Canada’s UFO Archives: What the Government Files Contain
Canada
For most of the second half of the twentieth century, reports of unidentified flying objects in Canada ended up in federal government files. Many of those records have since been transferred to Library and Archives Canada, the national institution responsible for preserving government documents, where they can be consulted by the public.
The files are not a secret trove of recovered craft. They are mostly routine reports, correspondence and short case notes. But they are a genuine historical record of what Canadians saw, how officials responded, and how a handful of important cases were handled.
Where the records came from
UFO reports in Canada were received by several different bodies over the years. In the early 1950s the Department of Transport ran Project Magnet under Wilbert B. Smith, and the Defence Research Board convened Project Second Storey. Through the 1950s and 1960s the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Department of National Defence received reports from pilots, radar operators and the public.
Reports also came through the RCMP, since members of the public often called their local detachment. From the late 1960s, the National Research Council became the main place where reports were sent, and it kept them until it stopped collecting such reports in the 1990s. Records from all of these sources have found their way into the national archives.
What the files typically contain
- Sighting reports from members of the public, often on standard forms, giving date, place, duration and a description
- RCMP reports forwarding sightings, sometimes with officers’ own observations
- Military messages and correspondence about particular cases, including Falcon Lake and Shag Harbour in 1967
- Records associated with Project Magnet and Project Second Storey
- Letters from the public and replies from officials
- Notes on possible explanations, such as meteors, aircraft or satellites
The online exhibition
Library and Archives Canada produced an online exhibition about the country’s UFO records, titled Canada’s Unidentified Flying Objects: The Search for the Unknown. It presented digitised examples of the documents, explained which departments had handled reports, and highlighted notable cases. Parts of this material have since been moved into the institution’s archived web content, so links found in older articles may no longer work.
How to search the collection
The main tool is Library and Archives Canada’s online Collection Search. Searching terms such as UFO, unidentified flying objects, OVNI, flying saucers or the names of specific cases will return file descriptions, and in some cases digitised pages that can be viewed online. Adding a department name, such as National Defence or National Research Council, can narrow the results.
Many files are described but not digitised. Those can be viewed in person in Ottawa or requested for copying, subject to the institution’s procedures. Some records may still be restricted, in which case a request under the Access to Information Act may be needed. Records still held by departments rather than the archives can also be requested through access to information.
What the files show, and what they do not
The records show that Canadian officials took UFO reports seriously enough to collect them for decades, and that they occasionally mounted real investigations, as at Falcon Lake and Shag Harbour. They also show a steady decline in official interest, from active study in the 1950s to simple filing by the 1970s and 1980s.
They do not contain evidence of recovered craft or alien bodies, and claims that Canada holds such material are not supported by the released records. Researchers should also be wary of online articles that cite dramatic Canadian military incidents without a file reference; genuine cases in the archives have a traceable paper trail.
Other places to look
Beyond the national archives, the annual Canadian UFO Survey compiled by Ufology Research in Manitoba gives statistics on civilian reports since 1989. Contemporary newspapers, available through public library databases, are essential for checking that a historical case was actually reported at the time. For the 2020s, the Office of the Chief Science Advisor’s Sky Canada Project is the main federal reference.
Sources
- Canada’s Unidentified Flying Objects: The Search for the Unknown — Library and Archives Canada
- Canadian UFO Survey (annual) — Ufology Research (Manitoba)
- The Canadian UFO Report — Dundurn Press (Chris Rutkowski and Geoff Dittman), 2006
This article has been compiled from the sources listed but has not yet been independently checked against them. If you spot an error, tell us. Contact
