The lifeguard at the pool called hotel security. Other guests ran to the rooftop for a glimpse. Nobody could believe their eyes. The police soon arrived. First on the scene was François Lippé, who immediately phoned his boss, neighbourhood post commander Robert Masson.

Masson immediately ordered that all spotlights across downtown be turned off lest they be creating some kind of optical phenomenon. Still, the giant hovering UFO remained. Masson confirmed that neither the airport or closest military radar outpost had anything on radar. Before long, the RCMP, military and NASA had joined the investigation.

It was later noted that a cargo plane visible on radar had passed between the roof of the hotel and the UFO above at an altitude of 1,800 metres. Masson estimated the UFO was between 2,500 and 3,000 metres above the ground. Judging by the size of the cargo plane compared to the UFO, he guessed that would make the mysterious object about the size of five full football fields.

By 9 p.m., the press had caught wind of the goings-on at the hotel. The UFO was still there, with La Presse reporters Jules Béliveau and Marcel Laroche witnessing it first hand, their story and photos landing in print the next morning. In an interview with the CBC, Béliveau later described taking the elevator up to the hotel rooftop with a police officer, who joked about whether he should use his gun. “But when we arrived together on the roof, he looked into the sky and said ‘sacrament.’ He was astonished like I was.” Finally, around 10 p.m., the clouds had become thick enough to obscure the object. It was never seen again.

What makes the sighting so special, says Christopher Marilley, director of sales and marketing at Hotel Bonaventure, is the credibility of the witnesses involved. “When you have the police on site and later going on record regarding the sighting, it brings a different level of legitimacy to the whole situation,” says Marilley. “Perhaps we should have a plaque or something.”

Official files related to the case were classified less than 24 hours after the sighting. Masson believes he was lied to by the military. “I am convinced that I saw something that was not made by any inhabitants of this planet,” he said in 2005. “There is no doubt in my mind it came from somewhere else other than Earth.”

In 1992, a 25-page report called “Details Surrounding a Large Stationary Object Above Montreal” was prepared by Bernard Guénette, a UFO researcher, and Richard F. Haines, a former scientist with NASA. The report suggested some sort of huge physical object, about 540 metres wide, was responsible for the beams of light. It concluded the “evidence for the existence of a highly unusual, hovering, silent large object is indisputable.”

The incident is considered an important UFO sighting in Canadian history. It remains unexplained, the subject of continued debate in UFO circles and even a commemorative coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint — something to remember the next time you find yourself in the rooftop pool at Hotel Bonaventure in Montreal. Don’t be afraid to look up!