Unidentified Flying Objects and Movie Stars?

UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS - IN MUSKOKA? WHY NOT, WE'VE GOT MOVIE STARS, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES, CELEBRITY MUSICIANS AND GHOSTS!

     MOST WON'T KNOW THIS, OR EVEN BELIEVE IT, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS "OTHER WORLDLY" SIGHTINGS, IN THE MUSKOKA HINTERLAND. AND A FEW NUDISTS. CREDIBLE REPORTS BY CREDIBLE INDIVIDUALS GO BACK TO THE 1800'S. SOME STORIES OF EXTRA TERRESTRIAL ENCOUNTERS ARE LEFT TO THE TELLERS OF FOLK TALES TODAY, AS MANY WEREN'T WRITTEN DOWN, MADE INTO FOLKS SONGS, OR INTERPRETED IN FOLK ART. THEY'RE JUST PASSED DOWN STORIES FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER, WITH LIBERAL EMBELLISHMENTS. A SORT OF MODERNIZATION THAT MAKES THE STORIES APPEAL TO THAT ERA'S LISTENER. THE HISTORIAN HAS TO EDIT AND SPLICE, TO GET BACK TO THE ORIGINAL VERSION. YOU HAVE TO CUT THROUGH SOME OF THE OBVIOUS FICTIONS, TO GET TO WHAT WAS LIKELY A LEGITIMATE FIRST PERSON EXPERIENCE, I DID HOWEVER, PURCHASE A VERY OLD WOOD CARVING, HERE IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, OF WHAT LOOKED LIKE AN UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT, CARVED ONTO A HUGE PINE SLAB OF WOOD, PROBABLY SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD; THAT IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS MAY HAVE BEEN A FOLK ARTIST'S WAY OF PRESENTING THE SIGHT OF EZEKIEL'S SPINNING WHEEL OF FIRE, INSTEAD OF A FLYING SAUCER.

     I HAVE WORKED ON JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER KIND OF MUSKOKA HISTORY. I HAVEN'T DONE TOO MUCH ABOUT UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS. YET THERE HAVE BEEN MANY REPORTED SIGHTINGS, AND A FEW CLOSER THAN COMFORTABLE ENCOUNTERS IN THE PAST FIFTY YEARS. THE MOST FAMOUS HAPPENED IN THE RAYMOND AREA, OF THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES, QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO. WHICH, ACCORDING TO THE REVERENT TIMES ABOUT SUCH THINGS, SPAWNED A LOT OF UNWANTED MEDIA ATTENTION, BOLD, FRONT PAGE HEADLINES, TELEVISION COVERAGE, AND A PLETHORA OF UNKIND COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS; FROM CITIZEN-CRITICS, WHO SUGGESTED THAT ONLY A "NUT" ON HOMEBREW, WOULD ADMIT TO SEEING ALIEN LIFE FORMS AND UFO'S, HOVERING OVER THE FARMS OF MUSKOKA LAKES. WHAT THESE IGNORANT FOLK DIDN'T APPRECIATE, WAS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN UFO SIGHTINGS REPORTED IN MUSKOKA FOR DECADES, POSSIBLY EVEN BACK AS EARLY AS PIONEER TIMES. THEY JUST DIDN'T REFER TO THEM AS FLYING SAUCERS. THEY WERE CONSIDERED ANOMALIES OF NATURE TO HOMESTEADERS, AND MIGHT HAVE BEEN INTERPRETED AS THE ILLUMINATION OF LEGEND, AND SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS, BY THE PEOPLE OF THE FIRST NATIONS, WHO MAY HAVE SEEN MORE THAN SHOOTING STARS, BUT HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS, THAT MIGHT BE INVESTIGATING OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THEY WERE OBSERVED BUT NOT OVER ANALYZED AS WE PERPETUATE TODAY, IN AN EFFORT TO PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS. BUT FROM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, THESE NOTED ODDITIES IN THE SKY, AND STRANGE ANOMALIES OF FLASHING AND STREAKING LIFE, WERE EXPLAINED OTHERWISE, AS GOD DOING HIS THING WITH HIS UNIVERSE; OR AS THE MIND PLAYING TRICKS ON THE SENSES; OR, YES, HOMEBREW.

