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21 The Shag Harbour UFO 21 The Shag Harbour UFO The Shag Harbour, search effort claiming "nil results." Outside of interesting by government documents, comic The Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, UFO of the local area, media attention quickly faded. book illustrations, the usual jazz about coverups Nova Scotia, UFO of The Harbour Shag and interviews with folks who prefer to have crash/retrieval Octoiber 4, 1967 became Case #34 in the infamous Condon their voices altered and to be filmed in Octoiber 4, 1967 Committee Report which would serve as Project silhouette. Mysteries of Canada Blue Book's swan song. The case was brought Of course no one knows what really Mysteries of Canada to Dr. Condon's limited attention by the late Jim happened in Shag Harbour, but speculation Lorenzen of the Aerial Phenomena Research abounds, particularly since the event occured at On the night of October 4, 1967, shortly Organization (APRO). Dr. Levine, the the height of the Cold War and the fact that after 11:00 PM, a UFO some 60 feet in diameter investigator assigned to the case, allocated the nearby CFS Shelburne was a top-secret was seen to hover over the water near the tiny grand total of two long distance phone calls to submarine detection base. fishing village of Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia. this investigation. One call was to the Watch There's something to make every The UFO, which displayed four bright lights Officer at Maritime Command and the other conspiracy theorist happy. MacDonald and that flashed in sequence, tilted to a 45-degree was to an RCMP spokesperson. Dr. Levine was producer Johanna Eliot have done a nice job in angle and descended rapidly towards the water's assured that there was nothing to the case and touching all the mysterious bases, while surface. Upon impact, there was a bright flash that further investigation was futile. Thus, presenting the information in a visually and an explosive roar. Concerned witnesses interest in the Shag Harbour case withered interesting fashion. began calling the nearby Barrington Passage away... until 1993. It truly is a story that will not die. [] RCMP detachment. None of those witnesses mentioned anything about a UFO. Most Truth Is Still Out There Truth Is Still Out There believed that a large aircraft had ditched into the In Shag Harbour harbour and that there might be survivors. In Shag Harbour Eventually, three RCMP officers arrived at the shore near the impact site. Corporal V. By Pat Lee Werbicki and Constable Ron O'Brien, The Halifax Herald Limited dispatched from the Barrington Passage Detachment, were approaching from east of the On Oct. 4, 1967 many Nova Scotians site. Constable Ron Pond, who was on highway saw something strange flying through the sky patrol on Highway #3, was heading towards with flashing lights. Shag Harbour from a position west of the The mysterious object plunged into the impact site, and his position allowed him to water off Shag Harbour, leading fishermen and view the UFO while it was still in flight. The the RCMP to rush out in a frantic attempt to find unusual lighting configuration and flight survivors. characteristics tipped Cst. Pond off to the But by the time boats arrived on the unusual nature of the object long before he scene, all that was found was a mysterious heard from Cpl. Werbicki, who received his yellow foam that smelled like burned sulphur, information through the initial complaints to the although a dark object was later spotted moving detachment. out to sea. (Insert Twilight Zone music here.) When all three officers met at the impact Some 33 years later the Shag Harbour site they found that the UFO was still floating UFO story continues to fascinate believers and on the water about a half-mile from shore. It skeptics alike, mainly because of the number of was glowing a pale yellow and was leaving a credible eyewitness accounts and the official trail of dense yellow foam as it drifted in the ebb documentation that has been unearthed. tide. Neither the Rescue Co-ordination Centre So it's not surprising that the story has in Halifax nor the nearby NORAD radar facility lived on in books and most recently has become at Baccaro, Nova Scotia, had any knowledge of the subject of a documentary by local filmmaker missing aircraft, either civilian or military. Cst. Michael MacDonald. Pond reported that the object had "changed" Airing Sunday at 5 p.m. on cable's during its descent to the water's surface, i.e., it Space: The Imagination Station, the hour-long changed shape, and that it appeared to be "no The Shag Harbour UFO Story brings together known object." Later, other local witnesses eyewitnesses and pieces together the X-Files described much the same details as those of Cst. tale, which started that October night when Pond. Also, a coast guard lifeboat from nearby those mysterious lights were seen around the Clark's Harbour and several local fishing boats province. were summoned to investigate, but the UFO had Among those who spotted the odd sight submerged before they reached the site. The from Dartmouth was then 12-year-old Chris sulfurous-smelling yellow foam continued to Styles, who subsequently heard the same story well to the surface from the point where the from his grandfather who lived in Shag UFO went down, and a 120 by 300 foot slick Harbour. developed. Search efforts continued until 3:00 "I literally felt cold inside," Styles says AM and then resumed at first light the next day. of seeing the glowing object that night. Everybody involved was convinced that Also interviewed in the film is Don "something" -- that is, something real and Ledger, who has written extensively about the unidentified -- had gone into the water. case with Styles. The pair's research provided The next morning a preliminary report the framework for MacDonald's film, produced was sent to Canadian Forces Headquarters in by Halifax-based Ocean Entertainment. Ottawa. After communicating with NORAD, Also providing input on the incident is Maritime Command was asked to conduct an local fisherman Laurie Wickens, who also saw underwater search ASAP for the object the strange lights that night, along with responsible for the concern in Shag Harbour. fisherman Lawrence Smith. Seven navy divers from the HMCS Granby Adding to the intrigue is a photograph searched throughout the daylight hours until taken by Wilber Eisnor, which shows coloured sundown of 08 October 1967. On Monday, 09 lights glowing in the sky. October 1967, Maritime Command canceled the All fascinating stuff, made all the more