Object Sighted Near River's Inlet, BC

This document presents a historical account of an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed on July 10, 1897, at River's Inlet, British Columbia. The primary witnesses, Mr. W. S. Fitzgerald and an unnamed companion, were camping when they observed a luminous, pear-shaped object emerging from a rift in the clouds. The witnesses described the object as moving slowly, taking over an hour to pass overhead, and noted that it glided majestically despite the presence of a squally wind at their ground level. The report was originally published in the Victoria Semi-Weekly Colonist on July 19, 1897. The document includes a note from UFO*BC, which provides context regarding a Swedish balloon project from 1896 that was often conflated with contemporary sightings in Canada and the United States. However, the note suggests that the balloon in question crashed far from Canada, casting doubt on the balloon theory for this specific sighting. The editor of the newspaper speculated on the nature of the object, linking it to local Bella Coola legends concerning a 'great bird with the eye of fire' that appeared before the onset of winter. The document serves as a record of early Canadian UAP sightings and the cultural interpretations applied to them at the time.