     I HAVE READ THROUGH MOST OF THE BOOKS WRITTEN ON MUSKOKA HISTORY. BUT THEY ARE STILL, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A VERY FEW, LIKE THOMAS MCMURRAY'S SETTLERS GUIDE OF THE 1870'S, CONSIDERED CONTEMPORARY. MEANING FROM THE LATE 1940'S TO THE PRESENT. THUS, THESE AUTHORS MAY HAVE BEEN AWARE OF WHAT WAS THEN CONSIDERED, NOTHING MORE THAN SCIENCE FICTION, AND FANTASY; AND NOT WANTING TO CONTAMINATE THE HONEST STORIES REAPED FROM PIONEER JOURNALS, OF THEIR FAMILY'S CHRONICLE, DATING AS FAR BACK AS THE 1860'S, WITH UNSUBSTANTIATED INTERPRETATIONS OF FAST MOVING LIGHTS IN THE NIGHT SKY; OR HOVERING WHITE DISCS LIKE THE FLAMING WHEEL OF EZEKIEL, FROM THE BIBLE. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR MORE PALATABLE THAN SEEING A GARDEN VARIETY FLYING SAUCER. IT MAY BE THE CASE, THEY EDITED OUT ANY SUCH REFERENCES, BECAUSE OF CONTEMPORARY PRESSURES TO DO SO; SUCH THAT THE FAMILY CHRONICLE WOULDN'T ITSELF, READ LIKE A SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL. THE REASON I NOTE THIS, IS BECAUSE OF WHAT SOME OF THESE AUTHORS, AND JOURNAL OWNERS TOLD ME, DURING CHATS ABOUT THEIR HEIRLOOM BOOKS, AND HOW MANY PAGES HAD BEEN PURPOSELY DESTROYED, BECAUSE IT WAS CLAIMED, THE MATERIAL WAS TOO SENSITIVE TO PRINT. I WOULD NEVER CENSOR AN HISTORIC, ORIGINAL JOURNAL. IT'S ONE THING TO OMIT CERTAIN  REFERENCES FROM PRINT, BUT ANOTHER THING TO ACTUALLY CUT-OUT PAGES, AND SHRED OR BURN-UP THE CONTENTS. SO WHILE IT MAY SEEM LIKE A STRETCH, TO SUGGEST THERE MAY HAVE BEEN REFERENCES IN SOME OF THESE JOURNALS, TO ANGEL ENCOUNTERS, GHOSTS SIGHTINGS, CROSSED PATHS WITH FAIRIES IN THEIR MIDNIGHT REVELS, AND UFO'S, I KNOW WHAT EDITORS, GOOD AND BAD, ARE CAPABLE OF, AT THE PEAK OF POLISHING A TEXT. IT IS POSSIBLE, OWING TO THE FAMILY'S CONCERNS, AND RELIGIOUS SENSITIVITIES ABOUT SUCH THINGS, THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE HONESTLY COME TO BELIEVE, THEIR ANCESTOR-WRITER, HAD BEEN TAKING TOO MANY LIBERTIES AND STRETCHING TRUTHS. IT HAPPENS. MAYBE THERE WAS WORRY, READERS WOULD THINK THE STORY-TELLER HAD BEEN HITTING THE MOONSHINE IN BETWEEN CHAPTERS. IF I WENT PUBLIC RIGHT NOW, AND ADMITTED I HAD WITNESSED SUCH AN ALIEN ENCOUNTER, RIGHT HERE AT THE STUDIO, HALF OF MY READERS WOULD ASSUME I HAD BEEN DRINKING AT LUNCH. ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT WOULD THINK IT WAS JUST THE WORK OF AN OLD MAN TRYING TO WIN OVER AN AUDIENCE BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE. THE FINAL TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT MIGHT BE INTERESTED ENOUGH, AFTER ALL THE STORIES I'VE SPUN PREVIOUSLY, TO READ-ON JUST IN CASE. SO I DO UNDERSTAND WHY THESE REFERENCES MIGHT HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED, FROM JOURNALS OR COLLECTED STORIES, (AND ORAL FOLK TALES) OR SOMEHOW EXPLAINED IN PRINT, WHERE IN HONESTY, THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT ALONE.

