From the unexplained to the mundane, come join
us on a journey to the fringe. Hello and welcome
to Journey to the Fringe. Your mileage may vary,
but I do like to think that that's because everybody's
journey to the fringe is an individual endeavor.
Ah, that was beautiful. We are your unique and
special podcast hosts, Taylor and Chelsea here
today. Chelsea, we're going over, it's hard to
explain, I think. But Canada just came out with
a UFO report and this was published in June of
2025 By the office of the chief science advisor
Wow, I don't think the chief science advisor
actually wrote it She did have a forward for
it But my guess is is that it was written by
her office But basically it was written to kind
of talk about the status of UAPs in Canada as
of today I can't complain with those that Canada
has generally as a whole over the world towards
UFOs. We seem pretty liberal to it and accepting
of it. And we have declassified UFO files for
Shake Harbor for one. We've done tons of research
on it. We had that one guy, Hellier, I can't
remember his name right now. He was a part of
the government that really loved to talk about
UFOs. I just love our - Yeah, we've put out coins
with with famous UFO sighting and that does come
up in this episode i just i can't you gotta love
the canadian government for the stance they take
on it i don't really think they're trying to
refresh and you know what i do find this very
interesting i do think this shines a great light
because we're always looking at it from the conspiratorial
the the what if true side of these stories yeah
i do find it interesting to look at what is the
government saying about this stuff though they
did a full report it's going to explain why they
it as we get going but we're just gonna read
through quite a bit of it I did had to cut down
significantly which did include cutting out potential
communications with ET societies which was an
entire thing this went down a rabbit hole this
entire paper went down why would you see we might
do it in a separate episode later on as well
as I hope you make note of it other countries
responses to UAPs so to keep this episode to
a reasonable level we had to cut those parts
out and we might talk about them in the future.
Other than that, I basically just edited it down
for keeping it to a reasonable length. I'm so
excited now. So without much more, we're gonna
be reading the report of the Sky Canada Project
from the Office of the Chief Science Advisor
of Canada titled, Management of Public Reporting
of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena on Canada. I
kept this first sentence of the first like three
paragraphs in here just because I wanted you
to understand how they wrote this. Since the
dawn of humanity, the sky has been a profound
source of fascination, wonder, and inspiration.
It went on that way for three paragraphs. I had
to cut that out. It also ends with that too.
In Canada, as elsewhere in the world, people
are intrigued by what are now referred to as
unidentified aerial phenomena, UAPs, which sometimes
arouse considerable curiosity and debate. While
many UAP reports can be attributed to optical
illusions, atmospheric phenomena, or human activity,
a minority remain unexplained for a myriad of
reasons, including a lack of reliable data that
prevents rigorous scientific analysis. Yet these
unexplained sightings generate interest and can
be the source of misinformation or disinformation.
One of the primary issues with misinformation
and disinformation is their impact on public
trust. When people are repeatedly exposed to
false narratives, they may become skeptical of
credible sources, including scientists, journalists
and government institutions. In early 2023, several
incidents in Canada caught the public's attention.
Over a two week period, four unidentified flying
objects flew over North America. The first and
most widely reported in the media was a balloon
which flew across Alaska, Western Canada and
easterly across the United States from January
28th to February 4th. the U .S. eventually shot
it down over the U .S. waters off South Carolina.
From the recovered debris, it was identified
as originating from a foreign country and carried
sophisticated equipment. One week later, on February
11, 2023, the North American aerospace defense
NORAD ordered the downing of a smaller balloon
over Yukon. These incidents highlighted the importance
of government investigations of what appears
in the sky and how complex it is to distinguish
between natural occurrences, common technological
devices and potential security. concerns. This
report aims to set a milestone in Canada's pursuit
of a better approach to the management and study
of UAPs. And Chelsea, those are the events that
spurred this paper to be written. The weather
balloons from China. After you said that, that
kind of sparked within myself that that's probably
what was the cause of it because that was a big
thing that happened within recent history. So
now I'm very excited. Do they talk about what
it was? They actually don't, but it was a weather
balloon. I don't think there's any dispute over
being a weather balloon. Yeah. God damn it. I
hate that explanation, but okay. And I should
say the Office of the Chief Science Advisor in
Canada shortens to OCSA. It comes up right here.
In 2023, the OCSA announced the creation of the
Sky Canada Project. At the outset, its main objectives
were to review current UAP reporting methods
and and propose improvements as needed, to enable
Canada's federal government to optimize the collection
and analysis of UAP observations in a transparent
manner, to provide insight for better tools to
combat misinformation and disinformation, which
I find very interesting, and to encourage participatory
science and public understanding of aerial phenomena,
and to support monitoring of Canada's airspace.
