Post by dbh on Jan 18, 2013 22:37:04 GMT 1
22+ Witnesses Observe a UFO Larger than a Football Stadium
Yukon Territory, Canada
Investigated by Martin Jasek, M.Sc., P. Eng.
e-mail author:
Report posted October 1999
Last update - February 3, 2000
Story can be found below these 25+ images...
Index of figures
Map of UFO sighting area (Figure 1)
Map of Fox Lake, Braeburn and FOX1 UFO sighting locations (Figure 13)
1st and 2nd Drawings by FOX1 (Figure 17)
www.ufobc.ca/yukon/2217fox1draw1&2mj.htm
Investigator’s interpretation of 1st Drawing by FOX1 (Figure 15)
Investigator’s interpretation of 2nd Drawing by FOX1 (Figure 16)
Graphic based on 1st Drawing by FOX1 (Figure 14)
Map of Fox Lake and the location of witnesses FOX2, 3, 4 and 5 (Figure 2)
Map of Fox Lake showing witness viewing directions and UFO Trajectory (Figure 34)
1st Drawing by FOX2 (Figure 6)
2nd Drawing by FOX2 (Figure 7)
3rd Drawing by FOX2 (Figure 8)
4th Drawing by FOX2 (Figure 9)
1st Drawing by FOX3 (Figure 3)
2nd Drawing by FOX3 (Figure 4)
Graphic based on FOX3’s 1st and 2nd Drawings (Figure 5)
Photograph taken from FOX3’s perspective of UFO (Figure 32)
Photograph depicting where bottom of the UFO was from FOX3’s perspective (Figure 33)
Drawing by FOX4 (Figure 10)
Drawing by FOX5 (Figure 11)
FOX4 and FOX5 estimates of UFO size with reference to known landmarks (Figure 12)
Village of Carmacks
Map of Carmacks and the location of witnesses CRM1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (Figure 27)
Drawing by CRM1 (Figure 28)
Drawing by CRM2 (Figure 29)
Drawing by CRM6 (Figure 30)
Drawing by CRM7 (Figure 31)
Introduction
On December 11th, 1996 an incredible "UFO event" took place along a 216 km (134 mile) stretch of the Klondike Highway in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The sightings occurred in three major areas along the highway: Fox Lake, The Village of Carmacks, and The Village of Pelly Crossing each having 6, 9 and 7 witnesses respectively (see Figure 1 above). This total of 22 people is a minimum number and only includes those identified to the investigator by name. There were other witnesses (or vehicles) reported on scene. All but one of the witnesses wish to remain anonymous. Between the time period of February 1999 and September 1999, 19 out of the 22 witnesses have been interviewed (only 2 of these were second hand accounts). This report documents the witnesses’ descriptions resulting from these interviews. Fourteen of the witnesses have supplied drawings of the UFO.
Comparing the size of the UFO observed equal to that of a football stadium is not due to exaggeration on the witnesses’ part. On the contrary, this comparison is conservative, as it will be shown in this report that the UFO was likely much larger then a football stadium. A reasonably accurate estimate of the size of the UFO (or UFOs) was accomplished through a method based on geometry called "triangulation". Triangulation relies on the observation of an object (in this case a UFO) from different vantage points at the same time. The details of this are explained in "Calculation of UFO size". This method was employed 6 times to obtain 6 estimates for the size of the UFO. All revealed staggering results; the UFO ranged anywhere from 0.88 km (0.55 miles) to 1.8 km (1.1 miles) in length! For comparison, the Toronto Skydome stadium is 0.21 km (0.13 miles) at it’s widest point.
In order to keep witness identities anonymous, "Code Names" were developed consisting of the following format. For those witnesses who observed the UFO near Fox Lake the witness code names given were FOX1, FOX2, FOX3…, for those near Carmacks; CRM1, CRM2, CRM3…, and for those near Pelly Crossing; PEL1, PEL2, PEL3…etc.
Near Fox Lake witnesses FOX2 and FOX3 had a rather close encounter with the UFO. At the same time that this was occurring, witnesses FOX4 and FOX5 observed the UFO from the southern end of Fox Lake. The simultaneous observations of the UFO by these four witnesses provided excellent data to estimate the size of the UFO. Two other witnesses (FOX1 and FOX6) were driving through the area and saw the UFO the same night. Most of these witnesses stopped in at Braeburn Lodge (See map above for location) and anxiously described their UFO sighting to the lodge owner, Steve Watson.
Near the Village of Pelly Crossing a trapper (PEL1) had a very close encounter with a UFO that he estimated to be ¾ of a mile long. It was so close to him that he had to turn his head in order to view the entire UFO. PEL1 is the only witness that has decided to come forward with his identity; his name is Don Trudeau. At about the same time that Mr. Trudeau was having his sighting, a brother and a sister (PEL3 and PEL2) were travelling along the highway near the village when they noticed a huge and long row of lights moving slowly over the hills. They stopped and pulled over. PEL2 compared the length of the UFO to the length of the Big Dipper that was right above it. It was the same length as the Big Dipper! This observation allowed for a more accurate estimation of UFO size. At about the same time four women (PEL4, PEL5, PEL6 and PEL7) were taking an evening course at a satellite college in the community. They were let out for a break at about 8:30pm. They went out onto the deck of the small one story building and observed the UFO as well. They observed a large object move slowly over the village and disappear behind a hill to the north.