     I HAVE WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY ABOUT GHOSTS, BUT ONLY ABOUT ONES THAT I HAVE ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED; OR BY ANY OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS, WHO HAVEN'T MINDED GOING PUBLIC. WE'VE NEVER ONCE BEEN REFERRED TO AS "NUTTERS," BUT BOY OH BOY, DO WE GET A LOT OF QUESTIONS, AFTER FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES OF OURS, FOR EXAMPLE, FINALLY READ ONE OF THE BOOKS, OUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN, (OR ONLINE) SUCH AS BARBARA SMITH'S BOOK ON "ONTARIO GHOSTS," AND THEN JOHN ROBERT COLOMBO'S BOOKS ON CANADIAN GHOSTS, BOTH RELEASED BACK IN THE LATE 1990'S I BELIEVE. WE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT GHOSTS, AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM. MORE PEOPLE TODAY ARE OPEN TO THE POSSIBILITIES, AND ARE JUST EAGER TO QUESTION THOSE, WHO HAVE HAD FIRST-PERSON ENCOUNTERS. WE THINK THERE IS A SCIENTIFIC CONNECTION, BETWEEN WHAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A RELIGIOUS DOMAIN, TO WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD OF EARTHBOUND SPIRITS, OF THOSE WHO HAVE CROSSED OVER. I THINK ONE DAY, EXPERTS ON RELIGION AND THE SCIENCE COMMUNITY, ARE GOING TO FIND SOME MISSING LINK, THAT WILL EXPLAIN WHAT "THE OTHER SIDE," REALLY IS, IF AT ALL! WHAT REALLY CAUSES THE BRIGHT LIGHT AT THE TIME OF DEATH? CHEMICAL REACTION? JUST THE DEATH THING CHANGING THE BODY'S CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION? OR IS IT THE BRIGHT, WHITE LIGHT AT HEAVEN'S DOORSTEP? WHEN I ASKED, VIA PRAYER, MY DECEASED MOTHER, MERLE, TO COME TO MEET HER AILING HUSBAND, IN THE FINAL HOUR OF HIS LIFE, WITHIN MINUTES, HE LOOKED TO THE CEILING OF THE HOSPITAL ROOM, AND HELD OUT HIS ARMS AS IF TO EMBRACE SOMETHING HE SAW. WAS IT THE IMAGE OF MY MOTHER? I REALLY WANT TO THINK SO. I COULD NOT LOWER MY FATHER'S ARMS FOR LONG. HE KEPT RAISING THEM AND LOOKING, AS IF SEEING SOMETHING COMING THROUGH THE CEILING. HE WASN'T FRIGHTENED OF IT, AND CERTAINLY WELCOMED WHATEVER INTERVENTION IT WAS, AND AFTER CALMING DOWN, PASSED AWAY PEACEFULLY A SHORT WHILE LATER. IS THERE A PARALLEL UNIVERSE? DID MY FATHER SEE HEAVEN? WAS IT MY MOTHER REACHING FOR HIS OUTSTRETCHED HANDS, FROM THE OTHER SIDE? ALL FASCINATING THINGS TO PONDER; JUST AS RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO EMBARK ON A LITTLE UFO SLEUTHING AS WELL.

