MARCH 22nd - 29th 1997

On Saturday 22nd March, the CSETI Southern Ontario Working Group went down to Lake Ontario for a skywatch, mostly of the Hale-Bopp Comet. Weather conditions were perfect. Clear skies, cold at around -12 degrees C without the windchill. Members of working group were: J.J, J.M., and M.H. We started our session at 19.30 hrs. J.M. had had a very strong feeling for about two weeks prior to this session that we should be on the northern shore of Lake Ontario facing south. He then had a dream about a golden bubble coming down and taking him up. We stood on the beach and looked north in order to see the comet which was astounding in its beauty. Then J.M. turned towards the lake and called our attention to an orange light that was over the water, some way out. We looked at the light through binoculars, and its seemed to be stationary. We then turned back towards the north to continue looking at the comet. It was rather chilly, so M.H. suggested going back to her house for warm-up drinks, and maybe we could come back to the lake shore a little later. This we did and we eventually returned to the shore at 21.15 hrs. We kept our eyes in a south east direction and then saw another orange light. It hovered over the lake. Timing was 21.36. The next "orange orb" appeared at 22.05, hovered for a while, and gradually sank down into the water in front of what appeared to be a lit up beacon or marker of some kind. Another orb appeared at 22.09 and hovered. At 22.24 a very large orb appeared, from "nowhere" just like the others, it hovered for a while, came down almost to the water's surface, then rose up again, making in the direction of the U.S. The fifth orb, at 22.35 appeared, hovered and then seemingly disappeared from view. On Sunday, 23rd March, 1997, three members of the working group went to the same location. Members present were: J.J., E.J. and M.H. Weather conditions were fair, good visibility, temperature around +4 degrees C but damp. The first orb appeared in the direction of a power station close by, and then there were three orbs, appearing close together in time, exactly where we had seen them the previous night. It has been noted that when these orbs hover, they change in light intensity, thus giving an appearance of pulsating. As the orb sits on the water's surface, it produces a reflection, and then seems to disappear down into its reflection. The three orbs were all visible simultaneously. The orb over the power station appeared at 20.13 and the three orbs over the lake all within seconds of each other at 20.20. They simply appeared, hovered and submerged, yet again by this lit marker. At 20.37 another orb appeared left of our light marker. It seemed to just sit motionless, and there was an aircraft flying above it. This was useful in showing the totally different appearance of the two objects, regarding colour and flight characteristics. On Monday, 24th March, 1997, three members of the working group went to the same location. Members present were: M.H., S.R., and B.R. This was a very brief session due to time constraints, but two orbs appeared, One at 19.58 and one at 20.00. Both appeared, hovered and submerged in the same place. On Tuesday, 25th March, 1997, two members of the working group went to the same location. Members present were: J.J. and C.Y. Weather conditions were poor. Strong winds, heavy rain and major light pollution from a movie production team located about 200 yards along the beach. No sightings whatsoever. On Wednesday, 26th March, 1997, two members of the working group went to the same location. Members present were: J.J. and D.M. Weather conditions fair, good visibility, low light pollution, temperature around + 2 degrees C. D.M. had astronomical binoculars to make our viewing considerably better. The light marker was no longer there, but we could see the farther shore, and a line of bright orange lights which pulsated constantly, went down to one light, and then changed back to three lights. Just as the binoculars were set up on the tripod at 19.30 a large orange orb appeared in the usual location. The angle from the horizon at which they usually appear is roughly 35 to 40 degrees. This orb just appeared, hovered for quite some time, and then rose up into the high cloud. A second, much brighter and larger orb appeared five minutes later. It almost seemed to be approaching closer but slightly towards the north west. I took a lamp and flashed briefly at the orb. The orb stopped moving completely, hovered, and then started backing up. It simply reversed and then disappeared. No more sightings. On Thursday, March 27th, 1997, two working group members went to the same location. Working group members present were: J.J. and M.H. Weather conditions poor. Cold, damp and virtually nil visibility due to fog. No sightings. On Friday, March 28th, 1997, three working group members went to the same location. Working group members present were: J.J., M.H. and J.M. Weather conditions poor. Choppy water with waves up to 2 metres. Mild temperatures around 14 degrees C. Three orange orbs appeared almost simultaneously at 20.00 hrs. They just appeared from nowhere, and then disappeared again. On Saturday, March 29th, 1997, two working group members went to a different location west of the regular site. Working group members present were: J.J. and E.J. Weather conditions poor. Shore visibility was fair, mild temperature at around +6 degrees C, but a bank of fog out over the water. No sightings. D.M. did not accompany the group. She viewed the lake from her residence much further east along the shore. She had looked up and seen one orange orb much higher up than we normally see them at 19.50 hrs. She then saw two vertical shafts of light next to each other, measuring about 12 inches at arm's length, behind the clouds. She then saw a configuration of lights close to the water's surface at 20.20 hrs. A set of three white lights and one red light. This red light appeared to move back and forth along the horizontal line of white lights, and there also appeared to be a blue light, in conjunction with these others.