In the Village of Carmacks, four gentlemen (CRM1, CRM2, CRM3, CRM4) were travelling in a truck pulled over to watch a huge UFO fly slowly over the village. At one point it went behind a hill. When it came out on the other side of it, one witness recalls waiting a long time from when the leading light of the UFO appeared to when the tail end of the UFO came in to view. That's how big it was! Also in the Village of Carmacks a family of five (CRM5 through CRM9) viewed the UFO from their living room window.
For a more detailed summary of the event please click on "Event Summary" below. For even more details click on the individual witness testimonies to read what each witness had to say.
Contents
Witness Testimonies:
Witness FOX1
Witnesses FOX2 and FOX3
FOX3's Personal Account
Witnesses FOX4 and FOX5
Witness FOX6
Witness PEL1
Witnesses PEL2 and PEL3
Witnesses PEL4, PEL5, PEL6 and PEL7
Witnesses CRM1, CRM2, CRM3 and CRM4
Witnesses CRM5, CRM6, CRM7, CRM8, and CRM9
Table of Observation Times and Directions
Event Summary
Witnesses FOX2 and FOX3 were driving together from Whitehorse to Carmacks in two separate vehicles. As they were travelling northbound on the Klondike Highway adjacent to Fox Lake, they spotted a huge UFO out over the frozen lake. Fox Lake is on the west side of the highway. Both of them slammed on the brakes stopping about 570 metres (1870 ft) apart from each other (refer to map shown in Figure 2). FOX2 got out of his vehicle for a better observation. The UFO proceeded to slowly drift towards FOX2 and after a few minutes he found himself almost directly underneath the object! FOX3 continued to observe his cousin FOX2; both men were in complete awe! (See drawings by FOX3, Figures 3 and 4 and simulated graphic Figure 5). The UFO continued to move slowly across the highway and out over the hill to the east and eventually disappeared behind it. Also, see drawings by FOX2 (Figures 6, 7, 8, 9). Immediatly after the sigthing, FOX3 noted that the time was 8:30 pm. Both FOX2 and FOX3 could discern that the lights were attached to a smooth and solid object.
At the very same time that FOX2 and FOX3 were observing the UFO move across the lake, FOX4 and FOX5 were approaching the southern tip of Fox Lake also heading northbound (see map, Figure 2). What they observed was a huge row, or rows, of lights slowly moving across the lake. There were other lights on and around the UFO as well. See drawings by FOX4 and FOX5 (Figures 10 and 11) and their estimated size to known landmarks (Figure 12). Their first thought was that it was a large truck in the distance, but it couldn’t be, it was out over the lake. Their next thought was that a Boeing 747 was crash landing. But that couldn’t be either, it was moving much too slowly to be an aircraft. It took them about 2 seconds to process these thoughts when they realized that it must be a UFO! They got very concerned. They had a two-year-old son in the back seat and they were travelling towards this thing! After some debate they decided to continue their journey. After all, they could no longer see the UFO as they approached a hill that obscured their view plus there was some traffic ahead of them. FOX5 looked at the car clock, it was 8:23 pm. None of the witnesses heard any sound coming from the object.
A few minutes later, when FOX4 and FOX5 were passing the Fox Lake campground, they passed by two vehicles that were pulled over with two men outside looking up at the sky. They turned around and pulled over to talk to them. It was FOX2 and FOX3 carrying on a lively discussion, "What the ‘heck’ was that?" After a few minutes FOX4 and FOX5 left and eventually stopped at Braeburn Lodge about 34 km (21 miles) further up the highway. FOX4 walked into the lodge and said to Steve Watson, the lodge owner "Steve, I really need a coffee!" Steve replied "Oh, you must have seen what FOX1 saw?" In fact FOX4 recalled seeing FOX1 leaving Braeburn Lodge just as they got there.
About half an hour before the sighting described above (about 8:00 pm) FOX1 was driving along Fox Lake and had noticed a light in the distance which should not have been there. He did not think too much of it but as he got closer to the light, he could tell that it was illuminating a long smooth curved surface. He then passed some traffic and after his eyes readjusted to the darkness, the curved surface and the light were gone. However, his eye caught a group of rectangular lights moving over and behind a hill to the east. At this point he got an "exhilarating feeling" and sped up in order to reach a less obscured location in the valley so that he would have a chance to see the UFO again. He pulled over and got out of his vehicle but didn’t see anything more unusual. He continued his journey and pulled into Braeburn Lodge where he gave Steve a description of what he saw and also made drawings for him. See map, drawings and graphics (Figures 13, 14, 15, 16, 17).
FOX2 and FOX3 eventually pulled into Braeburn Lodge and gave their description to Steve as well.
There was also a 6th witness to the Fox Lake sighting but it is unclear what time she had driven through the area. FOX6 was driving in the vicinity of Fox Lake when she noticed a glow on her dashboard that could not be accounted for by the interior illumination of her vehicle. She leaned forward to look up through her windshield and observed a large arrangement of multi colored lights. The interior lights in her car started to go dim and the music from her tape deck slowed down.
