The small town of Mission lies
approximately twenty miles east of Vancouver, BC and can best be described as an average,
semi-rural, community. In August of this year UFO*BC was made aware of some activity that
was anything but average. The first call came through to our hotline from the Millie
McConnell (see Jeff Rense interview) who sounded very
excited by what her brother was witnessing in the skies. A group of us made our way out to
John's trailer that was nestled amongst others in a trailer park on Wilson Road near
Rolley Lake. On first meeting with John he appeared very tired, by his own admission he
had been without sleep for four nights. Chain smoking and pacing, he was somewhat
belligerent and curt with his answers, again most understandable to my colleagues and
myself. This is common in people who have undergone a traumatic experience. However, in
general, John was most forthcoming in relaying his story, along with sister Millie, who
has also been witness to the activity in the area. As previously mentioned, I will not
attempt to rehash their story but allow the reader to enjoy Jeff's interview with John and
Millie.
What I will go into however is an equally gripping report that came our way a short time
later from a gentleman, his daughter and his mother who are also residents of the same
trailer park. Ray was outside hoping to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower, a spectacular
display we look forward to every August, but was initially alerted to two bright lights in
the eastern sky a short distance from where he stood. Ray's view was semi-obscured by the
lights in the trailer park so he went onto his neighbour's porch where he could get a
better look.
The two lights, one on either side of a group of trees, then became part of a larger flash
of light which Ray said illuminated a large saucer a brilliant white for a brief second or
two. On either side of the saucer a group of coloured lights, red, blue, green and white
were going off and on in sequence. Ray estimated the UFO to be about three hundred yards
away and figured the tree grove to be about fifty feet in width. With Ray approximately
four or five hundred yards away, he estimated the craft to be three hundred feet in
diameter! The object was silent at all times and, as is so commonly reported, a total
shutdown of animal, bird, and insect sounds was evident in the immediate area, a
phenomenon known as the "Oz Factor". Perhaps the most visual effect from the
craft is how Ray described the nearby Ruskin Dam power house "lighting up like a
skyscraper" with all windows illuminated. This especially excited Ray as he said
normally only a few lights were visible at most times from the service building.
It was now decided this was worthy of a call to the RCMP and asked his daughter Raylene to
get the telephone. He called 911 and told the operator that "you will probably think
I am nuts or that I have been drinking or on drugs". Ray described what he was seeing
to the operator who reassured him by saying that they had received several calls already
regarding the sighting. Within thirty minutes two patrol cars arrived at Ray's trailer
home and four police officers disembarked. One officer accompanied Ray further up the hill
to view the object. This was now joined by a second illuminated craft hovering further
above the hills, five or ten miles away. The police officer told Ray "I can't believe
this!" and was at loss as to how he would write up the police report. He then ran
back to his car for his binoculars for further viewing and asked the female RCMP officer
what she thought was happening. The woman was so taken by what she was witnessing that she
did not even respond to the question and continued staring straight ahead. It was over the
next period that the object illuminated itself another six or seven times to the amazement
of all. One RCMP officer said, "I don't know what I am going to do, I have to report
this to higher authorities". Ray asked him if he thought it was a UFO and the officer
told him it was certainly an "unidentified flying object". Ray then told him he
had to go to bed and that he had seen enough and had to get up early as by now they had
been viewing the mysterious objects for almost two hours. By the time Ray had washed up
and was ready for bed he heard the police drive off. A few nights later Ray and his wife
observed the strange lights again, this time viewing from the Ruskin Dam, for about 90
minutes before returning home.
Keeping it within the family, Ray's daughter who, along with her friend, had remarkable
stories to tell as well. Although a witness to her father's major sighting she told of two
equally compelling experiences, one being a sighting of a glowing red u-shaped object just
a few feet above the Stave River that she viewed with her cousin Amy. Her closest
encounter however was witnessed while talking on the portable telephone just outside the
trailer when she was alerted to a brilliant shaft of blue light approximately two or three
feet in diameter and only inches from her. The light appeared, in her own words, "to
be scanning me". She went inside at this time and lay down on her bed and told her
friend she wasn't too keen on going outside again, as she was too scared. After talking to
her friend who convinced her she was safe the two girls continued to scan the skies for
UFOs for a while longer before going to bed.
Ray's mother, Vina, has had several sightings as well and at one time viewed a craft the
size of "a large jet" fly by low, and very near, the trailer park. Never a
believer before, her views changed quickly after the activity so close to home. Vina told
of awaking early one morning about three o'clock to see her entire living room bathed in
bright orange light. Her initial thought was that the trailer was on fire however by the
time she walked down the hall the light had disappeared. A daylight sighting of a strange
craft capped her experiences when she described what she thought to be a "big white
boat" in the Stave River. She estimated the craft to be about 60 ft in diameter,
oval-shaped, and viewed it about thirty minutes. As the water was only three or four feet
in depth it is unlikely such a large boat would be in the shallows. A mystery indeed!
After speaking with the witness's we at UFO*BC agreed that the group was most sincere in
their story and remain consistent in their description during follow-up interviews.
This area of the lower mainland near Vancouver has had a long history of UFO sightings
going as far back as 1947 when a 300-foot "flying saucer" was spotted in nearby
Maillardville. Other reports mentioned anomalous lights over Dewdney Mt in the early 1980s
and a dramatic sighting of triangular craft in 1995.
We will keep an eye and an ear to the Mission area and keep our readers appraised of
anything we shall think worthy of a report.
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