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Post details: The Place Bonaventure Incident - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

11/27/06

04:12:08 pm, by

, 230 words

Categories: Paranormal - General, Paranormal - Investigations

The Place Bonaventure Incident - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Perhaps the most famous UFO sighting in Quebec’s history happened in Montreal on November 7, 1990.

A woman was swimming in the (presumably heated) rooftop swimming pool atop the 17 floor Place Bonaventure hotel. She noticed a round object in the sky emitting beams of light.

Soon after the police, a journalist, the RCMP, the military, and NASA were informed. The sighting lasted almost 3 hours, from 7:20 pm to 10:10 pm.

This caught the interest of Bernard Guénette, a UFO researcher in Montreal.

In 1992, he and Dr. Richard Haines, a former NASA scientist, published a report on the incident. In conclusion, the report claims that "evidence for the existence of a highly unusual, hovering, silent large object is indisputable." The size of the object was estimated to be about 540 meters wide.

Some have suggested that the object was, in fact, the northern lights, This explanation is borderline silly, as Montreal is well known for it’s light pollution, which make chances of glimpsing the northern lights in the central business district of Montreal very low.

Also, the alleged phenomena in the sighting is quite different from the northern lights.

More than likely, the northern lights explanation is a lazy attempt to debunk the sighting.

The sighting remains a mystery.

Our thanks to Stu Finlay of Pararesearchers of Quebec for the above write-up.

Translation in French is provided on the P.O.Q website.

Permalink 9 comments

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: Chris (remoteplanet) [Visitor]

It's a really fascinating sighting. Not only that, but multiple witnesses.

CBC Television archived its story on this event online. You can view the online video at http://www.tiny.cc/2Glsr

Chris

Permalink 11/28/06 @ 10:57

Comment from: admin [Member]

Thanks for the link Chris! Looking forward to Weird Wednesday tomorrow .. :)

Permalink 11/28/06 @ 11:13

Comment from: Dave [Visitor] · http://sinsear777.diaryland.com

Ohhh, a video and everything. I'll have to check that out when Iget home and can surf freely.

Permalink 11/28/06 @ 11:44

Comment from: Lynn Tucker [Visitor] · http://www.motivated-motion.blogspot.com

I have stayed at La Place Bonneventure many times over the years.
I can say for a fact that there is no way to see the Northern lights from that location. The buildings around are too well lit at night to allow us to see this phenomenon.
La Place Bonneventure is not the highest building on the Montreal skyline.
From the (yest it is heated) pool you can see a dozen taller buildings which are all lit brightly at night.

There is a very strange ballroom that is a dome atop a building close to the hotel. It is a compelling site, and it is the object in the foreview of anyone looking out from the pool.
If there was something hovering over that area it would be distinct for sure.

From that height every building top looks bigger than life and bright at night. If the woman saw something it would be clear to her what she saw. Her words cannot be taken lightly.

Permalink 11/28/06 @ 13:45

Comment from: Chris (remoteplanet) [Visitor]

Well said, Lynn! Her words cannot be taken lightly, nor can the fact that many other witnesses corroborated what she saw. It's always nice to have an extended three-hour sighting too.

Now if an apparition could have so many witnesses, be taped on video and hang out for such an extended period of time... as well as engage in an enlightening conversation about the other side. That would be perfecto. :-)

Chris

Permalink 11/28/06 @ 14:13

Comment from: Andy [Visitor] · http://spicycauldron.com

Thanks for this. I'd never heard of or read about this before, and it was fascinating.

I've included a link to this story in the blog review round-up I've just completed. x

Permalink 11/28/06 @ 19:41

Comment from: admin [Member]

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the report Andy, and thank you ... :)

Permalink 11/28/06 @ 21:55

Comment from: Stu [Visitor] · http://quebec.pararesearchers.org/index.html

Thanks everyone. I was going to post but a few days ago but have been busy.

Lynn, I agree with you. You cannot see the northern lights from Downtown Montreal, barring some sort of black out.

A more possible, only slightly more possible mind you, mundane explanaition is that what was seen was lights atop the still under construction (at the time)1000 La Gauchetiere, which is the tallest building in Montreal at 673 feet and 49 stories. Still, this does not match the described phenomenon.

Anyway, thanks for the plug Matt and Sue and thanks to Chris for that link and everyone who commented. :)

Permalink 12/06/06 @ 00:10

Comment from: admin [Member]

Stu -> I'll be featuring more of your reports and pimpin' your website in the coming weeks!

Cheers!
Sue

Permalink 12/06/06 @ 09:30

Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

The entries found on this blog are loosely based on on the thoughts and discussion of Matthew Didier and Sue Darroch... two paranormal investigators/researchers based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada who just also happen to be a couple. Through Paranormal Studies and Investigations Canada, ParaResearchers, The Ghosts and Hauntings Research Societies, and several other groups, Matthew and Sue have a combined experience of well over twenty-five years in the field of the paranormal. Feel free to contact the blog author via admin at psican.org for further information.