On the subject of UFO’s– Linda Knight Seccaspina

A few years ago I wrote a historical story about an incident that took place in 1915. It was a tale of shenanigans by a group of kids that led the citizens of the Ottawa Valley to believe the Germans had landed via UFO’s. Years later paranormal studies attempted to debunk history and insist it wasn’t kids wreaking mayhem, but was indeed a cluster of UFO’s.

As a fan of the X-Files I really believe that there is someone else out there. However, I have always thought my late father was dubious when he insisted I join him in a spaceship watch. In the late 60’s he claimed to have seen something up in those starry skies hovering over the Brome Pond/Lac Bromont area– which I jokingly blamed it on too much exhaust coming out of his Ford Pinto.

In 1974 it happened again and this time he made me sit for what seemed like hours to see what he claimed was another UFO. Of course I never saw anything unusual and handed him a glass of wine and suggested he go watch The Rockford Files.

Today, going through the news archives I found out that there were indeed many UFO sightings in the Eastern Townships and Arthur Knight might not have been so crazy after all. In the late 60’s many sightings in the Sherbrooke area have been documented and Michael Phelps sent a letter to the Sudbury Star in 1990 in response to a request by the newspaper for personal encounters.

The letter discussed a 1968 incident at an Ayer’s Cliff cottage on the shores of Lake Massawippi that his family was renting. He spoke of walking home one evening when the whole sky lit up like giant spotlights being turned on. He looked across the lake and saw 3 or 4 balls descend, and after a few seconds they were gone. His sister had seen the same thing, but later they found out that it had not been a visit from beyond, rather it had been nothing but earthquake lights.

In the summer of 1909 a similar aerial display was seen in that part of the heavens which looked down upon the Eastern Townships. At night it was seen by many, but two fishermen claimed that they had a view of it by daylight, although it must be admitted that the description given by the latter was not quite so circumstantial and satisfactory.

The people of the Townships justly celebrated for solving mysteries were this time completely baffled. There were explanations, but no two people agreed on one story. Some in Magog thought it might be a new contraption for facilitating smuggling, others guessed it might be improved rural mail delivery. Some thought it could have been done for election purposes, but there just wasn’t one pending.

As the autumn nights grew dark, and chilly the mysterious flying machine like the birds went its way and was seen no more. Until a few weeks later in October it was seen hovering above the city of Worcester, Mass. exciting the people considerably and causing no end of conversation.

Now it was discussed whether the flying object could be a thing of supernatural existence. It was nothing in the nature of a witch or anything of that sort. The fact that it appeared at Worcester and not at Salem, of uncanny fame, stopped the witch’s conversation immediately. They said the thing “bore a ‘searchlight”, and there is nothing on record to show that a witch ever carried anything on her journeys except a broom.

Again, it became the talk of the Townships, and some thought it should now be considered serious and be attended to. One thing was for sure– that the people of New England would not be satisfied with any of the Township’s theories based on such common subjects as spying or smuggling.

The Montreal Star’s explanation was that any answer that did not provide for something like a visit from the Martians would not be satisfactory. In the meantime they suggested that everyone should look into hiring one of their famous air navigators and put them on the trail of the mystery, and just fly It down.

Did anyone ever take up The Montreal Star’s suggestion? Not in any archives I was digging into, but as they say: “The truth is still out there!”

UFO Sightings in Lanark County 1982 — Lanark Village

Was it the Germans Or UFO’s that Invaded the Ottawa Valley in 1915?

Saturated with UFO activity Lee Cole 1994

Unsolved Mysteries — The Almonte Woman Abducted by a UFO (Part 2)

More UFO Sightings in Carleton Place!

Was it a UFO? A Meteorite or a Fuse Box? A Carleton Place Legend

Memories of UFO’s Earthquake Lights and Gale Pond

Did the Germans Start the Fire at the Portland School in 1915?