See, this is my tax money going to good use,
I feel like. Yeah, and I think you actually are
gonna like what happens from here as well. They've
done a good job over these two years. This is
just like heartwarming because I was getting
really pissed off at things. OCSA established
boundaries on what Sky Canada project did not
intend to address. It is not meant to prove or
disprove the existence of ET life or ET visitors.
Collect or analyze firsthand data such as photos,
videos, or individual UAP siting reports. be
seen as an endeavor to make the Office of the
Chief Scientific Advisor the primary point of
contact for reporting UAP sightings, or position
the OCSA as the lead organization for initiating
or managing internal collaboration related to
UAP research for investigation. Oh, okay. Yeah,
it's set in the parameters for the paper, and
it moves on to the story of UFO to UAPs from
here. Okay. Until recently, the term UFO was
used to describe aerial phenomena that could
not be conclusively identified. Those are definitionally
unidentified, but this does not imply that they
are extraterrestrial, that they define natural
or scientific explanation, or that they would
not be identifiable with access to additional
or better data and tools. The abbreviation UAP
is a newer and increasingly more prevalent term.
UAP includes a broader set of movements, such
as being stationary in the air, falling or floating
and submerging in water, as well as phenomena
that are not material objects such as gases and
lights. The terminology shift reduces the historical
stigma associated with the UFO sightings. Witnesses
were often met with skepticism and ridicule leading
to a negative perception and arbitrary judgments
being cast upon them. Stigmatization can have
significant consequences such as discouraging
witnesses from coming forward and hindering scientific
inquiry. The new more encompassing UAP terminology
can help promote greater transparency, credibility,
and acceptance of research in professional and
scientific circles and in the wider public. While
the term UFO continues to be used, governments
and other organizations are gradually adopting
the more comprehensive term UAP. This report
will use the abbreviation UAP when describing
more recent activity and UFO when dealing with
more historical ones. Most UAP sightings can
be explained through careful investigation and
analysis, given sufficient reliable data. For
example, France's group who collects information
on their behalf, it's called the Gaipan United
Airspace Phenomenon Research and Information
Group, which investigates UAP settings in France,
reports that 3 ,188 cases collected by 2025 had
only 3 .2 % of cases remaining unidentified after
investigation. Furthermore, 31 .4 % of cases
could not be explained due to insufficient data.
Similarly, MUFON, Canada reports that of the
321 sightings that investigated in 2023, 31 %
could not be conclusively explained due to the
information being too vague. Most UAP observations
can be attributed to relatively simple explanations,
including conventional aircrafts, weather phenomena,
which includes atmospheric conditions that can
create unusual visual effects, crystal, ice crystals,
storms, clouds, or temperature inversions can
sometimes make lights or objects appear unusual.
hard -to -identify ways. Astronomical objects
such as planet stars or meteors. Man -made objects
such as weather balloons, drones, satellites,
sky lanterns or experimental aircrafts. These
objects may have unusual flight patterns or lighting
that can cause confusion. Optical illusions such
as reflections, lens flares or other optical
effects can create the appearance of something
unusual in the sky. And human error. Misinterpretation
of everyday objects or phenomena such as aircraft
lights seen from different angles can lead to
UAP reports. I could see and I think this is
a good time to bring up as well. I think that
I brought this up to you. Not while we were recording
once, Taylor, but I did see posted just a week
or two ago a video from someone in Alberta capturing.
ball lightning yeah you did and that's the first
recorded video of it yeah so just something to
throw in there when you're talking about meteorological
events and stuff like that ball lightning has
actually been captured on video by now someone
in alberta which is one of those things that
everyone always says a ufo is ball lightning
so yeah it does exist Nonetheless, some UAP sightings
for which data exists remain unexplained even
after investigation. That's the end of that section.
We're going to move on to tackling the puzzle.
New technologies can contribute to UAP reporting
and analysis. For example, the tech startup Enigma
Labs launched a real -time iOS app for phones
in 2023. This application captures sightings
and compiles them into a standardized searchable
database that can be analyzed. The Enigma app
includes over 14 ,000 UAP sighting reports from
Canva. app, some of which cover historical sighting
reports downloaded from other sources. Interestingly,
the survey by Earncliffe's Strategies for the
Sky Canada Project found that two in five respondents
are interested in using a phone app to document
UAPs. The use of artificial intelligence in this
context is particularly promising. With growing
volume of data enabled by smartphone technologies,
such as an incomeal ads application, AI could
significantly streamline and standardize the
process of examining and assessing UAP sightings.
AI can assist in sifting through vast amount
of data from various sources, such as databases,
tracking airplane locations, satellites, stars,
planets and weather conditions. This capability
could aid in interpreting visual data from UAP
sightings more accurately and identifying trends.
