I became interested in the Boshkung Lake event when I picked up a book at the local library by Curt sutherly titled UFO Mysteries. I had never read this book but after reading his account of the Boshkung Lake Invasion I became interested in why I couldn't find any sign of someone doing an investigation. I posted the sighting to RealityUncovered to see if maybe there were any others out there who may be of assistance.
In trying to solve the Boshkung Lake sightings I've only had two accounts to go by. Curt
Sutherlys account in UFO Mysteries-
http://books.google.com/books?id=uVL7BCSdv5gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ufo+mysteries#PPA57,M1 and John Colombos UFOs Over Canada-
http://books.google.com/books?id=l0KFLiTQNj8C&dq=ufos+over+canada&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=1YFcjmUtWK&sig=41Qd_k42uQ2iuSsYqAv00ddV07U&hl=en&ei=smu5SbaQGZPEMsCWiKsI&s
a=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPA122,M1
While I'm not sure Colombos account is related it did occur in the area. The one difference
being the sighting of occupants. Robert Sufferin describes an
encounter with one of the ships occupants. He says "it appeared short and had very broad
shoulders" and describes its movement as apelike. It wore a one piece silver suit and on
its head was a globe with no visible faceplate. He was the only witness to encounter beings.
I was unable to find any contact info for Curt Sutherly and my email to John Colombo is still unanswered.
I am still trying to obtain the Fate magazine article from Nov. 1977.
Here's the area covered
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl Here's what the lake looks like
http://matabanick.webs.com/property%20view%20from%20lake.JPG I searched the Library and Archive Canada(the list of town and city names I searched is to
lengthy to include, it is hundreds) for any similar accounts and only found one in the town
of Trenton.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/ufo/001057-119.02-e.php?isn_id_nbr=4692&page_id_nbr=6824&record_id=4692-6824-11961&interval=20&PHPSESSID=h659ti89jebod9abati92t
7vt6
There was also a possible in Toronto.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/ufo/001057-119.02-e.php?isn_id_nbr=4686&page_id_nbr=6188&record_id=4686-6188-11366&interval=20&PHPSESSID=998tcu5fo22ccisqnh2
euc6he0
I also searched all the RCAF bases that would have been nearby at the time.
Here are the bases
RCAF Station Aylmer, Ontario
RCAF Station Arnprior, Ontario
RCAF Station Belleville, Ontario
RCAF Station Brantford, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB / 16 Wing Borden, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB Centralia, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB Clinton, Ontario
RCAF Station Deseronto, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB Downsview, Ontario
RCAF Station Dunnville, Ontario
RCAF Station Fingal, Ontario
RCAF Station Guelph, Ontario
RCAF Station Hagersville, Ontario
RCAF Station Hamilton, Ontario
RCAF Station Jarvis, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB / 1 Wing Kingston, Ontario
RCAF Station Leaside, Ontario
RCAF Station London, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFS Mountain View, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB / 22 Wing North Bay, Ontario
RCAF Sation Oshawa, Ontario
RCAF Station Picton, Ontario
RCAF Station Port Albert, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB Rockcliffe, Ontario
RCAF Station Toronto, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB / 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario
RCAF Station / CFB Uplands, Ontario
RCAF Detachment Armstrong Station, Ontario
RCAF Detachment North Bay, Ontario
RCAF Detachment Kapuskasing, Ontario
RCAF Detachment Malton, Ontario
http://www.rcaf.com/stations/canadian.phpMy main clues were Mrs. Lunhams description of the object and the noise. She described the
sound they made as a "dull thumping". This fits a helicopter as does their behavior. Another
clue was their trace evidence. A tripod like impression in the ground. Also some witness'
described them as "polliwogs" or "helicopters without tails"(maybe they saw them head on).
I was unable to contact the witness' in Sutherlys account Earl Pitts, Jim Cooper, Dale
Parnell, Pete Sawyer, the Barnes', Lester Hicks, and the Lunhams. I also failed to contact
journalist Peter Courtney who worked for the now defunct
Minden Progress who
witnessed an event. I should also note that newspapers in Canada charge a large fee to
retrieve articles from their archives for you(none that I was interested in was available on
the internet). Also unlike here I couldn't gain access to flight logs at airports or
military facilities. These are under the perview of the Defence Department and are not
considered public record(here in the states I just call the airport voila).
