I'm a huge fan of the Newfoundland and Labrador's tourism ads. I've always said that if I didn't live here, they'd make me want to visit.

As it turns out, they might be more compelling than anyone ever imagined. Not only is the province enticing visitors from across the globe, it might be taking a bite out of the intergalactic market as well.

People have been seeing unusual objects in the skies of Newfoundland for years. Many of these sightings have been explained as mundane, earthly phenomenon but, after investigation, a handful of these UFOs remain unidentified and some of them have garnered world-wide attention.

One of the later happened near Gander in 1951.

Gander Incident, 1951

In the early days of aviation, Gander was the crossroads of the world. Flights crossing the North Atlantic stopped at the airport to refuel. It was a busy airspace with lots of 'eyes on the sky'. On February 10, 1951, a U.S. Navy aircraft flying from Iceland was about 150km from Gander when it reported a near-collision with a large, orange object. The unidentified orange object (UOO?) was described as flying circles around the plane. In his report co-pilot Graham Bethune stated that for 4-5 minutes he and the pilot observed the strange object above the ocean before calling it to the attention of the crew. No sooner had they done so than the UFO's angle of attack changed and closed in on the plane. It swung around, sped away toward the horizon... and was never seen again.

Some have suggested what was seen by Flight 125 was an optical illusion caused by the moon but, reportedly, the object was detected by ground radar. A full, official report of the incident was filed and investigated by the government.

The following is an excerpt from a television show documenting the incident.

Random Island UFO, 1978

Perhaps even better documented than the 1951 Gander incident, is an encounter over Random Island.

On October 26, 1978 the Clarenville detachment of the RCMP received a call of a strange object in the sky over the town. RCMP officer James Blackwood reported to the scene where he observed an illuminated object in the sky.

In 2020 the Random Island UFO incident was commemorated with a glow-in-the-dark collector coin from the Royal Canadian Mint.
The coin featured an image created by Fogo Island-based artist Adam Young.
You can see it here.

Blackwood and onlookers described an oval, fin-tailed craft in the sky. It had a red, white and blue flashing lights. The object stayed relatively stationary for over and hour then slowly began to leave the area. Blackwood watched through a telescope until the object disappeared. He filed an official report.

Blackwood, who has since retired from the RCMP, has a successful second career as the Raccoon Whisperer. He shared the following video interview describing the incident on his YouTube Channel.

The Random Island incident was the first in a series of similar sightings ranging along the east coast. According to the book Maritime UFO Files, between October 26 and mid-November similar sightings occurred in Lethbridge, Catalina, Gander, St. Anthony and northward into Labrador.

What exactly everyone saw remains a mystery.

I’ve never seen a UFO.

I did, however, spend one uncomfortable evening terribly afraid that I was never going to be able to say that again.

Years ago, when I was a student, I spent my summers working at Terra Nova National Park. I sometimes worked late into the night — especially when I was assigned to the tiny kiosk in the Malady Head Campground.

The campground is built on a large, tree-covered bluff that rises over Southwest Arm. It’s about 5km from the highway and, though not far from Traytown, it definitely feels secluded.

Malady Head wasn’t a very busy place at the best of times and I was working there on a Sunday night. All the weekend campers had gone home and, but for a handful of tents, the place was deserted. I was the lone staff member.

I was okay with it being quiet. The previous two evenings I’d had plenty of contact with the wardens — on Friday I requested assistance to deal with black bear sightings; on Saturday I had to get help with a motor vehicle accident. I didn’t think they wanted to come to Malady Head again so a quiet Sunday night sounded just about perfect.

It was August and the evenings were noticeably short. It was dark before I hopped into my truck to patrol the grounds. As it was a quiet night, I took my time. Still, it was a small campground, it probably didn’t take me 15-minutes.

As I drove down the hill back to the kiosk I saw two bright light ahead of me — there was a car parked outside the kiosk waiting for me.

I parked and hopped out of the truck. A man and woman, exited the car and, met me on my way to the kiosk.

They looked worried.

I knew something was wrong. I thought I was about to be told of bears stealing coolers or another motor vehicle accident.

“Is there a tower on top of Malady Head? Like a radio tower?” the gentleman asked.

“No, nothing like that,” I replied.

The woman looked at the man, “I told you!”

It was about this time I realized that it wasn’t worry I was reading on their faces; it was fear.

“We just saw a strange light above Malady Head. I was trying to convince my wife it was a radio tower but I guess it wasn’t,” he said, “I think we’d like to report a UFO.”

Immediately, my mind went to backcountry campers — I wondered whether they’d seen a flare, so I asked.

“It was no flare,” they assured me.

It was a bright, flashing oval that just hovered until it disappeared into the night sky.

It didn’t sound like any flare, I’d ever seen either.

I thanked them for their information and they drove off into the night, leaving me in the deserted parking lot.

My park radio was strapped to my belt. Should I, for the third night in a row, call the duty warden? And tell them I had a UFO report? On an open park radio channel?

I decided not to.

But I didn’t just forget about it either. I logged the incident in our records, and telephoned the night staff at the Newman Sound campground to get their take on official procedure for reports of ‘strange, hovering lights in the sky.’

All that done, there was nothing to do but sit in the tiny kiosk beside a quiet secondary highway and wait to be abducted.
Whatever they saw left them rattled and that left me very, very uneasy for the rest of my shift.

Outer Cove UFO, 1970

Less well-known, is a 1970 incident outside St. John's in the Middle Cove/Outer Cove area. Two RCMP officers were parked, making notes when they observed a bright white light hovering over the water. It moved up and down in front of the car. They turned on the red lights atop their car and the object responded by turning red. They sounded their siren, the object repeated the noise. Strange stuff. The entire incident is related in Helen C. Escott's book In Search of Adventure -- 70 Years of the RCMP in Newfoundland and Labrador. You can get it here.

Escott’s telling of the story encouraged another RCMP who was stationed in Grand Falls-Windsor in the late 1970’s to recall a UFO sighting he had in that town. You can read his story in the Sept 2021 edition of the RCMP Veterans Association newsletter.

Harbour Mille UFO, 2010

Jumping ahead some 40 years, Newfoundland found itself the site of another widely publicized UFO incident in 2010 -- one that could easily have sparked an international 'incident'. This time the object in question was seen above Harbour Mille, on the island's south coast. On January 25th multiple witnesses reported seeing several missile-like projectiles appear to emerge from the ocean and fly overhead. One citizen managed to take pictures.

The sighting sparked queries as to whether missiles were being tested in the North Atlantic. The government followed-up and that did not seem to be the case (at least on the day in question). and NORAD's tracking offered no evidence to support the sighting. A Finnish UFO research suggest that it was an optical illusion caused by the sun hitting a jet and its vapour trail. That explanation did not satisfy witnesses.

Look to the Skies

These incidents are some of the island’s better-documented sightings -- but there are many, many more. Some day, I’ll unleash my inner-Mulder and discuss some others.

In the meantime, if you have any NL UFO incidents to share, I’d love to hear about them!