- Ottawa - Canada's Arctic seems to be competing for a
place in the X-Files with reports of mysterious objects plying its frigid
waters, strange footprints detected near shorelines and an unusual absence
of marine animals.
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- Over the past couple of years, there have been at least
a dozen sightings of unusual objects moving along or just below the surface
of the water in the North, according to newly released Canadian Forces
records.
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- Last September, Inuit hunters and members of the Canadian
Rangers, the military's locally recruited force of aboriginals, reported
what they believed was a foreign submarine checking out Canada's Arctic
territories.
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- Most of the sightings took place last August and September
near Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, where, on 11 occasions, witnesses reported
seeing large waves and strange objects in the water.
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- Mysterious footprints were also found along the water's
edge near where the objects were sighted. Marine animals had largely disappeared
from the area.
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- Another object was seen by an RCMP officer in August
1999, and later by a group of hunters in Cumberland Sound off Baffin Island.
Again, there was a noticeable lack of marine animals in the area at the
time.
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- "I'm pretty convinced (foreign submarines) are operating
there," says the recently retired commander of Canadian Forces Northern
Area, Col. Pierre Leblanc.
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- While he was the top military officer in the Arctic,
he tried to warn senior defence leaders in Ottawa that it would be only
a matter of time before other nations started to eye Canadian northern
territory, which is rich in resources such as diamonds and fresh water.
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- Two Canadian Navy submariners sent to investigate last
year's sighting near Pond Inlet suggested that strong currents or wind
could have caused the unusual waves reported by the Inuit.
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- Navy Cmdr. Mike Considine said all unusual sightings
are checked out, and in the case of the Pond Inlet incidents, there was
little to suggest foreign boats were operating in the area.
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- "We didn't find any evidence that there were submarines,"
he said.
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- Copyright © 2002 The Halifax Herald Limited
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