The genesis of Project Magnet can be largely traced back to a memorandum of 21 November 1950 that Wilbert B. Smith, an official with the Canadian Government’s Department of Communications (and who held a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering), wrote to the Department of Transport.

 

Smith, who had a personal interest in UFOs and had studied the subject, stated in his proposal that

  1. the Canadian Government should be prompted to establish an official UFO investigation project; and

  2. that he was on the track of something that would lead to an understanding of both how UFOs were powered and the development of new technological advances on Earth.

According to Smith:

"The existence of a different technology is borne out by the investigations which are being carried on at the present time in relation to flying saucers."

Smith also advised the DoT that, having made a number of discreet inquiries at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, he had learned the following from a Dr. Robert Sarbacher:

  1. The matter is the most highly classified subject in the United States government, rating higher even than the H-bomb.

  2. Flying saucers exist.

  3. Their modus operandi is unknown but concentrated effort is being made by a small group headed by Dr. Vannevar Bush.

  4. The entire matter is considered by the United States authorities to be of tremendous significance.

On receipt of the memorandum, the Canadian Department of Transport quickly approved Smith's proposal to officially investigate UFO reports; and on 2 December 1950, Project Magnet - a classified Canadian government project - swung into action and a number of high-quality UFO reports caught the attention of Magnet staff.

 

On 10 August 1953, Smith submitted the following report:

"It appears then, that we are faced with a substantial probability of the real existence of extraterrestrial vehicles, regardless of whether they fit into our scheme of things. It is therefore submitted that the next step in this investigation should be a substantial effort toward the acquisition of as much as possible of this technology."

Three months later, at Shirleys Bay, Ontario, a station for investigating and detecting UFOs was established; and on 8 August 1954, the equipment "went wild," recalled Smith later.

 

 All of the available evidence suggested that a UFO had flown in close proximity of the station. Regrettably the entire vicinity was bathed in clouds and no visual sighting was made; the instrumentation, however, did record a major disturbance. Two days later, the DOT announced that Project Magnet was being shut down.

 

The speed with which the project was shut down has led to allegations that a decision was taken to continue studies at a far more covert level.

 

It is intriguing to note, too, that in the early 1980s Dr. Robert Sarbacher reaffirmed his knowledge of secret U.S. Government UFO investigations overseen by Vannevar Bush and admitted that he was aware that the U.S. had in its possession both crashed UFOs and alien bodies.

 

Wilbert Brockhouse Smith died on 27 December 1961, at the age of 52.

 

 

 

 


 Project Magnet
from Wikipedia Website

Project Magnet was an unidentified flying object (UFO) study program established by the Canadian Department of Transport (DOT) on December 2, 1950, under the direction of Wilbert B. Smith, senior radio engineer for the DOT's Broadcast and Measurements Section. It was formally active until mid-1954, and informally until Smith's death in 1962.

The ultimate goal of the project was to apply any findings on the subject of geomagnetism to the possibility of exploiting Earth's magnetic field as a source of propulsion for vehicles. Smith and his colleagues in government believed that UFOs, if real, might hold the key to this new source of power.[1]

A small-scale undertaking, Magnet used DOT facilities, with some assistance from personnel at the Defence Research Board (DRB) and the National Research Council. Smith eventually concluded that UFOs were probably extraterrestrial in origin and likely operated by manipulation of magnetism.
 

 

History

Smith had been interested in UFO reports for since about 1947, when, according to a friend, he first claimed to have received "mental messages from space people." [2]

While Smith attended a radio engineer's conference in Washington D.C. in September 1950, two books on UFOs came out, one by Variety magazine columnist Frank Scully called Behind the Flying Saucers, about crashed New Mexico saucers and recovered alien beings, and another by U.S. UFO researcher Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe, The Flying Saucers are Real, accusing the U.S. Air Force of concealing vital information about flying saucer reality.

 

Smith had some theories about how the saucers might obtain their energy and propulsion through magnetic means, but before committing any time or money first wanted to know if the saucers were indeed real. Smith contacted the Canadian embassy and asked them to conduct inquiries into the matter.

 

An interview was arranged by the embassy military attaché with Dr. Robert Sarbacher, a U.S. physicist, missile expert, and consultant to the Defense Department's Research and Development Board.

