New coin distributed by Royal Canadian Mint relays national UFO story

Written By MARK PAVILONS

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

The Royal Canadian Mint has captured a famous Canadian UFO story in a new coin.

The UFO, observed over Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, really pops in glowing fashion on this $20 collector coin.

It's part of the Mint's “Unexplained Phenomena series,” and tells the strange story of a 1978 UFO sighting.

The Clarenville Event is vividly illustrated on a new glow-in-the-dark collector coin that captures the moment an RCMP Constable and multiple witnesses observed the mysterious lights and oval shape of an unidentified flying object hovering near the city of Clarenville.

In October 1978, RCMP Constable Jim Blackwood witnessed a sighting of an elongated flying object hovering over the harbour near the town of Clarenville and Random Island. When he arrived at the scene the UFO was still present and quite visible. Several residents were on hand to witness the sighting.

Blackwood had a special high powered viewing scope and he looked at the craft, which stayed in the area for approximately an hour and a half. When he switched on the roof lights of his police cruiser, the craft appeared to mimic the flashing lights. The story made headlines at the time and it was broadcast on CBC television and NTV broadcasting in Newfoundland.

In published reports, Blackwood said it was only a couple hundred feet off the water. As it started to leave, it seemed to take forever to rise, and then it shot up like a shooting star. Blackwood, an aircraft enthusiast, estimated the object's size to be roughly equivalent to a Boeing 737,

Working with a canvas-like rectangular coin, East coast artist Adam Young has recreated the events of October 26, 1978.

“I wanted this piece to include all the elements of the 1978 experience while also incorporating the rugged yet whimsical coastline so often found in the Newfoundland landscape,” explained Young. “Light and line direction were also important aspects of the design, creating a circular visual flow throughout the composition. This has been an exciting artistic endeavour, which, throughout my research for the design, has caused me to tumble down the rabbit hole of other Canadian UFO sightings.”

True to the scene described by witnesses that night, luminescent elements on the coins shine through when exposed to a black light.

The rectangular $20 Fine Silver Coin – Canada's Unexplained Phenomena: The Clarenville Event has a limited mintage of 5,000 and retails for $129.95.

The coin may be ordered by contacting the Mint at 1-800-267-1871 or at www.mint.ca.