Dark Object - Don Ledger and Chris Styles-pages

Page 25 of 82

Page 25 of 82
Dark Object - Don Ledger and Chris Styles-pages

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They arrived in Lower Shag Harbor after driving for some minutes in silence. Dave dropped Norm off at his father's house and went straight home to bed. He mentioned the incident to his mother, then _ turned in. He went to sleep immediately, not realizing what was about to unfold later that evening while he slept. But for Norm Smith this night was just beginning. Norm had to get up early the next day. It was only Wednesday night and he would be going out on a fishing boat the next morning. After the Chevy pulled away, Norm began walking up the path to his father's house. He caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. Turning left, he looked upward to a line of trees west of the house and was astonished to see the four lights once more, only this time they seemed to be heading down into Shag Harbor. Norm ran into the house and got his father, Wilfred, who was still up, brought him outside, and showed the object to him. His father was at a loss as to what it might be. Fearing that this might be an airliner crashing into the waters of the harbor, they decided to go down there. Wilfred hurried back inside, and woke up his brother, Lawrence. Then Wilfred got dressed quickly, and met Norm by the truck. They were intending to take a run in to the harbor and see if the object had indeed crashed into the water. They backed down the driveway to the road but Wilfred had to apply his brakes when he saw the flashing red light of a police cruiser coming from the east. As Norm noted, it was going "like a bat out of hell," headed west toward Shag Harbor. Wilfred wheeled out onto the road with the comment that "something must be happening there to get those boys all worked up." He followed the cruiser as best he could, making the trip to the Irish Moss When they arrived they were surprised to discover that there were already at least a dozen people standing at the water's edge, staring out across the waters of the sound in the direction of Outer Island. Norm went over and stood beside Constable Ron O'Brien. Constable Ron Pond was standing beside him. He saw Laurie Wickens and some of his friends. Corporal Werbicki rolled up to the gravel lot of aoe toa 1 Fi 1s Werbicki assessed the situation. The light was still bobbing around on the water and appeared to be part of a large object he guessed to be about sixty feet across. He asked some questions of the young people there, concerned that people might be dying out there oh the sound. He put Constable O'Brien in charge of finding a boat and crew they could use to get out to the area. The tide had crested at approximately 9:48 P.M., about one hour and forty minutes earlier, so the current flow was out to sea. Not long after that Constable Pond, who had been ordered to keep an eye on the light, watched it grow even fainter through his binoculars, then disappear from view, appearing to slip under the water. There had been some discussion among the Mounties about the possibility of finding a dory and rowing out to the area in question, about one half mile distant. One of the young people on the dock mentioned that there were fishing boats tied up around Maggie Garrons Point at the Government Wharf. Norm had seen but could not figure out what it might have been. plant in record time. the Moss plant several minutes later.