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Canadian Airline Pilots Keep Reporting UFOs

May 6, 2021
ExoNews Editor

Article by Daniel Oits April 21, 2021 (vice.com)

• Combing through thousands of reports in a searchable digital archive operated by the Canadian government known as the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Report System (CADORS), VICE World News has uncovered dozens of recent UFO sightings from Canadian and international airlines. With over three decades of data, CADORS contains nearly 300,000 aviation incident reports on everything from mechanical failures to rowdy passengers to bird strikes. It also provides a fascinating record of UFO sightings by professional aviators in Canadian airspace.

• “Pilots are probably not reporting about 90 per cent of the things they’re seeing, because they know it could have lengthy career implications,” says former Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) pilot John “Jock” Williams, an aviation consultant, television commentator, and civilian pilot who spent 36 years in the Canadian military, including over two decades flying fighter jets. “For most pilots, it’s not worth it. That’s why I believe that each of these guys saw what they reported.”

• On the morning of May 30, 2016, an Air Canada Express flight from Montreal to Toronto reported it had “crossed an unidentified flying object, round in shape, flying at an approximate speed of 300kts,” or more than 550 km/h.

• On November 14, 2016, two Porter Airlines crew members were injured when their plane dove to avoid hitting an “object” that “appeared to be solid… and shaped like an upright doughnut or inner tube” 8,000 feet above Lake Ontario.

• On the night of March 16, 2017, a pair of WestJet flights near British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley reported “a bright, white strobe-type light” above them.

• On January 10, 2015, “multiple aircraft reported a very large object with a small white light in the middle, surrounded by a halo” that “appeared to descend from above” 41,000 feet just outside Regina, Saskatchewan.

• On Oct. 21, 2005, air traffic controllers received reports from four aircraft flight crews of a shiny, silver object over Toronto at roughly 30,000 feet which turned sharply and moved rapidly to the southeast over Lake Ontario.

• On Nov. 12, 2015, an undisclosed flight reported “a bright white light high above the aircraft”, 34,000 feet above Saskatchewan, and advised “it was not a meteorite or other aircraft.”

• On Dec. 18, 2016, a Qatar Airways flight south of Grande Prairie, Alberta reported an unidentified flying object in broad daylight in an account that offers no further visual clues. A Canadian government spokesperson said it is “not in a position to discuss individual aviators’ observations.” “The events that are entered into CADORS are entered as they are reported to Transport Canada,” the spokesperson said.

• On November 14, 2016, a morning Porter Airlines flight from Ottawa to Toronto’s downtown island airport reported ‘flying by’ a doughnut-like object “approximately 5 to 8 feet in diameter” that was “directly ahead on their flight path” over Lake Ontario, and “not likely a balloon”. The “captain overrode the autopilot in order to quickly descend the aircraft under the object.” The plane’s two flight attendants, who “were in the process of securing the cabin for arrival… received minor injuries when they were thrown into the cabin structure.”

• On the night of December 26, 2019, two separate Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz flights over British Columbia reported “sighting up to 2 dozen evenly-spaced bright objects in a line, travelling quickly at an altitude above their aircraft.” It was quickly identified as an earlier sighting of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, which travel in groups in comparatively low orbits.

• On April 30, 2018, a Boeing 747 cargo flight reported “an object flying sporadically, estimated at (60 to 80 thousand feet) and moving at Mach 4,” or four times the speed of sound, as it travelled above the Northwest Territories on its way from New York to Alaska.

• On the morning of December 15, 2009, air traffic controllers in Fort McMurray, Alberta spotted a “solid bright light” that traveled “too fast to be any commercial aircraft” as it “moved in a southerly direction initially, then continued eastbound until it disappeared into the sunrise.” An Air Canada Jazz flight was even “delayed on departure for about four minutes until the object was well east of the aircraft’s departure path.”

• On January 6, 2019, the crew of a Vanguard Air Care medical transporter said “an inexplicable bright light followed them… at the same altitude and speed” over northern Manitoba when “no aircraft were reported in their vicinity.”

