The Canadian government is no stranger to the subject of UFOs, objects that today the United States government prefers to call unidentified anomalous/aerial phenomena, or UAP.

Between 1950 and 1995, the Canadian military investigated UFOs, beginning with Project Magnet on December 2, 1950, under the direction of senior radio engineer Wilbert Brockhouse Smith and developed by Transport Canada to collect data and research on unidentified flying objects. The goal was to apply any recently recovered data to modern-day technologies or engineering. At the end of the first study, Smith concluded that UFOs were ET in origin and used the manipulation of magnetism to fly the object or craft.

Shortly thereafter, on April 22, 1952, Project Second Story (also known as Project Flying Saucers and Project Theta) was established by the Defence Research Board, Canada’s military science agency.

The distinction between the two Canadian projects lies in their origins and scope. While Project Magnet was initiated and overseen by one individual, Project Second Story was a collaborative effort involving government agencies and Canadian military intelligence and was specifically tasked with handling UFO reports.

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From a Canadian perspective, developments regarding the UAP topic have been relatively quiet for the past 70 years. That is, until Former Minister of Defense Paul Hellyer stepped forward in 2005, publicly expressing his belief that extraterrestrials are visiting Earth. Media, government officials, and Canadian civilians had mixed reactions to his statement which became a global conversation overnight. Hellyer was the first formal government official from a G7 country to step forward and speak on ETs and UFOs.

Hellyer passed away on August 8, 2021, at the age of 98. He didn’t live long enough to see how, in 2023, Canadian MP Larry Maguire would similarly come forward, writing a letter claiming that the Canadian government possesses material related to UAP.

After Maguire’s statement, the Canadian government established Sky Project Canada, in which the Office of the Chief Science Advisor (OCSA) was tasked with developing Canadian protocols for documenting and addressing UAP observations.