08/13/2026
A little bit of interesting history from where I currently live.
🛸 Did you know High Prairie once had its very own spaceship?
We had a couple of visitors in this last week who inquired about this, so we thought we'd share what we know about its history. We'd love to hear your memories of it!
Built in 1967 as part of Canada’s Centennial celebrations, High Prairie’s “spaceship” was one of the community’s Centennial projects along with the Museum and the Library. Mounted on a Willys Jeep and complete with hand-sewn astronaut suits, it travelled to St. Paul to “land” at the world’s first official UFO Landing Pad (also a Centennial project) before going onto Edmonton and winning first place in the novelty category at the Klondike Days Parade. Talk about community pride!!
The spaceship was a rather unique creation, measuring twelve feet in diameter and eight feet high and adorned with vibrant coloured lights. This innovative idea to mark Canada's Centennial can be credited to Ernie Fortier, with assistance from Terry Anderson, Mayor of High Prairie; Max Vanderagen, Chair of the High Prairie & District Centennial Committee; Bill Smith, the President of the Chamber of Commerce; and community residents Ike Lawrence and Oliver Bell.
After returning home from the Klondike Days Parade, the spaceship became a familiar landmark in High Prairie with its own landing pad located between what is today the Golden Age Club and Town Hall.
Eventually, however, the spacecraft completed its mission and disappeared. In its place, a small log Visitor Information Centre was constructed, which many residents will also remember.
🛸 Did it return to its mother planet?
Well…maybe!?
While High Prairie’s spaceship was all in good fun, there were actually several officially documented UFO sightings in the Lesser Slave Lake region during the 1970s around this same time, including:
👽 Kinuso – September 21, 1976
👽 Slave Lake – September 21, 1976
👽 Slave Lake – March 3, 1977
👽 Slave Lake – March 10, 1977
Whether they were aircraft, atmospheric phenomena, or something a little more mysterious, we’ll let you decide.
Who remembers High Prairie’s spaceship? Does anyone recall who the two astronauts are, or when it disappeared? Better yet, do you have a photo of it, or remember any stories about strange lights in the sky around High Prairie or Lesser Slave Lake? We’d love to hear your memories!
Source: Library and Archives Canada, Canada’s UFOs: The Search for the Unknown (Government of Canada UFO records database).