Did UFOs go to Alberta?

By CHRIS KITCHING
The Winnepeg Sun
4-6-06

'Toba sightings in '05 down significantly

      Maybe it was our lousy summer or the Blue Bombers' wretched regular season that kept them away.

Whatever the reason, fewer unidentified flying objects were spotted in Manitoba's skies last year than in 2004.

Ufology Research of Manitoba spokesman Chris Rutkowski said there were 43 sightings reported to his independent agency in 2005. Twenty-three of them were in Winnipeg.

He received 112 reports from around the province in 2004, a record-setting year.

"We're way down, but despite that (Canada) recorded its second-highest number of sightings in a single year," Rutkowski said. "Most people aren't convinced these are spaceships. Many have reasonable explanations." Most sightings are lights in the sky. There has been no evidence of extraterrestrial involvement.

But some can't be explained.

One such case was reported in Vita, Man., on Aug. 7 when three people reported seeing a silver missile-shaped object.

No, it wasn't a plane, witness Peter Osadchuk said.

"It was a tubular shape with protrusions on the sides," he said. "We could not figure out what it was before it got out of eyesight."

Rutkowski said two people saw a similar object in Winnipeg the same day. It's unknown what it was or if it was the same UFO.

"It was hovering in the sky making no sound and it suddenly vanished after a short length of time," he said.

Rutkowski's independent agency researches sightings and releases an annual tally on them.

He said Canadians reported 769 sightings last year, which translates into about two a day. Canada recorded 882 in 2004.

Ontario tops the 2005 list with 214, while Nunavut was the only jurisdiction without a report.

Calgary and Vancouver's 29 sightings were the most of all urban centres.

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