[meteorite-list] Canadian Prime Minister's Plane Buzzed By Fireball

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:56 2004
Message-ID: <200403290502.VAA27109_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040328.wufoo0328/BNStory/National/

PM's plane buzzed by UFO
By JIM BRONSKILL
Canadian Press
March 28, 2004

Ottawa - What fate the stars hold for Paul Martin may be unclear.

But one thing's certain: Canada's Prime Minister recently had a
high-flying close encounter with a UFO.

Mr. Martin and his entourage were cruising above Alberta when their
Challenger jet came within an otherworldly whisker of a luminous object
streaking through the night sky.

In a report to Edmonton air traffic controllers, the pilot of Mr. Martin's
plane noted seeing a "very bright light falling" through the
air, with smoke trailing, while the aircraft passed over Suffield, Alta.,
on Sun., March 21.

People aboard at least two other planes also saw the plummeting object,
which was travelling "at a very fast rate of speed" from a
high altitude, says the report.

A copy of the one-page form, titled "UFO Procedures,"
was provided to The Canadian Press by Chris Rutkowski of the
Winnipeg-based group Ufology Research of Manitoba.

Mr. Rutkowski, a long-time tracker of UFO sightings, obtained the report
from the federal Transport Department, which routinely forwards him data
on unidentified flying objects.

Mr. Martin travelled to a farm near Picture Butte, Alta., to announce an
aid package for farmers last Monday.

So was an extraterrestrial envoy trying to convey a message to Canada's
new leader?

Unlikely, says Mr. Rutkowski. What the Prime Minister's plane and
many others saw that night was almost certainty a chunk of a comet or an
asteroid that entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up into fragments.

An amateur astronomer in Calgary captured the blazing streak on
videotape. And it appears one or more such fireballs were seen by people
across the Prairies and as far east as Quebec.

In any event, it's unclear if Mr. Martin or his aides even glimpsed the
object that crossed the plane's path.

"I'm not sure of whether the Prime Minister himself was apprised
of what the pilot had seen at the time," Mr. Rutkowski said.

Justin Kingsley, a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office, could not
shed light on the question of whether Mr. Martin was aware of the
celestial sighting. "I don't have any other information than what
was provided through the protocol of the pilots," said Mr.
Kingsley.

Ufology Research of Manitoba publishes an annual study on UFO sightings
in Canada, including many cases involving meteors.

The group's recently released 2003 survey found that a record 673
reports of unidentified objects were made to various organizations
and investigators in Canada.
Received on Mon 29 Mar 2004 12:02:01 AM PST