At around the same time, between 8:30 and 9:00 pm, the Village of Pelly Crossing (about a 2 hours drive to the north of Fox Lake) was experiencing its own truly incredible UFO sighting. PEL1 was tending his trapline northeast of Pelly when he observed in the distance to the southwest a long row of lights slowly moving over the hills. At first he thought it was a large aircraft coming down. But it was moving much too slowly. "It’s a UFO!" As he was walking his flashlight happened to point in the direction of the UFO. As if reacting to his flashlight, the UFO started speeding rapidly toward him. He instinctively cupped the end of his flashlight. As soon as he completed this gesture, the UFO stopped in its track. In a matter of less than a second, it was hovering an estimated 300 yards (275 metres) in front of him! PEL1 had to turn his head from one side to the other to take it all in. (See graphic Figure 18, based on witness’ drawings and the investigators interpretation Figures 19, 20, 21). Again there was no sound at all coming from the object. A beam of light emanating from the bottom of the UFO swooped the ground once directly underneath the object. Was it a search beam? Looking for him? The UFO then drifted slowly to the right. There were other beams emanating from the craft as well; a greenish phosphorescent color beam shone horizontally out the front (right); two beams at the back (left) rotated slowly to a horizontal position. All the beams could be seen clearly as there were ice crystals in the air. PEL1 turned away from the UFO momentarily and ran across a small clearing. When he turned back to look at it, it was gone. Figure 22 shows a map of the location of the witness and his estimated trajectory of the UFO.
At about the same time, PEL2 and PEL3 were travelling northbound just south of Pelly Crossing. To the north they spotted a huge row of lights slowly moving from left to right. They pulled over at a gravel pit just south of the Village to get a better look and got out of their vehicle. PEL2 noticed that the Big Dipper was just above the row of lights and compared the length of the lights to the width of the Big Dipper. They were about the same length! This observation was very important since it established a well-referenced angular size of the UFO from PEL2 and PEL3’s perspective, important for a more accurate triangulation and calculation of UFO size. See drawings by PEL2 and PEL3 (Figures 23 and 24). The map shown in Figure 22 shows the location of witnesses PEL2 and PEL3 and their estimate of the UFO trajectory.
The accounts of witnesses PEL1 through 3 were enough to complete a calculation of UFO size. The observations of witnesses PEL4, 5, 6 and 7 about the same time provided a second triangulation. Their location is also indicated on the map in Figure 22. The four women were taking an evening course at a small community college in Pelly Crossing (a satellite school of Yukon College). They were out on a break on the front deck of the one story building looking towards the west when they too observed the row of lights. The row of lights was travelling slowly almost towards them and slightly towards the north. They recall the object being huge as well; there was no sound at all. It moved slowly over the hill to the north and disappeared behind it. See drawings by PEL6 and PEL7 (Figures 25 and 26).
Then there was the UFO sighting near the Village of Carmacks seen by 9 witnesses. The UFO was observed by two groups of people. CRM1, 2, 3 and 4 were on the highway northbound in a pick-up truck just south of Carmacks; CRM5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 consisted of a husband, wife and their 3 children. They were watching television when they spotted the row of lights out of their window. The locations of the witnesses and estimated UFO trajectories are shown in Figure 27.
The four men travelling together pulled over near the landfill at the southern edge of the Village to get a better look at the UFO. They watched the noiseless object move slowly to the northeast, curve around them to the south and head up a valley adjacent to the microwave tower south of the village where it just vanished. At one point the UFO was partially obscured behind a nearby hill and one witness recalls the UFO slowly reappearing on the other side of it. He remembers waiting a long time for the last light to reappear from behind the hill; that’s how slow and large the object was! The object took up about a 60 to 90 degree horizontal chunk of the sky. See drawings by CRM1 and CRM2 (Figures 28 and 29). CRM1 recalls hearing about the Fox Lake UFO sighting on the radio the next day and surmised that they saw the UFO about an hour and a half earlier, about 7:00 pm.
The family is not exactly sure what time it was when they saw the UFO, just that it was in the evening. They observed the row of lights just to the northwest of them moving slowly to the northeast. The lights were just over the treeline and there was no noise at all. See drawings Figure 30 (by the mother, CRM6) and Figure 31 (by the eldest son, CRM7, six years old at the time of the sighting). The lights continued to move until they disappeared one by one behind what appeared to be an invisible wall. There was no mountain in that direction that could account for this. With the UFO sighting occurring just two weeks prior to Christmas, the three children thought that it was Santa Claus and his reindeer in the sky.
An estimate of the UFO size by triangulation was not possible for the Carmacks UFO sighting, as the geometry of the witness locations in relation to the UFO was less than ideal (see "Estimate of UFO Size"). Furthermore, it was unclear whether both the family and the group of four men in the truck observed the UFO at the same time. Perhaps the UFO made more than one pass by the Village that night.
There is also some evidence to suggest that this "sighting event" encompassed an even larger area as UFO reports were heard on CBC North radio the very next day mentioning sightings in the communities of Dawson, Mayo and Watson Lake. No witnesses from these additional communities have thus far come forward or been identified.
Testimony of UFO Witness FOX1
FOX1 was driving alone along the Klondike Highway from Whitehorse to Carmacks one evening in December 1996. When he was about 2.5 kilometers from the southern tip of Fox Lake (Point A, Figure13), he noticed a white light to the north-northwest out over the lake (towards the direction of Position "1"). He did not think too much of it but kept observing the light while driving along the edge of the 17 km (11 mile) long lake. At point B, just north of the Fox Lake campground, FOX1 noticed two vehicles parked along the guardrail. Both vehicles were facing southbound.