Such initiatives could be crucial in transitioning
from anecdotal evidence to more scientifically
rigorous analysis and may contribute to enhancing
the quality of UAP research. So that's the end
of that section, it was really short. And then
we move on to breaking the stigma, the challenges
of academic research on UAPs. Despite a valid
scientific rationale for studying UAPs, many
academic research communities seem to fear stigma
associated with pursuing research on this topic.
A recent survey of 1 ,460 tenured and tenure
-track faculty members in 144 research -intensive
universities in the United States revealed that
53 % believe that UAP -related research would
jeopardize their tenure or promotion, even though
only 7 % had a negative opinion of this type
of research. A review by the OCSA of two of Canada's
main federal research funding agencies found
very few funded projects related to UAPs. For
example, over the last 25 years, there have been
no grants or funding applications directly related
to UAPs at the Natural Science and Engineering
Research Council of Canada. and only seven applications
and two grants of scholarships from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Consistent
with this, the OCSA only found a dozen graduate
-level dissertations related to UAPs in Canada
over the same 25 -year period. Among those was
Matthew Hayes' research at Trent University that
gave rise to a comprehensive book titled, Search
for the Unknown, Canada's UFO Files and the Rise
of Conspiracy Theory. The book explores the history
of UAP sightings in Canada, the response from
the government and the resulting perception from
the public. I found that really interesting.
They're actually looking at this and saying like,
there's no funding going to this educationally,
and there's a big stigma attached to it. So there's
something that needs to be done here. So that's
the end of that section. We're moving on to empowering
discovery, the role of participatory science
and engaging communities. Participatory sciences,
and I do have to say this section got cut from
significantly because it had a lot to do with
finding other alien life and the cosmos. I really
want to know what it said. Participatory science,
historically called citizen science, involves
engaging the public as research assistants in
projects. It allows researchers to collect vast
amounts of data over large geographical areas
and longer periods than would be feasible from
a small team of scientists and a limited number
of instruments. This approach accelerates scientific
discovery and strengthens public confidence in
science. Additionally, participatory science
fosters scientific literacy by providing new
opportunities for individuals to actively participate
in research. collaborating with scientists in
data collection, analysis and interpretation,
while learning about the scientific method. As
noted in the House of Commons Standing Committee
on Science and Research report on citizen science,
these initiatives are particularly valuable for
addressing data gaps and informing public policy,
especially in the health and environmental fields.
Such contributions demonstrate the vital role
citizen scientists can play in advancing knowledge
and supporting evidence -based decision -making.
We're moving on to UAPs and the public. Like
I said, there's a lot of words I need to get
through, so I came in this script with a mission.
The way reports of UAP sightings are framed and
disseminated significantly influence public perception.
Some sightings gain widespread attention, fueled
by compelling eyewitness accounts, documented
evidence, or extraordinary circumstances. Media
coverage and pop culture have further shaped
these narratives, embedding certain cases in
the collective memory. In particular, well -documented
Canadian sightings, such as the Falcon Lake encounter,
or the Shag Harbor incident have become cultural
touchstones commemorated not only in local lore
but also through initiatives like the Royal Canadian
Mint's UAP -themed coins. Despite the intrigue,
the discourse around UAPs is often fragmented
with inconsistent reporting mechanisms and varying
levels of credibility among sources. The rise
of conspiracy theories, disinformation, and sensationalism
can further muddy the waters, making it harder
for the public to discern fact from fiction.
With growing fascination, complexity, and uncertainty,
the UAP field has also experienced a rise in
misinformation and disinformation. The Sky Canada
Project examined current government reporting
practices on UAPs to determine the extent to
which these practices could address two types
of information related problems, misinformation
and disinformation. Misinformation refers to
any inaccurate or false information that circulates
unintentionally in the public sphere. often long
after the information has been proven wrong.
Well, disinformation involves false information
deliberately intended to mislead people. In recent
years, disinformation, misinformation and conspiracy
theories have increasingly caught the attention
of researchers from various fields. One key insight
from this research is the importance of rapidly
offering clear explanations to counter or at
least reduce the spread of misleading ideas.
In today's world of information overload, gaps
in information are often quickly filled by disinformation
or misinformation. When people experience uncertainty
or fear, they are more likely to seek explanations
to regain control over their situation. Disinformation
provides false, but sometimes comforting explanations,
which can be appealing even if they are not based
on fact. People may seek explanations that confirm
their existing beliefs, potentially leading to
them accepting biased conclusions or conspiracy
theories. Research has shown that conspiracy
theories This is a cognitive bias that people
tend to believe the first piece of information
they hear even if it's later proven false. Reactive
strategies like debunking or striking back tend
to be less effective than preventative strategies.
