Canada reported unidentified aerial event — 1960-12-09 — Arras, BC

Four children near Arras, British Columbia, reported a flashing object passing overhead and an apparent crash at about 20:30 in December 1960. The first RCMP narrative records the call under 9 December; a later radiogram refers to receipt on 10 December. Arras was described as twelve miles west of Dawson Creek, rather than the unrelated regional coordinates attached to the imported entry. The oldest child was twelve, and their identities were redacted. In interviews, the children said the object traveled southeast, descended near the ground, rose again and then came straight down. They recalled sparks and a rattling sound compared with tin cans. Their fright prevented a consistent description: some said it was small, others large. The report treats a crash as their interpretation, not an independently recovered impact. No occupants, aircraft wreckage or physical encounter with beings were described. Flight Sergeant Johns and an RCMP member visited the area, and an initial RCAF helicopter search found nothing. On 15 December, the officer returned with three RCAF spotters and searched a roughly one-mile-square wooded area in low passes about one hundred yards apart. They found no broken trees or other trace, and no aircraft was reported missing. The report considered a meteorite probable, although none was recovered. The illustration therefore shows the children's initial sky observation with a small indistinct flash, leaving out an invented wreck, extraterrestrial bodies or a confirmed explosion.