• A Transport Canada spokesperson said, “Reports of unidentified objects can rarely be followed up on as they are as the title implies, unidentified.” Of the eleven reports mentioned in this story, at least seven of them were forwarded to the military by air traffic controllers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tracks similar observations in the U.S., but often labels them as drones.

• According to researcher and filmmaker Matthew Hayes, there is a “very high degree of consistency” between the reports found in CADORS and the ones he uncovered for his 2019 doctoral dissertation on Canada’s Cold War UFO records. “Canadians have been reporting the same types of things, unabated, since the 1940s,” Hayes said. “Historically, it’s also been incredibly challenging to get the Canadian government to talk about this. Compare that with the U.S., where officials seem much more eager and ready to discuss the topic.”

• Veteran Canadian UFO investigator Chris Rutkowski has collected more than 22,000 UFO reports over the past three decades and has long included data from CADORS in his annual Canadian UFO Survey. “CADORS clearly shows that these types of incidents are occurring in airspace where thousands of passengers are potentially travelling every day,” Rutkowski told VICE World News. “Regardless of one’s belief or disbelief in UFOs, this is certainly a concern from a flight safety and public welfare perspective.”

On the morning of May 30, 2016, an Air Canada Express flight from Montreal to Toronto reported it had “crossed an unidentified flying object, round in shape, flying at an approximate speed of 300kts,” or more than 550 km/h. Over 8,000 feet above Lake Ontario on Nov. 14 of that year, two crew members were injured when a Porter Airlines plane dove to avoid hitting an “object” that “appeared to be solid… and shaped like an upright doughnut or inner tube.”

By combing through thousands of reports in a government flight incident database, VICE World News has uncovered dozens of recent UFO sightings from Canadian and international airlines.

They include a pair of WestJet flights near B.C.’s Okanagan Valley that allegedly saw “a bright, white strobe-type light” above

them on the night of March 16, 2017, and a pre-dawn Jan. 10, 2015 encounter outside Regina, Saskatchewan, when “multiple aircraft reported a very large object with a small white light in the middle, surrounded by a halo” that “appeared to descend from above” 41,000 feet.

The sightings come from the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Report System (CADORS), a searchable digital archive operated by Transport Canada, the federal department that oversees road, rail, marine, and air transportation. With over three

decades of data, CADORS contains nearly 300,000 aviation incident reports on everything from mechanical failures to rowdy passengers to bird strikes. It also provides a fascinating record of UFO sightings by professional aviators in Canadian airspace.

“Pilots are probably not reporting about 90 per cent of the things they’re seeing, because they know it could have lengthy career implications,” former Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) pilot John “Jock” Williams told VICE World News.

Williams is an aviation consultant, television commentator, and civilian pilot who spent 36 years in the Canadian military, including over two decades flying fighter jets. He also worked as a flight safety officer at Transport Canada for more than a dozen years.

“For most pilots, it’s not worth it,” Williams said. “That’s why I believe that each of these guys saw what they reported.”

Although brief, CADORS cases can still be enigmatic, such as a single-sentence entry from the morning of Oct. 21, 2005, when air traffic controllers “received reports from four (4) aircraft flight crews of a shiny, silver object over Toronto at roughly (30,000 feet), which turned sharply and moved rapidy [sic] to the southeast over Lake Ontario.” Many are scant on detail, like one from the night of Nov. 12, 2015, when an undisclosed flight 34,000 feet above Saskatchewan reported “a bright white light high above the aircraft and advised it was not a meteorite or other aircraft.” Very few explicitly use terms like “UFO,” such as a Qatar Airways flight south of Grande Prairie, Alberta, that “reported an unidentified flying object” in broad daylight on Dec. 18, 2016 in an account that offers no visual clues.

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The US Deems UFOs a National Security Threat. Why Isn’t Canada Taking it As Seriously?

