Shelburne Harbor USO Incident
The Shelburne Harbor USO Incident refers to a 1960 event in which Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) divers participating in a joint US-Canadian minesweeping exercise off Shelburne Harbor, Nova Scotia, reported observing two disc-shaped unidentified craft resting on the seabed, along with apparent occupants attempting to repair one of the objects. The divers allegedly recorded footage of the encounter. The case was brought to broad attention by its inclusion in Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet's 2024 white paper Beneath the Surface, where Gallaudet cites it as a significant historical USO event.
| Date | 1960 |
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Incident Details
During a US-Canadian joint minesweeping exercise conducted off the coast of Shelburne Harbor on the southwestern coast of Nova Scotia, a team of Royal Canadian Navy divers descended to the seabed. At depth, the divers encountered two disc-shaped craft resting on the bottom. The divers reported observing what appeared to be occupants of the craft who were engaged in what looked like repair activity on one of the objects. The divers allegedly captured video footage of the encounter.
No formal public investigation or official report has been released regarding this event. The footage, if it exists, has not been made publicly available.
Gallaudet's Assessment
Rear Admiral Gallaudet acknowledged in his white paper that he initially found the account implausible — the detail of observing occupants repairing a craft on the seabed was difficult to accept as credible. However, he stated that subsequent US military whistleblower disclosures — likely referring to 2023 testimony from figures including David Grusch — prompted him to revise his assessment and include the case in his formal white paper on USO research priorities.
Relation to Shag Harbour
Shelburne Harbor is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, the site of the better-known 1967 UAP impact into the water. The geographic clustering of a 1960 underwater disc encounter and a 1967 aerial impact event within a 30-mile coastal corridor has been noted by researchers studying USO patterns in the northwestern Atlantic. UAP Gerb explicitly distinguishes the Shelburne Harbor case from the Shag Harbour incident, noting they are separate events at different locations.
Significance
The Shelburne Harbor case is significant primarily because of who cited it: a retired US Navy rear admiral with an oceanographic scientific background included it in a formal published white paper as a historical USO precedent. Gallaudet's institutional credibility and his explicit acknowledgment of initial skepticism followed by reassessment lend the account unusual weight compared to cases cited only by civilian researchers.
If the alleged footage of the encounter survived and was preserved in either Canadian or US military archives, it would represent some of the earliest physical documentation of a USO encounter with apparent occupants.