Ian Purcell captured this object on video as it traversed the sky above Shawnigan Lake. (Ian Purcell image)

In the 13 years Ian Purcell has lived in his home near Shawnigan Lake, he said he has never seen an object like he saw in the sky on June 27.

Purcell said he grabbed his video camera and began recording what appeared to be some sort of silver flying machine that was coming from the east before it arced around and started heading back in the direction from whence it came.

Purcell filmed the object’s progress across the sky for almost 10 minutes and then posted it on YouTube.

The video can be viewed here

or at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZeecQoDUE

“It’s a very clear view of some sort of very odd ship with many engines clearly visible,” he said.

“It was definitely not from this Earth.”

Purcell said he lives about 45 kilometres from Victoria Airport and has watched thousands of planes at various distances over the years.

He said that whatever the object was, it would have to be at least the size of a large jet liner, based on reference points and distance, and had at least six engines that he could see.

“I could see different lights that looked like jets appearing and disappearing and at the nose, too,” Purcell said. “This is some of the best footage I have ever seen on a clearly visible UFO. I’m definitely going to keep my video camera nearby and fully charged from now on.”

Jon Willis, an associate professor from the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Victoria, said that after viewing a segment of the video, he believes the object is most likely man made.

“However, as an astronomer, my main expertise in these cases is being able to confirm that what is being observed is not a common celestial misidentification, like the moon, Venus, or a solar effect such as a parhelion (sun dog),” he said.

“Beyond that, I would caution that my expertise is very limited; no better than any other member of the public.”

Commenters on the YouTube video have suggested several explanations, including that it could be a large silver inflatable balloon that got loose.