August 25, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by MJ Banias August 14, 2020 (theglobandmail.com)

• While the U.S. government is actively investigating UFO reports and Congress is calling for more public oversight on unknown aerial incursions, the Canadian government seems to be doing nothing. After nearly a century of the media portraying the UFO phenomenon as a tinfoil hat-wearing enterprise, filled with extraterrestrials, Martian invasions and far-future technology, it is easy to dismiss UFOs.

• A recently released 2019 Canadian UFO Survey (see here) indicates Canadians see about two or three unidentified flying objects a day. And while many will laugh UFOs off as being a delusion, several sighting events present in the Transport Canada 2019 survey involve pilots coming into close proximity with unknown aerial objects, indicating a clear risk to air safety.

• In April, 2019, a Sunwing airliner on approach into Toronto’s Pearson International Airport was ordered by air traffic control to climb in altitude because an unknown aircraft had entered into its flight path. The Sunwing pilots reported that the “target appeared momentarily to them then disappeared.”

• In June 2019, an airliner on final approach to the St. Hubert airport near Montreal was notified by air traffic control of “unidentified traffic.” The airliner’s collision avoidance system confirmed the object was roughly 3.5 nautical miles ahead of the aircraft and climbing in altitude to 2,700 feet. The pilots made visual contact as the object continued to gain altitude and crossed into controlled airspace.

• In July 2019, air traffic controllers in Langley, British Columbia reported to Transport Canada that “radar targets were coasting in and out to the northwest of the airport” and “random targets popping up, radar tags swapping, targets jumping to random locations.”

• In 2012, a Chinese Eastern Airlines Airbus was flying over Alberta when the pilot spotted an unknown object 40 nautical miles to the south, at 41,000 feet. Most commercial drones cannot even get close to that kind of altitude. Another incident in 2015 occurred over Saskatoon’s international airport where the pilot notified air traffic control that they witnessed a bright white light above their aircraft at roughly 34,000 feet.

• Two flight attendants were injured in 2016 when a Porter flight landing in Toronto nearly collided with an unknown object over Lake Ontario at 9,000 feet. In 2019, several aircraft over the vicinity of Medicine Hat in Alberta reported multiple unidentified objects above their aircraft. In September 2019, an unidentified aircraft buzzed the Kitchener/Waterloo Ontario radar control zone at 2,100 feet.

• While Canadian authorities tend to dismiss the sightings, lately the Americans seem to consider UFOs an important issue that needs more attention. A recent congressional report reveals that the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence has an active task force that investigates incursions of UFOs into U.S. airspace. Senator Marco Rubio, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, introduced a congressional bill giving this intelligence-gathering operation 180 days to disclose its findings regarding these UFO incursions.

• Canadian science writer and UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski diligently collects nearly all of Canada’s UFO reports from civilian research organizations and those reported to Transport Canada. Rutkowski says that Canada is experiencing a “possible public safety issue.” “We have no idea if UFO reports are investigated,” says Rutkowski. Transport Canada investigates air incidents, such as near misses or crashes. But when pilots and radar operators see UFOs, such cases are “not investigated.”

• When pilots witness UFOs, they are only “requested’ to make ‘aviation occurrence reports’ to the regional Flight Information Centre in “the interests of national security,” according to regulations published by Nav Canada, a private non-profit organization that handles all Canadian air navigation services. According to Nav Canada’s media relations manager Brian Boudreau, examples include “sightings of aircraft violating operating parameters, unidentified aircraft, unauthorized aircraft, or any activity that may impact flight safety or pose a security threat.” Nav Canada may send a report to the Department of National Defence, the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), Transport Canada or the American Federal Aviation Administration, at its own discretion.

• A spokesperson from the Canadian Department of National Defence said that all UFOs are reported via Nav Canada’s procedure, including hose made by military personnel. But in a contradictory email, the Dept of National Defence stated: “We wouldn’t really comment on speculative matters such as this. The Canadian Armed Forces concerns itself with credible threats, and this falls outside the scope of our operations.” In response to a Canadian ‘Access to Information Request’ to clear up the matter, the Dept of National Defence responded that it “neither confirms or denies records exist …” and that “if documentation did exist, it is exempted in its entirety” from Access to Information Requests due to national defence.

