FROM THE ARCHIVES
B.C. UFOs, Beam Of Light, Frightened Residents
Over 200 witnesses speak out - We Want To Know!
What can cause so many residents in various communities from Kamloops
through to the Okanagan and the Kootenays in British Columbia left
scratching their heads, wondering what it was they all witnessed.
Also many people became very frightened and ran into their homes.
The answers to the questions I have been asked have been hard to come
by, but we certainly know something extraordinary did take place on
July 28, 2003 in the early morning hours.
The story begins with a family who was camping at St. Mary's Lake,
which is located approximately 12 miles east of Kimberley, British
Columbia, Canada. Around 12:45 a.m. the husband and wife decided to
do some star gazing as the children were asleep and the night was
warm and the sky clear and full of stars. As the couple stood looking
into the night sky they observed a very bright, white light heading
in a southeasterly direction. The moon sized light was witnessed flying
low over top Bootleg Mountain and across the lake and at times it's
speed did vary. As it slowed, then picking up speed once again the
witnesses watched the light zig zag slightly and at times it seemed
to wobble until it was out of sight.
When they arrived back home from their camping trip they contacted
the Kimberley RCMP detachment and spoke to a Cpl. Rod Carbonneau to
enquire if others had reported seeing the object. Cpl. Rod Carbonneau
said the detachment received no calls over this matter. The Cranbrook
Airport was also contacted and asked if there were any aircraft in
the area of the sighting .... but none were reported in the vicinity
the object was observed. For the couple who watched this amazing sight
on July 28, 2003 not many answers were fourth coming. A couple of
area residents did telephone the folks who watched the event telling
them what they also saw that night, and another did make a report
to the local newspaper.
From A Few Witnesses To a Flood Of Calls.
A report was made to Peter Davenport at the NUFORC in Seattle, Washington
and then the sighting report was forwarded on to me, Brian Vike in
Houston, British Columbia for a follow-up investigation. What I did
not realize at this time was just how large this one case was going
to be. From a handful of witnesses the case exploded into a major
event where I ended up with over 200 eye witnesses to something very
mysterious.
Two things happened in the early morning hours that Sunday, a large
moon sized object was seen by many area residents, and what followed
left many folks in communities such as Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna,
Kimberley, Cranbrook and as far as Jaffray, British Columbia scratching
their heads wondering what it was they saw. A beam, or ray of white
light was observed from Kamloops as far southeast as Jaffray, British
Columbia. People who watched the strange and puzzling event said the
white light looked as bright as a florescent tube and was arced from
horizon to horizon as if one was viewing a rainbow. The beam of light
sat almost stationary in this position for approximately an hour before
dissipating. Almost everyone who witnessed the beam of white light
said they had never seen anything like this before. All said they
have watched the northern lights many times, but they commented this
was certainly not the northern lights!
A Few Of The Eye Witness Accounts - The Light/Object (July 28, 2003)
A gentleman from Cranbrook, B.C. telephoned me and reported that he
and his family were sitting outside and were discussing how bad the
forest fires are throughout the southern interior when one of the
family members spotted what they thought was a airplane with it's
landing lights on and heading in their direction. As the bright white
light drew closer to them, the size was growing rapidly and so was
the brightness of the light. Before they knew it, the light/object
was upon them. The family was so frightened due to the immense size
of the light/object being almost at the edge of their property that
the children ran into the house screaming. The mother followed closely
behind. The father followed his wife and kids into the home, but stopped
to take one last glance at whatever it was, and watched it make a
90 degree turn to the south. When I spoke to the dad he told me that
they heard not a sound coming from it.
Another report came from a lady who was with a group of people on
their holiday at their cabin on one of the local Kimberley, B.C. lakes.
She told me they were sitting outside on the deck when one of the
guests pointed towards the northwest. Low over one of the mountains
came a huge, extremely bright white light traveling slowly in a zig
zag pattern heading to the southeast. As it got closer to the resort
area, many people became uncomfortable due to how strange the object/light
was acting. As it passed straight overhead not a sound was heard.
Some of the folks who were there said it was like looking at a full
moon on a clear night. It was that big!
Two men in a pick-up truck traveling north along the highway just
south of Wycliffe spotted the large bright object flying south. As
they watched the large light/object close in on their location they
pulled the truck over to the side of the highway, and jumped out of
the vehicle to get a better look. Due to it being so low, so bright,
and passing directly over top of them the light from the object lit
up the highway and surrounding area. Both men stood frozen in their
tracks and speechless. Both fellows said it moved quickly in a straight
line and made no unusual maneuvers. Again no sound was heard which
is remarkable due to how close it was to these men, and all the other
witnesses.
The above is a small example of what folks saw that night. There are
many more reports here of area residents reporting seeing the same
thing.