 

In Smith's notes and a later memo summarizing Sarbacher's briefing (plus possibly other unnamed sources), it was stated that

  • The saucers existed

  • The substance of Scully's book was correct

  • The matter was the most highly classified subject in the U.S. government, ranking even higher than the H-bomb

  • It was considered of tremendous significance by the government

  • A small group headed by Dr. Vannevar Bush was looking into the "modus operandi" of the saucers

  • Other aspects of the saucers were being investigated, including possible "mental phenomena" [3]

This led Smith to lobby his agency for funding to study UFOs.

 

Smith's memo of November 21, 1950, also said he had discussed the matter with Dr. Omond Solandt, head of the Canadian Defense Research Board, who agreed the work should go forward as rapidly as possible, and offered full cooperation of the DRB.

This development led in turn to the creation of Project Magnet, which was formally approved on December 2, 1950, by Cmdr. C.P. Edwards, with two major goals:

  • Collection and analysis of high quality data to draw conclusions about UFOs

  • Application of any data recovered to practical engineering and technology

In June 1952, Smith issued a preliminary report arguing that UFOs likely came from intelligent, extraterrestrial sources, and almost certainly manipulated magnetism for flight. A 1953 report reiterated these same conclusions.

In late 1952, Project Magnet released a large weather balloon with a bright magnesium flare attached, to see if it might be reported as a UFO. It was not.

Also in April 1952, the Canadian government established Project Second Storey, a parallel UFO research project, with Smith also involved. It consisted of a group of scientists and military officers who met periodically to consider the UFO question and to recommend government action.

 

Smith reported to Second Storey on some of Project Magnet's findings and conclusions.
 

 

Shirley's Bay

Based on his preliminary findings, Smith lobbied for a better equipped research facility.

 

In November, 1953, Project Magnet established what Arthur Bray[4] called,

"the world's first 'flying saucer sighting station' at Shirley's Bay, outside Ottawa."

The Shirley's Bay facility contained some expensive, highly sensitive equipment, including a gamma ray detector, a magnetometer, several radio receivers, and a gravimeter; each of these was wired to a graph paper device to record the fluctuations they might find, and an alarm system to alert personnel to any notable fluctuations.

 

Smith also acquired a small staff, though they all worked on their own time: physicist James Wait and telecommunications expert John Hector Thompson (both of the DRB), J.T. Wilson of the University of Toronto, and G.D. Garland of the Dominion Observatory. The Shirley's Bay station earned significant mainstream press attention.

At 3.01 p.m. on August 8, 1954, the Shirley's Bay instruments recorded a substantial gravimetric variation. The day was overcast, and Magnet's personnel were unable to witness any flying saucers that might have been flying overhead.

Following unwanted publicity about the incident, DOT officials formally ended Project Magnet only two days later.

 

A press release from the Controller of Telecommunications admitted,

"that DOT had been engaged in the study of UFOs for three and a half years, that considerable data was collected and analyzed but it had not been possible to reach any definite conclusion, and since new data simply confirmed existing data there seemed little point in carrying the investigation any further on an official level."

It went on to say that Project Magnet would be discontinued along with any further study of UFOs, although Smith would continue to collect future data "on a purely unofficial basis." A memo was also sent to Smith the same day instructing him to discontinue the DOT activities.[5]

According to Smith's account, press inquiries into the project had embarrassed DOT officials and those working on the project.

 

A memo dated June 1954 indicates that public exposure had already led to the decision to discontinue Magnet as an official government-sponsored project, although Smith could,

"continue on his own free time, not on Departmental time. He may continue to use Departmental equipment not otherwise in use." [6]

Smith was allowed to use the Shirley's Bay facilities on his own time, and with his own funding. He did so until his death in 1962.


Footnotes

 

 

 

 



 PROJECT MAGNET
from AlbertaUFOCanada Website

recovered through WayBackMachine Website

In 1950 the Canadian government authorized a short-lived program designed to study UFOs. Here is the program's report by Wilbert B. Smith, Engineer-in-Charge, Project Magnet.

During the past five years there has been accumulating in the files of the United States Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Department of Transport, and various other agencies, an impressive number of reports on sightings of unidentified flying objects popularly known as "Flying Saucers". These files contain reports by creditable people on things which they have seen in the sky, tracked on radar, or photographed.

