The headline of the Toronto Globe on Feb 15 1915 was: "Ottawa in Darkness Awaits Aeroplane Raid". The boldface titles revealed the state of fear and excitement: "Several Aeroplanes Make a Raid into the Dominion of Canada", "Entire City of Ottawa in Darkness, Fearing Bomb Droppers", "Machines Crossed St Lawrence River, Passing Over Brockville -- Two over Ganonoque -- Seen by Many Citizens, Heading for the Capital -- One Was Equipped with Powerful Searchlights -- Fire Balls Dropped". The border had been crossed, and the Canadian government was both warned and prepared to meet the aerial invaders in battle.
On the night of Feb 14, about 9:15pm, many of the citizens of Brockville were startled to see the lights of aircraft crossing high over the St Lawrence River and moving in the direction of Ottawa. The lights were seen by the Mayor and three of the city constables. The first of the unidentified craft flying rapidly overhead gave off the "unmistakbale sounds of the whirring motor". About five minutes later, a second flying machine was heard. As it crossed the St Lawrence from the direction of Morristown, New York, three balls of fire were seen to drop into the river. It was thought these might be bombs that landed harmlessly, but it was also remarked that they could have been flares used by the mysterious aviators to find their way in the dark. A few minutes later, another machine passed over the east end of Brockville, and soon after, another was crossing over the west end of Brockville. Mayor Donaldson was one of many witnesses who claimed not only to have watched these mysterious invaders fly overhead but who saw a powerful searchlight flash out lighting up an entire city block. Police Chief Burke was notified of the invaders and telephoned the Mayor for orders. Burke then telephoned the Mayor of Ottawa and Col. Percy Sherwood, Chief of the Dominion Police, to warn them of the passage of the unidentified aircraft flying in the direction of the capital.
About 9:30pm, the Mayor of Gananoque telephoned Burke and advised him that two aircraft were heard quite distinctly passing overhead in Ganonoque but were not seen. Soon after the Prime Minister of Canada, Sir Robert Borden, was advised that unidentified aircraft were seen crossing over Brockville from across the St. Lawrence in the direction of Ottawa. It was feared the lights of Parliament Hill would shine forth like a beacon in the night for the daring aerial invaders. Col. Sherwood ordered them extinguished. At 11:15pm., the lights of Parliament went out; at 11:20pm., the city lights of Ottawa went out; as well as the lights of Rideau Hall and the Royal Mint. Blinds were ordered drawn and life in the capital continued in an eerie darkness which marked the first blackout and air raid in Canada's history. Marksmen were dispatched to the roofs of government buildings and given orders to shoot down any aircraft approaching the city. The invaders were to be met with force.
What the government, military and police were not prepared for was the unexpected explanation of the phantom invaders. Word came out of Morristown, Ogdensburg, and Syracuse that the panic in Ottawa was the result of a prank by a few jokers in Morristown. It was said that three fire-balloons with fireworks attached were sent aloft from Morristown in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the end of the War of 1812. The fireworks created the impression of aircraft lights and engines, falling balls of fire, and the powerful searchlight witnessed in Brockville. At first, Ottawa refused to believe this. Even the Dominion Observatory went so far as to explain that this was untenable since the prevailing winds were from the east and would not have carried the balloons in the northeasterly direction. However, the militia and police authorities in Ottawa contacted their American counterparts to investigate this story.
On the morning of February 15, a Brockville policeman found a paper balloon near Eastern Hospital, and soon afterwards a second paper balloon was found in eastern Brockville along the river. This news spread quickly across the telegraph lines so that the afternoon newspapers were able to laugh most loudly at how the morning newspapers and the politicians had been taken in by a few pranksters with toy balloons. Officialdom was reluctant to admit it had been the victim of a hoax and on the evening of that same day the lights of Ottawa were again blacked-out and militia were once more posted on the roof. Further inquiries revealed there were only a dozen aircraft in the United States capable of making the flight from the border to Ottawa, and none of these were capable of carrying a powerful searchlight. Few government officials and fewer military expets were willing to publicize the fact the first airship raid on England had taken place only a month before.
Brockville was not the only city to see strange things, but little attention was given to reports from elsewhere. However, in the early morning hours of February 15, barely four hours after Brockville saw lights crossing the St Lawrence and barely two hours after the lights of Ottawa went out, a number of Richmond Hill residents notified the police of the strange "aeroplane" hovering over their homes. About 4:30am on the morning of the 15th, a resident of Guelph saw "three moving lights passing over the agricultural college." He called out to the other residents in the house who also watched the silent lights until 4:50am. Later that same evening, three citizens returning home from the curling rink at Morden, Manitoba, heard a peculiar noise that drew their attention skyward. It was a bright night, and the light they saw moving in a northwestern direction was said to have been discerned as an "aeroplane" travelling at a great speed.
Shortly after 8 am on the morning of February 19, thousands of people on their way to work in Buffalo, New York were excited to see the outline of an aircraft flying towards the Canadian border at a height of between 2,500 and 3,000ft altitude. The aircraft was seen approaching from Lake Erie, then swerved away as it passed over the city of Buffalo to the great excitement of the population before it faded from view.
Were these phantom aircraft the result of hysteria and war nerves, or were they an unusual phenomenon which today would be classified as a UFO?
Mystery Aircraft of Canada
Canada is a nation whose existence and history has largely been based on a defence against invasion. Since 1763, when the French ceded their Canadian territories to the British, the major threat of invasion has come from one direction -- from the south. Ever aware of American expansionist policies and endless border disputes, the loyal colonies of the north joined into a confederation in order to protect their political and territorial integrity. Canadian history chronicles many incursions and invasion attempts from the south; but one chapter has been overlooked by most historians: the Phantom Invasion of 1915.
The Airborne Invasion of 1915
© By Mr. X
Note: Two years before, at about 2:00pm on February 10, 1913, the day after the great meteor train, from the fifth floor of the Knox Building in Toronto, an office worker saw what he first took to be a strange cloud formation. He was not quite sure what he saw, so he called in some others to see if it was not clouds or birds. What they concluded was that they were watching a fleet of airships. "They passed from west to east in three groups of two each and then returned west in a more scattered formation, about seven or eight in all." No airships nor airplanes were ever identified with this report.
Mr. X is a member of the International Fortean Organization, and former editor/publisher of the Res Bureaux Bulletin which was subsequently discontinued a number of years ago. Click here in order to visit his Fortean web-site.
Far Shores is indebted to Mr. X for permission to reproduce this article.
