Were those mysterious bulletlike objects seen in the sky off the coast of Newfoundland missiles?

Or where they, as some are suggesting, model projectiles launched by local "rocket hobbyists?"

In a case that sounds like a Hollywood science-fiction movie, locals in Harbour Mille, a small town near Newfoundland's southern coast, are buzzing over the sighting of three silver or grey objects early Monday evening.

Resident Darlene Stewart was planning to to take a picture of the sun going down around 5 p.m. But to her shock she saw the objects in the sky above Fortune Bay and called her neighbour, Emmy Pardy. Stewart took pictures of the mysterious objects.

"It was grey and silver in colour. It looked like an oversized bullet with a trail of fire behind it," Pardy told the Star.

There was no sound of an airplane's engine, she said, and three of the objects were visible for about 15 minutes.

An RCMP officer initially confirmed to Pardy in two telephone conversations that it was indeed a missile, she said.

"He said the military was made aware of this," Pardy explained, adding he told her a missile or missiles were launched from nearby St-Pierre-Miquelon, which is French territory.

But the RCMP later referred inquiries on the matter to the federal government, which said there was no missile and no evidence of anyone firing a rocket near the area.

Liberal Senator George Baker told the Star there's no way the objects were models fired by locals.

They were too large – one witness Baker spoke to said they were at least the size of an 18-wheeler – and at -14C it was too cold for a hobbyist to be out.

The Newfoundland senator suggested they were missiles launched from France, or nearby St-Pierre-Miquelon, pointing to a dispatch from Hervé Morin, France's defence minister, that praises the launch of an M51 missile Wednesday from the Bay of Audierne in France.

Ottawa didn't mince words about the incident. "There is no indication that there was ever a rocket launch," said PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas.

No one from the French embassy in Ottawa was available for comment.

Maj. Jason Proulx said Canadian Forces have confirmed there were no planned missile exercises off the seaboard. "There's no threat to the security of Canada," Proulx said from Ottawa.

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With files from The Canadian Press