2002-08-12 - Iroquois Falls, ON - Other

I was just standing by the river on the dock at my uncle's cabin. I was alone, everyone else had gone inside. The embers from the fire over which we roasted our supper were still glowing warmly, beckoning me to sit by them. No sounds but that of the crickets, owls and other denizens of the night did I hear. I stared at the clear night sky, with its stars and moon shining brilliantly in all their glory, and then at the perfectly still, flawless surface of the river which reflected the scene in the sky magnificently. It was as though I stood upon a plain between two skies, one above me and one below me, each an exact representation of the other. Looking down I wondered that if I were to step off the dock would I truly plunge into the warm, placid water or would I in fact fall into the night sky? Suddenly, on the glassy surface I spied a star that seemed to be moving! "Surely it is a satellite." I told myself. But it was much to large to be light reflecting off a satellite in orbit, and travelling much too quickly as well! It made several arcs before me and it was then that I realized what I was bearing witness to. It was not a man-made object encircling the globe from outside the atmosphere! It was right here, within our very skies, and it was not of this world! I stood in stunned silence during the short duration of this spectacle and long after. I never told a soul of this encounter, for fear of the ridicule by which our society meets such tales. No, I have never, ever told a single soul...until now.