He continued to travel northbound and when he got just past the northern tip of Fox Lake (Point C), the light which he had been watching appeared to be "shining light down a smooth gentle curve" (See Figures 14, 15, 17). He thought it might be a vehicle shining its headlight down the curved surface of the highway, but the problem was that there was no highway in that direction (towards Position "1"). At point D he passed a car and a semi-trailer (Yukon-Alaska Trucking) heading southbound. He lost sight of the light and illuminated surface since his concentration was geared to passing the two vehicles safely. He contemplated pulling these vehicles over to help confirm his observation but before he could act on this impulse they had passed him. A few seconds later, after his eyes readjusted to the darkness (at Point E), he observed three rows of rectangular lights slowly drifting and disappearing behind a hill to the east towards the direction of "Point 2"(See Figures 16 and 17). It was quite a sight! The rows of lights appeared to be a part of a larger object, "you know, kind of like when you see the Enterprise on Star Trek do a slow close pass by the camera". He got an "exhilarating feeling" and stepped on the gas so that he could reach a point further up the valley, which had a less obstructed view of the sky. At point F he pulled over and got out of his vehicle to scan the sky for the object. He looked for large blacked out areas of the sky but did not notice any large areas of missing stars. The sights he had just witnessed appeared truly astonishing.
FOX1 continued to travel northbound at about 50 km/h (30 mph) much slower than the posted speed limit of 90 km/h (55 mph), scanning the sky for the object or lights. After travelling about 20 km (12 miles) he reached Braeburn Lodge (Point G) and decided to pull in for a coffee. He spent an estimated 15 minutes (and perhaps as much as half an hour) at the lodge and related his exciting story to the lodge owner, Steve Watson. FOX1 even made drawings for him describing the incredible sights that he just witnessed.
FOX1 continued on his way to Carmacks where he lived, loaded his wood stove and drove back to Whitehorse later that night to attend a family matter. He had no further sightings on the return trip but stopped at Braeburn Lodge again only to learn from Steve Watson that others had stopped shortly after him describing the same or similar thing.
Testimonies of UFO Witnesses FOX2 and FOX3
FOX2 and FOX3 were travelling in a convoy of two vehicles heading from Whitehorse to Carmacks on the Klondike Highway. FOX2 was travelling about 1 mile (1.6 km) ahead of FOX3. They were travelling adjacent to Fox Lake (Figure 2). They were interviewed separately.
Witness FOX2
FOX2 was travelling on the highway adjacent to Fox Lake when the mundane trip turned into something he would remember for the rest of his life. Suddenly FOX2 spotted a huge object with a row of lights hovering out over the lake (See drawing of UFO by FOX2, Figures 6). He thought he must have been hallucinating! He took another look and the gigantic thing was still there! He immediately negotiated a stop in somewhat slippery conditions and proceeded to get out of his vehicle (Point A, Figure 2). He looked up the highway for his cousin FOX3 and saw him approaching. He could see that he spotted the UFO as well since he was swerving wildly as he skidded to a stop on the snow-covered highway. To FOX2 it looked like FOX3 stopped about one half a mile (0.8 km) back from him (Point B, Figure 2). (The actual distance between the two witnesses was measured to be 0.57 km (0.36 miles).
FOX2 turned back to look at the UFO and noticed that the UFO was slowly moving, towards him! (See Drawing by FOX2, Figure 7). The drawing depicts the edge of the UFO and in fact, FOX2 could see that the UFO had a solid smooth surface. In a few minutes the edge of the object was directly over him (Figure 8). The only detail he remembered while looking at the object's belly was a large white light in the center of this elliptically shaped object (Figure 9). He was totally in awe and for some reason unafraid. He decided to get out his two-way radio so that he could relate what he was seeing to anybody who would listen, but all he got was static. The gigantic thing continued to travel slowly eastward and out of site over the hill.
Later that evening FOX3 recalls stopping in at Braeburn Lodge and relating his story to the owner. The owner told them that others had stopped in and related similar accounts.
Witness FOX3
About an hour prior to the Fox Lake UFO sighting (about 7:30 pm), FOX2 arrived at FOX3’s residence and asked him if he could help him bring a vehicle from Whitehorse to Carmacks. FOX3 agreed and they were on their way.
FOX3 was travelling about 1 mile behind FOX2 along the Klondike Highway adjacent to Fox Lake. When FOX3 got to Point C (Figure 2) he noticed a huge object out over the Lake. "It’s a UFO!!!!" he said to himself, it was so obvious. FOX2 had disappeared from his view around the corner. He kept travelling down a hill towards the lake, and towards the UFO! When he passed a gradual turn to the right he was along a straight stretch of the highway that ran parallel with the lake. Now he could see his cousin FOX2 up the road, his truck swerving; he saw him "almost hit the ditch!" FOX3 started pumping his brakes in order to stop on the slippery highway and almost went off the road himself. When he finally stopped, he realized that the UFO was travelling towards his cousin. Soon his cousin was underneath the object! (See drawings by FOX3 Figures 3 and 4). The UFO was lighting up the entire valley! "We could see our shadows" FOX3 had stopped about a half mile from his cousin FOX2. FOX3 decided to keep his engine running as he had heard reports of UFOs causing car engines to cut out.
Figure 5 shows a simulated graphic of the scene. The UFO consisted of a high domed top outlined with small diffused white lights. There were two rows of large rectangular lights (windows?) across the middle. Then there were some long rectangular lights on the left and rights side of the UFO, stacked three high and orange in color. FOX3 could definitely see that lights were affixed to a large smooth object. (The actual distance between the two witnesses was measured to be 0.57 km (0.36 miles).
