Canada's UFO Legend, Shag Harbour.

Greetings. The Shag Harbour incident was the reported crash/impact/landing of an unidentified flying object into the waters in the vicinity of Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, a tiny fishing village on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The described events are alleged to have taken place on October 4th of 1967. The reports were investigated by various Canadian civilian agencies (RCMP and Canadian Coast Guard,) and military factions (Canadian Forces Navy and Air Force,) as well as the United States' own Condon Committee.

On the 4th of October, at approximately 11:20pm local time, witnesses reported that something had crashed into the waters of Shag Harbour. At least eleven people saw a low-flying unidentified object head directly towards the harbour. Multiple witnesses reported hearing a whistling sound "like a bomb," then a "whoosh," and finally a loud bang. The object in question was never officially identified, and was therefore referred to as an unidentified flying object (UFO) in the government of Canada's documents concerning the events. The Canadian military subsequently became involved in a rescue/recovery effort. 

The initial report was made by Mr. Laurie Wickens, a local resident, and four of his friends. Driving through Shag Harbour, on Highway 3, they spotted a large unknown slowly descending into the waters off the harbour. Acquiring a better vantage point, Wickens and his friends saw an object floating about 250 to 300 meters offshore in the waters of Shag Harbour. Wickens contacted the RCMP detachment in Barrington Passage and reported that he had seen a large airplane or small airliner crash into the waters off Shag Harbour.

Working under the assumption that an unidentified aircraft had indeed crashed, within about 15 minutes, two RCMP officers arrived on the scene. Concerned for survivors, the RCMP detachment contacted the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) in Halifax to advise them of the situation and ask if any aircraft were reported missing. Before any attempt at a rescue could be undertaken, the unidentified object, with its lights still distinctly visible, began to sink and slowly disappeared from view.

A rescue mission was quickly assembled, and within 30 minutes of the crash, local fishing boats went out to the crash site in the waters of the Gulf of Maine off Shag Harbour to search for survivors, still under the assumption that an unidentified aircraft had crashed. No bodies,  debris, or survivors were recovered, either by the local fishermen or by a Canadian Coast Guard search and rescue cutter, which arrived on the scene about an hour later from nearby Clark's Harbour.

By the next morning, RCC Halifax had determined that no aircraft, civilian or military, were reported missing. Still tasked with the search mission, the captain of the Canadian Coast Guard cutter received a radio message from RCC Halifax that all commercial, private and military aircraft were accounted for along the eastern seaboard, in both the Atlantic provinces and in New England. That very same morning, RCC Halifax also sent a priority telex to the "Air Desk" at Air Force headquarters in Ottawa, which handled all civilian and military UFO sightings, informing them of the crash and that all conventional explanations such as flares, balloons, aircraft, etc., had been considered and dismissed. Therefore, this was considered a "UFO Report." The head of the "Air Desk" then sent another priority telex to the Navy's headquarters concerning the "UFO Report" and recommended that an underwater search be mounted. Two days after the incident had been observed and reported, a detachment of navy divers from Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic was assembled and for the next three days, combed the seafloor of the Gulf of Maine off Shag Harbor searching for any trace of the reported object. 

No trace of an object was found.

The Shag Harbour events received extensive coverage in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. The paper ran a headline story on the 7th of October entitled, "Could Be Something Concrete in Shag Harbor UFO – RCAF." The article, written by Mr. Ray MacLeod, included witness descriptions of the alleged object and subsequent crash, the Air Force's search and rescue effort, and the Navy's underwater search that was still underway. The head of the Air Force's "Air Desk" in Ottawa, a Squadron Leader Bain, who recommended that the Navy undertake a thorough underwater search, was also quoted, saying the Air Force was "very interested" in the matter. "We get hundreds of reports every week, but the Shag Harbor incident is one of the few where we may get something concrete on it.”

The article also mentioned UFO reports that immediately preceded the incident in question.

The Chronicle-Herald ran an additional story on the 9th of October titled "UFO Search Called Off," stating that the Navy had ended "an intensive undersea search for the mysterious unidentified flying object that disappeared into the ocean here Wednesday night." As to what was found, the Navy stated, "Not a trace... not a clue... not a bit of anything." 

That is precisely what we have here. Not a trace, not a clue, not a bit of anything. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.