He said he could feel the heat coming from the object, and that it looked like an upside down World War I German helmet.  It made no noise at all.  It was bright and clear, like fine crystal.  He happened to have his camera in the car and took a picture, then turned the car around and drove away as fast as possible.  He kept an eye on the rearview mirror, but saw no movement and the UFO was soon out of sight.

The picture came out, but the image was faint.  The small object in the lower left of the picture is a barn.  My grandfather passed away in 1988, and the photo passed into my hands as part of his estate.  Seeing the photo again made me think back to my childhood in the 1960's when I believe my cousins and I witnessed UFOs in the form of little bright objects flying through the night sky.

I decided to take the photo to a MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) gathering held in Portsmouth, NH in March of 1996.  I was able to show the photo to several well known authorities.  George Knapp, CBS Investigative reporter called it a "great photo", and Dr. Richard Haines of NASA's Ames Research Center called it a "very interesting photo."  Antonio Huewnes, another noted UFO researcher, said he thought it was probably the finest example he had ever seen of a UFO photo.

C. J. Riendeau "

3 / 8 / 01  Manchester (NH) Union Leader Newspaper

Inherited photo may show the image of an alien craft 
By JANINE GILBERTSON 
Union Leader Correspondent

WINDHAM — When his grandfather died in 1988, Claude Riendeau of Windham inherited something out of this world. 

Wilfred Stringer bequeathed Riendeau his 1977 photograph of what he believed was a spaceship he captured on film near his hometown, the small Canadian town of Chartierville, just across the border from Pittsburg. 

Riendeau, who copyrighted the photo, recently launched a Web site (www.galaxygateproducts.com) to sell T-shirts, posters and postcards bearing the extraterrestrial image.

 “The orders are coming in,” Riendeau said. “We’ve had orders from Canada, Mexico and as far away as Russia. We also got an order request from the UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico.”  

According to Riendeau, his grandfather was driving near Chartierville’s famed “Magnetic Hill” one September evening when he heard a heavy wind blowing. He then claims to have seen a glowing half-orb descend silently and land a few hundred yards in front of him.
Stringer had his camera in the car and snapped a picture.  

Riendeau said it is not considered unusual to have such an encounter in that area. 

“My cousins and I used to see things up there all the time,” he said. “People all over Chartierville claim to have seen UFOs."

When the picture was left to him, Riendeau knew he had to do something with it.

 “I decided that if it was a good picture, I would start the copyright and trademark process and do something with the picture,” he said. 

He took the photograph to a 1996 Mutual UFO Network gathering in Portsmouth to hear
what the experts had to say about the authenticity of the image. 

Riendeau said Dr. Richard Haines of NASA’s Ames Research Center called it “a very interesting photo.” UFO expert Stanton Friedman, a UFO researcher for more than 20 years, also examined the picture. Riendeau said that Friedman called it “a great photo.” 

Another noted UFO researcher, Antonio Huewnes, told Riendeau he thought it was probably one of the finest examples he’s ever seen of a UFO photo. While at the gathering, Riendeau also made contact with the inspiration for the movie “Fire in the Sky,” Travis
Walton. 

Riendeau took his faded photograph to a Boston graphics firm so the image could be
enhanced and made into a four-color process that could be printed on T-shirts.  

Riendeau said the company tried to retain rights to the image that they produced from the original photo.