STRANGE LIGHTS OVER THE FARM FIELDS, AND WHAT THE PIONEERS MAY HAVE WITNESSED OF UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
IT JUST WASN'T TALKED ABOUT AS ALIENS FROM ANOTHER PLANET
WHO KNOWS WHAT'S OUT THERE? I THINK IT'S SAFE TO SAY, THAT MOST OF US, AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, HAVE LOOKED UP INTO THE TWINKLING NIGHT SKY, AND THOUGHT THEY SAW A STRANGE, PULSATING LIGHT. A METEOR PASSING FROM HORIZON TO HORIZON, MISTAKEN FOR AN UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT. FROM THE FIRST STEP TAKEN ON THE MOON, SO MANY DECADES AGO, MAN HAS BECOME ABSORBED BY THE POSSIBILITIES OF LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS. WHO IS TO SAY THERE ISN'T? EVERY YEAR, OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE EXPANDS, AND FROM WHAT WE KNOW FROM PROBES ONTO OTHER PLANETS, THERE JUST MAY BE LIFE FORMS, HOW EVER MINUTE. SO BASED ON WHAT IS BEING RESEARCHED AND DISCOVERED, OF THE UNLIMITED NATURE OF OUTER SPACE, WHY WOULD ANYONE ENLIGHTENED BY THIS NEW INFORMATION, DENY THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTRA TERRESTRIAL LIFE; AND ITS ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH THE POPULATION OF EARTH. REVEALING THAT YOU'VE SEEN A UFO TODAY, ISN'T QUITE AS EXCEPTIONAL AS IT WAS IN THE 1970'S, WHEN IT WAS SOMETHING THE MEDIA DEMANDED, BE WAXED AND ROLLED, BENEATH BOLD HEADLINES, ON THE FRONT PAGE; BUT NEVER VERY SERIOUSLY, (AS IF THERE MIGHT BE SOME TRUTH TO THE STORY) AT LEAST IN THE LOCAL WEEKLIES. EVEN TODAY, IT WOULD BE TREATED AS A NOVELTY FEATURE STORY, BUT NOT LIKELY TO GENERATE THE KIND OF ATTENTION IT DID, WHEN A UFO WAS REPORTED BY A WITNESS IN THE HAMLET OF RAYMOND, IN THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES. THE NUMBER OF REPORTED SIGHTINGS IN CANADA, EVERY YEAR, LIKELY MITIGATES THE IMPACT OF NEW ONES REPORTED BY THE MEDIA. THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF DOUBTERS AND CRITICS, BUT ONGOING EDUCATION, ABOUT THE POTENTIALS OF THE UNIVERSE, HAS CHANGED SOME ATTITUDES FOR THE BETTER. MAYBE THERE IS MORE CURIOSITY TODAY, THAN PREVIOUS; MORE OF THE POPULATION WANTING TO FIND OUT AS MUCH AS THEY CAN ABOUT LIFE POSSIBILITIES IN OUTER SPACE. SO THIS ISN'T A STORY I'M HOPING WILL DOUBLE MY READERSHIP. IT'S ACTUALLY, PRETTY BLAND, AS FAR AS UFO'S ARE CONCERNED. BUT THERE IS A LITLE HISTORY HERE, AND I WANT MORE OF IT TO ADD TO MY ARCHIVES. I FIND IT ALL VERY FASCINATING. I'D LIKE TO SEE A UFO MYSELF, BUT I MIGHT NOT LIKE BEING PROBED, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. I GET UNDRESSED IN THE DARK, FOR GOSH SAKES.
Suzanne remembers her aunt, Ada Gillis, telling her, with great sincerity, about seeing a strange line of lights, just above the farm fields, across from her home, in the former hamlet of Ufford. She was living in the farmhouse she grew up in, owned then by her father, and Watt Township clerk, John Shea. This farmstead had been in the Shea family from the early days of settlement in this part of the District of Muskoka, during the homestead grant period.
