Ufology Research

Shag Harbour UFO Crash

Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia

In October 1967, many witnesses, including RCMP, saw a bright object fall into the ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia. The case, often called “Canada’s Roswell,” is supported by actual government and military documents from the National Archives that detail the official investigation and efforts to recover whatever it might have been. Local residents even commemorate the incident with an annual UFO Festival, and there’s a sign at a park along the highway near where it happened.

https://www.novascotia.com/see-do/attractions/shag-harbour-ufo-centre/1640

Haunted Gibraltar Point Lighthouse

Toronto Islands, Ontario

During the War of 1812, lighthouse keeper John Paul Radelmuller was murdered by soldiers from nearby Fort York and his body dismembered, the parts buried around the lighthouse. His ghost is said to haunt the area. A coffin was found in 1893, with only a jawbone inside it.

Ogopogo

Kelowna, BC

Lake Okanagan in the BC Interior is said to be home to Ogopogo, Canada’s version of the Loch Ness Monster. For many decades, tourists and residents have claimed to have seen an eel- or serpent-like creature swimming across the lake. There’s even a statue of Ogopogo along the Kelowna waterfront.

http://www.okanagan.com/the-ogopogo.html

Haunted Craigdarroch Castle

Victoria, BC

Built in the 1890s for coal baron Robert Dunsmuir who died before it was completed, this Victorian mansion has a reputation for being haunted. Visitors have said they have seen and heard a piano playing by itself, while others have seen a spectral woman in white standing in the ballroom.  

Falcon Lake UFO

Falcon Lake, Manitoba

In May 1967, Stefan Michalak was doing some amateur prospecting north of Falcon Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park. He encountered a flying saucer that seemed to land on a rock outcropping near him. He walked up to it and was burned by its exhaust when it took off. The case was investigated by the RCMP, Canadian Forces and even the United States Air Force, which considered it “Unexplained.” Today, you can get a t-shirt commemorating the event in Falcon Lake, and the local riding stable offers guided “UFO Rides” to the site where it occurred.

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/podcasts/Pages/ufo-falcon-lake-incident.aspx

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel Ghost

Banff, Alberta

Built in 1888, the Banff Springs Hotel is a majestic building that is host to many classic ghost stories. These include the story of an entire family murdered in room 873 (which has been bricked up and never entered again), a bride who fell down the hotel’s stairs and is haunting it ever since, and the ghost of a retired bellman Sam McAuley who has been helping guests with their luggage long after his death.

https://www.albertaventure.com/the-banff-springs-hotel-ghost-stories/2/2726

St. Paul UFO Landing Pad

St. Paul, Alberta

“The World’s First UFO Landing Pad” was built in 1967 as a Canadian Centennial Project. In the 1990s, the saucer-shaped platform had fallen into disrepair (from apparent lack of use) and was restored. Later, a UFO museum added as well and a UFO conference was held there a few times. Queen Elizabeth visited the pad in 1978, and Mother Theresa herself visited it in 1982.

http://www.town.stpaul.ab.ca/UFO-Landing-Pad

Haunted West Point Lighthouse

O’Leary, P.E.I.

Mysterious lights have been reported in windows of rooms in the West Point Lighthouse in O’Leary. The story is that its first keeper, Lighthouse Willie, haunts both the lighthouse and the West Point Lighthouse Inn next door.

The Old Spaghetti Factory Ghost

Vancouver, BC

The ghost of a tram conductor is said to haunt this restaurant built over an underground railway. As well, patrons and employeess have reported feeling cold drafts, seeing spectral figures, and hearing their names called out by disembodied voices.

https://gastown.org/haunted-tales-from-the-old-spaghetti-factory/

Sasquatch Museum

Harrison Hot Springs, BC

The Sasquatch Museum is located at the Harrison Visitor Information Center at the corner of Hot Springs Road and Walnut. Hours vary by season and the Sasquatch Museum will be open during Visitor Center Hours.

https://www.tourismharrison.com/sasquatch-museum

Haunted Cathedral of The Holy Trinity

Quebec City, Quebec

According to some stories, in the early 1800s, the cathedral was built over top of the body of a woman buried alive during a cholera epidemic. Another story is that a nun had a baby and buried it under the church, but now her ghost and that of the child are restless spirits. Some people report hearing the organ play by itself.

Screaming Tunnel

Niagara Falls, Ontario

According to legend, the tunnel is haunted by the ghost of a young girl who escaped a nearby burning building with her clothing on fire and succumbed inside the tunnel. Another version of the tale is that the girl was set on fire by her angry father after he lost custody of her following a messy divorce. Yet another tale has her being raped inside the tunnel and her body burned to destroy evidence. The screams people claim to hear are, of course, the girl calling for help and crying in pain while ablaze.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/screaming-tunnel

How about a Weird Manitoba Vacation?

