Thursday, June 08, 2017
Canada 150, UFO 355
Canada 150, UFO 355
While we acknowledge Canada’s 150th
birthday in 2017, it’s also another anniversary of a somewhat more esoteric
series of events this year.
With TV shows such as the X-Files, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Stranger
Things all receiving high ratings, and the movie industry each year
producing dozens of blockbuster science fiction films about aliens interacting
with humans, it is not surprising that topics such as UFOs and aliens currently
receive wide attention from the public. Some of this has even crept into the
mainstream, with a billionaire space entrepreneur recently admitting on CBS’ 60 Minutes that he believes aliens are
already on Earth.
However, it should be noted that
the term UFO does not automatically imply visitation by alien creatures. It
simply refers to objects seen in the sky that could not be explained by
witnesses.
With this in mind, it is perhaps
fitting that in 2017 we can acknowledge the first known historical record of an
observation in Canada of what we would now classify as a UFO – an Unidentified
Flying Object – from 1662, a remarkable 355 years ago.
The earliest recorded sighting in
Canada (or what would eventually be Canada) of what technically was a UFO was
described in a report by Jerome
Lalemant, a Jesuit missionary living with Indigenous
Algonquin people in New France (i.e. Montreal). His observations were recorded
in a document titled Travels and
Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610 – 1791. Strange
events were described in Chapter 1 of his report, titled “Relation of what
occurred in the Mission of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus in the country of
New France, from the Summer of the year 1662 to the Summer of the year 1663,”
under the heading Three Suns And Other
Aërial Phenomena, Which Appeared In New France:
As early as last Autumn we saw fiery Serpents, intertwined in the
form of the Caduceus, and flying through mid-air, borne on wings of flame. Over
Quebec we beheld a great Ball of fire, which illumined the night almost with the
splendor of day — had not our pleasure in beholding it been mingled with fear,
caused by its emission of sparks in all directions. This same Meteor appeared
over Montreal, but seemed to issue from the Moon’s bosom, with a noise like
that of Cannon or Thunder; and, after traveling three leagues in the air, it
finally vanished behind the great mountain whose name that Island bears.
Lalemant later recorded some
remarkable sundogs on January 7, 1663, and again on January 14. Then, on
September 1, 1663, there was a major solar eclipse across the region, that “rendered our forests pale, somber, and
gloomy.”
On February 5, 1663, a major
earthquake shook the area, and the Jesuits described the effects in very great
detail, including effects on people, animals, the physical geography and the
vegetation. From Lalemant’s description, it must have been a truly horrific
event:
War seemed to be waged even by the Mountains, some
of them being uprooted, to be hurled against others, and leaving yawning chasms
in the places whence they had sprung. At times, too, they buried the trees,
with which they were covered, deep in the ground up to their topmost branches;
and at other times they would plant them, branches downward, which would then
take the place of the roots, leaving only a forest of upturned trunks.
During this general wreck on Land, ice of five and
six feet in thickness was broken, flying into fragments, and splitting open in
various places, whence issued either great clouds of smoke or jets of mud and
sand, which ascended to a lofty height in the air. Our springs either ceased to
flow or gave forth only sulphurous waters; Rivers either disappeared entirely
or were thoroughly defiled, the waters of some becoming yellow and of others
red; and our great river Saint Lawrence appeared all whitish as far as the
neighborhood of Tadoussac…
And adding to the frightening
characteristics of the earthquake, unusual lights were seen during this as
well:
… beside the roaring which constantly preceded and accompanied the
Earthquake, we saw specters and fiery phantoms bearing torches in their hands.
Pikes and lances of fire were seen, waving in the air, and burning brands
darting down on our houses — without, however, doing further injury than to
spread alarm wherever they were seen.
A phenomenon called as earthquake
lights is known to geologists, but not well understood. These luminous
discharges have been seen as precursors to earthquakes, but are most often seen
during the release of seismic energy, suggesting piezoelectric or static
effects. Some scientists believe that seismic events are related to
observations of UFOs. Given the magnitude of the 1663 earthquake in Quebec, it
would not be surprising that earthquake lights were reported.
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Labels: Canada150 Canada UFO Montreal earthquake 1662 history
# posted by rutkows @ 9:43 AM 
