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September 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 29/09/2010 10:59 PM Page 9 Montreal UFO ‘Probably Explainable’ 9 Montreal UFO sighting possibility." He admits the video doesn't do justice to "Our sun is pretty average in terms of 'probably explainable' stars. And there are many, many stars, as Carl what he saw. "What I saw was compelling, unusual Montreal Gazette Sagan would say, billions and billions. and you had this visceral sense looking at it that "Many of them are much older than our this is a once-in-a lifetime thing," he said. "At a sun." risk of sounding Hollywood and shlocky, it was MONTREAL - While a sighting this So, Rutkowski added, planetary systems kinda not of this world." week of a strange, lighted object above may have developed life "perhaps hundreds of Cavendish Mall is "probably explainable," thousands of years ahead of us" - some giving Object likely man-made: astronomer astronomer and UFO-studies buff Chris rise to civilizations that "maybe have figured Rutkowski said Thursday, from his perspective, out how to get around that pesky travel Theories about what was in the sky the jury is still out on the question of whether problem," huge interstellar distances. Wednesday night have already started Earth is receiving visits from extraterrestrials. It's an argument he makes in his latest circulating among astronomy buffs and experts. Hundreds of UFO sightings from across book, The Big Book of UFOs, freshly published Andrew Fazekas, a director at the Royal Canada are collected and compiled each year by at 384 pages. Astronomical Society of Canada, said the object Ufology Research, an independent, Manitoba- Asked whether the RCMP compiles was likely of this world. based non-profit group where Rutkowski is statistics on UFO sightings, Sgt. Julie Gagnon "From the description, definitely I among a half-dozen volunteers. responded: "It's the first time anybody asks me would say it is not something astronomical. It's About 10 per cent of the 1,004 UFO that. I don't know." not a satellite. And it's not a star or anything like reports the group collected for 2008 were Minutes later, the media-relations that," said Fazekas. judged unexplained, after they had been official called back to say: "We do not compile "It could have been some sort of reviewed. UFO sightings." balloon.… Strobe lights on a private? A But a smaller core of UFO sightings, Montreal police don't either: powerful laser?" about one per cent of the 2008 total, remain "We have no specific code for that," Fazekas said the sightings are getting a classified as "high-quality unknowns," Constable Daniel Lacoursière said of UFO- lot of attention. Rutkowski said - even after they'd been related incidents. "It is starting to make the rounds and scrutinized with "above-average levels of But, to his recollection, he added, "in 20 getting viral because people are naturally investigation and documentation." years, not a lot" of UFO reports have been interested in unidentified things in the sky. In the mid-week Montreal-area incident, investigated by Montreal Island officers. People are drawn to it," said Fazekas. Dr. Cleve Ziegler, an obstetrician-gynecologist "The trouble is," Rutkowski said, "we at the Jewish General Hospital, was driving just don't have the definitive piece" of evidence Police close brief investigation along Cavendish Blvd. about 1 a.m. Wednesday - such as "a chunk of a saucer" or some other when his attention was attracted skyward by a "smoking gun." Montreal police received several calls bizarre object near Kildare Rd., featuring blue "Nobody's been on board and come back about a mysterious object in the sky after and white twinkly lights. with a towel from the Mars Hilton or something midnight Wednesday morning. "It was moving up and down, sideways like that" - at least so far.[] Const. Daniel Lacoursière said Trudeau ... more like a couple of triangles," he said. Airport reported nothing on the radar in that "This left me," he added, "with the deep UFOs in Montreal? area at the time. sense that I had seen something not from this He posed another theory. Around the planet." Strange sights reported same time, helicopters were buzzing around the An anonymous contributor to The site of a fuel spill at the Port of Montreal in the Gazette's website who said he or she had been CBC.ca other end of town. out dog-walking at the time chimed in with one Ziegler said he doesn't believe in possible explanation: A mysterious object in the sky over extraterrestrial life, but thinks he did see "It was a man flying a kite in the parking Montreal this week is getting a lot of attention, something otherworldly. lot. ... It had lights on it so he could see it." including from a respected Montreal doctor who "It's not like I want to believe this," he Overall, cross-Canada reports of UFOs believes he saw something "out of this world." said.[] declined during 2009, Rutkowski said, adding Several people in the Côte St. Luc that he's still working his way through "slightly neighbourhood called police early Wednesday more than 800 cases" of sightings sent to the morning about UFOs or strange blinking lights group on incidents last year. hovering high in the sky. "I believe it possible that an advanced, Dr. Cleve Ziegler, an obstetrician- technological civilization may have found ways gynecologist, spotted the object when he was of traversing interstellar distances without driving home from work around 12:30 a.m. He violating physical laws," said Rutkowski, who couldn't believe his eyes. has written extensively on UFOs. "There were many little sparkly red and "However, after more than 25 years of blue lights. It had a changing shape, morphing research and investigation, I have not seen see from something that looked triangular to any incontrovertible evidence of this - not at this something that looked like a trapezoid. It was moment." not a stable shape," Ziegler told CBC News. Others are more definitive: "It was coming closer and [then moved] Last Monday, a group that included farther, it was turning and rotating." Robert Salas, a retired U.S. air force captain and He then saw other people looking up at former missile launch officer, told a Washington the same thing, including a man who told him news conference that aliens have landed on his wife was so spooked that she scurried home. Earth and disabled nuclear-missile warheads. "I'm a guy who spends a lot of time in "I personally think they're not from the country in the summer. I have seen satellites. planet Earth," said Salas, who was accompanied I've seen falling stars. I know what a plane looks by six other former airmen. The group accused like. None of those things had the trajectory or the U.S. and British governments of covering up motion that this did," said Ziegler. a variety of incidents. Ziegler called police, who had already Asked directly whether he believes received several other calls about the Earth is indeed getting visits from elsewhere, mysterious object in the sky. He forwarded a Rutkowski responded: "I believe in the dark, poor-quality video he took on his cellphone to authorities.