He was sitting there in the car watching this thing over his cousin perhaps about 4 to 5 lamppost heights above his cousin’s head, wondering what to do next. He suddenly decided to signal the UFO by flashing his headlights on and off. He got to the first "on" and suddenly thought, "what am I doing that for???" and stopped his attempt at communication immediately!
Then FOX3 recalled he had a disposable camera, somewhere in one of the bags piled up in the back seat. He jumped out of his vehicle and started frantically hucking bags out of the back seat as fast as he could. It took him an estimated 60 seconds but he finally found the right bag. He pulled the camera out. Suddenly, the UFO got really really bright, and instantly accelerated away to the southeast at a fantastic speed! "Damn!" he thought. The object appeared to leave a bright streak behind it that faded rapidly. The object appeared to perform a few zig-zags in the distance.
FOX3 made a note of the time and date, it was 8:30 pm December 11, 1996 immediatly after the UFO was gone. FOX3 also recalls a vehicle passing by southbound about 5 minutes after the UFO departed.
He looked at his cousin in the distance and the two started walking toward each other. When they got to within conversing distance they said, "Did you see something?", "Yeah", "Did you see something?", "Yeah", "Ok, let’s go". Each confirming to each other that neither was hallucinating. They walked back to their vehicles, got in and drove a short distance to the campground turnoff at Point D; there a lively discussion ensued. FOX3’s car kept on running through the entire incident.
During their lively discussion at the campground turn-off, FOX3 recalls witnesses FOX4 and FOX5 pulling up in their vehicle and asking if they had seen anything? He recalls FOX4 saying "We should travel in groups, I think it’s safer". FOX2 and FOX3 being in a state of shock continued their lively discussion "what the ‘heck’ was that thing?….". FOX4 and FOX5 departed.
After getting on their way, FOX3 recalls stopping in at Braeburn Lodge and talking with Steve Watson, the lodge owner about their UFO sighting.
The next day, FOX3 called the Air Traffic Control Tower at the Whitehorse Airport and asked if there was anything out over Fox Lake the night before. Their answer was that there wasn’t.
FOX3 also did an interview with CHON-FM radio the next day regarding the UFO sighting. The radio station played a small portion of FOX3’s interview.
On December 11, 1996, at 8:30 p.m....
This is a story about the one day that changed my whole sense of reality forever. Before, you start thinking I’m weird or crazy............just hear me out.
My daily routine started out pretty much normal until early that evening. Around 7:00 pm there was a knock at the door. 7:00 pm. Who can that be? I thought. It was FOX2! 7:20 pm. He is my first cousin who lives in Carmacks, Yukon with his family. FOX2 had stopped by while I was waiting for my girlfriend to come over and visit. She asked me to wait at my house until she arrived. 7:30 pm. FOX2 came in. I asked him what was going on. He said, "I need a driver for the night". "Do you want to drive my Camaro back to Carmacks for me, while I drive my truck?" I said OK, When do you want me to drive? FOX2 answered, "Right now! I’m ready, lets go." "I had to run around to pick up some stuff so by the time we got out of there, it was 7:30 pm.
We were on our way to Carmacks. We got to Lake Laberge about 7:50 pm and we pulled over to the side of the Highway to check out the Camaro to see if it was still OK. After we continued on our way down the highway. It was about 8:00 pm. We arrived at Fox Lake at 8:25 pm. In the next five minutes something made me sit up and think "What the hell is going on here?" I blinked my eyes and thought, "What on earth is that?" A group of bright lights were hovering over the highway far ahead of us. It’s a UFO!!!! I thought for sure I must be dreaming!!! I wasn’t dreaming. I was wide awake as FOX2 and I sped towards them in silence. The closer FOX2 and I came the more the object seemed to grow bigger and bigger. It was a huge ship with colored lights around its edges. As I saw FOX2 drive under the object, I was hanging out of my window gazing up at this vast bright circular object. Its bright colored lights lit up the tremendous land around us.
It was an astronomical silent presence passing slowly over us. I was hypnotized by the spectacular sight I had just witnessed. I thought to myself ‘come on! stop the car!' But of course my body wouldn’t do what my mind wanted it to do. So it was like I was frozen in time but time seemed to continue without me! I’m sure I wasn’t myself at that moment and still think so to this day! In fact I was quite beside myself with fear of this immense thing! The drive up till this point had been nothing short of dull and the incident happening to me had just awakened me right up out of my dull, sleepy drive. Having been expecting a long and boring drive I had not yet adjusted to the object above me! I guess I was a bit stunned at first, and if I was crazy enough I would have jumped out and shouted, "Hey abduct me! Abduct me!" But of course I stayed in the car and just imagined I had done that. To this day it has always bothered me that I hadn’t or couldn’t estimate it’s size but I could say that it was about as large as a football stadium. So it was pretty damn big! But because of all the excitement I just couldn’t think straight! The huge "ship" was near hover drifting at about a 10 miles an hour speed moving towards the east side of the Fox Lake! It was like the ship was looking for something and I wasn’t it! Strange I had this overpowering sense of loss......Like that was it???!! A close encounter but not like of the third kind. No missing time line, no beaming me up, no probing, no implants, no extraterrestrial abduction, no glimpse of other worlds or of the other side, other beings, no nothing but just clear silence. Just a memory. Like ships that pass in the night! As I continued to go on my way I was stunned into "Silence". We just got into our vehicles and drove towards Carmacks in tranquility.
