October 4th, 1967, shortly before midnight, three fisherman stare in disbelief out into the water.
In front of them, four bright glowing lights shine towards the shore, hiding the dark silhouette of an unidentified object that had just crashed down only moments before.
This historic scene is now depicted on a new silver coin as a way to commemorate the Shag Harbour UFO Incident of 1967.
The ‘Unexplained Phenomena’ coin, printed by the Royal Canadian Mint, retells the story of when a UFO crashed into the waters of Shag Harbour.
The Mint worked closely with both the Shag Harbour Incident Society and witnesses of the incident when designing the coin to ensure it represented the event perfectly.
Christa Bruce, product manager for the mint, says the story of Shag Harbour remains one of the most famous UFO sightings in Canada.
“It was a really big deal in the community at the time,” she said.
“I think most people do believe the story, I certainly believe the story simply because there were a lot of eye witnesses to this event, and they were credible eye witnesses.”
Demand had flooded in for a coin to be made after the Mint released one in 2018 on the Falcon Lake Incident.
“We do issue a great variety of coins on stories that have shaped the Canadian experience, and this does include stories about unexplained phenomena,” said Bruce.
“We thought the Shag Harbour UFO story fit nicely into this.”
Bruce will be presenting the coin at the annual Shag Harbour UFO Festival this weekend alongside the Shag Harbour Incident Society and witnesses from that night.
The festival kicks off Friday at 6 PM, and coins will be available for sale and on display.
Reported by: Cody McEachern
Twitter: @CodyInHiFi
E-mail: mceachern.cody@radioabl.ca