     I REALLY CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY I HAVEN'T PURSUED THIS PART OF HISTORY PREVIOUSLY, OTHER THAN I'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF IT AS HAVING MUCH HISTORICAL MERIT. I REALIZE NOW, THIS WAS FAULTY LOGIC. OF COURSE IT IS HISTORY. WE JUST THINK OF IT MOSTLY, AS A SITUATION FOR SCIENTISTS AND THE GOVERNMENT TO WORRY ABOUT. I PROBABLY WORRIED A LITTLE, IN MY EARLIER YEARS AS A NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST, AND EDITOR, THAT ADVERTISERS WOULD NOT SUPPORT SUCH MADNESS IN EDITORIAL COPY; SUCH AS TO SUGGEST ALIENS WERE MAKING REGULAR VISITS TO COTTAGE COUNTRY. "BAD FOR BUSINESS," THEY WOULD HAVE SAID. "SOMETHING FOR THE CARTOON WRITERS, NOT THE EDITORIAL STAFF." I KNOW, FOR SURE, I HAD TWENTY TO THIRTY TIPS FROM READERS ABOUT UFO SIGHTINGS, AND ALTHOUGH NOT FREQUENT, THEY WERE RECEIVED SEVERAL TIMES EACH YEAR, FOR AS LONG AS I WORKED AT MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS. I WAS NERVOUS OF CREATING A SITUATION, LIKE WHAT HAD HAPPENED WITH THE RAYMOND / THREE MILE LAKE SIGHTINGS, OF THE EARLY 1970'S, AND CAUSING A MEDIA CIRCUS FOR THE WITNESSES, THAT I REALLY COULDN'T PROTECT FROM UNWELCOME SCRUTINY. I MADE THE VALUE JUDGEMENT, IT WASN'T WORTH ALL THE CRITIQUES TO PUBLISH THESE STORIES. I WASN'T INTERESTED IN GENERATING INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION, TO WHAT MAY, AT BEST, HAVE BEEN A READER'S IDEA OF A JOKE; OR A PUBLICITY RAISING STUNT TO GET THE WORLD'S ATTENTION FOR PRIVATE GAIN. AND WITHOUT QUESTION, I TALKED TO A FEW DELUSIONAL PEOPLE, WHO JUST WANTED TO SPIN THEIR WILD TALES, TO SEE IF I WOULD TAKE THE BAIT, AND COME TO THEIR HOMES FOR A VISIT; TO SIT OUT IN THE BACK FORTY, TO SEE THE ALIEN LIGHTS FOR MYSELF.

     THERE HAVE BEEN MANY SIGHTINGS OF STRANGE WHITE LIGHTS IN THE SKY, IN QUITE A FEW LOCALES IN MUSKOKA, INCLUDING HUNTSVILLE, THE VANKOUGHNET AREA, (UFFINGTON INCLUDED) AND WATT TOWNSHIP, OF THE PRESENT TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES (MORE THAN ONE RESIDENT SAW THE SAME THING). BUT TRUTH BE KNOWN, THERE HAVE BEEN SIGHTINGS THROUGHOUT THE REGION OVER THE PAST FIFTY YEARS, MANY THAT NEVER MADE IT PAST ORAL RE-TELLINGS; NEVER TO MAKE IT TO A GOVERNMENT REPORT, OR TO BE PUBLISHED VIA THE LOCAL PRESS. I BELIEVE THEY ARE STILL OCCURRING REGULARLY, BUT TODAY, THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT LESS ALARM FROM THE WITNESSES, AND A GREATER RELUCTANCE TO GO PUBLIC WITH THE NEWS. MANY ARE PROBABLY WRITTEN-OFF AS FIGMENTS OF THE IMAGINATION, OR UNKNOWN EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT AND WEATHER BALLOONS, INSTEAD OF ALIEN SPACE CRAFTS. I HAVE TALKED WITH A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING ON PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ON SUCH UFO SIGHTINGS. MY FRIEND, AUTHOR JOHN ROBERT COLOMBO, PRODUCED A TINY BOOK ON UFO SIGHTINGS IN CANADA, A FEW YEARS BACK, AND HE KINDLY SENT SUZANNE AND I A SIGNED COPY. HE HAS BEEN ONE AUTHOR, SERVING THE WIDER CANADIAN AND INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE, WHO HASN'T BEEN FRIGHTENED TO WRITE VOLUMES ON THE PARANORMAL. AND PUBLISH FIRST PERSON ACCOUNTS OF THOSE WHO HAVE HAD FACE TO FACE MEETINGS WITH FLYING SAUCERS, AND ALIEN LIFE FORMS. AS I THINK THE WORLD OF JOHN COLOMBO, AND APPRECIATE THE THOROUGHNESS OF HIS RESEARCH WORK, I WOULD LOVE TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, SLEUTHING MORE ACCOUNTS OF THESE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL ENCOUNTERS THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA.

