SIGHTING: THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO (CANADA)

Witness Testimony

"During late Nov. 2009: our days were mild: barely reaching freezing temperatures- then we had several mornings when it was -25F- suddenly and surprizingly. And I thought, "who brought cold air in?"- as a sort of joke- because the extreme temperature was not normal- with the conditions we were having in general. During this time I was on trip home in car (Toyota) driving from Thunder Bay, via Dog Lake Road- and my youngest daughter Beau was with me in vehicle: She is 16(just short of 17th birthday) and sitting in the front passenger's seat. As we passed the large culverts which are situated in the MacKintyre River- just across the road from a major gravel pit- she said to me that she saw "Circles floating in the river!". It was late afternoon- 3:30/maybe 4:30? and we were in a bit of a rush: I was taking her home, and planning to return to town, as another daughter: age 21:mother of a 3 yr old and a newborn pre-mie who was still in neo-natal ICU at hospital- I was planning to go back to her house for the night. So, I did not stop, turn around to go back and see.\ My daughter described the circles as "looking like big white innertubes floating in the water" or "like a mushroom cloud- as in a nuclear explosion: when it fans out and looks like a tube- like that."It was about 8 days later that I was once again in transit, bringing my daughter home from town, this time at about 9:30 a.m.- and she mentioned that the circles were still floating in the river. I stopped, turned around and went back for pictures, and also took videos: as much as I could with my digital camera.We were in awe of what we were seeing. And it took time to process- at first impression, we thought perhaps the circles were forming, there in the pool- but as we continued to ponder the sight, this explanation just did not seem adequate to describe how they formed.\And it was like being in a state of shock: as though- what it is- you are realizing, and yet- slow/ like numb- or half asleep- coming out of fog- to realize just what you are seeing.We wandered about, taking a few other pictures, then headed homeward on backroads- observing and checking out other beaver pools/ rivers etc. because you are thinking "perhaps there are more elsewhere?"- at the same time realizing- you have NEVER seen ANYTHING Like This:!! Ever- Anywhere- in person/ on film/ in a magazine/ or a book.. not ANYWHERE>Then, we came home and downloaded the pictures and videos to computer,and then cleared some other pictures off of camera, and charged batteries- and just watched, and wandered, and sat and considered... thought about who to talk to/ what to do... began to think perhaps we should contact some sort of news?? but by this time, day was late and light (it was dark and cloudy all day) was too far gone for further observation.Next day: tried contacting the "Argus" at TBay University: thinking- "colledge newspaper/ liberal- connected to science- might want to investigate?!- and not be inclined to censor..." but when I called there, I was told that they had closed their department for Christmas Break- "keep an eye on them, and contact us in January or February if you see them again" and this just sort of- surprised me, and put me off- I then debated whether to try contacting the public newspaper- Chronicle Journal- but was unsure whether they were still there... didn want to send someone on a wild goose chase... had to go look first- and it is perhaps 16kms from where I live- almost 1/2 of way to town/ we got ready and went back: and there were only 2 circles left in the eddy- 2 large ones, and a misshaped medium one, and a small one...So we took more video, and wandered about and took other still shots of area... there had been no melting conditions between the previous day and this: so I was baffled as to why- so many were now missing. We had had a small dusting of snow: enough to show that a deer, a wolf, a couple rabbits, a squirrel- had gone through the area- but no moose tracks"