But these Aliens (if they are just that)-must be much more technically advanced than us that’s for sure? So isn’t there enough in this world to worry about without little green men or grey men running around? OK so they are out there. What can I do about it? I guess that goes for many others too. I talked to various people over the next few days about our strange encounter, but simply got weird looks for my trouble and smart remarks like, "How many drinks did you have that night" And "Are you sure you weren’t dreaming or hallucinating?" And "Are you positive you never saw a satellite" Or "Oh please, you know I never touch that sort of stuff" And another irritating suggestion: "Well it was probably some new top secret military plane, probably the Stealth bomber".... I know how the Stealth bomber sounds and it is not silent! It can not hover either!! It maybe invisible to radar but it isn’t round. And then of course that most annoying remark of all: "Are you certain it wasn’t VENUS?" I know what Venus looks like and I know why it’s so bright. So since no one took my sighting very seriously, so I started to think to myself more.
So has this U.F.O sighting changed me in any way?......Of course. WHERE as before I wondered......now I know. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt using the human analogy: if it looks like a human and talks like a human and walks like a human then it probably is a human, I would say to you. If it looks like a spaceship and moves like a spaceship, THEN ITS PROBABLY IS A spaceship! Think about it!!
Seeing is believing. Its funny though to think that not many years ago just a few people believed in U.F.Os. Now it seems that only a few don’t! Any questions? Not that I have any ANSWERS!!....From someone you might know........See You!!
Testimony of UFO Witnesses FOX4 and FOX5
FOX4 and FOX5 were travelling together with their 2 year old son from Whitehorse to Pelly Crossing the night of the UFO sighting over Fox Lake, Carmacks, and Pelly Crossing. FOX4 was the driver and FOX5 was in the front passenger seat. They were interviewed separately.
Witness FOX4
The couple was travelling northbound on the Klondike Highway. There was a semi-trailer truck in front of them. When they were approaching the southern tip of Fox Lake (Point E, Figure 2) both FOX4 and FOX5 noticed a long arrangement of lights out over the lake to the northwest. FOX4 recalls two very long rows of rectangular lights in the distance (Figure 12). For a split second he thought it was a large truck on the highway (different from the one they were following). But that didn’t make sense since there was no road in that direction. His second thought was that it was a 747 Jumbo Jet coming down but that didn’t make sense either; it was moving way too slow for it to be an airplane. He was trying to decide whether to stop for a better look or continue on. Then the realization set in; the only thing left that this could possibly be was a UFO! Concern set in when he thought of their two-year-old son in the back seat and further thoughts of a possible encounter as depicted by the movie "Fire in the Sky". His wife was concerned as well, "Keep following that trailer, no, stop, no, turn around and go back!" she said. All this time he was slowing down, looking at the object, thinking what to do next, keeping an eye on the road; a somewhat tense situation.
Ultimately they decided to continue on with their journey. After all, by the time they made their decision, they were at Point F and could no longer see the UFO. They were at the base of a hill and into taller trees that obscured the view down the lake. FOX4 estimated that they observed the UFO for about one minute on this short stretch of the highway.
FOX4 surmised that the UFO was moving across the lake perpendicular to his view at about 10-20 miles/hr (16-32 km/h). It was moving from his left to his right or west to east. Thus it would be approaching the highway on the east side of the lake, which they were heading for. He was most amazed at its size and how slow it was moving. A drawing of the light configuration of the UFO by FOX4 is shown in Figure 10. The UFO consisted of two long rows of rectangular lights; several smaller lights that were barely visible in a dome pattern above the row lighting; some red or yellow lights at the front and back of the object (right and left) that may had been flashing or rotating. There also appeared to be a large beam of light shining down from the front (right) of the UFO. This beam was fairly bright and white in color. Although it was difficult for FOX4 to estimate, he figured the length of the object was 500 to 700 metres, the elevation was perhaps 300 metres above the lake and was perhaps 3 to 4 miles (5 to 7 km) away.
When they were passing by the campground turnoff, they noticed a couple of vehicles and two people standing around. They decided to pull over and talk to them. FOX4 identified the two individuals as FOX2 and FOX3. The first thing he said to them was "So, what are you guys looking at?" What he got back was a lively description of an encounter with a very, very large UFO, "what the ‘heck’ was that?", "They were talking fast, voices elevated and often both at the same time". FOX4 had trouble getting a word in edge wise. It was obvious to him that the close encounter with the UFO had a profound effect on FOX2 and FOX3. Underneath all that exuberance there may have been a state of shock.
FOX4 still had on his mind the semi-trailer that was ahead of him who must have seen something as well. Since it didn’t look like FOX2 and FOX3 were in a hurry to go anywhere, he decided to resume his travel and try to catch up to the truck driver. FOX4 estimated that they spent about 3 to 5 minutes with FOX2 and FOX3.
When they got to a pullout often referred to as 50-Mile Hill, about 25 km ( 16 miles) they saw a tow truck pulled over. They wondered; had he seen it too? (Point H, Figure 13)
They continued on and were approaching Braeburn lodge about 34 km (21 miles) up the highway from the campground turnoff at Fox Lake. They still had not caught up to the truck driver. They decided to pull into Braeburn Lodge anyway. When they got there they saw FOX1 gassing up his vehicle. FOX4 went into the lodge and FOX1 left for the highway. The two didn’t speak to each other.