A Few Of The Eye Witness Accounts - Beam Of Light (July 28, 2003)
One lady said what she saw was very strange, it didn't behave like
the northern lights as she noted that the lights danced across the
sky, or looked like a curtain of shimmering light. She wondered if
the long dry hot weather may have something to do with what she was
seeing. But her thoughts changed quickly as she watched the beam of
light come from the northwest horizon and impaled itself on one of
the local hills and that is where it ended, according to this witness.
A party of four witnesses were out for a few days on one of the areas
lakes just outside of Kimberley, B.C. Everyone was having a good time
talking and having a few spirits. One of the men who was sitting on
a camping chair had just poured himself a drink, when he looked up
and said to the rest of the people he was with, "do you see what
I am seeing"? Everyone replied, "yes"! The man who
asked the question was so surprised at what he was looking at, he
poured his drink onto the ground and thought he'd had one to many
that evening! They all watched a beam of narrow bright white light
run in an arc from horizon to horizon.
First they wondered if it might have been a search light as it was
so bright, but they soon ruled this out due to the miles and miles
the light covered. Again all these witnesses said this event lasted
for approximately one hour before it dissipated.
Some three weeks after people saw the beam of light on July 28, 2003,
I had calls from Kelowna and Kimberley British Columbia reporting
that the beam of light was back in the night sky. Two Kelowna residents
stood on the patio with phone in hand reporting what it was they were
seeing. The exact white beam of light sat stationary running from
horizon to horizon and was extremely bright.
Four Kimberley residents stood outside watching the beam of light,
they reported standing under a street lamp and even with brightness
from the street light they could clearly see the beam of light sitting
in the dark sky.
Conclusions
There is no doubt that something very unusual took place on Sunday,
July 28, 2003 in the wee hours that morning. What folks saw in all
these communities seems to be a mystery. But I have tried to come
up with some reasonable answers for all the questions everyone had
for me.
Here Is What I Know -
Over 200 witnesses watched an amazing event unfold on July 28, 2003
(early morning). Some observed the object and others observed the
beam of light. (Exact numbers are broken down for how many saw the
object or beam of light below.What I didn't say is how many saw both).
38 witnesses observed a huge, bright white low flying light/object.
162 witnesses observed the reported beam of bright white light.
The International Space Station passed over Kimberley, B.C., at 00:24
hrs. on July 27, 2003.
A Fire Ball was observed flying in a southeasterly direction over
the West Coast of Canada and the U.S.
Most of the witnesses reported the light/object and beam of light
running from the northwest to the southeast.
There would have been a lot of air traffic in some of these areas
due to the fire fighting efforts to control the devastating forest
fires which raged through some of these areas in the summer of 2003.
Our hearts go out to the people who were effected.
So, the questions that need an be answered are.... What was the strange,
large, glowing bright object? Did the object cause the beam of light
which sat stationary in the night sky for approximately an hour as
the object traveled through the areas?
As for the object, this is certainly a mystery. After a lot of time
speaking with witnesses, looking at data on astronomical events, checking
on the flight paths, seeing if there were aircraft in these areas
flying at the time of the sighting...... I have come up against a
brick wall. I have not found any rational explanation for what people
saw that night. Fireballs for example as far as I know do not make
90 degree turns to another direction. Also seeing that the object
was so low, traveling rather slow in many of the reports and not making
a sound. This again is certainly strange. Something else I found rather
interesting, was the fact that reported sightings had dropped from
my area here in the pacific northwest of British Columbia and reports
of unusual crafts of every kind were now being seen and reported by
many people residing in the areas from Kamloops, the Okanagan straight
through into the Kootenays. Almost every different shape, color and
size have been reported to Brian Vike. Did the over 800 forest fires
attract visitors from above? I am sure we will never really know the
answer to that question..... ?
The beam of white light ended up still being as baffling as the object.
When reports started coming in I was sure what everyone was seeing
was nothing more than the northern lights. But as the list of witnesses
grew, and hearing their comments, I started wondering if there was
a connection to these unknowns and the beam of white light. Out of
the 126+ witnesses who observed the ray of light running across the
night sky from horizon to horizon, only one report was filed saying
they believed it to be nothing more than the northern lights. (which
I report on below). Everyone else said they have never witnessed anything
like in their lives. All said they have watched the northern lights
on many occasions, and in their words "this was not the northern
lights".
A radio station host put a question on air to the people in the area,
asking "has anyone seen strange lights in the night sky?"
I was told reports flooded in over this beam of light, and how everyone
was left not knowing what it was they saw.
To be fair to all sides, I placed below an email I received from a
person who did have some knowledge in astronomy, weather phenomena
and the northern lights. One thing I would like to point out, is that
what the gentleman viewed was not on the day of this major event.
The email came from a gentleman who, on the evening of July 26, 2003
and morning of July 27, 2003, stated that a sailing regatta was held
by the Kelowna Yacht Club. Although the event discussed in the report
above took place in the early morning hours of July 28, 2003, I thought
the report below was important due to how close all of the events
were to one another. Plus I want to give both sides on this case.
Credit: From The Brian Vike Archives & Sightings.com