Such preventative, also called pre -bunking,
appears to be the most successful approach. This
involves providing correct information ahead
of time to prevent the spread of falsehoods.
An open and transparent dialogue with the public,
especially from trusted figures such as scientists,
is essential in reducing information gaps and
building trust in institutions. When people trust
the source of information, they are less likely
to embrace conspiracy theories. This highlights
the need for a reliable, credible source of information
on UAPs, one that can quickly and accurately
provide explanations to the witnesses, the media,
and the broader public. Another major concern
is the role of technology in accelerating the
spread of false information. Social media platforms.
The recommendation algorithms and deep fake technology
make it increasingly difficult to distinguish
between fact and fiction. Ultimately, combating
misinformation and disinformation requires a
combination of media literacy, responsible technology
use, and proactive fact -checking efforts from
both individuals and institutions. For this to
happen, a clear and transparent framework for
data reporting and analysis needs to be in place.
So that's their conspiracy section, which I found
very interesting what they focused on. It is
very interesting. It seems really like they're
trying to foster openness. Yes. That is a great
word that I wasn't going to say. Okay. I just
feel like they're really saying, hey, if you
actually just comment on these things immediately,
you can get this debunking you have to do later.
harder out of the way. It's almost like they're
trying to make it so there's less of a stigma
for people to report UFOs. I know we've had this
conversation a lot too, how there's a very weird
pipeline of fringe groups who extreme far right
political beliefs, which seems to come from the
conspiracy side. And I do think that what they
just described is something that happens within
these groups. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And
it's also saying that people are less willing
to do things around it because of the stigma
behind it. So it sounds like they're trying to
combat that as well, which is refreshing. Public
sightings of UAPs can be perplexing to individuals
who experience them, prompting a search for information
and answers. While this search can open people
to scientific reasoning, it can also make the
public vulnerable to misinformation, disinformation,
and conspiracy theories, especially if they do
not know which trusted organizations can help
them. Although most reports of UAP sightings
attract little attention, some become famous.
When reported sightings fuel media coverage,
prompt government action or scientific research,
or permeate pop culture through movies or books,
they can embed themselves in collective memory.
The following five sightings are among the best
-known UAP cases reported in Canada over the
past decades and have been commemorated by the
Royal Canadian Mint on coins. May 20th, 1967,
Vulcan Lake, Manitoba. We've done an episode
on that. October 4th, 1967, Shag Harbor, Nova
Scotia. We've done an episode on that. October
26th, 1978, near Clarenville, Newfoundland in
Labrador. Never even heard of this one. Several
witnesses, including a constable of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police RCMP, reported seeing
an oval -shaped object over the harbour. No material
evidence was found. November 7, 1990, Montreal.
A large oval -shaped luminous phenomenon was
observed in the evening over the rooftop pool
of the Bonaventure Hotel by about 40 witnesses,
including journalists and police officers. Air
traffic control confirmed there was no radar
activity in the area. On December 11, 1996, at
Yukon, at least 31 people in four different areas
of Yukon reported seeing a row of lights in the
sky, which many described as resembling a spacecraft.
The phenomenon was later observed by several
others in different locations. Wow. So many that
I didn't know. I mean, I know the first two are
renowned. These ones didn't really have a name.
But even to identify those as big cases in a
government report, I think was huge. Oh, yeah,
absolutely. I think we need to look into those
three. Given the ephemeral nature of UAP sightings,
reporting and analyzing them can bring together
very different people and institutions, often
in a half -hazard way. UAP sightings can come
from a variety of sources, including ordinary
citizens, airline pilots, and military personnel,
and can be reported to different authorities
depending on the circumstances. The incidents
of UAP sightings have been analyzed over the
years by various survey organizations and researchers.
In 1974, Gallup conducted what may have been
the first survey of the Canadian public regarding
UFOs. The results showed that 67 % of respondents
had heard of UFOs while 8 % believed that they
had seen one. By 78, 81 % of Canadians had heard
of UFOs while 10 % thought they had seen one.
In 2024, Ernst Cliff survey for the Sky Canada
project found that 27 % of 1 ,008 respondents
reported having observed an object or phenomenon
in the sky that they could not identify, with
11 % claiming to have made such an observation
in the past year. That seems ridiculously high.
Do you think? Like, just a little over one in
four people has seen something in the sky they
could not explain. Damn it, why am I the three
of those people? I know. We got two of the four
here who did not fall into the one of the four.
Yeah, what are the odds? Not likely, pretty much.
That is high. Especially Canada is such a huge
country. Most of our population is to the southern
end of Canada. And the crazy thing is one in
four people said they've seen something in the
sky they couldn't explain. One in 10 said they
saw it in 2024. Those are crazy numbers. Yeah.
