When Chris Rutkowski, a longtime fixture of Canada’s ufology community, revisited his files for his new book, he found that Canada is far from alien to reports of the unknown in the skies above the Great White North.
The Manitoban sits on a patio loveseat in a midtown Toronto backyard, sharing the process that went into his new book Canada’s UFO Secrets: New Insights from Government Files. There’s a murmur of other attendees at the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies conference in the background.
“UFOs have been discussed in Parliament many times,” he said. “Many military personnel were involved when UAPs were shot down over the Yukon and over Lake Huron.
“The United States gets a lot of the attention with regard to disclosure, documents and military involvement,” Rutkowski added. “But Canada has actually been much more transparent, and has been much more rigorous in the investigations and discussions.”
The science is the biggest difference between how Americans and Canadians engage with the topic of UAPs. While Canada is dug into exploring the science behind it all, the U.S. focuses exclusively on the military aspects.
Canada’s UFO Secrets floats silently into autobiographical airspace, much like the unassuming black triangles of lore.
“I wanted to tell the story of how I fell into it,” Rutkowski admitted. “Why I felt it was necessary to share that with everyone.”
The Canadian government wasn’t sure what to do with UFO reports, so he ended up with them.
“I took the responsibility fairly seriously,” he said. “I retained confidentiality. I had good relationships with the media and the government would give me the information. Because of that, I guess I was respected for doing good work.”
That respect has resulted in him being asked for his input on Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s Sky Canada Project. Led by the country’s chief science advisor, Dr. Mona Nemer, the initiative reviews how the government handles public reports of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs.
“I was very honoured for that,” he admitted.
Revisiting the science behind Canada’s role in the UAP conversation, Rutkowski pointed to MP Larry Maguire openly discussing UFOs and pushing for more government involvement, as well as the Sky Canada Project, as key in establishing the country’s role in disclosure.
“While some of that has occurred in the United States, Maguire came at it with his own personal experiences and belief systems. They weren’t driven politically at all — definitely not as a backbencher,” the 67-year-old said.
That’s not to say there isn’t any bureaucracy when it comes to reporting and sharing information. But for people waiting for disclosure south of the border, Canada doesn’t really have to wait. It’s already here. There are almost 10,000 cases in the libraries and archives available to Canadian citizens.
“We have a lot of information about what’s been seen, whereas after Project Blue Book closed down in 1969, there really is no information about what’s going on in the United States,” he admitted.
Rutkowski has faced some level of pushback for suggesting a lot of sightings can be explained naturally. He’s been called a skeptic and debunker more often than he’s been called a believer.
“I sit right on the fence,” he admitted, adding with a flourish of wry humour, “Unfortunately, sitting on a picket fence can be very painful.”
There are differences between investigating a UFO report, discovering an explanation and debunking. Sure, the knee-jerk response is that every shiny light in the sky is Venus or the International Space Station.
“One probably shouldn’t say that a report from an RCMP officer or a military officer is bunk and it needs to be debunked,” Rutkowski said. “What needs to be done is that it needs to be studied carefully, investigated and evaluated.
“So, I think the fact that the scientific community, especially here at SCU, is taking the opportunity to examine UAPs from a scientific perspective shows the proper way that UAPs should be considered.”
Canada’s UFO Secrets: New Insights from Government Files is available from Dundurn Press.
Photo by Brian Baker / The Superstitious Times