SOMEBODY'S
OUT THERE
UFOlogist says local sightings reported
By KENNEDY GORDON
Star Staff
Writer
It's
one of those coincidences that make skeptics and debunkers
take notice. An informal discussion group of UFO seekers
gathers to look into recent flying saucer sightings in
the Long Lake area. During the meeting, taking place in
Whitefish, the group spots an unidentified flying object
high above them.
"It
was too high to be a helicopter," says Michel Deschamps,
one of those who made the sighting last November.
"The
lights were flashing too fast to be a plane. In the time
a normal plane's lights flash, this one would flash six
or seven times, and in a repeating color cycle: red, white,
blue."
Then,
as if in confirmation of many UFO theories, a military
jet appeared.
"The
lights crossed the sky, and then we saw the jet."
Deschamps
won't go as far as to say the jet was pursuing or escorting
the object, but does point out that many reports of saucer
sightings include military escort vehicles.
No
military source could be reached for comment.
Deschamps
also won't say the object was a space vehicle from another
world. The "unidentified" in UFO comes into
play here, he says.
Jack
DeCorby of the Environment Canada Weather Office says
the object could very well have been a weather balloon.
"A
weather balloon is launched every 12 hours from Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan," says DeCorby.
"They're
big, and some have lights, so it could have been that."
Deschamps
is the provincial section director of MUFON, The Mutual
UFO Network. The Texas-based organization collects and
compiles sighting data, and investigates reports of alien
encounters.
He
dismisses the idea that he and other UFO researchers are
crackpots, and that the Whitefish sighting was a product
of wishful thinking.
"Anyone
who thinks that (UFOs are not real) is just fooling themselves.
They don't want to face the truth."
Operating
out of his Hanmer home, Deschamps gathers information
on Sudbury and area saucer sightings. His office is filled
with videotapes, files, magazines, and books. . .all relating
to UFOs. And his conversation is filled with stories of
crop circles, abductions, recovered alien bodies, and
conspiratorial government cover-ups.
"It's
good to be plugged in to a group like MUFON," he
says.
"Information
comes to me all the time."
Still,
all the information he has is but a percentage of what
he says really goes on. He speaks with many people who
have had encounters, but deals with them on conditions
of confidentiality: no names.
"I
consider myself lucky if I hear about five per cent of
the sightings that occur. Lots are unreported; people
are afraid about losing their jobs or their credibility."
This
latest round of sightings - including the Long Lake UFO,
a red object that followed a father and son as they drove
down Long Lake Road - continues in Sudbury's history of
strange skyward objects.
Since
the late '40s, Sudburians have reported all sorts of encounters
with objects in the sky. The Long Lake sightings, for
example, were first reported in the late '60s.
One
notable report, mentioned in UFOlogist Timothy Good's
book Above Top Secret, took place over the Canadian Forces
radar base in Falconbridge on Nov. 7, 1975. Observers
with binoculars sighted a glowing spherical object over
the base, and the information was relayed to NORAD command.
Two
American fighter jets were sent to find the object, but
reported no success.
The
radar base is now inoperational, but that hasn't stopped
saucers from visiting our area, Deschamps says. He puts
forth the idea that the Neutrino Observatory is an attraction
for saucers who use neutrinos in their operation.
"It
would be a lot easier for them to just fix on one place
and get their neutrinos there, instead of looking all
over for them," he explains.
One
recent report that has crossed Deschamps' desk involved
a red light shining from the sky on a children's play
area in New Sudbury.
"Copper
Cliff is another place where there are a lot of sightings,"
says Deschamps.
"Maybe
it's the mines, or all the nickel. But there have been
reports about long, cylindrical objects over the INCO
area."
MUFON's
sighting hotline - 416-932-0031 - offers updates and takes
reports about sightings. Deschamps encourages anyone who
has seen anything unusual to contact the hotline.
"I
get stories here and there, but most of them can't be
verified," he says.
"We
just have to work with what we have."