When inside, FOX4 said to Steve Watson, the owner of the lodge, "Steve, I really need a coffee!" Steve replied, "Oh, you must have seen the same thing as what FOX1 saw." FOX4 got his coffee to go, chatted with Steve for a bit, and continued up the road with FOX5 and their child. He figures that they must have been at Braeburn for about 10 minutes at most and doesn’t recall anybody else showing up within that time.
As they continued up the highway FOX4 and FOX5 noticed a glow just over the eastern horizon. At first they thought that the UFO was coming back! However, they surmised that it must have been the moon rising. (In actuality, the moon was new and had just set in the west).
When FOX4 and FOX5 were passing through Carmacks, they finally caught up to the truck driver that was ahead of them. FOX4 confronted him and asked if he saw anything at Fox Lake? He replied that he did not.
FOX4 and FOX5 got back on the road, arrived at their destination and home in Pelly Crossing without further incident.
The next day FOX4 heard through others that people right in the Village of Pelly Crossing had some pretty spectacular sightings themselves. It became the talk of the town for two days! UFO accounts, old and new were being discussed freely and openly. He met with PEL1 that day. PEL1 described his UFO encounter to him that also occurred the previous evening. PEL1 related his UFO sighting to FOX4 and the two came to the conclusion that the sighting in Pelly occurred maybe 25 minutes after the Fox Lake sighting. FOX4 recalls that both sightings in Pelly and over Fox Lake occurred the evening of December 11, 1996.
Witness FOX5
As they came around the bend at the southern end of Fox Lake, FOX5 along with FOX4 noticed lights out over the lake. It was a huge row of rectangular lights. She first thought that it was a long truck on a road in the distance but then she realized, "That’s the middle of the lake, there is no road up there!" The lights were slowly floating across the lake, left to right. There appeared to be a row of rectangular lights about the color of an incandescent light bulb (yellowish). There also appeared to be a multiple arrangement of flashing lights both at the back and front (left and right) of the UFO (see drawing by FOX5, Figure 11 and her estimated size of UFO with reference to known landmarks, Figure12). Of particular notice to her was the large white beam pointing down from the front (right) of the craft. It was scanning the ground! As it would scan to one side, the beam would disappear; as it scanned back towards their direction it would come into view again; very eerie! FOX5 made a mental note of the time; she looked at the car clock; it was 8:23 pm.
FOX5 also recalled that they pulled over at the Fox Lake campground turn-off and spoke with FOX2 and FOX3 and that they too had seen the UFO. Before pulling over however, she remembers passing them and then doing a U-turn further up the road and driving back to their position. During the U-turn, she recalls seeing some additional set of tail lights travelling northbound away from them. She also recalls the tow truck parked at the top of 50-Mile Hill and seeing FOX1 at Braeburn Lodge. She estimates that their stop at Braeburn Lodge was about 5 minutes.
Once they got on the road again, she also recalls the glow over the eastern horizon.
The next day, she recalls hearing on CBC radio about other UFO sightings in communities around the Yukon. The radio station had a scientist come on and say that it was a meteor shower. This statement made no sense to her, "That was no meteor shower that I saw last night" she thought.
Testimony of UFO Witness FOX6
There was a sixth witness to the Fox Lake UFO sighting who was not able to be interviewed directly, however her sighting description was related second hand by another witness and confirmed that it occurred the same night near Fox Lake by yet another individual.
FOX6 was driving north on the Klondike Highway from Whitehorse to Carmacks near Fox Lake when she noticed a strange red glow illuminating the top of her dashboard. She looked at it, and looked at it, wondering what could be causing it? Where could this light be possibly coming from she wondered? Finally she decided to look straight up through her windshield and to her amazement she saw a large arrangement of multicolored lights over her vehicle. There were all kinds of colors. Her interior vehicle lights started to go dim; the music she was playing on the tape deck started to go funny. She kept observing the lights and they started to go out one by one, until eventually they were all gone.
Testimony of UFO Witness PEL1
PEL1 is the only witness who is willing to have his identity disclosed. We commend him for his courage to do so. His name is Don Trudeau. PEL1 was tending his trapline about 9 km (6 miles) northeast of the Village of Pelly Crossing when he sighted the UFO.
PEL1’s trapline runs east of the Klondike Highway in a large loop as shown in Figure 22. It was somewhere between 8:00 and 9:00 pm when he was at Point A. He was travelling on foot and recalls it being a very dark moonless night, clear sky, the stars were out, it was fairly cold and there were ice crystals in the air.
He was looking out over the hills to the west when he spotted a huge row of lights moving in the distance. PEL1 estimates that the object was travelling along trajectory 1-2 (from his left to his right). At first he thought it was a large airplane that was going to crash. But then he realized that it was moving way too slow to be an airplane and that there was no noise coming from that direction. He could only conclude one thing "It’s a UFO!" The flashlight that he was carrying happened to point towards the UFO. As if the UFO was reacting to his light source, it started to move rapidly towards him from across the valley along trajectory 2-3. As a result, he had an instinctive reaction to cup the end of his large flashlight with his hand, thinking that whatever that thing was, would see him. Well, the split second he completed that gesture, the huge UFO stopped instantly and was hovering an estimated 300 yards (274 metres) in front of him! "I had to turn my head from one side to the other to view the whole thing!" the man said. "It must have been about ¾ of a mile long!" "For some reason I wasn’t frightened; I just stood there and watched it." The man estimates that the bottom of the craft was about 250 to 300 yards (229 to 274 metres) off the ground.