200 Monsters Swimming in the Lake Linda Knight Seccaspina

One night in 1972 I was staying at the motel that faces Lake Memphremagog near Magog, Quebec as I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the sea serpent that lives in that lake.The lake is like no other, and a rumoured 30-foot- long monster called Gog, Manaloo, Memphre, the Anaconda, or the Lake Monster of Lake Memphremagog is said to swim the cold waters. As they say you can’t cross the sea by merely standing and staring at the waters. It was early in the morning and visibility was low–and not one lake dwelling sea creature was seen.

I personally have heard many a story from my mother’s side of some snake-like creature once seen with his head a foot or so out of the water bobbing slightly up and down. The story was nothing to scoff at they said and it had a scream that rocked the mountains all the way to Owl’s Head and then on to Jay Peak.

A report in Quebec’s weekly Stanstead Journal in late January, 1847, put it this way:

“I am not aware whether it is generally known that a strange something of a sea serpent exists in Lake Memphremagog”.

The part of the animal which my cousins actually saw measured about fifteen feet in length, so they said. Folks for years have blamed it on the state of Vermont which is supposedly full of leaky nuclear plants which can create horrible mutation things. One of the best descriptions of the creature was produced by Norman Bingham in his novel, The Sea Serpent Legend, in 1926.

Did you know scientists once met in Shelburne, Vermont to study the photographs, sonar readings and 144 sightings from over 400 years? Dr. George Zug chairman of the Smithsonian Institute’s Department of Vertebrate Zoology summed up the panel’s findings by saying:

“There is a population of large animals of some kind in that water!”

Serious scientists assume there are at least 200 of them, but there is no telling really how many species we have as lines have never reached the murky bottom of some parts of the lake.

In June of 1868 a report from the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania said that the sea serpent had once again turned up in Lake Memphremagog. They feared it was a repetition of the Nahant hoax. An animal of similar appearance had been seen in August, 1819, off Nahant, Boston, and remained in the neighbourhood waters for some weeks. Two hundred persons witnessed it, and the serpent-shaped head was elevated two feet above the surface. Its sole eye was remarkably brilliant and glistening. One often has to wonder if these were remarks were made sober.

The aquatic reptile in Lake Memphremagog is always seen coming from the American border. As it edges its way through the water they explained that natural waterways like Lake Memphremagog are gateways to the parallel world where monsters like the sea serpent came from, with the intention of recruiting others of course.

Some say the stories began to attract tourism to the town, but really monster gawkers aren’t the spending type and you can’t even sell Tshirts for one of of the names lest you get sued. Monsters that are not seen every day still seem to have copyright laws like the Pixar Monsters. Go figure.

The best year of a good monster-sighting season on Lake Memphremagog was in 1996. At least 27 boaters and cottagers — in nine separate reported visions — claim to have seen the lake dwelling creature once the ice came out in the Spring. The last sighting occurred on June 4, 2000 when 2 people observed a strange creature of a greyish colour resembling a multiple humped whale. They observed this phenomenon from the wharf of Knowlton’s Landing.

The natives believed that the serpent had found its way to the lake through a subterranean channel entering Lake Memphremagog at Owl’s Head, the deepest portion of the lake. It seems some also think that it had become trapped in the lake because it was far too stupid to find its way out. Heck, this creature might even be an American, but there has been no word if he is a Republican or Democrat.

Maybe this is one reason I don’t hang my feet off the edge of the bed at night because I don’t want the monster under the bed to grab them. I’ve always been curious about the creatures that live under there or those in our closets.

But, what happens if you stop believing in these tales about sea monsters and other things that go bump in the night?

What if someday you drop a piece of bread on the floor and kick it under something or throw it into Lake Memphremagog and walk away?

What happens if someone under that bed or in that lake whispers thank you in return for that piece of bread?

Words to ponder my friends, or have you just crossed over into . . . the Twilight Zone? It makes perfect sense, because if you are going to tell a story, tell a big one, or nothing at all.