 

They are reports made in good faith by normal, honest people, and there is little if any reason to doubt their veracity. Many sightings undoubtedly are due to unusual views of common objects or phenomena, and are quite normal, but there are many sightings which cannot be explained so easily.

Project Magnet was authorized in December, 1950, by Commander C. P. Edwards, then Deputy Minister of Transport for Air Services, for the purpose of making as detailed a study of the saucer phenomena as could be made within the framework of existing establishments.

 

The Broadcast and Measures Section of Telecommunications Division were given the directive to go ahead with this work with whatever assistance could be obtained informally from outside sources such as Defense Research Board and National Research Council.

It is perfectly natural in the human thinking mechanism to try and fit observations into an established pattern. It is only when observations stubbornly refuse to be so fitted that we become disturbed.

 

When this happens we may, and usually do, take one of three courses. First, we may deny completely the validity of the observations; or second, we may pass the whole subject off as something of no consequence; or third, we may accept the discrepancies as real and go to work on them. In the matter of Saucer Sightings all three of these reactions have been strikingly apparent.

 

The first two approaches are obviously negative and from which a definite conclusion can never be reached. It is the third approach, acceptance of the data and subsequent research that is dealt with in this report.

The basic data with which we have to work consist largely of sightings reported as they are observed throughout Canada in a purely random manner. Many of the reports are from the extensive field organization of the Department of Transport whose job it is to watch the sky and whose observers are trained in precisely this sort of observation.

 

Also, there are in operation a number of instrumental arrangements such as the ionospheric observatories from which useful data have been obtained. However, we must not expect too much from these field stations because of the very sporadic nature of the sightings. As the analysis progresses and we know more about what to look for we may be able to obtain and make much better use of field data.

 

Up to the present we have been prevented from using conventional laboratory methods owing to the complete lack of any sort of specimens with which to experiment, and our prospects of obtaining any in the immediate future are not very good.

 

Consequently, a large part of the analysis in these early stages will have to be based on deductive reasoning, at least until we are able to work out a procedure more in line with conventional experimental methods.

The starting point of the investigation is essentially the interview with an observer. A questionnaire form and an instructional guide for the interrogator were worked out by the Project Second Storey Committee, which as a Committee sponsored by the Defense Research Board to collect, catalogue and correlate data on sightings of unidentified flying objects.

 

This questionnaire and guide are included as Appendix I (Webmaster Note: This appendix is not included here), and are intended to get the maximum useful information from the observer and present it in a manner which it can be used to advantage. This form has been used so far as possible in connection with the sightings investigated by the Department of Transport.

A weighting factor is assigned to each sighting according to a system intended to minimize the personal equation. This weighting system is described in Appendix II, (Webmaster Note: This appendix is not included here).

 

The weighting factor may be considered as the probability that the report contains the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so far as the observer and interrogator are aware. It has nothing to do with the nature of the object claimed to be seen. It is in a sense analagous to the order of precision with which a measurement may be made, and for the purpose of this analysis this is precisely the manner is which it is used.

Sightings may be grouped according to certain salient features, and the combined weight of all pertinent observations with respect to these features may be determined by applying Peter's formula, which is a standard mathematical technique for determining probable error.

 

ro =        0,8453             (v + v + v + ... v)
       n [sq. root of]n-1       1   2   3       n

 

...where "ro" is the probable error of the mean, "n" is the number of observations and "v" is the probable error of each observation, that is, unity minus the weighting factor.

 

This method has the advantage of being simple and easy to use and enables a number of mediocre observations to be combined effectively into the equivalent of one good one.

The next step is to sort out the observations according to some pattern. The particular pattern is not important as the fact that is should take account of all contingencies however improbable they may appear at first sight. In other words, there must be a compartment somewhere in the scheme of things into which each sighting may be placed, comfortably, and with nothing left over.

 

Furthermore, it must be possible to arrive at each appropriate compartment by a sequence of logical reasoning taking account of all the facts presented. If this can be done, then the probability for the real existence of the contents of any compartment will be the single or combined weighting factor pertinent to that single or group of sightings.

 

The charts shown in Appendix III (Webmaster Note: This appendix is not included here) were evolved as a means for sorting out the various sightings and provide the pattern which was used in the analysis of those sightings reported to and analyzed by the Department of Transport.

