Let me ask you something, dear reader.
Do you believe in UFOs?
Of course, when somebody poses such a question, there's usually one or two mental reactions from people. One, they'll immediately conjure up images of aliens in their heads; figures that look like little green or grey beings with bulbous heads and all-black eyes. Two, they immediate start to question the sanity or mental state of someone who asks such a question.
Let me address that first reaction, if I may.
Our instinct when we hear the term UFO is to immediately think of aliens, but this is a false reaction because let's remember that the acronym actually has nothing to do with little green men, as it stands for Unidentified Flying Object.
Apparently, the term UFO has already gone under something of a makeover, as most intelligence groups centered on them have taken to instead calling them UAP, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.
Whether you want to call them UFOs, UAP, or anything in between, they're sure to start an interesting conversation, depending on who you're conversing with at the time.
We here in Canada have had our share of alleged sightings and experiences reported, with people claiming they've seen this or that in the night sky, or that they've even been subjected to something by beings that were definitely not human. Here are a few from around the country that I found thanks to Wikipedia:
1990, Montreal, Quebec
On November 7, 1990, in Montreal, Quebec, witnesses reported a round, metallic object of about 540 metres wide over the rooftop pool of the Bonaventure Hotel. Eyewitnesses saw 8 to 10 lights forming into a circle above them, emitting bright white rays. The phenomenon lasted three hours, from 7.20 to 10.20 p.m., and moved slowly northwards. While none could identify the lights, a few witnesses, according to the next day's report in La Presse, were ready to express their belief that they were visited by aliens.
2010, Harbour Mille, Newfoundland and Labrador
During the night of January 25, 2010 there were multiple UFO sighting reports in Harbour Mille, Newfoundland and Labrador. Royal Canadian Mounted Police initially stated the reports were due to a missile launch, but later retracted the statement, and the Office of the Prime Minister stated that the UFOs were not missiles. Due to Harbour Mille's proximity to Saint Pierre and Miquelon, residents suspected French military activity, an assumption which was dispelled by an official statement by the French Government confirming there was no military activity taking place during the reported incident. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police referred to the event as an unexplained sighting, and NORAD stated there was no known rocket launch at the time. The event prompted Member of Parliament for the constituency Harbour Mille was in at the time, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte MP Gerry Byrne to press the government for further information regarding the incident and criticized the Conservative government on its lack of transparency.
Interesting material, to say the least. But what's believable? What sounds like BS? I guess that's up to the public to decide.
Of course, I can always share with you my own story and let you believe whatever you so choose.
I swear to my readers, this experience is 100% fact and it 100% happened when I was a young kid growing up in Conquest. But to this day, I'm left asking myself exactly WHAT happened? What did we see that evening? Well, let me explain.
It was the summertime of either 1995 or 1996, and my apologies for the absence of an exact year. All I know is we weren't in school because all of us small town kids were enjoying the two months of freedom that came with the summer. I was out with a small handful of fellow Conquest kids; Jared, both Marks (Mark and Marc), and Lewis, and we were riding bikes around town. It was that picture-perfect time of day that only the summertime can bring; it was after supper, but it sure wasn't dark yet.
We biked around, eventually finding our way out at the canal that greets motorists on the turn coming into Conquest from the main access road. We pedaled back into town, stopping between both elevators on the road and just joking around.
It wasn't long before I, and then the others, saw something that had us asking all kinds of questions.
I remember looking up and seeing something that I can only say resembled a candle of sorts. "OK, that's a different-looking satellite", I thought to myself. The difference was this "satellite" wasn't moving. It seemed to just stay put in the sky far above us.
Then, seconds later, we all watched as it moved directly east for a few moments before it seemed to stop again. But just after it did, we saw this would-be "light" appear to fall straight down, seemingly into the canal that we'd just visited minutes earlier. We all looked at each other and we were about to start talking about what we just saw, but our attention was grabbed by what was happening out at the canal. What we saw is still something I question today. A bright, neon-green light began to glow out of the canal, almost pulsating. Again, us kids looked at each other with pure looks of 'WTF?' on our faces. We watched the canal, and a few moments later, the light began to dissipate and fade away until it was gone, like as if it had never been there in the first place.
Everything was quiet, and so were all of us. If you hadn't been there out on the road with us that evening, you'd obviously question everything that I just wrote.
Did I see a UFO or UAP? I mean, kind of, I guess? I couldn't identify it, it seemed to fly in the air, and it was an object. But did I see aliens? God no. All I saw was a weird light appear in the sky, touch down into the village canal, and then a bizarre green light appear and glow for a few seconds. No aliens, no creatures, no abductions, none of that.
All I know, even all these years later, is that we saw SOMETHING in the skies above Conquest that night.
I guess it's true what they say about people who say they've seen or experienced something.
You just had to be there.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
