Canada's annual UFO census
The account
Every year, hundreds of Canadians say they see lights and objects they cannot explain.
What investigators found
The survey shows that the vast majority of reports have an explanation; only a small fraction remains unanswered.
The story
Since 1989, the Winnipeg group Ufology Research, led by researcher Chris Rutkowski, has gathered every year the UFO reports made in Canada to police, public agencies and civilian groups. The result is the Canadian UFO Survey, one of the longest-running studies of its kind in the world, which makes it possible to compare decades of sightings.
The edition covering 2025 compiled 1,052 reports, from every province and territory, describing blinding lights, hovering spheres, cylinders and discs. After analysis, about 3% were considered unexplained. The authors themselves point out that satellites, aircraft, drones, Chinese lanterns and astronomical objects account for most cases, and that unexplained does not mean alien spacecraft.