writing several of those legends; even so much of the oral tradition is now lost. Legends of the mountain generally centre on the figures of either the mountain's three fairies, who are said to have lived in a cave in the cliff-face for several centuries before abandoning the mountain and their immortality to marry their mortal lovers, or the devil, and the existence of two passage to hell, including the location known as les Portes de fer (the Iron gates) (two great stone slabs found next to one another on the slopes of the mountain). Lac Hertel is also at the centre of several legends. According to different legends, it is either bottomless, connected by underground passages to Lake Champlain, or was formed as a direct result of the devil successfully convincing several of the early settlers to abandon their promise to attend mass at the newly established chapel every Sunday. Another legend, based on the unusual ice patterns found on the northern cliff-face of the mountain, where a vaguely horse-shaped ice formation does not melt until late in the spring, state that the spirit of a local farmer's horse warns farmers against planting their crop so long as the ice formation remains on the mountain. In esotericism Since the late twentieth century, the mountain has become a major hub of alleged supernatural activity. The towns surrounding the mountain have shown the highest number of UFO sightings in Quebec. The Ufologist organisation UFO-Québec has claimed Mont Saint-Hilaire to be the central hub of all UFO observations in southern Quebec. On the night of May 22–23, 1981, several hundred people came to the mountain after Richard Glenn claimed to have been warned of UFO visits to the mountain that night. The observations were severely limited by a rainstorm, although some alleged sightings still took place. Glenn also introduced the concept of the hollow earth to the mountain, claiming Mont Saint-Hilaire to be an entrance leading to the domain of the inhabitants of the hollow earth. The abundance of unusual minerals and crystals at Mont Saint-Hilaire, as well as the effect of its mass upon local magnetism, have also been of great interest to followers of the New Age movement and conspiracy theories. See also Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec References External links Alkali nuts UNESCO MaB page Mont Saint-Hilaire at McGill University Mont Saint Hilaire Mountains of Quebec under 1000 metres Mineralogy Biosphere reserves