A retired Mountie is recounting his close encounter with a UFO near Clarenville 42 years ago after the Canadian Mint recently issued a commemorative coin in recognition of the incident.

Former constable James Blackwood and about a dozen others were witness to the phenomenon during the early-morning hours of Oct. 26, 1978.

Blackwood’s memory of the sighting is just as vivid today. He says the craft hovered over the ocean not far from shore, shining a large fluorescent-type light below it and stayed in the area for almost two hours before slowly rising and disappearing up into the sky. Blackwood added at one point he flashed his police lights which were immediately mimicked by the UFO.

The incident garnered international attention at the time with Blackwood doing around 200 interviews with news media and is now immortalized with the new coin which features the artwork of Fogo Island’s Adam Young.