Military Divers Claimed They Found a UFO Crash Site—But They Spent Decades Sworn to Secrecy
Emma Frederickson
Thu, September 25, 2025
POP MECH
Are These Two UFO Crashes Secretly Linked? Getty Images
On the evening of October 4, 1967, a group of teens near Canada’s Shag Harbour noticed strange orange lights in the sky plummeting toward the Atlantic ocean, hovering just above the water’s surface. They reported the incident to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, thinking it a devastating plane crash. When the Coast Guard arrived at the scene, the only evidence of the unidentified anomalous phenomenon was yellow foam in the water. Some witnesses thought the lights sinking into the sea caused the strange material to appear.
The next day, divers investigated the scene without any proof of aliens—or even a pedestrian plane crash, for that matter—which would make it seem like the case was cold. But when Chris Styles, a longtime ufologist, began poking around 33 years later, eyewitnesses kept asking him the same question: “You know about Shelburne, don’t you?”
For most ufologists, the prospect of another anomalous incident would be like an early Christmas present. But for Styles, it was more of a headache. He explained in an interview on the podcast UFO Live Shows that he didn’t want Shag Harbour to become another Roswell, the infamously confusing incident in the United States, which sparked a conspiracy theory among UFO proponents that recovered materials found in Roswell, New Mexico—including foil and rubber debris—were from an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Upon further investigation, Styles realized the “Shelburne” incident referred to a 1960s NATO minesweeping exercise off the coast of McNabs Island, a small island in Nova Scotia, Canada. According to Styles, the U.S. ships had travelled ahead along the Shelburne harbor coast, laying an eight-mile-long path of dummy mines for the exercise. The minesweepers would then come in and clear the entire course—at least that’s what was supposed to happen. Witnesses of the minesweeping mission said everything was going as planned for about an hour—that is, until “all hell broke loose” and divers were deployed into the water, Styles recalls in the podcast.
“There was no doubt what we were dealing with off of Shelburne,” Styles writes in his 2023 book, Sweep Clear 5: NATO’s UFO Encounter, quoting three Royal Canadian divers. “There were UFOs sitting on the seabed. They were occupied and there was still activity. One was trying to help the other, which was damaged.”
Following yet more research, Styles says in the interview that he came across records indicating the ships initiated DEFCON 1—the highest level of readiness for war—about 90 minutes into the mission. And it wasn’t surprising the witnesses mistook details of the exercise, like how long before things went wrong, or used ambiguous language when describing what they’d seen. According to the divers, they’d been sworn to secrecy for more than three decades.
“They ordered us to the surface and ordered us to forget what we’d seen,” the divers say in Sweep Clear 5. “Then the alarms sounded upon the command ship and panic broke out.”
As he continued his interviews, Styles began prying for more information from witnesses. He recounts on the podcast that one Air Force veteran in particular claimed to have listened to the divers talking each night. Styles says the airman remembered hearing his shipmates discuss two flying saucers lying on the ocean floor beneath the ship. That same veteran said talk continued until the end of the mission, when a U.S. Navy officer suggested the divers should stop talking about the “Soviet submarine” they were investigating, implying the vessels the men had seen weren’t extraterrestrial.
In the podcast interview, Styles claimed his editors pushed him to link his findings about what went down at Shelburne with the Shag Harbour incident. After all, in his other book, Dark Object: The World’s Only Government-Documented UFO Crash, he and co-author Don Leger hypothesize that the UFO which allegedly crashed at Shag Harbour travelled 25 miles away underwater, where it was met by another extraterrestrial ship, perhaps to rescue it. If Shelburne and Shag Harbour were connected, it would wrap the whole story up in a pretty red bow.
It wasn’t until nearly three decades into his research that Styles discovered the true year the NATO minesweeping mission occurred: 1960. Chronologically, this sets Shelburne seven years before Shag Harbour—even for an alien tale, it was impossible. The objects witnessed at the two locations couldn’t be the same.
Even though the two events proved to be unrelated—and despite the Shelburne witnesses being hesitant to share real details—Styles says in the podcast that he believed the veracity of the men’s accounts. He claims that many of the Navy veterans teared up in interviews, often asking to change the subject when their emotions became too intense. The researcher emphasized the historical context of the time, stating that Betty and Barney Hill had yet to make their famous alien abduction claims, and that space travel was still merely a science fiction dream.
