saskatchewan1930plus

Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada

1930 (no time given)

By John Brent Musgrave (FSR Vol 22 # 6 1976)

Even as late as the mid 1930's, much of the prairie provinces of Canada was still on the frontier of immigrant settlement. Particularly in the northern areas homesteaders were just beginning to open up the land to commerce and agriculture, and such luxuries as telephone, paved roads and electricity were things of the future. The town of Nipawin Saskatchewan, is situated in the northwest corner of the province and in the 30's was on the edge of this settlement. During the summer of 1933 stories drifted into Nipawin that some homesteaders, as well as a forest tower ranger, had been observing strange lights in the sky and near the ground. Whatever it was, they had been seeing it for the better part of a week.

The land to the northwest of Napawin, near the Tobin Lake area, is made up of rolling hills and low lying marsh. Parts of it began to be farmed just a few years earlier, and it was without improvement because of the local marsh, most of the towns folk who heard about the strange lights explained them away as swamp gas - a convenient scapegoat that still gets used today.
Fortunately, not everyone in Nipawin was convinced that the stories were based on nothing more than "hot air": and shortly after midnight that summer night two men and a woman (names known to the author) jumped into a small pick up truck and drove to the area where the lights were reported to have been seen. They were not disappointed as the glow on the horizon gradually grew brighter as they drove on. After driving as close as the rough trail would allow them, they got out and hiked through the woods in the direction of the glow. They were blocked a quarter of a mile or less from reaching the source of the glow by a strip of muskeg that was too boggy to risk on to in the middle of the night.

But it was close enough. from their vantage point they were able to make out that the light came from a large oval shaped object that was domed at the top and slightly rounded on the bottom. It was supported by legs and from a central doorway, ot hatch, about a dozen figures could be seen going up and down a ladder like stairway. The occupants appeared to be slightly shorter than the average man, and were all dressed in what appeared to be silver colored suits or uniforms. All appeared to be wearing helmets or ski caps, and all were busy running around "repairing" the craft.

All about was a strange sort of quiet, even though the occupants were busy scurrying about. Not a sound could be heard. the three witnesses stared in silent amazement at what was going on, no one even thought to speak out. the bright orange glow that emanated from the craft lit up the surrounding area, and the three of them had no difficulty spying on the activities. the light from the craft was not only bright, but had an "unearthly", quality never seen by any of them before and added to the mystery of the scene. After

After about a half hour the three of them returned to the truck and started back to town hoping to find a way around the muskeg to get a closer look at the starnge machine parked in the middle of a marsh miles away from the nearest farmhouse or forest tower. But when they finally did come across a cut off trail that might take them closer they realized that they didn't have enough gasoline to take them in and out. So they had to return home that night.

It was not until a couple of nights later that they were able to make a return trip out. It was a clear night with almost a full moon, and they hoped to get an even better view. But this night the object was gone. No trace of the glowing craft could be seen fro the vantage point of two nights previous, and they returned to the truck to await dawn. they then walked back in across the muskeg to see if any evidence of what they had seen was left. And there was: six large square imprints that must have been the bases of the legs thatsupported the craft proved that there indeed had been something there that night. each imprint was the same size - 2 to 2 1/2 feet square, and approximately 5 to 10 feet apart.

The imprints were 2 to 3 inches deep, and reminded the three of them of a kind of mark that would be made by boiler plate stomped into the ground. they could also see markings where the base of the stairway met the ground. as if this wasn't remarkable enough, a great burn mark in the center of the area covered a circle approximately 12 feet in diameter. they looked for footprints but found none, though
there was some scuffling of the vegetation surrounding the spot where the craft had been.

They came better prepared this time. One of the witnesses had brought along a small brownie box camera and took photographs of the burn marks and of the imprints. Later two of them wrote up an article about the whole affair and submitted it, along with copies of the photo's, to a number of magazines and newspapers in Canada. But no publication was interested, and those publishers that replied wondered what kind of party they had been to those nights. In the course of the 40 plus years since the incident, the original photographs have been lost by the witness who took them, and who had learned the hard way that they were apparently of no interest yo anyone else. Perhaps copies of them are still in existence stored in an attic or sandwiched between vacation shots in some photo album. If they are ever uncovered they may prove to be the earliest photographs of a physical trace case where there were witnesses, and which even had occupants to boot.

