Sudbury area has rich history of UFO sightings

Dear Editor:

In June of 1992, on the advice of a friend, I began looking through The Sudbury Star on microfilm for UFO news clippings, not knowing what I was getting myself into.

With time and determination, I managed to sift through the newspaper, page by page, and pull out a good number of articles. Now, I've finally completed the search, the results of which have been compiled at the main branch of the Sudbury Public library on Mackenzie Street.

There were 14 daytime sightings and 39 nighttime sightings,
some of which were observed at very close range.

What I found was that Sudbury has a rich history of UFO sightings which not too many people were aware of.

Between June 1947 and December 1989, there were 362 articles pertaining to the subject of flying saucers and UFOs. Of these, 216 were of actual sightings of mysterious objects both in the sky and on the ground. These reports originated in other countries, including Finland, China, South Africa, Australia, Europe, South America and the United States.

The reports included everything from observations of UFO occupants near landed craft to sightings of fast-moving objects seen from airliners.

From these, I was able to gather 140 Canadian cases, of which 119 were from the province of Ontario alone. Of those, 51 reports originated in Sudbury and surrounding areas, including Manitoulin Island. I then took these reports and broke them down into two separate categories: daytime and nighttime observations.

In total, there were 14 daytime sightings and 39 nighttime sightings, some of which were observed at very close range.

From the research, I was also able to make the following distinctions: the years 1953, 1954, 1961, 1967 and 1975 were periods of high UFO activity, while the years 1955, 1956, 1962 and 1970 were periods of low UFO activity.

There are slight variations between these periods of activity and the other worldwide waves of sightings.

Here are a few examples of some of the happenings that took place in Sudbury and elsewhere in the province:

• Warren, March 20, 1948. Two produce truck drivers are followed by an 80-foot long object with 20-foot long orange sparks shooting from the rear.

• Sudbury, Jan. 31 - Feb. 24, 1953. Two "flying torpedoes" are observed for 30 minutes over Copper Cliff. Subsequent sightings are made while the RCAF investigates the reports.

• Hamilton, April 4, 1966. A 13-year-old boy touches an antenna of a landed object, which results in a curved burn on his hand.

• Ottawa, Nov. 13, 1973. A family of five is chased by a UFO down Highway 417 at speeds up to 100 miles an hour.

• Bracebridge, Oct. 9, 1975: Robert Suffern of Three Mile Lake nearly runs over a small creature with his car. A few minutes later, he notices an object as it ascends into the sky.

• Cooper, June 12, 1976: A UFO lands near Belleville and displaces three large pieces of earth in a field.

Other articles refer to strange events which have been associated with UFO activity, such as the massive 1965 power blackout which left 30 million homes in darkness and another power interruption on March 26, 1970, which affected Fecunis Mine and Levack Mine in Onaping Falls.

My next project will be to search through The Sault Star on microfilm for similar reports. I already have in my possession some very interesting cases from Sault Ste. Marie and surrounding areas. I hope to be done with that newspaper in a couple of years or less. And when I do, this information will be compiled into a book on Northern Ontario sightings.

The Sudbury Star - June 21, 2000