Despite Styles’ extensive research, the sighting at Shelburne remains overshadowed by the Shag Harbour incident. Now, the small town of Shag Harbour is a tourist destination for alien enthusiasts. More than 50 years later, both cases remain unsolved aside from Styles’ explanation. But some experts say the possibility of unidentified submerged objects (USOs) having alien origins isn’t totally improbable—could this mean the UFOs at Shag Harbour and Shelburne really did get away?
A New Study Reveals the 10 Biggest UFO Hotspots in the U.S.
Are These Two UFO Crashes Secretly Linked? Getty Images
On the evening of October 4, 1967, a group of teens near Canada’s Shag Harbour noticed strange orange lights in the sky plummeting toward the Atlantic ocean, hovering just above the water’s surface. They reported the incident to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, thinking it a devastating plane crash. When the Coast Guard arrived at the scene, the only evidence of the unidentified anomalous phenomenon was yellow foam in the water. Some witnesses thought the lights sinking into the sea caused the strange material to appear.
The next day, divers investigated the scene without any proof of aliens—or even a pedestrian plane crash, for that matter—which would make it seem like the case was cold. But when Chris Styles, a longtime ufologist, began poking around 33 years later, eyewitnesses kept asking him the same question: “You know about Shelburne, don’t you?”
For most ufologists, the prospect of another anomalous incident would be like an early Christmas present. But for Styles, it was more of a headache. He explained in an interview on the podcast UFO Live Shows that he didn’t want Shag Harbour to become another Roswell, the infamously confusing incident in the United States, which sparked a conspiracy theory among UFO proponents that recovered materials found in Roswell, New Mexico—including foil and rubber debris—were from an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Upon further investigation, Styles realized the “Shelburne” incident referred to a 1960s NATO minesweeping exercise off the coast of McNabs Island, a small island in Nova Scotia, Canada. According to Styles, the U.S. ships had travelled ahead along the Shelburne harbor coast, laying an eight-mile-long path of dummy mines for the exercise. The minesweepers would then come in and clear the entire course—at least that’s what was supposed to happen. Witnesses of the minesweeping mission said everything was going as planned for about an hour—that is, until “all hell broke loose” and divers were deployed into the water, Styles recalls in the podcast.
“There was no doubt what we were dealing with off of Shelburne,” Styles writes in his 2023 book, Sweep Clear 5: NATO’s UFO Encounter, quoting three Royal Canadian divers. “There were UFOs sitting on the seabed. They were occupied and there was still activity. One was trying to help the other, which was damaged.”
Following yet more research, Styles says in the interview that he came across records indicating the ships initiated DEFCON 1—the highest level of readiness for war—about 90 minutes into the mission. And it wasn’t surprising the witnesses mistook details of the exercise, like how long before things went wrong, or used ambiguous language when describing what they’d seen. According to the divers, they’d been sworn to secrecy for more than three decades.
“They ordered us to the surface and ordered us to forget what we’d seen,” the divers say in Sweep Clear 5. “Then the alarms sounded upon the command ship and panic broke out.”
As he continued his interviews, Styles began prying for more information from witnesses. He recounts on the podcast that one Air Force veteran in particular claimed to have listened to the divers talking each night. Styles says the airman remembered hearing his shipmates discuss two flying saucers lying on the ocean floor beneath the ship. That same veteran said talk continued until the end of the mission, when a U.S. Navy officer suggested the divers should stop talking about the “Soviet submarine” they were investigating, implying the vessels the men had seen weren’t extraterrestrial.
In the podcast interview, Styles claimed his editors pushed him to link his findings about what went down at Shelburne with the Shag Harbour incident. After all, in his other book, Dark Object: The World’s Only Government-Documented UFO Crash, he and co-author Don Leger hypothesize that the UFO which allegedly crashed at Shag Harbour travelled 25 miles away underwater, where it was met by another extraterrestrial ship, perhaps to rescue it. If Shelburne and Shag Harbour were connected, it would wrap the whole story up in a pretty red bow.
It wasn’t until nearly three decades into his research that Styles discovered the true year the NATO minesweeping mission occurred: 1960. Chronologically, this sets Shelburne seven years before Shag Harbour—even for an alien tale, it was impossible. The objects witnessed at the two locations couldn’t be the same.
