Wednesday, April 05, 2006

A New Brunswick UFO Case... from 1611!

Yesterday, I provided accounts by Henry Alline and Simeon Perkins of what may have been UFO sightings / encounters with non-human intelligences in Nova Scotia in the late 18th century (as well as Jane Lead's account of here experience in the late 17th century).

As far as the Maritime Provinces are concerned (for those who may be unaware, the Maritime Provinces refer to the provinces now known as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, all of which were at one point colonies of the French, and then the British), there is at least one sighting that occurred long before the 1796 case recorded by Perkins. It is found at pp. 33 - 34 of The River St. John, a 1910 history of the St. John River region by W. O. Raymond (thanks to my Dad for the reference). The sighting occurred on an island now known as Caton Island, which is in southern New Brunswick.

Raymond sets the scene - it is 1611, and starts in Port Royal, the first permanent French settlement in Canada, which was located at present day Annapolis Royal on the Nova Scotia side of the bay of Fundy.

"The summer of 1611 was notable for the arrival of the Jesuit missionaries, Pierre Biard and Enemond Masse, who may be regarded as the pioneers of the order in Canada... Early in the month of October a little island in Long Reach called Emenenic, now known as Caton's Island, was the scene of an exciting incident of which Biard has left us a picturesque description. It seems that Poutrincourt's son, Biencourt, wished to exact submission on the part of a number of traders of St. Malo, who had established a trading post on the island. Accordingly, accompanied by a party of soldiers and the jesuit missionary he proceeded to the scene of their operations.

The party on the island of Emenenic included their captain, Merveille, of St. Malo, and young Pontgrave. Biard in his narrative terms them 'Malouins.'"

Raymond then switches to Biard's account:

"We were still... one league and a half from the island when the twilight ended and night came on. The stars had already begun to appear when suddenly towards the northward a part of the heavens became blood red; and this light spreading little by little in vivid streaks and flashes, moved directly over the settlement of the Malouins and there stopped. The red glow was so brilliant that the whole river was tinged and made luminous by it. This apparition lasted about five minutes and as soon as it disappeared another came in the same form, direction and appearance. Our savages, when they saw this wonder, cried out in their language, 'Gara, gara, maredo' - we shall have war, there will be blood."

Note that Biard describes a light that stopped, not one, like a meteor, that continued on. Note as well that the sightings each lasted about five minutes, which is longer than any meteor that I've ever seen.

Biard's party were put on edge by the sighting. The rest of Biard's description tells of the meeting between his group and the men from St. Malo the next day and night, which was extremely tense, and how they almost came to violence. Much of this undoubtedly had to do with the commercial rivalry between the two groups, and some of the actions taken by the Port Royal contingent, but some also seems to have been on account of what they had seen the night before.

Biard described what happened the next night:

"Now I could not describe to you... what a night this was; for it passed in continual alarms, gun shots and rash acts on the part of some of the men; so that it was feared with good reason that the prognostications seen in the heavens the night before would have their bloody fulfilment on earth. I do not know that there was one who closed his eyes during the night."

So, what did Biard and his party see? Who knows, but it doesn't sound like a meteor to me. Odds are that it was some sort of atmospheric phenomenon, but the possibility remains that it was something else.

If this sighting was reported today by a group that included a priest and soldiers, ufologists would no doubt take it very seriously. Alas, given that it took place almost four hundred years ago, we can't interview witnesses, check radar reports, and so forth. Still, this case, and others like it, should give ufologists cause to ponder the timeless nature of the UFO phenomenon... or, at the very least, always keep in mind that it predates 1947.

Paul Kimball

P.S. In the "that's a weird coincidence" category, Caton Island is today home to a summer camp for the Wesleyan Church, and sits, more or less, in the middle of the St. John River, across from the Beulah Camp and Conference Center. Beulah is a facility that was for years operated by the Reformed Baptists (who eventually merged with the Wesleyans), and it's where my grandfather, Reverend Hollis Kimball, spent many summers preaching and participating in revival meetings.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speaking as a sometime Astronomy undergraduate (U. of St Andrews, Scotland) and amateur observer, this sounds to me entirely consistent with a display of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).

Depending on his origins (perhaps further south than the locale in question), a European priest may well have been relatively unfamiliar with this phenomenon and its range of appearances.

The local indigenes ("savages") would have been more accustomed to it, but might well have interpreted it in prophetic fashion. Is anything known about their cultural beliefs relating to astronomical and celestial phenomena?

Paul Kimball said...

pte-ri:

I concur that the A.B. is the most likely explanation. Stan Friedman sent me an e-mail earlier today suggesting the same thing.

While we'll never know for sure (short of a time machine), I think it's fairly safe to put Father Briard's case in the IFO category.

However, it's still an interesting account from an area not far from where I live, so it interests me. It is also far from unique in terms of pre-1947 "sightings" - a time period that deserves more attention. If nothing else, working with the probable conclusion that it was AB, we can cross it off the list of UFO cases, which is always a useful exercise.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paul

Paul Kimball said...

pte-ri:

I meant to add (but forgot)...

