Flashing light seen in the sky
BY Don Newlands
Special to The Trentonian

Is a UFO keeping tabs on southern Ontario?

A strange object appearing in the night sky has been reported by observers from Ottawa to Rochester NY. - including Trenton - and along the north shore of Lake Ontario.

The object, which appeared in the south west sky, about 20 degrees above the horizon, was first reported by Don Henderson in Cobourg at around 10:30 p.m. August 9.

According to Henderson, the object remained visible for three hours.

Henderson said the object appeared to be stationary and was flashing red, yellow, green, blue and white.

Henderson, a one-time field engineer with Ontario Hydro, said he had never sen anything like it.

"I wanted others to confirm what I was seeing...I hesitate to call it a UFO," said Henderson.

Through an amateur radio link-up, Henderson was able to confirm his observations with other amateurs in the area.

A radio operator camping on a lake near Ottawa reported sighting the object and watching the strange flashing colors.

The object was also observed by tower staff on duty at the CFB Trenton.

They also reported that a similar object had been observed 180-degrees to the North East.

Some observers, among them amateur astronomers, suggested that the object may have been a star and the flashing colors were caused by heat deflection and a layer of smog.

Terrence Dickinson, a leading authority and columnist on astronomy in Canada, has suggested that the pulsating colors were caused by the intersection of the Jet Stream into the observer's line of sight, thus creating a prismatic color change.

Dickinson thought the effect was created by the starlight from Antares, the brightest star situated in the constellation Scorpio.

He also noted that the stars on the night of August 9 were vigorously twinkling, which he said generally indicates a turbulent jet stream is present.

Others reported that several of these objects had been observed earlier in the week.