Project Magnet: Canada’s UFO Study

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While the United States was slowly stepping away from UFO research, Canada took a different path. It kept studying the phenomenon. Quietly. Without headlines. And without the pressure to reassure the public.

That effort was called Project Magnet.

It never became a household name. There were no press briefings or dramatic conclusions. Just one scientist, a small government mandate, and the belief that unexplained aerial phenomena deserved serious attention.

How Project Magnet Started

Project Magnet began in 1950 under Canada’s Department of Transport. The man in charge was Wilbert B. Smith, a senior radio engineer with access to radar systems, communications infrastructure, and classified material.

Smith believed that many UFO sightings were real physical events, not misperceptions or hysteria. His focus was not on where the objects came from, but how they behaved.

He asked a practical question most programs avoided.
If these objects exist, what physical laws are they interacting with?

What Canada Was Actually Investigating

Project Magnet focused on detection and measurement. Smith believed unidentified objects interacted with Earth’s magnetic field and possibly with gravity itself.

The work included:

• Monitoring geomagnetic disturbances
• Studying radar and radio anomalies
• Collecting pilot and civilian reports
• Comparing sightings with solar and magnetic activity

This was not a debunking program. Rather it was closer to applied physics than psychology.

Why Project Magnet Stayed Quiet

Unlike Project Blue Book in the U.S., Project Magnet was never designed to manage public perception. Canada did not frame UFOs as a public relations problem.

That difference mattered.

While the U.S. moved toward information control after the Robertson Panel and later shut everything down with the Condon Report, Canada allowed its investigation to continue without fanfare.

No jokes. No dismissive language. Just limited funding and low visibility.

Wilbert Smith and the Problem of Belief

Over time, Smith became more outspoken. He claimed that:

• The U.S. government knew more about UFOs than it admitted
• Certain materials reacted abnormally to magnetic fields
• Gravity itself might be manipulable

These claims made officials uneasy. Whether Smith was ahead of his time or drifting too far remains debated.

By 1962, funding quietly ended. There was no official shutdown. No final report. Project Magnet simply faded away.

How Project Magnet Compares to U.S. Programs

Project Magnet stands apart historically.

• More open than Project Grudge
• Less theatrical than Project Blue Book
• Never publicly dismissed like the Condon Report
• More technically curious than any U.S. program of its era

In many ways, it resembles what NASA’s UAP study is attempting today. Focus on data. Reduce stigma. Avoid premature conclusions.

Join the Conversation

Project Magnet leaves an uncomfortable question behind. What if the mystery didn’t end, and we just stopped listening?
Talk it through with others in our Discord. Curiosity encouraged. Certainty optional.