She had seen them numerous times, when looking out from her kitchen window, hovering low over the field across the road, and then suddenly speeding off into the blackness of a country night. Ada called them space craft, without doubt, although admittedly, she wasn't an expert in the field of unidentified flying objects. It was on the other side of Three Mile Lake, in the Raymond area of the township, where a major sighting had occurred in the early 1970's, that was so significant, by the description a witness given, that it warranted investigation by the American Air Force, as part of their famous "Project Blue Book," well known by researchers in the field of extra terrestrial encounters. On the night the alleged "flying saucer" was observed in Raymond, it was also noticed by other residents, some a little more reluctant to offer much insight. Suzanne remarked, just a moment ago, that her father, Norm Stripp, said of the individual, who had reported the sighting, that he was the kind of person who would have told the truth about the incident, without any embellishment. "Let's just say, I can guarantee you, he saw something out there; whether it was from outer space is another matter."
There have been hundreds of sighting of strange lights in the sky, in Muskoka, during the past fifty years. Most of them have gone unreported, for obvious reasons. No one wants to be laughed at, for admitting they witnessed a UFO. I used to hear about sightings frequently when I worked with Muskoka Publications, and seventy-five percent of the stories were from highly credible sources. There seemed to be quite a few of these experiences, occurring in Watt Township, and then in the Uffington, Vankoughnet area of Muskoka. As it has been noted previously, because of the shape of the topographical cavity, that Watt Township's Skeleton Lake was most likely created by a meteor, at some point in pre-history; and there are folk tales told of meteor debris having been found just off the Brackenrig Road near Port Carling, and possibly in Portage Bay, where boat compasses used to spin wildly, when passing over certain areas of this part of the wider Lake Rosseau. Do these potential meteor impact zones, attract flying saucers? It seems more like science fiction, than a chapter of local history.
After the UFO sighting in the Three Mile Lake area of Watt Township, the publicity enticed many other citizens of Muskoka, to sky-watch, and subsequently, out of a sense of misplaced urgency, misidentify typical lights in the night sky, such as twinkling stars, and plane beacons passing overhead. A lot of us younger folk, actually went searching for alien life-forms, especially in a green belt we called "The Grove," where we assumed aliens had visited before. Don't know why we thought this, but we did! And we would lodge ourselves on the front lawn, at 129 Alice Street, on late summer nights, laying on the cool grass, looking up for anything suspicious. Of course, we were spinning tales as well, that we had spotted flying saucers, and even seen little green men, just like the strange fictions of Hollywood thrillers of the 1950's. I was scared to death of "Venus Men," and "Martians," the result of those cheaply made, fear-engaging movies, we saw as re-runs as television movies. Then there was the Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone," and "The Outer Limits," to fan the flames of over-active imaginations. We became much more interested in flying saucers and alien invasions, following news of the Raymond farm sightings. As Suzanne notes, her aunt Ada never went public with the accounts of what she had seen hovering over the fields, a short distance as the crow flies, from the area in Watt Township, that had been studied by Project Blue Book.
But what I want to know, is how many of the Shea homesteaders, or any of the other early settlers of that section of the township, had witnessed these strange lights in the sky, and kept the sightings to themselves for long and long. As the farm community, would have kept very close watch on the atmospheric conditions, of the prevailing weather pattern, night and day, I think it's logical to assume, they would have been concerned about what was exhibiting, potentially as a weather warning, of these anomalies on the horizon. As they could have their crops wiped out, in a severe turn of weather, or an early frost, they watched the environment for any signs of sudden and dramatic change. I think, in many ways, their senses were more finely honed then, than today, when we rely much more heavily on satellite weather reports and Environment Canada warnings, about impending bad weather. The likelihood of them having seen weird stuff hovering over those same fields, Ada looked out upon? Let's just say, I would have loved the opportunity to talk to them, in person, about all the manifestations of the universe as they saw it back then.
Here's an example of what a pioneer farmer, in Southern Ontario, from the 1840's, reported after rubbing his eyes, following what may be the first alien-related sightings in Canada. The story is published in a book written by John Robert Colombo, entitled "Extraordinary Experiences - Personal Accounts of the Paranormal in Canada," published in 1989. John, who I have assisted with some stories previously, sent me a signed and inscribed copy for my library "of the paranormal."
