| Unexplained Sightings In The Area Lakes District News Wednesday, March 5, 2003 Volume 83 - No 10 by C. McGarrigle LD news www.ldnews.net Have you ever spotted strange lights in the sky? What about a fast moving object that defies the laws of gravity? If you haven't, your chances of seeing a UFO in Northern British Columbia is greater than any other region of Canada. The communities of Terrace and Houston have just recently been named in the top 10 list of UFO sightings across Canada. Terrace is B.C. capital for sightings and third across the country, while Houston placed fourth across the country. The list compiled 483 eyewitness reports from around the country in 2002. One-third of all the sightings were reported in British Columbia. Brian Vike is a leading Ufologist based out of Houston, B.C., who is the founder of the HBCC-UFO web site and investigator of strange phenomenon in the region since 2000. Since the survey was released, Vike says his phone has been ringing off the hook. "People are aware now that there is actually someone who investigates and talks to people and tries to figure out what people are seeing," says Vike. Even in the last week there have been many sightings reported in the northwest region. One 'large disk shaped object' was spotted on February 22 over a one-hour period by observers in three different areas of B.C. The object was described as very large, slow moving, with bright lights on the underside and completely silent. The first witness spotted the object in Mill Bay, Vancouver Island at 9:15 p.m. followed by two Alcan employees in Kitimat, B.C., at 10:20p.m. Shortly after, a husband and wife stopped their vehicle between Terrace and Prince Rupert to watch the object. On February 3, 2003 a Canfor employee out of Houston noticed three bright, hazy blue/white lights in the shape of a triangle fly past them quickly at a very low altitude. Other witnesses have come forward in Houston since the sighting was released to inform Vike that they had witnessed the same object 12 hours before the Canfor employee. The Lakes District has also had its fair share of unexplained sightings that have been investigated by Vike, who says he gets many calls from the area. On February 14, 2002 two residents of Francois Lake noticed a bright fast moving object come towards them, when all of a sudden it came to a complete stop and went totally dark. The witnesses says that a bright flash of light was suddenly emitted from the object. They say a 'ray of light' began to sweep the ground, which lit up a very large area. The object continued to scan the ground for a few minutes until it suddenly left the area at unprecedented speeds. Vike also investigates the phenomenon of 'crop circles' that have been reported in the Vanderhoof area over the past few years. While there have been hundreds of sightings in the northwest, many have been explained by military exercises or cosmic activity such as planets or shooting stars. "There is still so many of them that remain unexplained, but people are seeing things all the time." says Vike. A film crew from the Canadian Life Network arrived in the area recently to start shooting a new series called "The Magnificent Obsession." Because of the surge of sightings in the northwest in the past two years, Vike was asked to be a part of the documentary, which will include other Ufologists from Canada, U.S. and England. Vike is hoping that other people will come forward to report any strange occurrences, phenomenon, or generally, things that go bump in the night. T.V. Crew Tapes UFO Interview In Houston Houston Today Wednesday, March 5, 2003 No. 10 by Jennifer Lang - (Reporter for the Terrace Standard Newspaper, Terrace, B.C.) Northwest B.C.'s resident UFO researcher Brian Vike will be featured in an upcoming T.V. show on Canada's Life Network. Vike, field researcher and president of HBCC UFO Research, said a four man television crew from the channel interviewed him at his home base of Houston B.C. last week. The show called "Magnificent Obsession", will also feature crop circles. The crew planned to head to Florida and England next. Vike was joined by Chris Rutkowski, a Manitoba based UFO researcher who compiles the annual Canadian UFO survey. The crew taped 17 hours of footage for an upcoming show. Last year British Columbia once again had the highest number of reported sightings in the country. But the biggest surprise is that two northwest, B.C. towns, Terrace and Houston, accounted for more sightings than almost anywhere in Canada, according to the latest survey. Vike says he received more than 100 different eyewitness reports from people in communities all along Highway 16 last year. That included a large number here in the Terrace area - the undisputed hot spot of the region for UFO sightings in 2002. Vike says CBC TV is also planning to send a team to interview him in Houston in the near future. Contact HBCC-UFO Research or Vike's magazine, Canadian Communicator, by phone or fax at 1 250 845 2189. His email address is hbccufo@telus.net. The website address is www.oocities.org/hbccufo/home.html Canadian residents can call a new toll free UFO hotline at 1 866 262 1989 UFO Survey Says Houston In Top 4 For Most Sightings Houston Today Wednesday, March 5, 2003 No. 10 by Jennifer Lang - (Reporter for the Terrace Standard Newspaper - Terrace, B.C.) Move over, Kermode bear. A flying saucer might make a more fitting symbol for Terrace. It turns out Terrace is B.C. capital - and one of the top spots in the country for sightings - according to a national survey released last week. In fact, a record number of sightings here helped push Terrace into the 2002 Canadian UFO Survey's top 10 for the first time. Remarkably, Terrace is in third place - behind such urban heavyweights as Toronto and Vancouver. The survey counted 25 eyewitness reports from here in 2002. Calgary and Hamilton also appeared in the top 10 for the first time. Other urban areas reporting a significant number of sightings were Winnipeg, Edmonton, Ottawa and Whitehorse. In all, the survey compiled 483 eyewitness reports from across the country, with one-third, or 176, originating in Canada's western most province. Contrast that with just six UFO sightings reported in Saskatchewan last year. Joining Terrace in the top four is Houston, B.C., home of Brian Vike, the northwest's resident UFO researcher. Vike, who investigates reports of UFOs and other unexplained phenomena, including crop circles, says his phone has been ringing off the hook since the survey was released last week. Terrace residents have been seeing some curious objects in the sky over the past year, according