Witnesses seek answers to strange lights
Several local people witness unidentified flying objects during past month

by BORIS NIKOLOVSKY
Brighton Independent

Similar sightings of strange orange objects hovering over Lake Ontario during the past four weeks have been confirmed by separate witnesses.

All witnesses at first thought it was a plane or a flare from nearby CFB Trenton search and rescue exercises.

But the vividness, length, and circumstances of the sightings left them with an eery curiosity begging for another explanation to what they saw.

In each case separate witnesses saw a bright orange object - commonly described as a light bulb in the sky - hovering near or on the lake with other bright objects moving at high speeds towards or together with it.

Witnesses reported no sounds of planes or helicopters, and sightings ranged from 15 to 25 minutes.

Bill Topham, a World War II air force veteran and former engineer, and his wife Eileen were driving on Hwy. 2 shortly after dusk from Cobourg, June 15, when they noticed a bright orange light moving east parallel with them. They followed as the light reappeared after passing through Colborne.

"Either it was following us or we were following it," said Bill.

They then turned down Union Road.

With the light straight ahead of him, Bill and Eileen stopped the car and heard no sound, no planes, no helicopter. Being so close, they noticed a satellite object, a smaller orange light next to the hovering main object. They turned east on Lakeshore Road. This time, they were very close and could see two smaller lights adjacent to the main object. They followed the lights - in all for about 15 minutes - into Presqu'île before the lights disappeared.

"We saw it and I'd like to know what it is." he said.

CFB Trenton has confirmed that search and rescue teams were out on June 15, and June 23.

On June 23 at about 11:30 pm, separate and unaware of Topham's sighting, Mary Shannon looked east out of her Main Street window. In the sky about 15 degrees above the horizon and over land, she saw a bright orange object hovering. Again, the object was a definite bright orange. For about 15-20 minutes, Shannon watched as about 10 smaller bright objects moved internittently from the western sky toward the main orange object. The smaller lights would disappear into the main light as they collided.

After the lights stopped coming, the main object faded into oblivion.

Capt. Pete Peterson, of CFB Trenton, said a vapour trail seen by Topham would be consistent with a search and rescue flare, some of which are as strong as 1 million candle power. Flares are dropped from planes and helicopters mostly over the lake and last about six minutes. Attached to a large parachute, he said, they may hover and are prone to winds. Although mostly white, fog, pollution, and perspective may give flares an orangy color, he said. The lake, he said, was one of the busiest with search and rescue operations from CFB and the U.S. Coast Guard.

On the night the Tophams saw an object, winds were calm and skies were clear. A call he made to a CFB operations manager confirmed that two planes had been out that night, but no helicopters and no flares.

Another similar sighting by three people back in early May, had the characteristics of the same orange lights.

Janice Morgan was at home on Hwy. 2 west of Colborne, when something caught her eye from the window overlooking the lake.

She looked away to the T.V., then out again but it was gone. A minute later, a bright orange object reappeared. Walter Leigh, who was also in the home, grabbed a pair of binoculars.

"There's definitely something out there," he said.

Janice, Walter and his wife watched the object hover while giving off a steady light for about 15 to 20 minutes. Out of the eastern sky, a smaller object moved with incredible speed and stopped just beside the main orange light. They hovered together for about 3 minutes, before the satellite object shot off in the same direction from which it came.

The main light "disappeared as if someone had turned off a switch," said Janice.

Ed Barker, a UFO researcher at the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, said that the sightings aren't unusual.

"I've been inundated with sightings in the past two months," he said from his office.

UFOs lighting up skies across province
Brighton skies not alone for strange stellar sightings

by BORIS NIKOLOVSKY
Brighton Independent

A rash of unidentified flying object sightings in southern Ontario has left dozens of witnesses scratching their heads for answers and a UFO investigator swamped with intriguing cases.

"This is what we call a flood," said Victor Lourenco, provincial director of the Mutual UFO Network, a civilian-based non-profit group.

"It's very unusual. We don't get these kinds of reports in such a quantity, in such a short period of time. It's too much of a coincidence," he said.

Over the past two weeks, dozens of witnesses in Newmarket, Keswick, Bradford, King City and Brighton were astonished to see strange lights in the sky.

"We try to explain it within a conventional scientific
approach. If we can't, then it's a UFO. That doesn't mean,
of course, that it's extraterrestrial, just unidentified."
- Victor Lourenco
Ontario director for MUFON

An Aurora lawyer reported an orange light around the Newmarket area early Tuesday morning.

The object, also sighted near Orillia, was circular in shape with a cross of lights spinning on its own axis. The woman watched the object hover for two hours. The object then climbed in altitude before it vanished.

"We try to explain it within a conventional scientific approach. If we can't, then it's a UFO. That doesn't mean, of course, that it's extraterrestrial, just unidentified," said Lourenco.

Also during the past month near Brighton, at least three sightings over or near Lake Ontario have been seen by about a dozen people. All witnesses described an orange object like "a giant light bulb in the sky."

On June 15, retired engineer and World War II air force veteran, Bill Topham and his wife Eileen were driving along Hwy. 2 when they spotted a bright orange object over the lake.

"Either we were following it, or it was following us," he said. During the 15-minute chase, they noticed two satellite objects with the main light.

In early May, Janice Morgan, along with Walter and Joan Leigh, watched out of their Colborne home as a deep orange light hovered over Lake Ontario. Suddenly out of the eastern sky, another smaller orange light shot at incredible speed and stopped near the main light. They hovered together for about three minutes before the small light shot off.

The larger object vanished as if "someone flicked a switch," said Janice Morgan.

Witnesses at first thought the orange lights were flares from search and rescue missions from nearby CFB Trenton.

But no witnesses reported hearing sounds of planes or helicopters and sightings lasted up to 25 minutes. Flares typically last 6 minutes. In one case, a witness phoned an operations manager at CFB Trenton who confirmed two planes were out that night - but no helicopters and no flares.

In an interview two weeks ago, Capt. Pete Peterson, a spokesman for CFB Trenton, confirmed that search and rescue crews were out on June 15 and June 23, nights when two of the sightings took place.

Although flares burn mostly white, he said, fog, pollution and perspective may give them an orangy color.

Lourenco said he doesn't have enough data to account for the sightings while pointing out that the sightings could be prototype aircraft or military exercises.

"We have to give CFB Trenton the benefit of the doubt and do a bit more research onthat."

"In general they don't lie but it doesn't mean they're telling the whole thing," he said.

Other sightings since June 23 include:

• A fast moving light was reported near Bradford.

• A bluish yellow light moving slowly near King City.

• A Brighton resident looked out her window and watched for 25 minutes as about 10 smaller lights moved intermittently towards a bright orange object hovering, disappearing when they collided with it.