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

December 1, 1952, 11:45 AM, MST.

A number of school children on their way home observed two bright star like objects with cloud like tails traveling from north to south at 11:45 AM, MST. The motion was slow and regular with the two objects alternating in the lead. A meteorologist employed at the Department of Transport, interviewed one of the children by telephone and was able to estimate the height of the objects as the same as the cirrus clouds present at the time.

The meteorologist checked with the airport control tower and found that a single conventional aircraft was the only one in the vicinity.

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

December 27, 1952, 7:42 PM, MST.

From 7:34 PM, MST to 7:42 MST the airport control tower officer watched a round luminous object subtending an angle about one third that of the full moon, traveling downwards and disappear beyond the horizon.It traveled a vertical angle of 5 degrees in 1 1/2 minutes.

Object was viewed through 7x50 field glasses and a red flashing light on top and a green flashing light on the bottom were observed. Through the glasses the object appeared about the size of the full moon.
there was no sound or trail.

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

December 31, 1952, 3:10 AM, MST.

The Meteorological Officer and Air Traffic controller at Regina Airport observed a luminous circular object subtending about 8 degrees, traveling downwards to disappear beyond the horizon at 3:10 AM, MST. It traveled the first 5 degrees of its downward arc in 4 minutes and the last 5 degrees in three minutes. There was no additional detail visible through the field glasses.

Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada

July 1962, 2:45 AM

One morning about 2:45 AM several years ago this July, I woke up with a very odd feeling of something unusual, and my arms were all "goose pimples." I saw an extremely bright light shining on the east side of the bedroom window casing so I got up and looked. There was a very bright, blue white light approaching from the south west into a neighbor's pasture field about 1 1/2 miles south of the farm here.

This was approaching in a series of "hops". It came part way into his field and then came to rest on the ground and the light immediately turned to a dull orange. Whatever it was stayed there for some time, 10 to 15 minutes, then the light switched to the bright blue - white an it took off again, back in the same direction it came from, and in the same manner. I could not judge the height of these hops, but they were high enough that it cleared some bluffs and the fence around the pasture. The light itself seemed to quiver or shimmer like the waves or lines that go so quickly towards the sum quite close to the ground on a sunny day in the wintertime, when the sun is at a certain angle, or even any time it is shining on some days."

There was another similar sighting in October of the same year. Exceptthat this time the "approach was from the south east". But it was the same time of night 2:45 AM.

"I awoke with the same odd feeling to see this same kind of light shining on the west side of the window casting. When this light was coming across a field south east of the house here, it didn't appear to be too far off of the ground, but there is a grove of trees here and it rose sufficiently to come over them. When I felt sure it must crash into our house it suddenly stopped on the ground and the last light turned orange again and down below the same color light seemed to be coming from holes in the object. It only paused briefly before the light turned bright and it went right over the house and headed north west again.

The above letter was published in Sept. - Oct. 1969 issue of the Canadian UFO Report and at page 97 and 98 of John Robert Columbo's UFOs over Canada.

Saskatoon, Canada

September 19, 1963, (no time given)

On september 19, 1963, four children playing behind a school in saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, reportedly saw an oval shaped light descend from the sky after circling overhead. A "box" seemed to fall from it and hover a few feet away. The children cautiously approached it and were startled when a "man" stood up, appearing suddenly. After that we didn't see any box, Brian ... eleven, later told investigators. The children estimated that the "man" was about ten feet tall, dressed in clothes "like a monk's" which were "white like a crayon". "Sometimes I could see right through him," Brian said. The "man" made a moaning sound, held out his hands, floated towards the youngsters. They ran in terror. One of the girls in the group became so hysterical that she actually had to be hospitalized. Their parents and the local police were impressed with their genuine fright and took their story seriously. UFO type lights were seen in the district".

