{"type":"programs","slug":"project-magnet","title":"Project Magnet","url":"https://disclosdex.com/programs/project-magnet","description":"Canadian government project led by Wilbert Smith tested magnetic links to UFOs from 1950 to 1954","date":"1950-12-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["Study"],"updated":"2025-06-13T13:26:43.000Z","connectionCount":1,"content":{"markdown":"## Origins and Objectives\n\nSenior radio engineer Wilbert B. Smith convinced the Department of Transport that unidentified flying objects merited engineering inquiry. Project Magnet began on 2 December 1950 aiming to determine whether marked geomagnetic anomalies could explain craft performance and suggest new propulsion technologies.[^1]\n\n## Shirley's Bay Observatory Operations\n\nA small laboratory and instrumented observation dome were erected at Shirley's Bay near Ottawa. Magnetometers, radio receivers, and optical cameras captured several transients, including the 1952 peak of North American sightings. Data fed into classified memoranda distributed to the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Defence Research Board.[^2]\n\n## Findings and Legacy\n\nSmith's interim report of August 1952 asserted that UFOs likely represented extraterrestrial probes using magnetic force fields. Government support waned, and formal funding ceased in 1954, though Smith pursued private experiments until his death in 1962. Magnet's files later informed the 1967 Falcon Lake investigation and remain archived at Library and Archives Canada.[^1][^3]\n\n[^1]: [Library and Archives Canada: Shirley's Bay, Ontario, Project Magnet, 1952](https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/unusual/ufo/Documents/magnet-report.pdf)\n\n[^2]: [Library and Archives Canada: Canada's UFOs, The Search for the Unknown](https://www.canada.ca/en/library-archives/collection/research-help/science-technology/ufos.html)\n\n[^3]: [Government of Canada: Sky Canada Project Report](https://science.ised-isde.canada.ca/site/science/sites/default/files/documents/report-sky-canada-project.pdf)","readingTime":"1 min read"},"relatedRecords":[{"ref":{"type":"people","slug":"wilbert-b-smith","title":"Wilbert B. Smith","url":"https://disclosdex.com/people/wilbert-b-smith"},"direction":"inbound","weight":1}],"citation":{"canonicalUrl":"https://disclosdex.com/programs/project-magnet","title":"Project Magnet","publisher":"Disclosdex","retrievedFrom":"https://disclosdex.com/api/v1/programs/project-magnet","license":"CC-BY-4.0"}}