OTTAWA, Ontario, Oct. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mint has added to its extra-popular Canada's Unexplained Phenomena series by telling the strange story of the 1978 UFO sighting in the skies of Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. 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. The Mint is now accepting orders for this mesmerizing coin.
Working with a canvas-like rectangular coin, East coast artist Adam Young has recreated the events of October 26, 1978, when Clarenville made UFO history. On that night, RCMP Constable James Blackwood responded to a call from astonished onlookers. When he arrived at the scene, witnesses directed his attention to a brightly lit object in the sky. Using binoculars and a high-powered scope, they observed the fin-tailed, oval-shaped craft as it hovered above the water near Random Island. It emitted no sound; and when the officer flashed the lightbar on his police cruiser, the mysterious craft instantly mimicked the lights. It remained in the area for nearly an hour before rising up suddenly and vanishing into the night, leaving no traces of its passage – except a credible eyewitness account.
"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," explains Adam 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.
This new collectible may be ordered as of today by contacting the Mint at 1-800-267–1871 in Canada, 1-800-268–6468 in the US, or at www.mint.ca.
Images of this coin are available here.
About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. The Mint is one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca. Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
For more information, media are asked to contact: Pascale Poulin, Coordinator, Public Affairs, Telephone: 613-724-8083, poulinp@mint.ca
