Based on coverage from Global News, CP24, National Observer, and Lethbridge News Now.
Canadians filed 1,052 reports of unidentified flying objects last year, ranging from simple “lights in the sky” to descriptions of discs, cylinders and glowing orbs. The latest Canadian UFO Survey says most cases have ordinary explanations, but a small slice, a little more than three per cent, still couldn’t be pinned down after review.
As advancements in AI technology promise to enhance UFO detection capabilities, ongoing infrastructure developments at the Winnipeg Airport, supported by a recent influx of funding, may also play a role in fostering innovative research in the region. For more on this, see our coverage of the airport's development funding efforts here.
The survey’s longtime lead researcher, Winnipeg-based Chris Rutkowski of Ufology Research, says better tools are on the way to sort the mundane from the genuinely puzzling. The next big shift, he argues, is artificial intelligence that can quickly tell the difference between a bird, a plane, a satellite and something that does not match common patterns.
Canadian UFO Survey reports 1,052 sightings
The 2025 edition of the annual survey was released Monday and pulls reports from public submissions, UFO research groups, government agencies, an aviation incident database and even social media. Ufology Research uses a straightforward definition: a UFO is “an object seen in the sky which its observer cannot identify.”
The tally is a slight increase from 2024, when 1,008 reports were collected. Rutkowski has been compiling the annual survey for decades, and CTV News reports it has catalogued more than 26,000 Canadian UFO sightings since 1989.
Witnesses come from all walks of life, according to the survey: “from farmhands to airline pilots and from teachers to police officers.”
What Canadians say they saw
A big chunk of reports are the classic “nocturnal lights.” The Canadian Press story says about half of sightings fell into that category, often turning out to be satellites, aircraft or stars. CTV pegs it at 52 per cent of reports being lights.
Beyond that, CTV’s breakdown includes spheres (11 per cent), triangles (five per cent) and discs (five per cent). Nearly half of sightings (48 per cent) were described as white objects or lights, followed by “multicoloured” at 16 per cent. About 13 per cent of sightings happened during the day.
Rutkowski’s bottom line on the wilder descriptions is pretty restrained: the vast majority are explainable, and there’s “no proof aliens are responsible.” Even the “unknown” label comes with a warning in the report itself: unexplained doesn’t mean extraterrestrial, and some cases may still get solved with more investigation.
Where UFO reports happened in Canada
Reports came from every province and territory. Ontario led the country, with CTV citing 307 reports, followed by Quebec at 210 and British Columbia at 131.
The survey also connects sightings to population: bigger places tend to generate more reports. Past hot spots have included Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, but the survey says Calgary topped the list for cities last year.
Rutkowski also notes a limitation that’s been around for years: the survey depends on co-operation from investigators and groups across the country, and it hasn’t always been comprehensive because some organizations withhold information.
AI and the Harvard Galileo Project
Rutkowski says UFO hobbyists and researchers are increasingly setting up observation stations that do more than eyeballing the night sky. These stations can collect more “scientific data,” and some are training AI to classify objects, spotting patterns and filtering out the usual suspects.
He points to the Galileo Project at Harvard University, which uses high-tech telescopes and cameras at monitoring sites, along with AI to classify and analyze what they capture. The pitch is simple: if you can reliably rule out birds, planes, satellites and other known objects faster, you’re left with a cleaner set of cases worth a closer look.
Federal call for a Canadian UAP office
The terminology is shifting, too. “UFO” is increasingly replaced in official circles by “UAP,” short for unidentified aerial (or anomalous) phenomena.
A report from Canada’s Office of the Chief Science Advisor recommended creating a public-facing federal agency to standardize, collect and study UAP reports. Rutkowski supports the idea, partly because of concerns about incursions into Canadian airspace and Canadian sovereignty, calling it something to take “very seriously” as part of Canada’s defence package.
Some reports already come from official channels. CTV says 18 cases were found in Transport Canada’s online aviation incident database, including a flight approaching Vancouver International Airport that reported “an unrecognizable flying object of mechanical nature, without lights,” and another over northern Alberta reporting a “cylinder-shaped object” at 39,000 feet. Transport Canada cautions those reports are preliminary and unconfirmed.
Rutkowski’s view is that stigma around reporting is fading, and that better data starts with more people documenting what they saw. He also offers a bit of reassurance for anyone who has looked up and wondered: he says one in ten Canadians believe they’ve seen a UFO.
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