those will be examined in the months
|
|
ahead.
|
|
Investigators and researchers are encouraged to share their case reports
|
|
with each other for a better understanding of the wave. And debunkers are in-
|
|
vited to submit their comments and case investigations to add to the analyses.
|
|
Even if the UFOs all have conventional explanations, the wave is at least in-
|
|
teresting to sociologists, to understand the mechanisms of its formation, and
|
|
the reasons people across two nations suddenly began reporting UFOs again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
**********************************************
|
|
* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
|
|
********************************************** |