The Visitation...

a UFO experience on Cape Breton Island

A summer night that changed us forever...

This event occurred around 1975 at the hostel I was running near Cheticamp, Nova Scotia.
Every evening some 20-40 backpackers would descend on my farmhouse nestled between the mountains and the ocean to spend the night.
The ruggedly beautiful terrain drew travellers from the States, all of Canada and beyond. Great Britain, Australia, the Caribbean and Europe were all represented.
One never knew what to expect. It was an ever-changing, fascinating mix of people around the nightly campfire.

It was just past midnight and things were winding down for the evening.
People headed to the bunkhouse and tucked into their sleeping bags for a night's rest.
One last straggler stepped outside to relieve himself. As he looked up into the night sky, he saw an unusual formation of stars in the east. He called for us to come look at the strange cluster of stars. We clambered out of beds and sleeping bags, late night conversations and jam sessions to see what he was so excited about.

The cluster of stars in the northeast began to drift toward us slowly, crossing the night sky, becoming brighter as they approached.
Like an armada, the lights floated our way, slowly spreading out and engulfing the entire sky above us.
As if drawn by a magnet, we abandoned our beds, grabbed blankets and sleeping bags and laid out in the tall grass of the fields till we were spread out like the stars, too.

The stars drew closer, hovering seemingly just out of reach, but not out of earshot.
The stars bore little horsetails of light from which a soft swishing sound could be heard. The 'stars' hovered over us for several hours and seemed to pulse above us.
The sky above us was filled with these huge pulsating stars.

We were spellbound and nearly paralyzed by the beauty of the spectacle.
The stars pulsed above us for hours. Tears flowed down our cheeks.
There was a loving energy that emanated from the stars that was deeply moving.
We wept for unknown joy.

It slowly dawned on us that a visitation and a transmission of energy had occurred. There was a clear sense that each one of us had been gathered together as though hand-chosen to be part of that event.

After some hours, the stars slowly withdrew and gathered together, returning in the same manner and by the same way they had come.

In the morning, no one spoke of it. There were no words for what we had experienced. Those gathered there that night quietly dispersed... each to his future.

In the days that followed, I waited to hear about the event in the news, but nothing was mentioned. When I investigated, neither the weather service, the RCMP or general news made any acknowledgment of the event.

Though it seems obvious now, I did not think of the 'stars' as UFO craft till some time had passed...

I will never forget the awe, the intense beauty, loving pulsations and the sense of destiny that accompanied this visitation...