• Matthew Hayes, a filmmaker and UFO researcher said, “There were many attempts over the years and decades to ignore the UFO phenomenon and requests for information about UFOs, as something outside the scope of the [Canadian government].” While some individuals within the Canadian government take the UFO issue seriously, “most efforts were put toward debunking the subject.” Says Hayes, “[T]hey really wanted the whole thing just to go away.”

• While the various Canadian governmental agencies attempt to make light of UFOs, the data indicates this issue is not going away. Canada saw a reduction in sightings in 2019, but has seen a dramatic increase during the first few months of 2020. When the role of the government and the military is to protect that nation, pretending something does not exist is more politically palatable than admitting there has been an intelligence failure.

• In America however, politicians and intelligence experts have publicly expressed their opinions that perhaps a foreign adversary has developed a superior system of propulsion or technology that can trick sophisticated radar and video recording systems. Or, this phenomenon could be something else entirely. “In the past, the Canadian government has certainly tried to take its lead from the U.S. when it comes to UFO information,” said Hayes. Now that the United States is taking the UFO issue seriously. Canada ought to take it seriously as well.

In April, 2019, a Sunwing airliner was on approach into Toronto’s Pearson International Airport when it was ordered by air traffic control operators to climb in altitude because an unknown aircraft had entered into its flight path. The Sunwing pilots reported that the “target appeared momentarily to them then disappeared.” Two months later, in June, an airliner on final approach to the St. Hubert airport near Montreal was notified by air traffic control of “unidentified traffic.” The airliner’s collision avoidance system confirmed the object was roughly 3.5 nautical miles ahead of the aircraft and climbing in altitude to 2,700 feet. The pilots eventually made visual contact as the object continued to gain altitude and crossed into controlled airspace without radio contact or clearance from air traffic control. A month later, air traffic controllers in Langley, B.C., reported to Transport Canada that “radar targets were coasting in and out to the Northwest (NW) of the airport” and “Random targets popping up, radar tags swapping, targets jumping to random locations.”

The recently released 2019 Canadian UFO Survey indicates Canadians see about two or three unidentified flying objects a day, and while many will laugh UFOs off as being a silly fringe delusion, several sighting events reported to Transport Canada present in the 2019 survey, such as those outlined above, involve pilots coming into close proximity with unknown aerial objects, and indicate a clear risk to air safety. While the U.S. government is actively investigating UFO reports and Congress is calling for more public oversight on unknown aerial incursions, the Canadian government seems to be doing nothing.

It is easy to dismiss UFOs, or as they are called today, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Nearly a century of mass media has turned a curious phenomenon into a tinfoil hat-wearing enterprise filled with extraterrestrials, martian invasions and far-future technology. It is unlikely that pilots are being harassed by pop culture aliens in flying saucers. However, our southern neighbours seem to be concerned with the fact that something is zipping around North American airspace and no one seems to know how to deal with it.

A recent congressional report indicates that the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence has an active task force that investigates incursions of UAP into U.S. airspace. Recently, Senator Marco Rubio, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, introduced a congressional bill giving this intelligence-gathering operation 180 days to disclose its findings regarding these incursions. The Americans seem to consider this an important issue that needs more attention.

Canadian science writer and researcher Chris Rutkowski, who diligently collects nearly all of Canada’s UAP reports from civilian research organizations and those reported to Transport Canada, told me that Canada is experiencing a “possible public safety issue.” While Canada has had 849 reports in 2019, somewhat lower than the usual yearly average, Mr. Rutkowski disclosed that a more in-depth look into Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System, known as CADORS, seems to portray that pilots have been reporting unknown objects frequently within Canadian airspace for decades. While many of those sightings can be attributed to misidentification or commercial drones and quadcopters, some reports defy prosaic phenomena.

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