The Shag Harbour post office could be the closest post office to the Atlantic in all of Canada. Just 100 feet behind the building is the Atlantic Shore and a view of Inner Island and Rat Island in the distance, with open ocean beyond. The PO is, yes, you guessed it, a small buff coloured brick building with a low pitched gable roof. We're sure we've seen one or two just like it. It stands on the east side of Highway 3, the
Lighthouse Route, about half a kilometre northeast of Shag harbour's major tourist attraction, the
Shag Harbour UFO Museum.
Shag Harbour, a nineteenth, or possibly even eighteenth, century fishing village, has a somewhat unique claim to fame in that it was the scene of the
Shag Harbour UFO incident.
On October 4, 1967 a large object, or objects was seen to crash into the water off Shag Harbour, causing residents to fear that a plane had crashed. A search party was assembled, the RCMP and Coast Guard were involved but no crashed plane was ever discovered and none were reported missing. Only a swath of thick yellow foam was seen in the water by fishermen. As a result, the incident was officially classified as a "UFO Incident".
As a result of the incident, the
Shag Harbour UFO Museum was created to collect and disseminate information on this and other UFO incidents around the world. The museum and interpretive centre houses television documentaries, newspaper articles, UFO memorabilia, and an exhibit on outer space. As well, a gift shop is part of the museum.
The museum hosts an annual
Shag Harbour UFO Festival the 2016 edition to be held September 30th to October 2nd, 2016.