This article was published in the daily newspaper The Winnipeg Sun, Canada, on August 7, 2004.
UFO sightings soar over last 48 hours
By NATALIE PONA, STAFF REPORTER
Little green men have taken an unusual interest in Winnipeg this week. The city was already on track to register a record-breaking year for UFO sighting when five more were reported in the last two days, said Winnipegger Chris Rutkowski, co-ordinator of Ufology Research of Manitoba.
Wayne Robillard, 20, was one of the five people who reported seeing a UFO.
He said he was swimming in his mom's pool in Crestview on Thursday night when he saw a light in the sky.
"It just shakes me up to believe that there is something curious about us ... it probably has the innocence of a four-year-old but gets a little too close then takes off," said Robillard.
At first, he thought it was a shooting star.
"It was a bright light, then it stopped. It was a bright light again, then it just dropped," Robillard said.
He dug out his old binoculars and tracked the object in the dark sky. The light darted through the air. It was bright white with a red light rotating around the centre orbit, Robillard said.
Robillard was the second UFO-spotter to call The Sun yesterday.
Alfredo Perez was leaving home for work about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when he saw a bright light in the northeastern sky.
"It was like a helicopter light. It lasted about five seconds bright and then it just took off," he said. "I tried to follow it with my eyes. It went so fast and so high that it just blended with the stars."
Like Robillard, Perez said he believes in life on other planets. That light was probably an alien craft, he said.
"There's got to be something else out there," said Perez.
Some of the spotters may have actually seen an advertising promotion for some local bars, Rutkowski said. Organizers shine a beam of light into the sky.
But many callers reported seeing more than one light, Rutkowski said. That would rule out the promotion.