Most sightings fit readily into one of the classifications shown, which are of two general types; those about which we know something and those about which we know very little. When the sightings can be classified as something we know about, we need not concern ourselves too much with them, but when they fit into classifications which we don't understand we are back to our original position of whether to deny the evidence, dismiss it as of no consequence, or to accept it and go to work on it.

 

The process of sorting out observations according to these charts and fitting them into compartments can hardly be considered an end in itself. Rather, it is a convenience to clarify thinking and direct activity along profitable channels. It shows at once which aspects are of significance and which may be bypassed. Merely placing a sighting under a certain heading does not explain it; it only indicates where we may start looking for an explanation.

Appendix IV (Webmaster Note: This appendix is not included here) contains summaries of the 1952 sightings as investigated by the Department of Transport. Considerably more data exists in the files of other agencies, and more is being collected as the investigations proceed.

 

While it is not intended to make any reference to an analysis of the records of other agencies, it may be said that the Department of Transport sightings are quite representative of the sightings reported throughout the world.

 

The following is a table of the breakdown of the 25 proper sightings reported during 1952.

 

 

 

NATURE OF SIGHTING

NUMBER

WEIGHT

Probably meteor

4

91%

Probably aircraft

1

60%

Probably balloons

1

74%

Probably marker light

1

64%

Bright speck at night, not star or planet

3

75%

Bright speck daylight, not star or planet

1

68%

Luminous ring

1

68%

Shiny cone

1

53%

Circular or elliptical body, shiny day

5

88%

Circular or elliptical body luminous night

5

90%

Unidentified lights of various kinds

2

77%

TOTAL NUMBER OF PROPER SIGHTINGS

25

96%

 

 

With reference to the above table, of the four cases identified as probably meteors, their weight works out at 91%, which is the probability that the observers actually did see meteors which appeared as they described them.

 

Considering the circular or elliptical bodies together, their weight works out at 91 % at 91% for the ten sightings, from which we may conclude that SOMETHING answering this description was actually observed. Similarly we may consider each of the other groups of sightings, taking account of the probability that the observations are reliable.

It is not intended to describe here in detail the intricate and tedious processes by which the sightings are evaluated, beyond the fact that the pattern set forth in the charts in Appendix III (Webmaster Note: This appendix is not included here) is followed. The cardinal rule is that a sighting must fit completely under one or more of the chart headings, with nothing left over and without postulating any additions, deletions, or changes in the facts reported.

 

Should there be no suitable heading, then obviously the charts must be expanded to provide one, in fact this was the evolution of these charts. Where a sighting may be fitted under more than one heading an arbitrary division of the probability of finding it under each applicable heading is assigned.

 

The sum of such probability figures must of course be unity, and the probability for the real existence under any particular heading is the product of this probability figure and the reliability or weighting factor for the sighting concerned.

It is apparent that the judgment of the people doing the evaluating is bound to enter the picture and may produce substantial numerical differences with reference to sightings listed under certain headings.

 

However, since many headings are automatically eliminated by the nature of the facts available, the discrepancies are confined to the probability figures for the distribution under the remaining headings which are considered eligible, and we end up with definite classifications for the sightings with SOME probability figure for the reality of each group.

 

This has the effect of forcing those who are doing the evaluating to face the reported facts squarely, pay meticulous attention to them, and place each sighting honestly under the only heading where it will fit.

In working through the analysis of the proper sightings listed, we find the majority of them appear to be of some material body. Of these, seven are classed as probably normal objects, and eleven are classed as strange objects.

 

Of the remainder, four have a substantial probability of being material, strange, objects, with three having a substantial probability of being immaterial, electrical, phenomena. Of the eleven strange objects the probability definitely favors the alien vehicle class, with the secret missile included with a much lower probability.

The next step is to follow this line of reasoning as far as possible so as to deduce what we can from the observed data. Vehicles or missiles can be of only two general kinds, terrestrial and extra-terrestrial, and in either case the analysis enquires into the source and technology. If the vehicles originate outside the iron curtain we may assume that the matter is in good hands, but if they originate inside the iron curtain it could be a matter of grave concern to us.

In the matter of technology, the points of interest are: - the energy source; means of support, propulsion and manipulation; structure; and biology. So far as energy is concerned we know about mechanical energy and chemical energy, and a little about energy of fission, and we can appreciate the possibility of direct conversion of mass to energy.

