This article was published in the daily newspaper The Halifax Herald, on Monday, October 13, 2003.
There's 'no dispute' about Shag Harbour documentation, says Antonio Huneeus, a Chilean-born journalist.
UFO buffs gather at spot where strange craft allegedly sighted in 1967
By Brian Medel / Yarmouth Bureau
Shag Harbour - A busload of UFO zealots landed in Shag Harbour on Sunday afternoon to see for themselves the spot of ocean where some think a UFO crashed 36 years ago.
Sunday's excursion was a field trip for nearly 40 UFO researchers and true believers attending a Dartmouth symposium dedicated to airborne unidentified objects.
The Halifax International UFO Symposium was held at Alderney Landing. Local filmmaker and UFO buff Michael MacDonald made a previous documentary on the world-famous Shag Harbour UFO mystery of Oct. 4, 1967, and filmed the weekend symposium, including the field trip, for a two-hour TV documentary he's making for the Space Channel.
Antonio Huneeus, a Chilean-born journalist who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., was on the bus Sunday.
The science writer, considered one of the world's top UFO experts, referred to the incident of June 14, 1947, in which a UFO is said to have crashed 120 kilometres north of Roswell, N.M., leaving behind unusual debris found by rancher Mac Brazel.
"Most people are familiar with the Roswell case and there have been another few so-called UFO crash cases," Mr. Huneeus said.
"But what's missing in all these other cases is no official paper trail.
"Shag Harbour is unique in the world. It is the only case of a UFO accident where... we have an official paper trail. And there's no dispute about the authenticity of those documents," he said.
The Shag Harbour incident was at first believed to have been an airplane crash. A bright light was seen crashing into the sea, near the southwestern tip of Shelburne County, by several residents and a couple of Mounties driving in their cruiser.
Fishermen later found a thick scum on the water and detected a strange sulphur-like odour.
"The documents, they basically are police records and coast guard records," Mr. Huneeus said.
"But they never debunked it. They didn't try to say it was a meteorite or something else. It remains unknown to this day."
The columnist for Fate magazine, a popular journal of the paranormal, is convinced the Shag Harbour incident really happened.
"Based on all the evidence... it seems to be a UFO. You must be somewhat skeptical because many reports of sightings are nonsense.
"But not this case. This case is very solid."
Art McLaughlin, a mechanical engineer from Halifax, has been to Shag Harbour three times and is also convinced the sighting in 1967 was that of a UFO.
"I believe it's not of our world. It seems as though the powers that be or the government seems not to want to release certain things, so that's the intriguing part of it," he said.
"Once (Shag Harbour) gets the publicity... that Roswell gets, I think it will be quickly recognized that this is a much more solid case," said Mr. McLaughlin. "Not to put down Roswell... I think it really happened."