And all our populations are pretty much in big
cities. We have such a small population for how
big of a country we have. That's a huge... number
for how many people are in Canada versus how
much land we have. Because what are the odds
of where these UAPs, pardon me, are going to
be sited? Well, where the people are. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. And that amounts for so many more that
could potentially be being seen. No, they're
not flying over the uninhabited parts of Canada.
They're just sticking to the cities. That would
actually explain a lot, so forgive me. Keep going.
Okay. Based on data published by a number of
organizations, it can be estimated that between
600 and 1000 cases of UAP sightings are reported
each year in Canada. In the absence of a single
data collection organization, the number and
nature of these observations cannot be established
conclusively for many reasons, including the
possibility that the same sighting is reported
separately by more than one organization. This
makes it difficult to get a precise idea of the
scale of the phenomena. In Canada, the long is
the most recognized collection of UAP sightings.
is the Canadian UFO survey, produced by a group
of Manitoba -based volunteers called Ufology
Research, directed by Mr. Chris Rakowski. In
2023, they tallied 570 UFO reports. Since 1989,
over 24 ,000 Canadian UFO reports have been catalogued.
The major sources of this collection include
other UFO organizations. Of note, data from another
organization, MUFON Canada, was not available
to Ufology Research in 2023, suggesting that
the list may be incomplete. A survey conducted
by Ernst Collect in 2024 also suggests that that
number of sightings may be higher. While advancement
in technology and scientific inquiry may have
improved our ability to investigate UAPs, the
lack of standardized reporting mechanisms, fragmented
data collection, and the spread of misinformation
complicate efforts to correctly evaluate the
number of UAP cases in Canada every year. And
that's the end of that section. We're going to
move on to methodology and findings. The history
of UAP reporting within the federal government
spans several decades but includes extended periods
with minimal or no activity. In 1950 the Department
of Transport granted one of their engineers,
Wilbert Smith, permission to do part -time research
to investigate whether some UFOs could use the
power of Earth's magnetic field as a source of
propulsion. They called this project Magnet.
Smith gradually expanded its scope to include
investigations of the validity of UFO observations.
Unable to convince his colleagues of the merits
of his research, Smith had to continue his work
privately after the Department of Transport terminated
Project Magnet. In 1952, the Department of Research
Board, DRB, within the Department of National
Defense, DND, established a committee called
Project Second Story to examine the occurrences
of flying saucers passing over Canada territory
as reported by different branches of the armed
services. The committee did not investigate UFO
sightings, but it developed a standardized form
to facilitate the reporting of UFOs across various
government departments. This form was never broadly
adopted or used, so this group was fairly useless.
The committee held six meetings between 52 and
54 concluding, quote, UFOs pose neither a security
threat nor were of scientific interest, end quote.
It recommended ending all investigations by the
Canadian military. Between 54 and 67, public
reports continued to be submitted to various
federal departments and agencies, including the
RCMP, Transport Canada, the Department of National
Defense, as well as at local police departments
and non -federal entities. These organizations
In 1967, on the recommendations of the Minister
of National Defense, the responsibility for overseeing
UFO reports was transferred to the NRC. which
then became the main service for receiving public
UFO reports. This transfer responsibility includes
the classification of D &D's Project Second Story
and the Department of Transport's Project Magnet,
as well as taking over the management of previous
UFO reports. According to the NRC, until 1995,
they were officially tasked with collecting information
on UFOs from the public, municipalities, and
other federal departments such as the RCMP and
D &D. Most, but not all, UFO reports received
by the NRC were compiled into what became known
as the Non - meteoric sightings file. In 95,
the NRC stopped collecting UFO reports. All related
material was transferred to what is now known
as the Library and Archives of Canada, LAC, which
presently holds these records. LAC's collection
of UFO documents, estimated at 15 ,000 pages,
of which 9 ,500 have been digitized, is open
to the public and provides valuable information
on the history of UFO sightings and the Canadian
government's responses to them. The history of
UAP reporting within Canadian federal government
reflects a fluctuating level of interest and
responsibility over time with various departments
and agencies intermittently engaging in investigations.
The government's approach evolved but often lacked
continuity and consistent focus. The limited
adoption of standardized reporting mechanisms
and the eventual cessation of formal investigations
in 95 marked a decline in federal involvement.
