"On Aug. 17, 1979, I was flying from St. Jovite, Que., to Arnprior, Ont; heading 270~. I was in a single prop, fixed wing, white with blue markings, 1974, Cherokee Warrior aircraft. I was sitting beside the pilot in the cockpit. The two passenger seats behind us were not occupied. Please note: neither myself or the pilot were under the influence of alcohol or drugs...[text faded on bottom of page]... We are both healthy, stable, cool, calculating individuals, not given to hallucinations or hysteria. We have known each other over 25 yrs. I am, by profession, a medical technologist. The pilot is, by profession, a police officer of approximately 16 yrs. experience. He is also a cattle farmer, and has good fortune in the stock and bond exchange over the past 30 yrs. He is a pilot of many years experience, and owns the aircraft we were flying in... No. C-GOUD.
We were cruising at an altitude of...[text faded on bottom of page]... Ottawa. We were above the Gatineau hills, approximately 40 miles N.E. of Ottawa. Visibility was excellent - maximum, approximately 40 miles or more, minimum , 25 miles. The time of the following experience was 2100 hrs. The pilot's watch stopped at 2100 hrs, mine was not affected. I looked out of my window and observed the (R) wing becoming red in color. I then looked to my left, past the pilot's head, and observed the the (L) wing was also red in color. I mentioned my observation to...[text faded on bottom of page]... performance of the aircraft. The pilot said to me, "the aircraft is slowing down - our airspeed is "0" - the instruments are behaving strangely." I said to the pilot "take it down 1000 ft.".He replied, "I can't, I can't control the aircraft; the controls are jammed or something - we should be falling yet we aren't". I said, "there is something out there - it must be exactly overhead; I can't see it" - The pilot agreed.
At that point we both felt the aircraft being pulled upwards...[text faded on bottom of page]... appeared to be stationary in the sky, was being drawn upwards. The pilot looked out the right window and said to me, "My God, look at the size of it; it must be close to 300 ft. in diameter." When I looked, I saw a gigantic red ball of energy, close to the right wing and close to the aircraft. It sped away rapidly and as it did it appeared to be white light on the reverse side. The depth of it was approximately 50 ft. It disappeared into a large dark gray cloud to the west of us, only to re-appear in the same cloud rolling towards the orange ...[text faded on bottom of page]... it rolled, we saw it's red radiant side then its white radiant side, as it rolled along the cloud exposed to our view.
When it sped away from our aircraft, we had a falling sensation. The aircraft was returning to normal. The altimeter read 5000 ft. We estimated that we must have fallen 1000 ft. before we got this reading. In total we estimated that we had been drawn upwards 2000 ft. at least. At 4000 ft., we were flying once again, right on course, just as it had been before this experience. The temperature ...[text faded on bottom of page]...
This experience lasted 5-8 min. approximately... by my watch. We ruled out St. Elmos fire because of the duration of the experience, plus "its" re-appearance in the distant cloud. As we descended to land at Arnprior airport, the rolling, red and white, energy ball, disappeared into the orange sky of the sunset. I am reporting this to you as I feel it is my duty to do so. You may keep this for your records. We feel that we were very fortunate.This thing could have ...[text faded at bottom of page] be so fortunate.
The pilot is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, Ont; telephone XXXXXXXX He can usually be reached mornings 9 a.m. to 12 noon, with the exception of Wed and Sat and Sun. Should you wish to contact him regarding this matter, please use discretions, as his young wife is insanely jealous of him, and very protective of 2 young children. She does not respect him or his rights. She opens his mail and interferes with his phone calls. Try to speak ...[text faded at bottom of page]... for the time being at least, should you not be able to speak with him privately. If he cannot speak freely, leave your name and number and he will return your call. Or better still, phone or write me, and I will relay your message to him. This later (sic) method would be more reliable. The pilot has hesitated informing you of this sighting due to his marital set up. He is presently proceeding with divorce proceedings however that is not yet completed. Your co-ordination would be most [text faded at bottom of page].
At the advice of my personal physician, here in Arnprior, I requested that screening tests be done to determine whether or not,the pilot and myself were exposed to excess radiations, and absorbed same. I made this request Mon, Aug. 20th, to Dr. Wate of Radiation Protection Bureau 998-4708 under the Federal Health and Welfare Dep't. 996-4950, by telephone, and I must say that he was less than helpful, or co-operative. He claimed our case to be "beyond his realm of experience, and let the matter drop at that.”
Source:
SIGHTING REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF CANADA (RG 77, Vol.309) Letter addressed to: Canadian Military Forces, Uplands Air Base, Uplands, Ottawa, Ont.