Mrs. Lunhams description of the landing pattern as noted in a
Lindsey Post article
was a "v-shape with two pad like markings". This would seem to point to a helicopter as there are many that have similar landing gear.
So I looked for helicopters used by the RCAF and the squads nearby.
http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/site/hist/rcafsqns_e.asp According to rcaf.com
http://www.rcaf.com/data/index.php?p=getcat&db_id=2&cat_id=6 the
helicopters that have 3-point landing gear used are-
Boeing CH-113A(Labrador), CH-147(Chinook) heavy lifting, Vertol H-21A/B, Vertol HUP3 and
Sikorsky H-34, H-5/S-51, CH-124A(Seaking) used in search and rescue, CH-148(Cyclone) used in
search and rescue. Keep in mind most of these were heavy-lifting craft or used in search and
rescue. However I was unable to confirm they were in use in the area of the sightings at the
time. The best I could find was that in 1972 CFB Shearwater home to the 406 and 450 used the
Seaking and the Chinook and CFB Borden(400) employed the Seaking, Chinook, and Cyclone(dates
unknown).
I also checked CFB Downsview home to the 400 Tactical Helicopter and the 411 Tactical
Helicopter and CFB Rockliffe which ceased flying in 1962.
There are 2 local airfields the Muskoka Airport and the Haliburton/Stanhope Airport which were unable to answer my inquires. I was amazed to learn that even the flight logs at private and public airports are not available to the public. I can understand this with military air fields but here in the states I can just call the local airport and get the info.
Here's some other possibles
http://www.ufoinfo.com/sightings/canada/730800.shtmlslight http://www.ufoinfo.com/sightings/canada/74summer.shtml http://www.ufoinfo.com/sightings/canada/74fallwinter.shtml http://www.ufocasebook.com/sacbaseweapons1975.htmlalthough none of these has any apparent links to the events described in Sutherlys book.
I also found this account from North Bay-
- Quote :
- RCAF Station North Bay
Typically two wings of night fighters and a single wing of day fighters were stationed
there, originally the
CF-100 Canuck/F-86 Sabre, and later the CF-101 Voodoo.
This would seem to rule them out of the helicopter equation.
I also found this interesting account from CFB North Bay-
- Quote :
- Following defence cutbacks in 1972, only a single flying unit was stationed at the
airfield,
the 414 Electronic Warfare Squadron.
CFB North Bay remains Canada's primary NORAD site, with responsibility for monitoring the
Canadian NORAD
sector, namely the ADIZ surrounding Canada. Tools used by 22 Wing include the North Warning
System which stretches across the Canadian Arctic, as well as coastal radars on the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts of Canada
(primarily used by Maritime Command, these radars reportedly have the dual ability to track
small aircraft),and any Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft operated by the USAF or
NATO in Canadian airspace.
Not widely known is a UFO incident associated with CFB North Bay. Several teenagers and base
residents reported seeing a massive triangular shaped craft hovering over the base for
several minutes on Sept 13th, 2001.
There was no such craft detected by the American or Canadian operations bases for NORAD
during that evening.
The CFB and RCAF are not the same thing. CFB is Canadian Forces Base and RCAF is
Royal Canadian Air Force. In some cases they were originally air bases but
then merged with the larger Canadian Forces. Or in other cases they were downsized to squads
and moved around the various bases.
I looked at the VSTOL angle and I couldn't place any VSTOL craft in the time frame and area.
I did find one interesting one. At
http://VSTOL.org(International V/STOL Historical Society)
there's the NORD 500 Cadet(its under the history section) which bears a striking
resemblence to the phenomana described. Alas it only had one tethered flight and was
canceled in 1968.
The various chambers of commerce in the area that I contacted were unable to provide any assistance.
I checked the weather for the area at the time of the events and found no anomolous weather
occurences.
All reports showed favorable conditions.
In short I was unable to reach any decisive conclusion concerning the Boshkung Lake event.
So barring anymore evidence turning up I can only conclude that this event was and still is
a mystery although it is my opinion that what the witnesses saw was probably a front on view of a
helicopter. This seems likely as they may have been conducting some type of training in
search and rescue in the area. There was a training squad based not too far from Boshkung Lake and
although I was not able to confirm(the Dept. of Defence are very tight lipped) it does
present the most likely scenario.