Even though the two events proved to be unrelated—and despite the Shelburne witnesses being hesitant to share real details—Styles says in the podcast that he believed the veracity of the men’s accounts. He claims that many of the Navy veterans teared up in interviews, often asking to change the subject when their emotions became too intense. The researcher emphasized the historical context of the time, stating that Betty and Barney Hill had yet to make their famous alien abduction claims, and that space travel was still merely a science fiction dream.
Despite Styles’ extensive research, the sighting at Shelburne remains overshadowed by the Shag Harbour incident. Now, the small town of Shag Harbour is a tourist destination for alien enthusiasts. More than 50 years later, both cases remain unsolved aside from Styles’ explanation. But some experts say the possibility of unidentified submerged objects (USOs) having alien origins isn’t totally improbable—could this mean the UFOs at Shag Harbour and Shelburne really did get away?
A New Study Reveals the 10 Biggest UFO Hotspots in the U.S.
The research highlights where Americans most often report unexplained aerial phenomena.
Lindsey Puls
Creator of Have Clothes, Will Travel•
Sun, August 17, 2025
UFO sightings have always had a way of capturing our imagination. Some people see them as proof we’re not alone, others brush them off as military tests or tricks of the light. Either way, the fascination never really goes away.
To find out where Americans are most likely to spot something strange in the skies, the gaming platform 1000 Mines analyzed decades of UFO reports and patterns across the country. Their research highlights the places that consistently generate the most sightings, whether that’s mysterious lights hovering over small towns, unexplained objects darting across big-city skylines, or desert highways where legends seem to write themselves.
These are the top 10 UFO hotspots in the U.S., ranked by how often people claim to see the unexplained.
10. Chicago, Illinois (O’Hare Airport)
In 2006, United Airlines employees and pilots reported seeing a saucer-shaped object hovering over O’Hare’s Gate C17. Witnesses said it punched through the clouds at incredible speed, leaving a gaping hole in the overcast sky. The FAA brushed it off as “weather,” but when seasoned pilots insist it wasn’t? Hard to ignore.
In 2006, United Airlines employees and pilots reported seeing a saucer-shaped object hovering over O’Hare’s Gate C17. Witnesses said it punched through the clouds at incredible speed, leaving a gaping hole in the overcast sky. The FAA brushed it off as “weather,” but when seasoned pilots insist it wasn’t? Hard to ignore.
9. Los Angeles, California
LA has a long history with UFOs, dating back to the infamous “Battle of Los Angeles” in 1942, when anti-aircraft guns fired on a mystery object over the city. Modern sightings continue, often clustered along the coast. Some theorize underwater UFO bases in the Pacific. Far-fetched? Maybe. But Navy pilots have reported “Tic Tac” shaped crafts off Southern California, so who knows.
LA has a long history with UFOs, dating back to the infamous “Battle of Los Angeles” in 1942, when anti-aircraft guns fired on a mystery object over the city. Modern sightings continue, often clustered along the coast. Some theorize underwater UFO bases in the Pacific. Far-fetched? Maybe. But Navy pilots have reported “Tic Tac” shaped crafts off Southern California, so who knows.
8. Gulf Breeze, Florida
This quiet beach town made national headlines in the late ’80s when local contractor Ed Walters shared photos of bizarre flying objects. Hoax or not, the UFO buzz hasn’t completely died down. Locals still report strange lights over the Gulf, keeping Gulf Breeze on the UFO map.
This quiet beach town made national headlines in the late ’80s when local contractor Ed Walters shared photos of bizarre flying objects. Hoax or not, the UFO buzz hasn’t completely died down. Locals still report strange lights over the Gulf, keeping Gulf Breeze on the UFO map.
7. Mount Shasta, California
Mystics and UFO enthusiasts alike flock to Mount Shasta. Some say it hides underground alien civilizations, others believe it’s a portal to another dimension. Hikers have reported missing time and unexplained lights on the mountain for decades, fueling its eerie reputation.
Mystics and UFO enthusiasts alike flock to Mount Shasta. Some say it hides underground alien civilizations, others believe it’s a portal to another dimension. Hikers have reported missing time and unexplained lights on the mountain for decades, fueling its eerie reputation.
