Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait

The legend of a ghost ship in Northumberland Strait dates back at least 200 years, and it is typically described as a beautiful schooner that has three or four masts with pure white sails, all of which are said to become completely engulfed in flames as onlookers watch.

[1] The Northumberland Strait separates Prince Edward Island from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,[2] and according to local folklore, the ghost ship appears before a northeast wind, and is a forewarning of a storm.

Tatamagouche Mountain resident Melvin Langille also claims he saw the ship one night in October, explaining, "I believe in all that stuff and I don't know what else it would be.

"[4] In 1905, New Brunswick scientist William Francis Ganong proposed that the legend may have arisen due to natural electrical phenomena such as St. Elmo's Fire that had been subject to "interpretation as the flaming rigging of a ship.

[2] The ghost ship has become more widely known in recent years in part due to a popular song by Lennie Gallant, a Canadian singer-songwriter from Rustico, Prince Edward Island, along with a reference in the podcast Alice Isn't Dead.