Photo by Leslie Lewis 

Sasquatch Footprint

On October 14, 1979, 10 people reported seeing a “black, hairy, eight-foot man-beast” near Little Saskatchewan First Nation. Footprints, some two inches deep and 15 inches long, were found in hard, dry clay in a clearing. The stride was thought to be between three and five feet. An hour after this incident, two other men saw the monster in a field beside some bush. One said: “It was black all over except its face, which wasn't covered with hair.” When the creature moved, it “moved like a man,” running away when it was discovered about 25 yards away from the witnesses. Curious incidents earlier in the week were thought to be related; a cow had been found dead outside a fence, but was no evidence that it had been dragged. Full-scale searches were launched for the Sasquatch, both on the ground and in the air. Some residents were frightened to go out alone after the reports became public. These fears prompted some people to obtain a tranquillizer gun to capture the beast, although others suggested they would consider killing it outright. These armed search parties went out in the evening, determined to get a Sasquatch, even without the tranquillizer. “We figure we'll break a leg, or two legs, then haul it to the doctor,” one hunter boasted to reporters. He allowed they had some reservations about killing an animal that resembled a man in so many ways, “but if it attacks, we'll shoot to kill.” Fortunately, no target was seen. The cast of one of the footprints is currently on display in the Sam Waller Museum in The Pas, and is suggested to be that of a Sasquatch. The Sam Waller Museum is known for having an eclectic collection of many other artefacts, including: a Judi-Dart Meteorological/Sounding Rocket used at Fort Churchill in 1969; a Daisy XZ-35 Buck Rogers Rocket Wilma Pistol Ray Gun; a brass sundial owned by explorer Sir John Franklin; a crystal radio set manufactured by the Martian Manufacturing Company of Newark, New Jersey; and a human appendix.

http://www.samwallermuseum.ca/

The Haunted Nunnery

A former nun’s residence, L'Auberge Clémence Inn in Elie is said to be haunted. Guests have heard footsteps on the wooden stairs, without anyone being near. Doors have opened and closed by themselves, and glimpses of a figure have been seen moving in several rooms. Recently, some rooms were converted into Escape Rooms that challenge puzzle solvers to beat the clock while being pursued by ghosts.

Devil’s Island

East of Camperville in the middle of Lake Winnipegosis is an island about two kilometres in length, with a reputation for being haunted. There are stories that people who have dared camp on the island have swam in panic to the mainland in the middle of the night, afraid of eerie lights and sounds that seemed to chase them off the island!

The Falcon Lake UFO

In 1967, Stefan Michalak was prospecting just north of Falcon Lake and encountered a flying saucer that apparently landed in a clearing near him. He walked up to the craft out of curiosity and was burned by a blast of hot gas when it suddenly took off and flew away. The incident was investigated by the RCMP and the Royal Canadian Air Force, both of which labeled the case as “Unexplained.” Today, the site is still accessible near the gravel pits north of town, you can go on a guided “UFO Ride” to the site from Falcon Beach Ranch, and the Laughing Loon store in town sells t-shirts and other items commemorating the 1967 event.

http://uforum.blogspot.ca/2017/04/the-falcon-lake-case-in-brief.html

The Haunted Hotel Fort Garry

Much has been written about Winnipeg’s Hotel Fort Garry and its various resident ghosts. One story is that a grief-stricken woman took her own life in Room 202 many years ago. Since then, some staff have said they have seen blood running down the walls of the room, and some guests have said they have seen her ghost at the end of their bed. In 2004, former Ontario Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain was staying in Room 202 and said that while in bed she felt the mattress depress next to her as if someone was getting in beside her. The same or another ghost is said to have been seen in the hotel’s lounge, and in rooms on other floors.

The Manitoba Legislature Hermetic Code

Although to the untrained eye it is simply a large, ornate government building, the Manitoba Legislature is adorned with sphinxes, doric columns, and even a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. And the statue of the Golden Boy on top of the building? It’s the god Hermes. According to Frank Albo, sometimes called Manitoba’s own Dan Brown, the Legislature is a Masonic edifice designed to guide and help elected officials rule the province. Albo conducts guided tours of the Hermetic significance of the many bizarre feature of the building. (Oh, and the building is haunted, too.)

http://heartlandtravel.ca/book-a-tour/hermetic-code-tours-of-mb-legislative-building/

The Manitoba Desert

It may seem incongruous, but even in a province that is covered in snow for several months of the year, there is a desert. Although quickly being taken over by vegetation such as wild grasses and poison ivy, there are still sand dunes to climb and explore in the Spirit Sands near Carberry. And the Devils Punch Bowl is a bowl-shaped depression 45 metres deep in the sand hills, created by underground streams. And keep a lookout for the Prairie skink, Manitoba’s own lizard!

http://manitobaphotos.com/Spirit_Sands.htm

West Hawk Lake

The meteor crater that is now West Hawk Lake is only about 3.5 kilometres across and about 100 metres deep. About 100 million years ago, a large piece of a comet or a small asteroid slammed into Manitoba, gouging out a huge hole that eventually filled with water left over from retreating glaciers. It created a very deep, very blue, and very cold lake that has some of the finest beaches in Manitoba. And scuba divers train on the bottom of the lake in the crevasses within fractured rock! There’s an info kiosk at the park office, a large descriptive sign showing how the lake was formed, and at the beach a concession stand sells “meteor burgers” and “potato UFOs,” among other tasty treats!

http://craterexplorer.ca/west-hawk-impact-crater/

The White Horse Plains

Along the Trans Canada Highway near St. Francois Xavier is a statue of a White Horse. The figure is one of the few monuments in the world depicting a ghost! The story is that hundreds of years ago, a young woman escaped into the night with her lover, astride a beautiful white horse, given as a gift from her betrothed whom she was to marry the next day. They were pursued and killed, but the horse ran off and its spirit has been said to roam the prairie ever since.

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/03/whitehorseplain.shtml

Manipogo Beach Provincial Park

Just north of Toutes Aides on Highway 276 is a little-known park that is one of Manitoba’s jewels and best-kept secrets. With pristine beaches, clear water, and beautiful landscape along Lake Manitoba's rocky shore, it’s also the site of numerous sightings of Manipogo, Manitoba’s own Loch Ness Monster. Sightings of the dinosaur-like creature has been reported since the 1960s, and was seen in the lake several times in the 1990s. Maybe you can be the next lucky one to see it!