     THERE ARE SOME BELIEVERS IN THE EXISTENCE, OF LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS, WHO BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE AN ATTRACTION IN MUSKOKA, IN PART, BECAUSE OF METEOR REMNANTS LEFT AFTER THE BIG-BANGS OF THE PAST. IT IS SAID THAT THE SKELETON LAKE DEPRESSION, WAS CREATED BY AN IMPACT OF A METEOR, MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO. IT IS SAID THAT THERE IS SOMETHING UNUSUALLY MAGNETIC, AT THE BOTTOM OF LAKE ROSSEAU'S PORTAGE BAY, NEAR WINDERMERE, THAT CAN CAUSE A COMPASS TO MOVE WILDLY, WHILE PASSING OVER; EG. VIA A BOAT. IT WAS TOLD TO ME, BY A RELIABLE SOURCE, THAT THERE WAS A METEOR THAT HIT OFF THE BRACKENRIG ROAD, AND THAT ITS RADIATION CAUSED AN UNSPECIFIED NUMBER OF CANCER CASES. I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO VALIDATE THESE STORIES, EXCEPT WHAT I'VE HEARD IN CONVERSATION, AND IN ONE CASE, READ IN AN HISTORICAL DOCUMENT.  IS MUSKOKA A HOT SPOT ON EARTH FOR UFO'S? GEEZ I HOPE SO! I WANT AN ENCOUNTER MYSELF, ALTHOUGH I'M NOT SO SURE ABOUT THE PROBE PART OF THE RELATIONSHIP. I HAVE A LOW THRESHOLD OF PAIN. IN THE COMING YEAR, I PLAN TO DO SOME RESEARCH ABOUT THIS UFO AND ALIEN SIDE OF HISTORY, AND SEE IF I CAN DRAW ANY INFORMATION FROM THE DISTANT PAST, SO THAT WE MIGHT KNOW, IF THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP WITH EXTRA TERRESTRIAL INTERVENTIONS....OR SOMETHING MORE NEW AGE AND CONTEMPORARY.

     I'VE SEEN LOTS OF GREEN PEOPLE, BUT ALL OF THEM THE MORNING AFTER PARTIES. I'VE SEEN WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN UFO'S STREAKING ACROSS THE SKY, BUT THE ASTRONOMERS INFORM ME, THEY WERE METEORS ENTERING THE EARTH'S ORBIT. THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN A GOOD EXPLANATION TO DEBUNK MY SIGHTINGS. BUT I'M STILL CURIOUS ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE, LIKE GHOSTS AND WANDERING SPIRITS, AND THE PARALLEL DIMENSION THING, I DO VERY MUCH BELIEVE THERE IS INTELLIGENT LIFE ON OTHERS PLANETS IN THIS SOLAR SYSTEM, OR THE ONES WE'VE YET TO DISCOVER. THIS IS WHAT I CALL A "REST OF MY LIFE," RESEARCH UNDERTAKING.