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Canada and in North America. In those days it had a provincial circulation in the hundreds of thousands, which wasn't easy in a province with a population of only eight hundred thousand people. The normally superconservative Chronicle Herald shocked everyone with banner headlines two inches high announcing that there might be something concrete about the alleged UFO crash into Shag Harbor, according to the Royal Canadian Air Force. This was totally out of character for the Herald, both then and now. Chris found this very interesting, and made some inquiries of Ray MacLeod, the reporter who wrote the story, and who still resides in the area. Ray had told Chris to check with the managing editor for the Herald at the time, Harold Shea, and get the story directly from him. When Chris called him, he discovered that before Shea printed the Shag Harbor story, he had recently converted from being a full- scale skeptic to a believer in the existence of UFOs. Mr. Shea and his wife were buzzed by an object on their way back to their home in Chester, a picturesque little fishing village, which has become an expensive yachting community, about thirty minutes from Halifax. The sighting occurred a few months before the event in Shag Harbor and was still fresh in Shea's mind when the story broke. He made a judgment call, realizing he had a chance to focus attention on a phenomenon to which, until a couple of months ago, he had given little notice. Within a few days the debunking began. Ray MacLeod was pulled off the Shag Harbor story, apparently due to complaints from the general public that the articles were scaring them or their kids. The story was passed to another reporter, David Bentley. At this point the events in Shag Harbor began to be portrayed differently in the Chronicle Herald and the Mail Star (the Chronicle's afternoon edition). The press turned to an astronomer to give them guidance, credibility, and a way out of the situation. After all, the Herald, from the outset, had given the impression that the crash of the UFO in Shag Harbor had been a real event, something to be taken very seriously. The banner headline they gave the story was a good indication of this. David Bentley consulted with the resident astronomer at St. Mary's University in Halifax, who happened to be a Jesuit priest, Father Michael Burke-Gaffney. He gave the kind of dismissive reply that one would expect. A priest - someone who, like many of the clergy, would be likely to have a bias against the idea of extraterrestrial life - seems an inappropriate choice for a newspaper to make if it is truly looking for an objective, scientific opinion. Bentley's byline appeared under the heading "Shelburne UFOs Come Under Attack." This negative tone was a marked change from the earlier story titles that seemed to be upbeat and hopeful. The next day another Bentley story appeared entitled "Shelburne's UFO: Secret War Machine from USS. Scientists." In it theories are put forward by Canadian scientists as to the origin of UFO sightings. Early in 1993 Chris attempted to interview Bentley, who was still a journalist but no longer with the Herald. It took several months for Chris to catch Bentley at his typewriter. He remembered nothing that could shed any light on how he found the scientists he quoted, but he promised to look into it for Chris. However, it was his colleague at the magazine, Lyndon Watkins, who called saying he had checked with some military buddies who informed him that an early prototype of the F-117A Stealth fighter was responsible for the crash in Shag Harbor.