"On a summer evening early in the '60s I heard the news that the Soviet
sputnik might be seen in orbit crossing our hemisphere. So I walked my
Scotty dog, Cam, over to a field, where horses and colts were grazing,
which he and I often visited."
"As I stood there I saw a bright
dot of light just over Little Saanich Mountain by the astrophysical
observatory. I thought, here comes sputnik. I expected to see a flash like
a meteorite cross the mountain, but to my amazement it came slowly and
grew larger and larger."
Telling us of her experience was
Miss M. I. Footner of Victoria, sister-in-law of our artist, Lesley
Footner, who sketched the scene as shown opposite [above]. She continued:
"I did not take my eyes off it
and began to think it might be the reflection of an airplane. Suddenly it
was above me and became stationary - all silver shining in the late sun
with a number of twinkling lights along the side."
"I thought again, is this a
wingless plane, or dirigible? But there were no gondolas and not a sound.
I expected it to continue on to the southwest but suddenly it veered at
right angle and swiftly disappeared over the trees towards Finlayson Arm
(Pat Bay is at entrance, see map) and the Sooke mountains."
"As I walked home I wondered if
anyone else had seen this strange object, though I realized many people
were probably indoors at this time. I had felt no fear at all. I had
looked carefully at the bright shining lights like windows along the sides
but could see no faces or forms of any kind. The object had a soft glow
about it, not like the metal appearance of our airplanes. Neither the
horses nor my Scotty showed any fear, and no neighborhood dogs barked."
Miss Footner guessed the
cigar-shaped object, hovering just above the tallest trees, was about 100
feet in length and 25-30 feet in circumference. Later she learned that a
friend who lived nearby, Miss Audrey Winderburn, had seen a craft of
similar appearance while outside attending to her horse.
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