In 1967, all across Canada hamlets, villages, towns and cities each tried to outdo the other in constructing or creating a truly outstanding centennial project. St. Paul, way up in northern Alberta, may have outdone everyone by building the world's first U.F.O. Landing Pad. In fact, the project was so well received that St. Paul was declared the
Centennial Capital of Canada.
Built at least in part as an effort to attract both tourists and Extraterrestrials to the municipality, it has accomplished the task quite handily. There are those who believe that it has even attracted extraterrestrials, as there is even a
You Tube Video of a U.F.O. landing on the pad. The pad consists of a raised platform with a map of Canada embossed on the back stop, consisting of stones provided by each province of Canada. To honor each of the provinces and territories, their flags fly at the back of the platform.
The large flower bed in front of the landing pad was built in the shape of the Canadian Centennial Logo, shown here.
On June 3, 1967, Paul Hellyer, Minister of National Defense, flew in by helicopter to officially open the Pad.
The sign beside the pad reads: "
The area under the World's First UFO Landing Pad was designated international by the Town of St. Paul as a symbol of our faith that mankind will maintain the outer universe free from national wars and strife. That future travel in space will be safe for all intergalactic beings, all visitors from earth or otherwise are welcome to this territory and to the Town of St. Paul."
In the 1990s Mayor Paul Langevin officially opened an adjacent UFO tourist information centre to welcome visitors. As you enter St. Paul from the West, drop in to visit this landmark and see the UFO exhibit downstairs. This is an opportunity to view actual photographs of UFOs, crop circles and cattle mutilations. The exhibit is designed to educate. A UFO Hotline complements the display with reports of UFO sightings and encounters of all kinds.