On page 254, under the heading "A Cloud of Very Remarkable Appearance," by Charles Cooper, the following information is revealed from the fall of 1843. One can imagine, standing out in the brisk air of early October, looking up into the blue sky, with lazily floating clouds drifting overhead, and then, all of a sudden, seeing something heavenly, or otherwise taking shape above.
"What strange sight attracted the attention of Charles Cooper?" notes John Colombo. "The farmer observed something strange crossing the sky in the middle of the afternoon of Tuesday, 3 Oct., 1843. At the time of the sighting he was working his fields outside Warwick, a small farming community located between Strathroy and Sarnia, south of Lake Huron. There was unquestionably 'a cloud of very remarkable appearance.' But what about 'the appearance of three men, perfectly white, sailing through the air?' Cooper testified that he saw those too. The cloud but not the men, was observed by two labourers, not very far away; but other witnesses in the community claimed they saw 'the cloud and persons.' These testimonies are included in a millennialist tract called 'Wonderful Phenomena: Wonders of the Age,' carefully compiled by Eli Curtis, proprietor and publisher, in New York, 1850."
The actual testimony reads as follows: On the 3rd day of October, as I was labouring in the field, I saw a remarkable rainbow, after a slight shower of rain. Soon after, the (rain) bow passed away, and the sky became clear, and I heard a distant rumbling sound resembling thunder. I laid by my work, and looked towards the west from whence the sound proceeded, but seeing nothing, returned to my labour. The sound continued to increase until it became very heavy, and seemed to approach nearer. I again laid by my work, and looking towards the west once more, to ascertain its cause, I beheld a cloud of very remarkable appearance, approaching, and underneath it, the appearance of three men, perfectly white, sailing through the air, one following the other, the foremost one appearing little to the largest. My surprise was great, and concluding that I was deceived, I watched them carefully. They still approached me underneath the cloud, and came directly over my head, little higher up than the tops of the trees, so that I could view every feature as perfectly, as of one standing directly before me. I could see nothing but a milk-white body, with extended arms, destitute of motion, while they continued to utter doleful moans, which I found as they approached, to be the distant roar that first attracted my attention. These moans sounded much like 'W0-Wo-Wo!' I watched them until they passed out of sight. The effect can be better imagined than described. Two men were labouring a distance, to whom I called to see the men in the air; but they say they did not see them. I never believed in such an appearance until that time."
Gives you kind of a chill to think about it. A manifestation of clouds and sculpting of the wind? Or a messenger from somewhere else in the universe? I guess you had to be there!
"If a parallel universe does exist, and considerable evidence points in that direction, then it appears this may be the source of at least some of the UFO's." This was stated by Arthur Bray, former pilot and UFO researcher, "The UFO Connection -1979." This was included in John Robert Colombo's other book, he inscribed for Suzanne and I, entitled "The Little Blue Book of UFO's - The Extra Terrestrial in Canada," published in miniature format, in 1992. He inscribed the book for us, back in 1997.
Maybe you have had a similar experience? Maybe you've seen strange lights hovering over a field or pasture, just above the tree line, and possibly you've been on a late night paddle, on some isolated lake, and witnessed a UFO hovering close over the water. Geez, maybe you've been abducted and probed on board the mother-ship. Many of us do have stories like this, tucked away for safe-keeping, fearing that others will think us mentally unstable. It's the same for those having ghost stories, although me thinks society is less judgmental these days, than say in the 1970's, when that alleged UFO was witnessed in Watt Township, and the resulting media attention, and public ridicule, made it almost unbearable for the witness to live normally for some years following. Yet his courageous handling of the situation, did cause other people, across the district, to feel a little less inhibited, from reporting what they had witnessed in their region of the lakeland. I still hear about sightings, even though I've long since left the weekly press. There are low-key stories told, and recently so, of UFO sightings in Muskoka, and one case of an alleged abduction. I am a conduit of information, not the manufacturer of stories just to bulk-up an audience.
