For 45 years, the Canadian government investigated unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Several of its departments and agencies collected sighting reports of UFOs in Canadian airspace from 1950 to 1995. These investigations started during the Cold War, spurred by fears of Soviet incursions. What began as a military question eventually became a scientific one. From the start, however, the government was reluctant to study this topic. It devoted few resources to it, believing UFOs to be natural phenomena or the products of “delusional” minds. By contrast, many Canadian citizens were eager for information about UFOs. Citizens started their own investigations and petitioned the government for action. In 1995, due to budget cuts, the government stopped collecting reports altogether. For their part, citizen enthusiasts have continued to investigate UFOs.
Project Magnet (1950–54) was the brainchild of Wilbert Smith, a radio engineer with the Department of Transport. Smith undertook experiments to determine whether UFOs flew using magnetic energy. He also launched a balloon into the night sky in order to solicit sighting reports and test their accuracy. Finally, he built a UFO observatory at Shirley’s Bay, a restricted military site west of Ottawa. Smith’s experiments were inconclusive. He had also come to believe that UFOs were extraterrestrial (from beyond planet Earth). He began drawing bad publicity with this view, so the Department of Transport shut down Project Magnet. The government wanted to establish an official position on UFOs. To this end, the Defence Research Board set up Project Second Storey. (1952–54).
Resources:
- https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ufos-in-canada (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Magnet_(UFO) (Wikipedia)