And I cut this part out because it's going to
be in another episode at some point. consultation
with federal departments and agencies. I'm just
going to do the brief part I kept in. The Sky
Canada Project sought to gain insight on the
domestic front by identifying organizations in
Canada that typically receive witness reports
of UAP sightings and examined whether and how
they collect, investigate, and follow up on these
reports. While some departments such as Transport
Canada have established mechanisms for collecting
and analyzing UAP -related data, most organizations
do not investigate sightings unless they intersect
with their specific The lack of centralized data
compilation and standardized reporting processes
make it challenging to identify trends to conduct
comprehensive analyses of UAP reports. So that's
what we get from that. Okay. Citizen led UAP
groups and organizations. While government efforts
to study and catalog UAP sightings have fluctuated
over time, citizen led investigations have remained
steady. Today, Canada has several citizen driven
organizations dedicated to receiving, investigating
and discussing. reports of UAPs. MUFON Canada
is a non -profit organization that relies on
civilian volunteers to study reported UAP sightings.
There are numerous groups at the provincial level
as well. For example, within the province of
Quebec, there is the, I'm not gonna try to say
it, it's the UFO Alert Network, AQU, also known
as GARPAN. Okay. UFOBC investigates BC and Yukon
sightings, which I'd never even heard of before
reading this paper. I don't know that I know
them off the top of my head. Such organizations
and initiatives provide platforms for reporting
sightings, conducting some investigations and
sharing information. Their existence is indicative
of a gap in the way UAP sightings are treated
by both the authorities and the scientific community,
but their lack of financial resources limits
their actions, prevents them from offering a
full suite of services. And from here was supposed
to get into the global perspective on UAP reporting,
but that's going to be its own episode sometime
in the future. So I left this one paragraph from
it. The recent global development in the study
and investigation of UAPs demonstrates an increasing
commitment to scientific inquiry and national
security. Some countries have established formal
governmental bodies to investigate UAP sightings
while others have relied on non -governmental
organizations or citizen science groups to collect
and analyze reports. The growing recognition
of the need for robust data collection and international
cooperation reflects a shared interest in understanding
these phenomena and and a global shift towards
a more systematic and open approach to the study
of UAPs. And Chelsea, this is really why we're
reading this. We are now at the recommendations.
Okay, good. I need some. The Sky Canada Project
highlights a significant gap in Canada's approach
to UAP phenomena. As most federal entities lack
the capacity, mandate, or resources to address
this issue systematically, public interest in
greater transparency and improved reporting mechanisms
underscores the need for coordinated action.
Insights from non -governmental organizations,
citizen -driven groups, and independent journalists
reveals the enduring public fascination with
UAPs and the potential value for establishing
a more robust framework for data collection and
investigation. The survey by Ernst Gliff found
that interest in UAPs is generally moderate.
However, half the respondents felt that the Canadian
government should do something about UAP sightings
and devote funds to the effort, including for
investigation. The majority of respondents felt
that the government should set up a service to
enable Canadians to report their sightings and
attach importance to transparency of information
on the subject. Moving forward, the Sky Canada
project serves as a crucial foundation for discussions
on enhancing federal oversight and public engagement
regarding UAPs. By fostering collaboration across
departments and with civilian organizations,
Canada can develop a more cohesive and transparent
approach to understanding and addressing these
phenomena. To enable thorough scientific studies
of UAP sightings, a range of data collection
and investigative activities would be required.
For instance, standardized protocols should be
established to ensure data are comparable in
their content and format. The fragmented nature
of UAP reporting across various departments and
agencies in Canada complicates the application
of scientific principles. This lack of coordination
results in inconsistent information collection
across the government, making it onerous, if
not impossible, for researchers to access and
compile data for rigorous science -based analyses.
Additionally, the fact that investigations of
reportings are not easily available contributes
to distrust and disinformation. During the Sky
Canada project, the Office of the Chief Science
Advisor received about 250 inquiries about Canadians
regarding various aspects of the project, including
inquiries about where to report UAP settings
and requests for government assistance to interpret
photos and videos despite the Sky Canada website
clearly stating that the office was not offering
that service nor collecting such information.
Which I just find hilarious that people are in
that position. Yeah. I don't know where to report
this. It clearly says I don't report it here,
but I'm going to ask you. Canada would benefit
from an improved process for reporting, collecting,
and studying UAP sightings. The approach should
be more rigorous, transparent, and coordinated
than is currently the case. The following actions
are proposed for consideration by the Government
of Canada in order to 1. Improve coordination
and analyses of UAP reports in Canada 2. Promote
public trust and mitigate disinformation 3. Enhance
scientific rigor and science literacy surrounding
UAPs and 4. Position Canada for greater collaboration
with other countries on a topic that has no geographic
borders. And here are their points. Reporting
and data oversight. One, identify a lead. A federal
department or agency responsible for managing
public UAP data should be identified. The lead
should be a trusted and recognized scientific
organization. Have the capacity to communicate
with the public and an already established international
scientific network. For example, Canadian Space
Agency. Establish a dedicated service. The service
would collect testimonies, investigate cases,
and post its analyses publicly. It would proactively
inform Canadians about UAPs. To achieve these
goals, it would convene a network of government
and academic partners and experts to conduct
scientific analyses and follow up with witnesses.
