The officer and the light of Clarenville
The account
A glowing object supposedly hovered over the water for hours, in front of a police officer and a dozen residents.
What investigators found
The officer's account is considered serious, but the object was never identified; skeptics cite stars or distant lights.
The story
On October 26, 1978, about twelve people in Clarenville, Newfoundland, reported a glowing object over the bay. Among the witnesses was Constable James Blackwood of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who watched the object hover about 30 meters above the water for one or two hours.
The presence of a police officer gave the case weight, and Blackwood repeated his account in interviews decades later. There was no radar record and no official conclusion about what the object was. Skeptics point out that lights reflected on the water, stars and distant boats can look motionless and strange at night. To ufologists, it is one of the best-witnessed cases on Canada's Atlantic coast.