Charlie Red Star : True Reports of One of North America’s Biggest UFO Sightings

In 1975, Manitobans reported UFOs over their province almost nightly. The string of unprecedented sightings launched the biggest UFO craze in Canadian history. With sightings for well over a year, one object seen again and again became known as Charlie Red Star. Grant Cameron was there. He witnessed Charlie Red Star many times, and led tours for others to see for themselves. This is the story revealed by eyewitnesses, photographers, and reporters chasing down the truth behind these still-unexplained encounters with UFOs.

So now I bet you are wondering.. why in the world is Tammy blogging about UFO books?  While I have no inclination to believe in little gray men or UFOs, I don’t deny being a fan of The X-Files.  But truth be told that is not the entire reason I was interested in reading and reviewing this book.  The main reason was, Manitoba is my stomping grounds.

Yep, this Texas girl was born and raised and lived the first 25 years of her life in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I was about 1 1/2 years old when this whole UFO thing went down (or up.. or up and down).  Here’s the thing: I had NEVER heard of this before seeing the press sheet that included this book! Interestingly enough, my husband who is 10 years old than I am who also grew up there, had also never heard of Charlie Red Star.  That to me was shocking, because my husband, he’s pretty nerdy and geeky and at 11 almost 12 years old at the time it should have been on his radar 😉  So in light of my Mulder and Scully fandom plus the personal ties to the location, I was intrigued.

When the book arrived (thanks to Dundurn Press for the media copy to review), I immediately plunged into it.  It took me a few days to read and when I came up for air I realized I was enjoying it.  

Maybe it was because I could follow along with the journey on that little map in my brain, actually putting towns and cities into their places since I knew where they were located.  Or maybe it was because even though the names were changed, I felt I could have known these families.  (And then I thought to make a note to ask my brother-in-law who grew up in Morris much closer to the incidents, if he knew about Charlie Red Star…)  

Do I believe that the people of Southern Manitoba actually saw a UFO in the sky during the mid-seventies.  After reading the book, it’s hard to deny, but let’s remember a UFO is an ‘unidentified flying object.’  With the personal accounts, many from RCMP officers, they definitely saw something.  Was it extra-terrestrial in nature?  That theory author Grant Cameron did not convince me of.  Although the book would make for a few great episodes of the new X-Files, that’s for darn sure.  

Whatever Charlie Red Star actually was, it was interesting and fun for me to read about the account that happened so close to my home at the time.  Something I can use for table talk at our next family gathering that I fly up to Winnipeg for 😉  If you have a penchant for the sci-fi or unexplained and enjoy reading about UFO sightings, give Charlie Red Star a read, or even if you’re not, I think it might also appeal to my Canadian readers, especially if they like me have never even heard of this event!

You can purchase Charlie Red Star on the publishers site here: https://www.dundurn.com/books/Charlie-Red-Star – Prices start at $9.99 for an e-Pub version of the book.