The Shag Harbour Incident

Canada’s best-known UFO case—an object that crashed into the ocean, leaving foam and oil but no wreckage.

The Sighting

On the night of October 4, 1967:

• Multiple residents saw strange orange lights
• The lights appeared to descend toward the water
• A whistling sound was heard
• Then a bright flash
• An object struck the water of Shag Harbour

The Witnesses

The event was seen by:

• Laurie Wickens and four friends (first to report)
• Several other groups of residents
• RCMP officers who arrived on scene
• Fishermen in boats nearby
• At least 30 witnesses total

The Object

Witnesses described:

• Four orange lights in a row
• Approximately 60 feet across
• Descended at a 45-degree angle
• Hit the water about half a mile offshore
• Left a yellowish foam on the surface
• A strange, thick residue

The Response

RCMP

• Officers arrived within minutes
• They saw the lights in the water
• A foaming, bubbling slick on the surface
• They assumed an aircraft had crashed
• Called the Rescue Coordination Centre

Search and Rescue

• Coast Guard vessels deployed
• Canadian Navy divers searched
• HMCS Granby searched underwater
• Multiple vessels combed the area
• No wreckage was found
• No aircraft were missing

The Foam

• Yellow, bubbling residue on the water
• Approximately 80 feet of foam
• Not consistent with any known substance
• It dissipated within hours

Official Response

Department of National Defence

• Filed a report classifying it as a UFO
• “UFO Report” is the official document title
• No conventional explanation was found
• Case remains “unsolved”

The Silence

• After initial investigation, silence
• Military took over from RCMP
• All further information classified
• Witnesses were not re-interviewed

Alleged Second Location

Researchers later uncovered rumors:

• The object may have moved underwater
• Traveled along the ocean floor
• Stopped at a second location
• Another craft may have joined it
• Submarines monitored the objects
• After several days, both departed

These claims remain unverified.

The Legacy

The Shag Harbour Incident:

• Is Canada’s only UFO case with official government documentation
• Remains officially unexplained
• The town embraces its UFO history
• Annual UFO festival held
• 2019 commemorative stamp issued

The Questions

• What was the object?
• Where did the foam come from?
• Why was no wreckage found?
• What did the military discover?
• Why the continued secrecy?

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Something crashed into Shag Harbour that night. The government confirmed it. Divers found nothing. The case has never been solved.