On the night of October 4, 1967, shortly after 11:00 PM, a UFO some 60 feet in diameter was seen to hover over the water near the tiny fishing village of Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia. The Shag Harbour UFO, which displayed four bright lights that flashed in sequence, tilted to a 45-degree angle and descended rapidly towards the water’s surface. Upon impact, there was a bright flash and an explosive roar. Concerned witnesses began calling the nearby Barrington Passage RCMP detachment. None of those witnesses mentioned anything about a UFO. Most believed that a large aircraft had ditched into the harbour and that there might be survivors.
Eventually, three RCMP officers arrived at the shore near the impact site. Corporal V. Werbicki and Constable Ron O’Brien, dispatched from the Barrington Passage Detachment, were approaching from east of the site. Constable Ron Pond, who was on highway patrol on Highway #3, was heading towards Shag Harbour from a position west of the impact site, and his position allowed him to view the UFO while it was still in flight. The unusual lighting configuration and flight characteristics tipped Cst. Pond off to the unusual nature of the object long before he heard from Cpl. Werbicki, who received his information through the initial complaints to the detachment.
When all three officers met at the impact site they found that the UFO was still floating on the water about a half-mile from shore. It was glowing a pale yellow and was leaving a trail of dense yellow foam as it drifted in the ebb tide. Neither the Rescue Co-ordination Center in Halifax nor the nearby NORAD radar facility at Baccaro, Nova Scotia, had any knowledge of missing aircraft, either civilian or military. Cst. Pond reported that the object had “changed” during its descent to the water’s surface, i.e., it changed shape, and that it appeared to be “no known object.” Later, other local witnesses described much the same details as those of Cst. Pond. Also, a coast guard lifeboat from nearby Clark’s Harbour and several local fishing boats were summoned to investigate, but the UFO had submerged before they reached the site. The sulfurous-smelling yellow foam continued to well to the surface from the point where the UFO went down, and a 120 by 300 foot slick developed. Search efforts continued until 3:00 AM and then resumed at first light the next day. Everybody involved was convinced that “something” — that is, something real and unidentified — had gone into the water.
The next morning a preliminary report was sent to Canadian Forces Headquarters in Ottawa. After communicating with NORAD, Maritime Command was asked to conduct an underwater search ASAP for the object responsible for the concern in Shag Harbor. Seven navy divers from the HMCS Granby searched throughout the daylight hours until sundown of 08 October 1967. On Monday, 09 October 1967, Maritime Command canceled the search effort claiming “nil results.” Outside of the local area, media attention quickly faded.
The Shag Harbour UFO crash/retrieval became Case #34 in the infamous Condon Committee Report which would serve as Project Blue Book’s swan song. The case was brought to Dr. Condon’s limited attention by the late Jim Lorenzen of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO). Dr. Levine, the investigator assigned to the case, allocated the grand total of two long distance phone calls to this investigation. One call was to the Watch Officer at Maritime Command and the other was to an RCMP spokesperson. Dr. Levine was assured that there was nothing to the case and that further investigation was futile. Thus, interest in the Shag Harbour case withered away… until 1993.
Many people would be skeptical if something happened like this today. Although people of all ages have knowledge of what a UFO may look like, most would think they were crazy for believing they saw one. If a person reported a UFO sighting to the police today, a police officer may brush off the issue before sending out a search crew.