Enhance reporting capacity in civil aviation.
Transport Canada should encourage pilots, cabin
crews, and air traffic controllers to report
UAP sightings without fear stigmatization. In
collaboration with NAV Canada, they should analyze
UAP reports to track trends and provide pilots
with explanations helping to reduce distractions
during flights. These reports could be correlated
and merged with those submitted by the public
on similar sightings. Next, in communications,
support public dialogue. A proactive strategy
to increase transparency and communication with
the public regarding UAPs should be developed.
Such a strategy should bring together trusted
publicly facing organizations, including science
centers and museums, as well as public libraries.
Promote intra -governmental collaborations, an
internal directive to ensure collaboration among
all federal agencies with relevant expertise
or data would aid the lead organization in providing
explanations to witnesses and correlating recent
observations with previous reports. Additionally,
since some departments would continue to receive
reports under these mandates, like the RCMP,
Trans Canada. They should be encouraged to forward
their data as appropriate to the lead organization.
Improve media relations. The lead organization
should play a significant role in mitigating
misinformation and disinformation by responding
to public and media inquiries related to UAPs
and by documenting and communicating common misinterpretations
of observations. Examples of such approaches
include interactive digital tools are found in
other countries and promote application of up
-to -date evidence to effectively address misinformation
and disinformation. Among others, a multidisciplinary
expert panel should be set up to advise the lead
organization on effective approaches to countering
misinformation and disinformation. Research.
Facilitate open access and open data. Data related
to UAPs should be made available to the public
for transparency and to support research. Conduct
surveys. Periodic surveys of Canadians should
be carried out to gauge their perception of UAPs
and assess the impact of the dedicated services.
Support citizen science. Participatory science
initiatives and programs should be developed
to enable volunteer participation in the study
of UAPs, among other benefits such as activities
tend to increase the likelihood of informed citizenry
and enhance interest of youth in science and
technology careers. Provide tools for data collection.
The development and deployment of publicly accessible
digital and portable tools should be supported
such as bilingual applications for smartphones
and interactive platforms to provide information
including for data collection and ongoing research
programs and build on Canada's strength in astronomy
and aerospace research. Canada has a superb talent
pool and physical research infrastructure and
is part of major international initiatives aimed
at understanding our planet and the universe
and developing tools for space travel and exploration.
Interesting. The sector should be further supported
and given opportunities to be part of the public
dialogue. And lastly, international collaboration.
Information sharing. The lead organization should
establish partnerships with international entities
dedicated to UAPs such as AARO and NASA, CAPAN
in France, and SAFA in Chile to share data methodologies
and best practices in UAP research and investigation.
Cooperation in research and communication. Canada
should actively engage with international partners
for research collaboration and public awareness
efforts. And the conclusion. If enacted, the
recommendations given in this report can drive
progress in several key areas. Their first goal
is to increase government transparency on UAPs,
potentially reducing related conspiracy theories
and misinformation. Second, setting up clear
and efficient reporting systems for UAP observations
will greatly simplify the process, encourage
more public participation, and support citizen
-driven science. Improved data from public reports
will enable more comprehensive and accurate research
analyses. Investigating UAP reports may also
enhance airspace security by identifying threats.
threatening national security through the proactive
mitigation of risks from UAPs. Finally, these
measures will enable Canada to eventually join
international groups. Efforts concerning UAP
sightings fostering a comprehensive global approach
to understand and address the UAP issue. Canada
can ensure that UAP mysteries inspire future
generations by fostering curiosity, critical
thinking, and open -minded investigation. The
investigation and study of UAPs does belong to
humanity's quest for knowledge and understanding.
Adopting more transparent communications and
robust scientific methods will be a significant
step forward in promoting public understanding
and combating misinformation. It is in the spirit
that the recommendations in this report have
been formulated. And Chelsea, that's the end
of the paper. The first thing I want to ask is
you're the one that put this episode together
and you cut a lot out of it as well. What do
you think? I think this is an incredible paper.
There's really good suggestions in here. We will
see what actually gets through. But how candid
they are with the topic at large and just talking
about like these mystery cases that we are well
aware of saying, yeah, they're really interesting.
It's very impressive. It was shocking, basically,
to see a government body openly say, yeah, these
cases are crazy. Do you think that it's shocking,
though? Because like I said, kind of at the beginning,
Canada has kind of been very liberal about the
whole UAP phenomenon, typically throughout not
throughout history, but as far as Canada has
had a comment on it. They've been better than
other countries. They haven't been perfect. Like
we've looked at. It's basically jumped around
from one government body to another with nobody
ever wanting to actually take it. The fact that
it just ended up with the National Library at
the end is, I think, just a sheer coincidence
that makes you think that they are fairly liberal
with the topic. Is it that or is it just that
nobody kind of knows what to do with the topic?
