Canada UFO FOIA Release — Part 25 (Pages 7201–7500)

Brief

This section of the Canada UFO FOIA series comprises RCMP CIB memoranda, DND routing letters, and field detachment reports spanning 1964–1965. The central case involves a commercial pilot flying a Cessna 180 over Saskatchewan on June 30, 1965, who observed a circular or oblong silver-white object at an estimated 15,000–20,000 feet that paralleled his flight path for close to 100 miles without producing noise or displaying wings. A separate ground witness near LaRonge independently described what appears to be the same object the same day, also noting no wings and a hovering phase of approximately seven to eight minutes. Administratively, the documents record a reorganization of UFO reporting channels following Canadian Forces integration: genuine unknowns forwarded to Director General Operations at Canadian Forces Headquarters, while meteorite and fireball reports went to the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys via the NRC Meteorite Committee.

Metadata

Agency

Department of National Defence / RCMP / National Research Council

Release

2010-01-01

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

300 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED (individual documents marked CONFIDENTIAL in 1964–1965)

Programs

HQ-400-Q-5 (RCMP file series), CO-AIR (RCMP operational policy instruction)

Tags

circular/oblong, silver-white, silent, no wings, 100-mile pursuit, Saskatchewan 1965, Haines Junction 1965, PEI fireball 1965, Canada-FOIA, hovering

Key points

• Commercial pilot employed by La Ronge Aviation Co. reported observing a circular or oblong silver-white object at an estimated 15,000–20,000 feet while flying a Cessna 180 on June 30, 1965, near Deception Lake, Saskatchewan.p.10
• The object followed the pilot's aircraft for close to 100 miles over northern Saskatchewan — from Deception Lake toward Morell Lake — without producing noise and with no visible wings.p.10
• A ground witness approximately 13 miles north of LaRonge independently described a silver or white object with no wings that hovered in a stationary position for roughly seven to eight minutes before departing westerly on June 30, 1965.p.3
• RCMP two-track reporting policy: genuine UFOs of undetermined origin forwarded to DND Director General Operations; fireballs and meteorites routed to the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys.p.13
• Canadian Forces integration rendered previous RCMP routing addresses obsolete; Air Vice Marshal W.W. Bean confirmed the updated address in April 1965: Director General Operations, Canadian Forces Headquarters, Ottawa.p.14
• RCMP Haines Junction Detachment filed a separate UFO sighting report for the Haines Junction region, forwarded to DND Director General Operations by an RCMP Inspector on August 5, 1965.p.4
• A Charlottetown, PEI fireball observed March 18, 1965 — brighter than the full moon, bright green with a persistent yellow spark trail, perfectly round — prompted RCMP CIB to request updated military reporting addresses.p.17
• Department of Mines credited RCMP fireball reports with directly enabling recovery of the Peace River meteorite.p.19

Verbatim

• I am presently employed ae a commercial pilot by La Ronge Aviation Co, La Ronge, Bask . I have been a commercial pilot tor 6 to 7 years.

  p.10

• I noticed a circular or oblona cbjeot to my right front. I felt it would he J miles a."'ay and about l5l 000 to 20 ,000 feet above me . The object was either silver or w!l te in colour, I couldn't make out any detail at a.ll .

  p.10

Most interesting

• Both the pilot (airborne) and a ground witness near LaRonge independently noted the object had no wings on June 30, 1965 — corroborating each other without direct contact at the time of sighting.
• The pilot stated his ground contacts at Simon Lake Exploration Mining Camp witnessed the object when he landed and pointed it out to them, providing at least two additional informal corroborating witnesses.
• RCMP policy instruction CO-AIR, governing UFO and meteorite reporting, was issued in March 1962 and had become operationally incorrect by 1965 solely due to Canadian Forces administrative reorganization — not any change in the phenomenon itself.
• RCMP Sgt. Tedford witnessed a second, distinct aerial object near Charlottetown at 9:30 PM on March 18, 1965 — fifteen minutes after the primary fireball — appearing to travel northward rather than southwest.
• The NRC Meteorite Committee maintained a national network of provincial civilian representatives; RCMP detachments were instructed to contact whichever representative covered the sighting's province before escalating to the military.
• The pilot compared the object's speed favorably against a jet he observed in the same sky, stating it appeared to be traveling 'much faster' than the jet.