If aliens cruised the skies over Northeast B.C. in 2017, it appears they went unnoticed — or, at the very least, unreported.
Ufology Research, based in Manitoba, released its 2017 Canadian UFO Survey this week, with 1,101 eyewitness accounts reported from across the country.
"Results of this study show that many people continue to report unusual objects in the sky, and some of these objects do not have obvious explanations," researchers write in a summary report.
"Many witnesses are pilots, police and other individuals with reasonably good observing capabilities and good judgment."
There were 128 sightings reported from British Columbia, mostly in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, and the Interior. At least a dozen sightings were attributed to B.C., but no exact location was given.
While there were no reports attributed to locations in the Northeast, there were a few sightings reported from Northern B.C.:
• On June 10, a silent, bright white light was reported to be travelling east in Prince Rupert.
• On July 24, an irregular shaped object was reported to be moving in the sky in a photo from Quesnel.
• On Aug. 8, a white, reflective disc-shaped object was reported high in the sky in Prince George. Other translucent discs were later found on photos.
• On Dec. 22, a clouded orb near the moon was reported to be giving off a smoke ring in Prince Rupert.
• On Dec. 23, two white objects were discovered on a photo of a winter scene in Prince George. On Dec. 24, white objects were also reported to be found on photo of scenery, again in Prince George.
"Although the largest percentage of reported UFOs is simply lights in the night sky, a small number are objects with definite shapes observed within the witnesses’ frame of reference," the researchers note.
"Popular opinion to the contrary, there is no incontrovertible evidence that some UFO cases involve extraterrestrial contact. The continued reporting of UFOs by the public and the yearly increase in numbers of UFO reports suggests a need for further examination of the phenomenon by social, medical and/or physical scientists."
Here are some other findings from the survey, which first began in 1989.
Sightings reported in 1989: 154
Top three provinces for sightings: Quebec (518), Ontario (241) and British Columbia (128)
Cities with most UFO sightings: Montreal (74), Toronto (57), Vancouver (46), Edmonton (29), Hamilton (28), Ottawa (26), Calgary (24), Winnipeg (9)
Average number of witnesses per sighting: 2
Typical length of sightings: 15 minutes
Shape of sightings: Boomerang, cigar, cone, cylinder, diamond, disc, fireball, irregular, line, oval, point source, rectangle, round, sphere, square, triangle.
The full data table can be viewed by clicking here.
Email Managing Editor Matt Preprost at [email protected].
