Date
of sighting: October 26, 1978
Location of sighting: Clarenville, Newfoundland, Canada
"Both
Mr. Lethbridge and Constable Blackwood describe the same
thing: A cigar-shaped object with a curved tail, in the
sky with blue, red and yellow flashing lights. It ranged
from about thirty-five to forty feet in diameter and hovered
approximately five hundred feet above sea level with no
movement."
James
Blackwood's sketch of the object
Source:
Lee Tizzard - Brian Vike, HBCCUFO.org
Date:
October 26, 1978 Time: n/a
"This
is probably the most well-known sighting in Newfoundland.
I have copies of official documentation of this event.
On
October 26, 1978, a Mr.Chester Lethbridge and his wife,
reported to the RCMP a strange object in the sky for the
second time over the duration of approximately one week
over Random Island, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland.
RCMP
Constable James Blackwood, an officer on location at the
time, went out to the Lethbridge home to investigate.
Upon arriving, he also saw this strange unidentifiable
object in the sky. Both Mr. Lethbridge and Constable Blackwood
describe the same thing: A cigar-shaped object with a
curved tail, in the sky with blue, red and yellow flashing
lights. It ranged from about thirty-five to forty feet
in diameter and hovered approximately five hundred feet
above sea level with no movement. The object also cast
a shadow on the water, so he knew that what he was seeing
was not a satellite or distant planet like Venus.
This
object was also being tracked by the Department of National
Defense, Gander, NF. After observing the object with the
naked eye for a while, Constable Blackwood took out this
ball-scope, a device used to amplify light sources in
the night, to observe the object. This was definitely
not a plane nor like any other aircraft Blackwood had
ever seen. After observing the object in the sky for a
little while longer, Constable Blackwood decided to turn
on the flashing lights on his police car. Mr. Lethbridge,
however, did not approve of this and went inside.
Constable
Blackwood flicked on the flashing blue and red lights
on his car, and within seconds, the object in the sky
imitated the pattern of flashing lights. Constable Blackwood
was speechless, being interested in different types of
aircraft as a hobby, Blackwood confidently says that though
the craft was about the size of DC-9 aircraft. It was
definitely not a plane; it did not resemble any type of
plane ever built to his knowledge. It had no wings and
made no noise; it had a curved tail and a cigar-shaped
body and that was all, besides the flashing lights. After
a period of about two hours, the object "left the
scene like a shooting star, only in the opposite direction."
Shortly
after this sighting in Clarenville, Newfoundland, Constable
Blackwood, following procedure, made reports and sent
them to the NRC - National Research Council, in Ottawa.
The National Research Council had an upper atmosphere
research facility that, at that time, was responsible
for UFO reports.
An
authority with the NRC by the name of A. G. MacNamara
responded to these reports by saying: "The objects
were most likely the planet Jupiter, which is quite brilliant.
It appears about midnight in mid-October and is near the
Mediterranean Sea. Saturn and several other bright stars
are also visible in the Eastern sky at this hour of the
night". Constable Blackwood was quite disgruntled
at these comments by Mr. MacNamara, and the fact that
MacNamara was making these assumptions without even talking
to him or any of the witnesses of the sighting.
Blackwood
assured me in a 1997 phone interview, that it was not
the planet Jupiter nor was it Venus or any other star
or planet, for he had seen these in the sky and was positive
that this was not what he had witnessed hovering over
Random Island for two hours. It must be kept in mind that
the object seen by Chester Lethbridge, his wife and Constable
Blackwood did cast a shadow on the water, and planets;
stars and satellites do not cast shadows.
Blackwood
has retired from the RCMP and no longer lives in Newfoundland."
Lee
Tizzard - UFO researcher/Filmmaker
St. John's, Newfoundland
Source:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case583.htm