By Tim Binnall
Taking a page from the United States, the Canadian government has launched their own official study on UFOs in the hopes of getting a better understanding of the mysterious phenomenon. The intriguing effort has reportedly been dubbed the 'Sky Canada Project' and will be overseen by the country's Chief Science Advisor. Believed to be the first government-sponsored UFO research project in almost three decades, the endeavor is similar in scope to studies currently being conducted in America wherein determining how reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) are being collected by the government is at the center of the work rather than answering the question of what these objects might be.
To that end, an official document detailing the creation of the study stresses that "it is not meant to prove or deny the existence of extraterrestrial life or extraterrestrial visitors." On the contrary, the project will seek to "identify the key Canadian players and how they deal with UAP observations." As such, researchers will be seeking input from various government departments within Canada including the country's space agency as well as the Royal Mounted Police. The project will also consult with American counterparts in the US Department of Defense and NASA who are also examining the UAP issue. Ultimately, they aim to issue a public report on the study sometime next year.
Credited with having a hand in the creation of the Sky Canada Project is Parliamentary Member Larry Maguire, who previously called upon the country's Chief Science Advisor to conduct such a study. In response to his request coming to fruition, he declared that it is "a signal to the government, the scientific community, the media, and Parliament that they can no longer ignore" the UAP issue. While he postulated that "the vast majority" of UFO reports likely have prosaic explanations, Maguire mused that these incidents have until now, largely gone unexamined, and expressed hope that a "scientific plan" can be developed by the study in order to "quickly and accurately determine what is in our skies with a high degree of confidence."