It's a fair point because I have found they have
in any of the topics that we've covered We've
covered a few of the major ones in Canada to
be more Obviously because there is a few things
that we didn't know about them They're the most
renowned cases in Canada But I did find when
we covered them that the government actually
Did a lot a lot of the stuff that we got is documentation
was directly from the Canadian government Yeah,
which is abnormal but as far as what i do just
think it's because everything ended up with the
national library in 95 and got digitized that's
true but you compare it to other cases like roswell
which i don't know if that's a fair comparison
but the united states government roswell will
be area 51 which you're talking about an actual
government location like a secret that's true
As opposed to some guy coming across something
that's not government information. That's very
true. And I'm trying to think of another example
right now when I can't. I know it's always hard
off the top of your head. But I mean, especially
for me, anything that I'm thinking of right now
is government involved. But you don't really
see that with Canada is the point that I'm trying
to make. And anything that we've covered, which
are renowned cases in Canada, I mean, it's a
little different with the United States, because
yes, most most of those are government cases.
For instance, what I'm talking about is for one,
Roswell, where we see all these grifters come
into play and start making their own narrative.
And it's the same. Oh, yeah, just a completely
different story. It's the same with Paul Benowitz,
where the government is intervening and planting
things for Paul Benowitz to think that there's
underground bases. And this is the government
doing that. So it's a completely different role
that you're seeing from what Canada is involved
with. And I will include myself with this. We're
actually being forthcoming with it, I think.
And I will very happily say after the conclusion,
they put a list of organizations and individuals
that were consulted for this report. And Richard
Doty's name did not make the list. OK, good.
I thought you were going to say that it did.
And I was like, oh, no. My next point that I
would like to make, how do I get a government
job looking into Canadian UFO keys? And here's
the sad thing that I have to say. I don't think
it's actually going to happen because the government
right now is cutting budgets for everything and
chopping jobs. So unfortunately, I don't think
they're going to follow through on much of this.
I feel like I could have done some good contributions
to this report that they've put out there. But
overall, I'm very impressed by what they've put
together. I feel like it's forthcoming. I feel
like it's trying to combat the stigma. Yeah,
and that was one part of it I found really interesting.
was they really focused on that right wing pipeline
conspiracy part of it, which is like, we need
to get out there immediately with information
so that people's minds can't be hijacked from
what actually happened here. I am very impressed
by it. I'm very proud as we have been with our
wave of Canadian pride the last little bit. I
think it's amazing. And I think it's on the forefront
of things that are looking at UFOs because they
want to be more open. that more people are reporting.
They want it to improve safety even. And I can
get behind that. They don't even care if it's
real or not, just - Just report it so that there's
no stigma. Yeah. Not only no stigma, but if you're
a pilot and you're seeing something that you
can't account for, you should be reporting it
for safety issues. Not because you don't want
to, because it's a UAP and you're afraid of what
people are going to say. I am a little worried
about Daryl, the pilot who's to be reporting
all these airplanes he's seeing at night. Yep,
that's just an airplane, Daryl. Again, it's the
fifth one you've seen on this flight. I love
it. I think this is amazing. They did not at
all address. Maybe you cut it out. I would be
very offended if you specifically edited out
the weather balloons that were so big. What was
that? Two or three years ago now? Two years ago,
yeah. I briefly cut that part out and it's really
because like those are fully addressed. They
were just like, hey, we should take a look at
our UAP reporting schematics system within Canada.
So they didn't actually have to address the weather
balloons. It was like three sentences I cut out
with regards to the other ones because they were
very clearly established what they were. Big
fan of this. I was super impressed too that they
talked about like getting people's stigma changed
about this could actually get more people involved
in the STEM fields because kids love this stuff
so them learning about it might naturally bring
them into astronomy. I love that. I think this
is a feel -good, good news and it's not even
a mini. But of course ending with Canada is going
into a budget cutting time. So I don't think
they're going to follow through with this any
time soon. I'll keep an eye on the Hansard in
the next little while. You know what? I can accept
that given what is facing us currently. Why would
I expect them to pursue something like this that
would need funding? So I'll forgive them. Yeah,
and it definitely needs funding. It is very clear
that it needs funding. But as soon as we have
the room. for the funding, I fully expect that
I will be paid for doing this. We better get
called up. The thing is how we just gave you
guys all this publicity. Exactly. Yeah. And what
a feel good episode. I really like that. And
with that, I have been Taylor, here with Chelsea.
We are Journey to the Fringe. Thank you all for
listening and we'll see you next week. Bye. Thank
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