Whilst in BOAC service, this aircraft took part in a celebrated UFO encounter on 29 June 1954 over Seven Islands, Quebec while en route from New York to London. At about 21:05 local time, at an altitude of 19,000 ft, Captain James Howard spotted a group of objects on a parallel course at around 230 knots. While he watched, they climbed from around 8,000 ft to an altitude similar to the Stratocruiser. The group consisted of one large, pear-shaped object, and six smaller objects moving around it. The entire flight crew and some of the passengers saw the objects, and they were observed for a total of around 12 minutes. The crew contacted Goose Bay, which vectored a Lockheed F-94 towards them. By the time the fighter approached, the smaller objects had merged with the larger one, which dwindled away out of sight.
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