As I am always interested in hearing from readers, and those interested in the daily subject matter, please feel free to send me an email, if you have a story about UFO's, or ghost sightings for that matter, and you will remain anonymous, unless stated otherwise. I'd rather know about these encounters, and not attach any name to the witness, than be denied access to an account that could widely broaden the history of paranormal activities, here in the home district.
I believe there are thousands of examples of these extra terrestrial sightings, dating back to the late years of the 1850's when Muskoka was first being settled. I believe these sightings were attributed to religious experience more so than what the universe might have been inspiring on earth. So the sleuthing back through these pioneer journals may turn up some interesting references, that one might interpret differently today, as extra terrestrial in nature, more so than angel sightings, coming from the clear blue, or night sky.
Thanks so much for visiting with me today. Please keep in touch. We've still got a lot of stories, and miles of history to explore.
A HAUNTED ATTIC AND A WRITER IN RESIDENCE AND AN ANTIQUE SHOP
The year I graduated from York University, in Toronto, with a freshly inked degree in Canadian history, I arrived back in my then hometown, of Bracebridge, and commenced getting involved in everything I could. Community events and initiatives that had even the slightest heritage fringe, must have needed my help. Or so I thought. I guess you could say I was "pumped" to get involved.
It was the spring of 1977. Within weeks of settling in, we had launched plans for a family antique business, which involved a move to the mainstream. I begged some column space from a local publisher, and got my very first byline on a weekly column entitled simply, "Antiques and Collectibles." Before the end of the year I had held an inaugural meeting of a proposed Bracebridge Historical Society, in the attic of the wonderful old McGibbon house, we had just moved to, in order to operate Old Mill Antiques. The Historical Society's objective, when officially launched, would be to save Woodchester Villa, an octagonal home, built by Henry Bird of the well known Bird's Woollen Mill on the Muskoka River. It wouldn't be until 1978 that the Historical Society was officially recognized but it had its seed in the attic of Dr. Peter McGibbon's former Manitoba Street home.
I was overflowing with ambition, some of it misspent. I somehow believed that the rolled up diploma, now tucked into a dresser drawer, entitled me to fire off in all directions, and be successful no matter where I hurled myself. It didn't proceed quite as I'd hoped, but 1977 was a good turn-around year, particularly as a writer in this splendid, early 1900's residence. The best part of the new digs, was that I was able to turn the large attic portion, in the three story house, into a great place to write. With a huge window at the front, affording a panorama of Manitoba Street's, maple-line Memorial Park, I could watch a lot of comings and goings at all times of day and night, over the four seasons. As a fledgling writer, there was always something to make notes about, or expand from observation, into another short story. It was a luxurious, inspiring location that most writer's would have killed for, especially the solitude. Street noise was always muffled, it seemed, even if the window was open.
We had a three room shop that first year, an apartment in the back, and access via the back stair, to the attic room, which stretched from the back of the main house to the front, as the south wing, along the main street, had only two stories. I would work in the store, or in the basement refinishing through the day, and following dinner, I'd spend the rest of the night, and well into the morning, working at the attic window, where I set up my desk and typewriter. For several years, I wrote like a man possessed, and I dabbled in poetry, play composition, short stories, non-fiction, and of course my weekly columns for the local press. Sometimes I'd wake up with a start, head hung down over the typewriter, where I'd fallen asleep mid-sentence. It was a non-threatening, comfortable, subtly inspiring studio set-up, and I wanted to tap into it for everything and anything it could, as inspiration, to motivate a budding but unaccomplished author.
Even as a kid, I've always been keenly sensitive to my environs, and whether I'm writing, or just lounging, the aura of the room or the abode generally, factors deeply into my psyche. It will show up in my writing in any number of ways. It has taken four places of lodging, since, to have found my perfect writing place again, after leaving the McGibbon house, when my wife and I got married. Even though Birch Hollow, for me today, is a great and nurturing place to write, it is nothing like what I'd benefitted from in that main street attic.