Quote from Passport to Magonia: on UFOs, folklore, and parallel worlds. by Jacques Vallee. 1993

SASKATCHEWAN, 1933: UFO STOPS FOR "REPAIRS"

BY JOHN BRENT MUSGRAVE (FSR Vol 22 # 6 1976)

Even as late as the mid 1930's, much of the prairie provinces of Canada was still on the frontier of immigrant settlement. Particularly in the northern areas homesteaders were just beginning to open up the land to commerce and agriculture, and such Luxuries as telephones, paved roads and electricity
were things of the future. The town of Nipawin, Saskatchewan, is situated in the northwest corner of the province and in the 30's was on the edge of this settlement. During the summer of 1933 stories drifted into Nipawin that some homesteaders. as well as a forest tower ranger, bad been observing strange lights in the sky and near the ground. Whatever it was, they had been seeing it for the better part of a week. The land to the northwest of Nipawin, near the Tobin Lake area, is made up of rolling hills and low lying marsh. Parts of it bad begun to be farmed just a few years earlier, and it was without improvement Because of the local marsh, most of the towns- folk who beard about the strange lights explained them away as swamp gas - a convenient scapegoat that still gets used today.

Fortunately, not everyone in Nipawin was con- vinced that the stories were based on nothing more than ""hot air,,: and shortly after midnight that summer night two men and a woman (names known to the author) jumped into a small pick-up truck and drove to the area where the lights were reported to
have been seen. They were not disappointed as the glow on the horizon gradually grew brighter as they drove on. After driving as close as the rough trail would allow them, they got out and hiked through the woods in the direction of the glow. They were blocked a quarter of a mile or less from reaching the source of the glow by a strip of muskeg that was too boggy to risk on to in the middle of the night. But it was close enough. From their vantage point they were able to make out that the light came from a large oval shaped object that was domed at the top and slightly rounded on the bottom. It was supported by legs and from a central door- way, or hatch, about a dozen figures could be seen going up and down a ladder-like stairway. The Occupants appeared to be slightly shorter than the average man, and were all dressed in what appeared to be silver colored suits or uniforms.

All appeared to be wearing helmets or ski caps, and all were busy running around ""repairing,, the craft. All about was a strange sort of quiet, even though the occupants were busy scurrying about. Not a sound could be heard. The three witnesses stared in silent amazement at what was going on, no one even thought to speak out. The bright orange glow that emanated from the craft lit up the surroundings area, and the three of them bad no difficulty spying on the activities. The light from the craft was not only bright, but bad an ""unearthly,, quality never seen by any of them before and added to the mystery of the scene. After about a half hour the three of them returned to the truck and started back to town hoping to find a way around the muskeg to get a closer look at the strange machine parked in the middle of a marsh miles away from the nearest farm- house or forest tower. But when they finally did come across a cut-off trail that might take them closer they realized that they didn't have enough gasoline to take them in and out. So they had to return home that night.

It was not until a couple of nights later that they were able to make a return trip out. It was a clear night with almost a full moon, and they hoped to get an even better view. But this night the object was gone. No trace of the glowing craft could be seen from the vantage point of two nights previous, and they returned to the truck to await dawn. They then walked back in across the muskeg to see if nay evidence of what they had seen was Left. And there was. six large square imprints that must have been the bases of the legs that supported the craft proved that there indeed had been something there that night. Each imprint was the same size - 2 to 2 1/2 feet square, and approximately S to 10 feet apart. The imprints were 2 to 3 inches deep, and reminded the three of them of a kind of mark that would be made by boiler plate stomped into the ground. They could also see markings where the base of the stair- way met ground. As if this wasn't remarkable enough, a great burn mark in the center of the area covered a circle approximately I 2 feet in diameter. They looked for footprints but found
none though there was some scuffling of the vegetation surrounding the spot where the craft had been.

They came better prepared this time. One of the witnesses had brought along a small brownie box camera and took photographs of the burn marks and of the imprints. Later two of them wrote up an article about the whole affair and submitted it, along with copies of the photos, to a number of magazines and newspapers in Canada. But no publication was interested, and those publishers that replied wondered what kind of party they had been to those nights. Like many other UFO witnesses the three of selves. In the course of the 40 plus years since the incident, the original photographs have been lost by the witness who took them, and who bad learned the hard way that they were apparently of no interest to anyone else. Perhaps copies of them are still in existence stored in an attic or sandwiched between vacation shots in some photo album. If they are ever uncovered they may prove to be the earliest photographs of a physical trace case where there were witnesses, and which even had occupants to boot.

HBCC UFO Research
Canadian UFO Information

Located In Houston, British Columbia, Canada