Bridal Veil Entities
A case of UFOs and High Strangeness in rural Ontario
The following strange case of bridal veil entities sighted with a UFO was shared with me by fellow Canadian researcher Chris Rutkowski way back in June 2003 and appears within his annual Canadian UFO survey for the previous year. I have lightly edited the spelling and grammar of her report for clarity but have tried to make sure the witness’s meaning and voice are preserved.
The original report was received by Chris as a very thoughtful handwritten letter from a woman living in rural Ontario. She describes an extraordinary encounter involving a luminous disc-shaped object and a group of strange, diaphanous beings. The account is compelling and presented here for us to consider.
In the witnesses own words:
“Quite some time ago, I believe it was in the spring of 2002, I had a very strange experience. Ever since then I have often found myself thinking, Yes, you really did see that.
I have lived on our farm with my husband for many years. He passed away recently and I now live here alone. My son and his family live a short distance away just across and up the driveway.
One night I was standing in my darkened kitchen, about to go upstairs to bed, when I noticed a sudden flash behind me. There was no sound whatsoever. Curious, I decided to take one more look outside. For some time I had occasionally noticed the yard light on the neighbouring farm appearing to flash instead of remaining steady like mine, so I thought perhaps it had done so again.
What I saw, however, was something I had never expected.
In a hollow approximately 90 to 100 yards from the house was a brilliantly glowing white disc. It appeared to be roughly twice the size of my kitchen table and seemed to have white flames rising from its top.
Floating around it were what I can only describe as creatures. Each was completely enveloped in something resembling a bridal veil that concealed the figure within. They stood about my height, around 5 feet 6 inches, and appeared almost stick-thin, although it was difficult to tell because of the gauzy covering that encased each one entirely.
I counted about twenty of these beings. Two drifted toward what remained of some runoff water before floating back to join the others.
I was truly astonished, though not frightened. I remember thinking how wonderful it would have been if my old German Shepherd had been with me. His reaction would at least have confirmed that I was not imagining what I was seeing.
I wanted to stay and watch them take off, but I was tired. It was around 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning, so I eventually went to bed. As for the object itself, I believe it had landed on the slope below. It did not descend like an airplane, but seemed simply to settle onto the incline and stop instantly.
I later told a friend about what I had seen. She believed me. She said that if I had already been asleep and dreamt it, she might have questioned the story, but because I had not yet gone to bed she accepted that I was describing a genuine experience.
My family, however, reacted with an expression that seemed to say, ”Oh, Mother...”
Others offered various explanations:
”It was moonlight.” There was no moon.
”It was marsh gas.” What gas?
And so on.
Those suggestions left me feeling frustrated because they simply did not fit what I had witnessed. I hope I have not wasted your time.”
M
I would love to have been able to sit down with this witness and listen to her encounter first hand. Perhaps over a shared pot of tea I could have learned more about her and if she had any other strange experiences before or since. If she had I would not have been surprised. I would have liked to tell her I do believe you and that you saw exactly what you’ve described and you are not alone.
Reexamining this report many years later a few features strike me as very intriguing!
First her description of the entities “encased entirely in what resembled a bridal veil...” is different than the more commonly reported UAP pilots dressed in some sort of spacesuit.
The image her report conjures up in my mind’s eye is very similar to the painting Dancing Fairies by Swedish artist Johan August Malmström. The artwork evokes a similar atmosphere and appearance even if it wasn’t intended to depict UFOs as we popularly think of them in western culture today.
The painting depicts pale, very thin, almost translucent beings floating above a meadow at night. Several appear to drift over water or mist rather than walking on the ground, and their gauzy garments blend into the surrounding haze.
The witness frames her encounter as a UFO experience and reached out to a very well known Canadian UFO researcher to make her report, but I think Jacques Vallee and John Keel would agree with me when I say this case has A LOT in common with much older sightings and folklore. I wonder what the witness would think of Dancing Fairies assuming she had not seen this painting before?
Consider Marian apparitions are often described as luminous beings hidden beneath white veils. And fairy folklore from Ireland, Scotland, and Central Europe frequently speak of ladies shrouded in white, ghostly processions or luminous figures drifting silently over fields. And medieval folklore contains accounts of the Wild Hunt or hosts of spirits appearing as pale, shrouded forms moving in groups at night.
The witness describes counting about twenty of these hovering beings and at least two of them taking an interest in some nearby run-off water. To me this sounds like floating spirits or a fairy host. And fairies often show an interest in water. Consider the Dancing Fairies painting shows at least one or two looking at their own reflection in some sort of water.
The brilliantly glowing white disc with what seemed to be white flames rising from its top brings to my mind a halo. Halos are depicted in various religious artworks as a circle or disk of light sometimes with a crown of light rays emanating from the disc.
The radiant disc halo is an ancient and enduring symbol of the sacred adorning various figures like Jesus, Buddha, and Apollo transcending cultures and religions.
The witness had no direct interaction with the glowing disc nor the veiled entities. She observed them from the safety of her home and felt no fear, only surprise and curiosity. Her reaction is not that unusual at all. Before popular culture firmly established the image of hostile alien invasions, many witnesses described simply watching strange beings going about their business. This has been my experience for the most part as well.
Or did the hollow for whatever reason become a portal between realms, a temporary fairy mound filled with uncanny light?
And I have to wonder if she had been writing from centuries past would she have framed her encounter as religious experience or would she have simply been observing a fairy procession from a safe distance?
To conclude for now, yes this encounter is a UFO report based on the witness’ own framing of her experience, but it very well could have been considered a modern fairy encounter or a religious one because it shares many of the motifs associated with these earlier high strangeness encounters.
So what do you think? Have you encountered something similar? Can you add to my thoughts and ideas? If you’ve enjoyed this post please do consider doing the things, liking, sharing, commenting and subscribing because it does help me out and lets me know their are others who are interested in these reports and a less nuts and bolts approach to them.
The thing that actually strikes me the most is that she says she eventually got tired watching it and went to bed!! And this, too, is an oft repeated feature in other similar stories. Here someone is having perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime experience and they “get tired and go to bed”?? How so? It almost feels like people are being “dismissed” and put to sleep!
The strangeness of the description adds veracity to it in my mind, even though it was allegedly seen from such a great distance and the witness nevertheless provided quite a lot of detail; which is a bit suspicious, given she mentioned the object was not very big (12-15 feet maybe?).