As I've been aware of house-vibes, every place our family has ever called home, during the past 56 years, I instantly knew the McGibbon house had a positive aura, from the moment I stepped foot inside the main foyer, on that first look-see with the property manager. Working in the attic, I always had the feeling there was a resident spirit, or more, moving about the house, on the back staircase, and occasionally around me in the attic. I'd suddenly feel a strange draft of cold air, and hear footsteps coming up to the landing-door, when everyone else in the house was sound asleep. I sometimes felt as if a watcher was looking over my shoulder while I worked. Admittedly, I had moments when I felt mildly uncomfortable, but a lot of that came from Hollywood depictions, of ghosts and hauntings, such as the move "The Changling." But the positives of the place far outweighed the occasional sensation of spirits wafting around me. I got used to their presence.
Until one late night encounter, that is! I had worked late to finish a newspaper column. As I did every night, I began at the desk, turning off quite a number of sources of light, two floor lamps and two overhead fixtures, before I'd reach the attic door that was kept closed when I was working. Once the last overhead light was turned off, the only light to guide me down the back stairs, was the hall light on the next floor. When I'd get to that landing, I'd flick off the switch, close the door, and count on the illumination of the ground floor kitchen lamp, to get me down the last flight of stairs. On this occasion, when I had turned off the landing light, and taken a few steps out onto the platform of the second floor, I had an experience never to be forgotten. I had walked into a brilliant, white, cold, scented vapor in the otherwise dark staircase.
For several seconds, I was consumed by this cloud, and could see nothing else but the brilliant light all around me, and the chill-air like one would experience walking into a freezer on a hot summer day. It wasn't a frightening experience at all, but unsettling by its sudden arrival in that location of dimly-lit house. It passed as if it was moving up the stairs, as smoke, and I just happened to get in the way. But there was no doubt in my mind, once it had passed, that I had just enjoyed a one-on-one experience with an apparition. I got down to the bottom of the stairs, sat down on the last step, and tried to recall the sequence of events. Could there be any other explanation to the encounter, than to admit to myself, "I'd just seen a ghost?"
As I sat there, I felt a similar cold draft of air, slide down the back staircase, and it was so strong, it actually ruffled my hair. Seeing as this was mid-winter, and the furnace was directly below where I was sitting, and hot air rises, it seemed as if I'd had a second encounter in only a few moments, with the same passing spirit. I wasn't scared but I was definitely alerted to the potential of paranormal energy, flitting about Dr. McGibbon's former residence.
Several days after this adventure on the back stairs, while I was working in the shop, a group of people came in for a look around. I immediately noticed that they were formally dressed, predominantly in black, and seeing as we were neighbors of the local funeral home, I assumed they were visiting the recently deceased. When I heard them talking amongst themselves, about where they remember a family member sitting, in one of the rooms we had turned into store-space, I felt strangely compelled to listen more closely to the conversation. They had obviously lost a family member who had lived, for some time in the past, in the McGibbon house. They weren't of the McGibbon family, but came much later in the building's history. When I asked them a few questions, because I'm a "Nosey Parker," as my mother used to call me, one of the relatives said that a family member had died on the night I had witnessed a specter, climbing up the back stairway. Then the hair on the back of my neck, really did rise in salute, to the ways of the hereafter. By golly, I think I walked through a ghost, or possibly the ghost walked through me. If you've heard about a spirit taking leave of the places it dwelled in mortal form, during life, then it isn't so much of a stretch, to think that this sighting was just a final re-tracing of the good old days, for one last time.
I didn't say a word about my paranormal introduction, to their newly deceased relative. It wasn't the appropriate occasion, to blurt out something like, "oh, yes, I met your relative on the last go-around of the old haunt," and, back in the 1970's, it was still at a time when folks assumed you were a nutter, if you dared to admit even a slight, half-belief in ghosts. So it was our secret, the ghost and I, until much later when it was shared with Canadian Ghost Sleuth, John Robert Colombo, and it got a mention in one of his well known publications.
It made working in the attic much more interesting and event-filled after this.
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