Over dinner last night we were saying how exciting it'll be if Ottawa gets UFO fever after the mysterious crash in the Ottawa River (we sure do). For you out-of-towners reading this, here's what happened:
From the Ottawa Sun:
The truth is down there [by the way, I kinda think that the people who come up with the Sun's headlines would appreciate some of our pun-ier blog titles, don't you?]
Police search Ottawa River after reports of lights smashing into water, big boom
It truly was an unidentified flying object that darted across the night sky over the Ottawa River this week.
“There’s nothing in the river for us to find in terms of an airplane or helicopter or something that went down (Monday) night,” Ottawa police Const. Alain Boucher told reporters at the river Tuesday afternoon.
Several residents, both in Ottawa and in Gatineau, reported lights smashing into the water around 10 p.m. Monday, along with a thunderous boom.
The calls prompted police, firefighters, paramedics and a helicopter from CFB Trenton to scour the waters north of the Britannia Filtration Plant for a downed aircraft.
Problem was, there was no physical evidence pointing to a plane wreck: No debris, no oil slick and no indication from airspace authorities that something fell off the radar. There was also no report of a missing aircraft.
Still, searchers launched their boats Tuesday morning looking for clues that could confirm witness accounts.
They found a few objects in the water, but nothing significant until around 1:30 p.m., when sonar discovered something bulky more than 9 metres below the surface.
An underwater camera couldn’t reach it and searchers called off the mission not knowing exactly what the object was. [sounds like they were scared!]
“The size and the shape doesn’t lead us to believe it’s any piece of an airplane or fuselage or anything like that,” Boucher said.
Some people provided their accounts to the Sun.
Jeffrey Vachon of Aylmer said he heard a “very loud bang preceded by a brief whistling noise,” making him believe it was a meteorite.
Lola Saadi, whose apartment is near the Ottawa River Parkway, said it was the “first time I heard something that loud.”
Josee Desjardins, who lives downtown Ottawa, said she saw three dark brown “big rocks” in the sky.
Was it a flare? Fireworks? Those are on a police shortlist of possibilities.
Or was it something more alien?
The investigation continues.
In honour of our other-worldly friends (or ennemies! who knows, but we are betting on the former), here are some accessories we think they'd wanna take home to their leader.
(Artist's rendition of the events of Monday, July 27th).
ET phone home. Steel Magnolia earrings, 19$
The Ring. Erica Weiner secret ring, 56$
We come in peace. MizDragonfly earrings 60$
The aliens have landed! Vanessa Moore alien necklace 32$. (Ok, it's actually a skull, but whatev.)
Aliens landing in Ottawa almost feels like a dream come true for me. Must be my new Rustik dreamcatcher earring - in GREEN no less. 30$.
Oh, and by the way, as much as I'm suuuuuper fascinated by all kinds of paranormal phenomena, here's a warning for you all I had to learn the hard way: DO NOT youtube "aliens caught on tape" late at night by yourself.
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