The object is depicted in Figure 18 and consisted of a long row of about 100 or more rectangular lights, each an estimated 7 by 20 feet (2 by 6 metres) in size. Centered over these lights and about 100 to 150 feet (30 to 45 metres) above them were approximately 7 larger rectangular lights an estimated 20 by 30 feet (6 by 9 metres) in size each. All the rectangular lights were white or slightly yellowish in color like that of light bulb. He could not make out an overall shape of the object but the stars were blacked out in a large and roughly oval area around the arrangement of lights. Figure 19 shows the authors rendition of the UFO based on drawings by PEL1 (Figures 20 and 21).
Shortly after the UFO arrived in front of him, a beam of white light suddenly emanated out of the bottom of the craft and swooped the ground once, from right to left. Was it a search beam? Searching for him? Not a sound was emanating from the craft, even at this close distance. "How does it stay there!" he thought; "no noise, no humming, nothing". He kept his flashlight covered or turned off as the object proceeded to slowly move to his right (trajectory 3-4, Figure 22) at an estimated "5-10 miles per hour, if that slow!" There was also a large "luminescent green" beam shining out horizontally out of the front (right side) of the UFO as well as two large parallel beams of light coming down at an 45 degree angle at the back or left side of the craft. The latter rotated slowly up to a horizontal position as the UFO moved slowly to his right. The ice crystals in the air made all these beams clearly visible.
The UFO was drifting behind some trees to his right so he turned away from it and decided to dash across a small clearing in the woods in order to get a better view. It only took him about 4 or 5 steps to get to the other side where he turned back around to look at the object. "It was gone!" He had watched the UFO for an estimated 4 minutes.
He returned home to his family and announced "Guess what I saw!?" The sighting was strange enough but coincidentally his family was watching the movie "Independence Day". The man’s children got so scared and as a result they wouldn’t go out of the house for the next 4 or 5 nights. "I always hesitate to tell this part of the story because it sounds too Hollywood, but that is exactly what happened"
PEL1 went to work the next day. "I never got one lick of work done that day" he said "I must have told my story twenty different times". He recalls speaking with FOX4 who had his own UFO account from Fox Lake also the previous night.
PEL2 and PEL3 were travelling in the same vehicle northbound on the Klondike Highway and about 6 km (4 miles) south of the Village of Pelly Crossing when they too observed the UFO. The witnesses were interviewed separately.
Witness PEL2
PEL2 and PEL3 were just entering the Pelly River Valley (Point B, Figure 22) which gave them a good view of the northern sky. At that point PEL2 noticed what looked like a "whole big cluster of stars moving!" PEL2 turned to her brother (PEL3) who was driving; "we couldn’t say anything to each other, we were so shocked!" Looking back at the UFO, PEL2 could clearly see the constellation of the Big Dipper above the moving lights. The object was huge. "I remember comparing it to the length of the Big Dipper which was right above it at one point. It was the same length as the Big Dipper!" The lights were moving from left to right or west to east. PEL2 estimates that the object was above the hills on the north side of the valley and on trajectory 5-6 (Figure 22). The arrangement of lights consisted of a long row of about 4 large white lights. Then there was a grid pattern of smaller lights on the right side of the UFO, which were blue and green in color. (See drawing by PEL2, Figure 23)
They continued to drive on as they watched the object continue to drift to the east. When they approached a gravel pit just 2 km south of the Village (Point C), various sections of lights on the UFO began turning off in rapid succession, "blink, blink, blink, blink", it was as if somebody was turning off switches. With the last section of lights turned off, the object was no longer visible. PEL2 estimated 3 to 4 minutes had elapsed from the time they first sighted the object.
PEL2 then arrived at home in the Village of Pelly Crossing. PEL2’s husband arrived home from work at about 9:10 pm and recalls his wife being home thereby indicating that the sighting occurred sometime before 9:00 pm.
Witness PEL3
PEL3 along with his sister PEL2 left Whitehorse around 6:00 pm and therefore PEL3 reasons that it must have been close to 9:00 pm when they were arriving in the Village of Pelly Crossing. When they started heading into the Pelly River Valley (Point B, Figure 22), they noticed a huge row of lights over the hill to the north. PEL3 estimates it was about 0.5 km (0.3 miles) long, "bigger than any plane, anyway!" "I knew it was a UFO for sure!" They first observed it near the first gravel pit as you start coming into the valley. "We had time to stop the car, get out, and observe it" They stopped near the second gravel pit (Point C, Figure 22) and observed the UFO for an estimated 30 seconds. It was slowly moving to the east and consisted of a row of lights, mostly white, with some blue and some red. There was a scattered group of lights at the front end (right) of the UFO and another group of lights near the back (left) of the UFO (see drawing by PEL3, Figure 24). "There was no noise".
As they were observing it drift over the hill to the north, "some lights started to go out before the others", then the whole thing just faded.
PEL3 recalls hearing that others in the communities of Dawson and Mayo saw the UFO the same night as well. Dawson is about 200 km (124 miles) to the northwest and Mayo is about 95 km (59 miles) to the north-northeast of Pelly Crossing.