Biard was born in Grenoble, France. I've never been there, alas, so I couldn't say whether the residents would be familiar with the A.B., but as it's in the south, they would not have actually seen it (although I'm certainly willing to be corrected on this point by someone more familiar with astronomy than I am). As for Biard in particular, his biography is not specific enough to tell whether he had ever been far enough north himself to have previously seen the A.B..

However, the French colony was new - it had only been there a couple of years - and Briard was recently arrived from France, so it is certainly possible that none of his party that evening had ever seen the A.B. before.

As for the natives, a quick Google search provides this:

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/HowGlooskapMadeAMagician-Micmac.html

The natives were certainly well aware of the A.B., and it was part of their own oral tradition.

More on the legends of Glooskap can be found here:

http://www.blackmask.com/books108c/lgqlq.htm

On the other hand...

Rev. C. J. Mersereau, in "The First Missionary in Canada: Ennémond Massé" [CCHA, Report 19 (1952), 13 - 27, discusses Biard's sighting (he says it is unclear whether Masse saw it), and notes:

"What was the phenomenon that Father Biard witnessed? Was it a display of Northern Lights of extreme brilliancy? It seems to have been something more than Aurora Borealis because the description is most extraordinary. We do not know whether Father Massé saw anything in the sky that night."

The full article, which is quite interesting in and of itself, can be found at:

http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA1952/Merseau.htm

If the natives were familiar with the A.B., as they no doubt were, then one might expect that they would not have gotten quite as excited about it as Biard describes.

Of interest is a slightly different version of Biard's sighting, which can be found here:

http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations/relations_03.html

The account comes from Biard's "RELATION OF NEW FRANCE, OF ITS LANDS, NATURE OF THE COUNTRY, and of its Inhabitants, ALSO, Of the voyage of the Jesuit Fathers to said country, and of their work there up to the time of their cap-ture by the English."

It was a report written by Biard to the King in 1616 of his travels / adventures. It is fascinating reading, and reveals Biard to have been a rather sensible person (certainly for his time), more sympathetic to the natives than most.

"Now as we were sailing up the river, being already about a league and a half from the Maloüïn settlement, towards nightfall a phenomenon appeared to us, which filled us with terror. For the heavens became wonderfully red over the Maloüïn habitation, and then the glow, separating into long rays and flashes of light, moved on and melted away over this settlement. This appeared twice. Our Savages, when they saw this wonder, cried out in their language: Gara gara: Maredo. 'We shall have war, there will be blood.' The French also made some Prophecies thereupon, each according to his own idea."

This seems to have come directly from the original, and is therefore more accurate than Raymond's version.

It does sound like the A.B., doesn't it - but then why would the natives, who were presumably familiar with the A.B., and the other French members of the party, who had probably seen the A.B. in the years previous to 1611 (they weren't all recent arrivals like Biard) terrified?

Who knows? Probably A.B., but there is still something about the account that sets it apart, and makes one wonder, if only just a bit.

St. Andrews, eh? Golfed there a couple of times when I spent a year on exchange at the University of Dundee (1987-88). Lovely town.

Paul

Anonymous said...

Very intense A.B. displays are red, so-called "great red auroras." They are not common and so the natives would probably not have sen them very often. This is certainly A.B.

Paul Kimball said...

Anonymous:

Hmm... I'm always leery of saying it was "certainly" anything when we're talking about 400 years ago. Further, if they aren't common (true enough), then it was certainly a coincidence that one popped up tha night. Finally, who's to say what the natives with Biard's group had or had not seen before in their lives?

Probably? Yes. Most likely? Yes.

Certainly? Sorry, but not quite.

Paul

Anonymous said...

Then why did you say "then it was certainly a coincidence"? if your leery about saying "certainly" about anything that happened 400 years ago?

Paul Kimball said...

Oh, I think, given the circumstances, that my use of "certainly" was more apropos than A's, especially as I prefaced it by saying "if they aren't common". That would make it the very definition of certainty. However, I'm willing to admit that I shouldn't have used "certainly" as we can't be sure what it was and why it happened (although I think we can be pretty sure, i.e. "balance of probabilities" sure). Therefore, I hereby amend my previous comment, which shall now read: "it was almost certainly a coincidence that one popped up that night." Note that I've also fixed the spelling of "that". :-)

Paul

Anonymous said...

I find this report to be very interesting. I've visited the other sites you listed in hopes of getting a better estimate of the date when this observation was made but with no success. Do you know of any other sources that might help pin it down to an exact date? Thanks.

Paul Kimball said...

Kim:

Actually, the United States didn't "attack" Afghanistan - it was a broad coalition, which included the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy, among others then and since. It was in direct response to the 9/11 attacks, and the Taliban's refusal to hand over Al Quaeda leaders who were operating from its territory and who were supported by the regime. It was also sanctioned by the United Nations.

Thanks for the input on the Native angle, however.

Paul