6. Kecksburg, Pennsylvania
In 1965, something fiery crashed in the woods near this small town. Witnesses described a strange, acorn-shaped object before the military swooped in and whisked it away. The official explanation? Nothing happened. Locals weren’t buying it, and today Kecksburg hosts its own UFO festival to keep the mystery alive.
In 1965, something fiery crashed in the woods near this small town. Witnesses described a strange, acorn-shaped object before the military swooped in and whisked it away. The official explanation? Nothing happened. Locals weren’t buying it, and today Kecksburg hosts its own UFO festival to keep the mystery alive.
5. Stephenville, Texas
In 2008, dozens of residents reported seeing enormous, silent aircraft, some as wide as a football field, flying in formation over town. The incident made national news and was never explained. Sightings haven’t stopped completely, and its proximity to Air Force bases keeps speculation swirling.
4. Roswell, New Mexico
It’s impossible to make a UFO list without Roswell. The 1947 crash (or “weather balloon,” if you believe the official story) helped launch America’s modern alien obsession. Today, Roswell embraces its reputation with museums, shops, and a thriving UFO tourism scene.
3. Area 51 / Rachel, Nevada
The secrecy surrounding Area 51 has made it ground zero for UFO lore. Just down the road lies Rachel, NV, a tiny desert town along the “Extraterrestrial Highway.” Whether it’s top-secret military tech or something cosmic, the mix of conspiracy theories and strange sightings keeps this spot legendary.
2. Pine Bush, New York
Dubbed the “UFO capital of the East Coast,” Pine Bush has been buzzing with activity since the 1980s. Witnesses regularly describe glowing orbs and triangular crafts. Some blame nearby military bases, others point to odd geological features. Either way, the town leans into its identity with an annual UFO fair.
1. Sedona, Arizona
Topping the list is Sedona, a stunning red rock town famous for its vortex energy fields and star-filled desert skies. UFO sightings are so common here that tours specifically for skywatchers are a booming business. Whether you chalk it up to high elevation, clear conditions, or cosmic energy, Sedona has become the ultimate UFO hotspot in America.
Whether you think these sightings are evidence of extraterrestrials, secret military projects, or just a trick of the imagination, there’s no denying UFO lore is a big part of American culture.
And if quirky destinations are your thing, you might also enjoy reading about some of the strangest tourist attractions across all 50 U.S. states or checking out these 12 unbelievably strange islands that are hard to believe are real.
Yahoo CreatorLindsey PulsCreator of Have Clothes, Will TravelLindsey writes about travel, style, and quirky internet trends—sharing shopping tips, product reviews, and offbeat guides on Yahoo, MSN, the AP Wire, and her blog Have Clothes, Will Travel.
Have Clothes, Will Travel
Yahoo CreatorLindsey PulsCreator of Have Clothes, Will TravelLindsey writes about travel, style, and quirky internet trends—sharing shopping tips, product reviews, and offbeat guides on Yahoo, MSN, the AP Wire, and her blog Have Clothes, Will Travel.
Have Clothes, Will Travel
Vallée: UFO disclosure could trigger complex religious, security questions
by: George Knapp
Posted: Apr 25, 2025 /
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A highly respected UFO investigator warns that disclosing the truth, linked to documented human injuries and national security concerns, requires a carefully crafted strategy to avoid chaos.
Jacques Vallée has been a central figure in UFO research and debate for over six decades, often finding himself at odds with UFO orthodoxy. Vallée was among the first to argue that the unknown craft, seen for centuries in our skies and oceans, may not be from other planets, but instead from other realities.
Vallée has heard the demands for an end to official secrecy many times and, at the same time, has participated in secretive efforts himself, including a UFO study launched by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 2008, which was hidden inside a Las Vegas aerospace company.
One focus of the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) was genuinely disturbing: the real-life health consequences for humans who come into contact with UFOs. Hundreds of serious injuries have been documented. AAWSAP investigators traveled to Brazil to obtain government files related to hundreds of Brazilians treated for injuries after being targeted by UFOs. While Vallée won’t discuss specific AAWSAP files, except for cases he provided to the database, he said those cases of UFO-related injuries were not accidental.
Vallée favors transparency but worries that an official declaration could prove chaotic.
“If we want to disclose… something as simple as saying, ‘Yes, we acknowledge the phenomenon and it seems to be from space,’ we would have to… answer a hundred other questions, that this is not the end of the story,” Vallée noted. “There are religious questions… there is a religious side to all this.”
