NUFORC Sighting 157136

Occurred: 2003-08-21 16:30 Local
Reported: 2020-06-25 09:18 Pacific
Duration: 20-30 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Ottawa (Canada), ON, Canada

Shape: Disk


What I first thought was a hot air balloon suddenly changed shape to reveal itself as a saucer overflying the heart of Canada's capital

(Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA) On Thursday, August 21, 2003, at approximately 4:30 p.m., I was walking towards the Byward Market area with a friend, a fellow worker. We had been walking North on MacKenzie Street and made for the steps between the Connaught Building and the U.S. Embassy. As we were walking down the steps, I observed what looked like a hot air balloon in the sky straight ahead of us, i.e. looking East down George Street.

When I glanced back at it a few seconds later, I noticed the object’s strange behaviour: changing shape, something that a hot air balloon does not do, obviously. I tried to get my friend to check it out but by the time he turned to look, it had disappeared from view. I, on the other hand, had by then understood why its shape was changing: it was a disc-like object that had revolved on itself to look like a saucer on its side (note: perhaps the occupants wanted their “craft” to appear as a “hot air balloon”). It was 15 to 20 m. in diameter and around 4-5 m. in height. It was dark red. This is why I first thought it was a red hot air balloon since these are fairly common in our area, especially in August. When I first saw the object, it was about 400-500 m. away and at an altitude of about 20-25 m. (note: this estimate is based on the position of the object as it came very near a building that was about four stories high). For the couple of seconds I believed it was a hot air! balloon, I even thought it might crash or land atop a building because I had “rationalized” that it was part of a radio station stunt arranged with the Hard Rock Cafe, the rooftop terrace of which the object was approaching. When we rounded the corner of Williams Street, my friend and I both saw the object in the sky moving North. It was then about 1 km. away and not moving very fast. Unfortunately, it was too far away for my friend to tell what it was.

Please note that the above report is a revised version of the initial report I submitted to NUFORC in August 2004, a year after the sighting. That report inexplicably disappeared from the NUFORC database some time this year. I have revised the date of the sighting since I had, at first, mistakenly thought that the event occurred during the famous power outage of August 14, 2003, but I was later corrected by the friend who was with me at the time. I also made changes to the dimensions of the object as it did have dimensions similar to those of a hot air balloon.

Posted 2020-06-25

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