to Vike's HBCC-UFO website. Some flying objects were barrel-shaped, white others looked more like cigars or had blinking lights. Unlike stars or airplanes, they moved oddly over such familiar locales as Braun's Island, Jackpine Flats and the southwest skies toward Prince Rupert. Vike is one of the contributors who assist in compiling rgw survey, which consists of reports from regionally-based UFO researchers from across Canada that are compiled into one database. The survey is headed up by Geoff Dittman and Chris Rutkowski of Ufology Research of Manitoba (UFOROM), a prairie based group that has been compiling UFO reports since 1989. The survey defines UFOs as any unknown flying object seen by a witness. That means the survey included reports that were later found to be known objects, such as stars, planets, meteors, or aircraft. The researchers believe it's important to verify that eyewitnesses who report UFOs have indeed seen something- rather than imagined it. The survey suggests most UFOs are actually conventional aircraft or an astronomical object. On average, about 13 per cent of sightings are unexplained. Last year, 87 cases were unknown out of 483. "As with previous studies, the 2002 Canadian UFO Survey does not offer any positive proof that UFOs are either alien spacecraft or a specific natural phenomenon," the report says. Most sighting, about four out of five, occur at night, but reports of "daylight discs" accounted for 15.8 per cent of sightings last year. Sightings in 2002 peaked during the months of July and August, but also in February, according to the report, a pattern that held true in the northwest. The typical UFO sighting is witnessed by two people, suggesting the witnesses are actually seeing something real, the survey says. The report assigns a "strangeness" rating between one and nine to each sighting, with nine being the strangest. The 2002 survey's average strangeness rating is 3.6 - which is not very strange at all, the report says. "Hollywood-style flying saucers are, in reality, relatively uncommon in UFO reports." Was There A Mass UFO Sighting? Terrace Standard newspaper April 2, 2003 http://www.terracestandard.com/ Article under the Community section. By JENNIFER LANG TERRACE IS living up to its reputation as a UFO hot spot. As many as 30 people may have recently witnessed two black, triangular-shaped flying objects in the Lakelse Lake area, the northwest's resident UFO researcher has been told. Brian Vike, field researcher and president of HBCC-UFO, is now hoping to talk to eyewitnesses to verity the report. He also wants to find out more details like the exact time, date and description of the sighting - thought to have taken place several weeks ago. That would help him determine what witnesses saw. A variety of known objects such as stars, planets, meteors, or aircraft can be mistaken for UFOs. Vike learned about the sighting after someone sent him an email telling him that more than 30 people had witnessed two triangular objects in the sky. "I'm kind of chomping at the bit - all I need is a couple of names and number to get on this," he said from his home base in Houston, B.C. "From what I'm gathering, they're professional people - not just kids." Vike is intrigued by the possibility that the sighting involves triangular-shaped objects, which are less commonly reported. There's been a flurry of UFO reports along the Highway 16 corridor lately. "It's just been non stop for the last little bit," he said, adding he's received eight or nine reports in the past week. "There's something. I don't know if it's military. It's a possibility." Another recent report from the Terrace area involved a yellow ball of light the size of a basketball spotted over a trailer in Thornhill. It moved low in the air, travelling quickly before pausing above the mountain. "Then it proceeded like a bang," Vike says. The recent activity suggests Terrace's top ten showing on the 2002 Canada UFO survey may have been no fluke. The survey counted 25 eyewitness reports from Terrace in 2002, putting us in third place overall, ahead of Houston, B.C., which is in fourth place and even ahead of major metropolitan areas like Toronto and Vancouver. To reach Vike's UFO hotline, call toll free 1-866-262-1989 or send him an email at hbccufo@telus.net Northwest B.C. Leads In UFO Sightings The Interior News Wednesday, April 2, 2003 95th year - Week 14 www.interior-news.com Have you ever spotted strange lights in the sky or a fast moving object that defies the laws of gravity? If not, don't worry, you might. Chances of seeing a UFO in northern B.C. are greater than in any other region in Canada. Terrace is the B.C. capital for sightings and third across the country, while Houston placed second in B.C. and fourth in Canada. The list complied 483 eyewitness reports from around the country in 2002. One-third of all sightings were reported in B.C. Brian Vike is a ufologist based out of Houston, B.C. and the founder of a UFO Web site. He has been an investigator of strange phenomenon in the region since 2000. Since the list was released. Vike said his phone has been ringing off the hook. "People are aware now that there is someone who investigates and tries to figure out what people are seeing," Vike says. Even in the last two months, there have been sightings reported in the northwest region. One "large disk shaped object" was spotted on February 22, over a one hour period by observers in three different area in B.C. The object was described as very large, slow moving, with bright lights on the underside and completely silent. The first witness spotted the object in Mill Bay, Vancouver Island at 9:15 p.m. followed by two in Kitimat, at 10:20 p.m. Shortly after, a husband and wife stopped their vehicle between Terrace and Prince Rupert to watch the object. While there have been hundreds of sightings in the northwest, many have been explained by military exercises or cosmic activity, such as planets or shooting stars. "There are still so many that remain unexplained and people are seeing things all the time," says Vike. A film crew from the Canadian Life Network arrived in the area recently to start shooting a new series called "The Magnificent Obsession." Because of the surge of sightings in the past two years, Vike was asked to be a part of the documentary, which will include other ufologists from the U.S. and England. (photo submitted) Moving Mystery: Footage of three unexplained objects hovering above Francois Lake last year. |
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| HBCC UFO Research Canadian UFO Information Located In Houston, British Columbia, Canada |