Sir:

If I may, I would like to report a sighting in this area, about 80 miles west of Jasper, Alta.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 12 last year, I was walking to see a neighbor when this amber-orange star appeared near the horizon to the southwest. I was taken aback because I could not recall ever seeing the planet Mars in that location.

Then it grew larger and, as soon as I gathered my senses, I obtained a couple of very reliable witnesses ... and there were others. The object obtained a size of about one-third of the size of the moon and appeared to be travelling in a huge arc from the south-west to the northwest on a horizontal plane.

There was no noise and the speed was about three times that of a small jet plane or other aircraft.

I do not recall ever seeing a conventional aircraft in this area in the winter. We see satellites continually but not skimming over the mountain-tops. This also applies to meteors.

David E. Taylor,

Valemont, B.C.