While the world fixates on Washington, D.C.’s slow drip of UAP disclosures, Canada is quietly stepping into the spotlight as host of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies’ 2026 annual conference in Toronto this July.
It’s an opportunity that underscores the country’s long-underappreciated but substantive role in bringing scientific rigour and government transparency to the study of unidentified anomalous phenomena.
Canada has an extensive history tied to the investigation of UAPs, including Wilbert Smith’s Project Magnet, which was established in December 1950 by Transport Canada and helmed by senior radio engineer Wilbert Smith, as well as Project Second Storey, launched in April 1952 and sponsored by the Defence Research Board under the chairmanship of Toronto-born astronomer Peter Millman.
Executive board member Robert Powell of the SCU said Project Magnet remains a historically significant example of early government acknowledgement of UFOs as a worthy subject of scientific study.
“Unfortunately, it did not have the resources or the scientific manpower necessary to properly investigate UFOs,” he wrote in an email. “I think any true scientific investigation of UAP must be done outside of government and through academia and scientific organizations.”
Covering all things UFO in Canada has been science journalist and Canadian UFO Survey research co-ordinator Chris Rutkowski.
Rutkowski has spent years exploring reports from Canada’s skies. He has had a long working relationship with the SCU as a regular contributor and is also involved with the Galileo Project, a research initiative hosted by Harvard. He’s also known for his work on The Canadian UFO Report, in which he’s discussed Canada’s most compelling cases with Geoff Dittman.
“It’s very interesting that they’ve chosen to have the main conference outside the U.S.,” the Manitoban said during a June phone conversation. “To have it in Canada is quite significant because Canada has actually been playing quite a major role in ufology and UAP studies.”
Some might suggest Canada has long been overshadowed by the United States when it comes to UFO lore, but Rutkowski argues that Canada is more transparent than its neighbour to the south when it comes to UFO reports. He pointed out that after the closure of Project Blue Book at the end of the 1960s, little information regarding UFOs was publicly shared by the U.S. government or military until The New York Times published its December 16, 2017, article, “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program.”
Canada, on the other hand, has records regarding UFO sightings dating back to 1947. Rutkowski’s 11th book on the subject, Canada’s UFO Secrets: New Insights from Government Files, will be released in July.
He’ll discuss the Canadian government’s studies on UAPs, the Sky Canada program, the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies and more.
“We do have a fairly continuous record of objects seen in the sky by reliable observers and scientist are taking notice,” Rutkowski said, adding that the most recent development from the Office of Canada’s Chief Science Advisor has called for more eyes on Canada’s skies. The Management of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in Canada report, released in June 2025, called for a transparent, public-facing agency to manage reports.
Government transparency aside, representatives from around the globe will also be in attendance at the SCU conference. Keynote speaker Christopher Mellon, the former deputy assistant secretary of defence for intelligence, is among a handful of American speakers. International representation also includes Christian Peters of the University of Bremen in Germany, Gergo Szoboszlai of Hungary, Prof. Laura Dominé, who works with Kyoto University, Michael Vaillant of France and Rainer Haseitl of Norway.
Powell lauded Canada’s transparency on matters relating to UAPs.
“I have always found the Canadian government to be more transparent than the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that NORAD cases are next to impossible to obtain in the United States. However, Canada has released information on incidents, including the Yukon object that was shot down over Canadian territory on Feb. 11, 2023.
Americans also want to learn more about what Canada has to offer in terms of UFO investigations and scientific rigour.
“They want to know more about Canada because the Falcon Lake case and the Shag Harbour case, believe it or not, most Americans have never heard of them,” Rutkowski admitted. “And yet, these are some of the best cases anywhere around the world that have much more evidence and much more investigation than most American cases.
“I think we want to impress the fact that Canada has played a significant role in UAP research and studies.”
One of the most important elements of sharing the scientific findings of organizations like the SCU is educating the public. Journalists and media outlets can help relay the message and combat misinformation.
“In the Chief Science Advisor’s report on the Sky Canada Project, it specifically mentions that the government should work with the media for public education,” Rutkowski said. “I suppose that’s different from what’s going on in the States where it sounds like very few media outlets are advancing the cause of UAP studies.”
Powell admitted it is a difficult task to bridge public interest, folklore and rigorous science without slipping into yellow journalism.
“People seem to love sensationalism,” he wrote. “Yet, it is important for people to understand that science is what drives where we are today — the computers, phones, electric cars, AI and more.
“It is this sensationalism that has created the stigma that exists in the UAP topics today and it is why it is difficult to get mainstream scientists to study the UAP subject.”
Rutkowski’s new book, Canada’s UFO Secrets: New Insights from Government Files, is due out July 14, just in time for the conference, which runs July 24-26 online and at the Marriott Eaton Centre.
Tickets are available online.
Photo of Chris Rutkowski at the 2025 Lake Superior Paracon
by Brian Baker / The Superstitious Times