While Vallée is encouraged by the renewed interest in UFOs within Congress, mainstream media, and academia, he thinks someone needs to craft a well-planned strategy for how to unleash what would likely be the biggest news story in history.
“I think… that we should disclose with a structure,” Vallée said, adding that, “The structure hasn’t been invented yet.”
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
by: George Knapp
Posted: Apr 25, 2025 /
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A highly respected UFO investigator warns that disclosing the truth, linked to documented human injuries and national security concerns, requires a carefully crafted strategy to avoid chaos.
Jacques Vallée has been a central figure in UFO research and debate for over six decades, often finding himself at odds with UFO orthodoxy. Vallée was among the first to argue that the unknown craft, seen for centuries in our skies and oceans, may not be from other planets, but instead from other realities.
Vallée has heard the demands for an end to official secrecy many times and, at the same time, has participated in secretive efforts himself, including a UFO study launched by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 2008, which was hidden inside a Las Vegas aerospace company.
One focus of the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) was genuinely disturbing: the real-life health consequences for humans who come into contact with UFOs. Hundreds of serious injuries have been documented. AAWSAP investigators traveled to Brazil to obtain government files related to hundreds of Brazilians treated for injuries after being targeted by UFOs. While Vallée won’t discuss specific AAWSAP files, except for cases he provided to the database, he said those cases of UFO-related injuries were not accidental.
One focus of the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) was genuinely disturbing: the real-life health consequences for humans who come into contact with UFOs.
“I can tell you that in my files… some of which I contributed to the database of, there are at least half a dozen well-documented cases where the injuries that resulted in death were deliberate,” Vallée said.
Incidents in which UFOs deliberately cause physical harm to humans are rare, according to personnel who have seen the full AAWSAP files, but they do occur. Dr. Colm Kelleher, one of the AAWSAP managers, has said, bluntly, that UFOs are bad for human health.
Could that be a reason to keep secrets?
In his most recent book, “Forbidden Science 6: Scattered Castles,” Vallée shares private exchanges with colleagues from the AAWSAP program, including Robert Bigelow, a Las Vegas billionaire. Additionally, there are conversations between and a close-knit group of scientists known as the Lonestars. The scientists, some of them former CIA contractors, accept that the U.S. government has recovered crashed vehicles of unknown origin, and that defense contractors have worked for decades to reverse engineer the technology at secretive facilities in the desert and elsewhere. They say adversary nations have done likewise, and that the race to duplicate the technology means national security is at stake.
“I can tell you that in my files… some of which I contributed to the database of, there are at least half a dozen well-documented cases where the injuries that resulted in death were deliberate,” Vallée said.
Incidents in which UFOs deliberately cause physical harm to humans are rare, according to personnel who have seen the full AAWSAP files, but they do occur. Dr. Colm Kelleher, one of the AAWSAP managers, has said, bluntly, that UFOs are bad for human health.
Could that be a reason to keep secrets?
In his most recent book, “Forbidden Science 6: Scattered Castles,” Vallée shares private exchanges with colleagues from the AAWSAP program, including Robert Bigelow, a Las Vegas billionaire. Additionally, there are conversations between and a close-knit group of scientists known as the Lonestars. The scientists, some of them former CIA contractors, accept that the U.S. government has recovered crashed vehicles of unknown origin, and that defense contractors have worked for decades to reverse engineer the technology at secretive facilities in the desert and elsewhere. They say adversary nations have done likewise, and that the race to duplicate the technology means national security is at stake.
Jacques Vallée, a rock star in the world of UFO investigations, discusses the AAWSAP database of UFO information. (KLAS)
Vallée favors transparency but worries that an official declaration could prove chaotic.
“If we want to disclose… something as simple as saying, ‘Yes, we acknowledge the phenomenon and it seems to be from space,’ we would have to… answer a hundred other questions, that this is not the end of the story,” Vallée noted. “There are religious questions… there is a religious side to all this.”
While Vallée is encouraged by the renewed interest in UFOs within Congress, mainstream media, and academia, he thinks someone needs to craft a well-planned strategy for how to unleash what would likely be the biggest news story in history.
“I think… that we should disclose with a structure,” Vallée said, adding that, “The structure hasn’t been invented yet.”
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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