 

Beyond this we have no knowledge, and unless we are prepared to postulate a completely unknown source of energy of which we do not know even the rudiments, we must conclude that the vehicles use one of the four listed sources. Unless something we do not understand can be done with gravitation, mechanical energy has little use beyond driving model aircraft.

 

We use chemical energy to quite an extent, but we realize its limitations, so if the energy demands of the vehicles exceed what we consider to be the reasonable capabilities of chemical fuels, we are forced to the conclusion that such vehicles must get their energy from either fission or mass conversion.

With reference to the means for support, propulsion and manipulation, unless we are prepared to postulate something quite beyond our knowledge, there are only two groups of possibilities, namely the known means and the speculative means. Of the known means there is only physical support through the use of buoyancy or airfoils, the reaction of rockets and jets, and centrifugal force, which is what holds the moon in position.

 

Of the speculative means we know only of the possibility of gravity waves, field interaction and radiation pressure. If the observed behavior of the vehicles is such as to be beyond the limitations which we know apply to the known means of support, then we are forced to the conclusion that one of the speculative means must have been developed to do the job.

From a study of the sighting reports (Appendix IV) (Webmaster Note: This appendix is not included here), it can be deduced that the vehicles have the following significant characteristics.

 

They are a hundred feet or more in diameter; they can travel at speeds of several thousand miles per hour; they can reach altitudes well above those which would support conventional aircraft or balloons; and ample power and force seem to be available for all required maneuvers. Taking these factors into account, it is difficult to reconcile this performance with the capabilities of our technology, and unless the technology of some terrestrial nation is much more advanced than is generally known, we are forced to the conclusion that the vehicles are probably extra-terrestrial, in spite of our prejudices to the contrary.

It has been suggested that the sightings might be due to some sore of optical phenomenon which gives the appearances of the objects being reported, and this aspect was thoroughly investigated. Charts are shown in Appendix III (Webmaster Note: This appendix is not included here) showing the various optical considerations.

 

Enticing as this theory is, there are some serious objections to its actual application, in the form of some rather definite and quite immutable optical laws.

 

These are geometrical laws dealing with optics generally and which we have never yet found cause to doubt, plus the wide discrepancies in the order of magnitude of the light values which must be involved in any sightings so far studied. Furthermore, introducing an optical system might explain an image in terms of an object, but the object still requires explaining.

 

A particular effort was made to find an optical explanation for the sightings listed in this report, but in no case could one be worked out. It was not possible to find os much as a partial optical explanation for even one sighting. Consequently, it was felt that optical theories generally should not be taken too seriously until such time as at least one sighting can be satisfactorily explained in such a manner.

It appears then, that we are faced with a substantial possibility of the real existence of extra-terrestrial vehicles, regardless of whether or not they fit into our scheme of things. Such vehicles of necessity must use a technology considerably in advance of what we have.

 

It is therefore submitted that the next step in this investigation should be a substantial effort towards the acquisition of a much as possible of this technology, which would no doubt be of great value to us.

(original signed)
W.B. Smith
Engineer-in-Charge
Project Magnet
 

The following article is posted here courtesy of The Disclosure Project:

 


Webmaster Note: The document we worked from was a graphical capture of a somewhat poor original. There are a number of words in the following text that we simply couldn't make out clearly enough. In those cases we will simply insert "(unreadable)". I think the remaining text, while incomplete, is still a very significant document for any student of ufology.
 


This memorandum was written by Wilbur Smith on November 21, 1950 to the Controller of Telecommunications:

For the past several years we have been engaged in the study of various aspects of radio wave propagation. The vagaries of this phenomenon have led us into the fields of aurora, oceanic radiation, atmospheric radio-activity and geo-magnetism.

 

In the case of geomagnetics our investigations have contributed little to our knowledge of radio wave propagation as yet, but nevertheless have indicated several avenues of investigation which may well be explored with profit. For example, we are on the track of a means whereby the potential energy of the earth's magnetic field ray may be abstracted and used.

On the basis of theoretical considerations a small and very crude experimental unit was constructed approximately a year ago and tested in our standards laboratory. The tests were essentially successful in that sufficient energy was abstracted from the earth's field to operate a voltmeter, approximately 50 milliwatts.

 

Although this unit was far from being self-sustaining, it nevertheless demonstrated the soundness of the basic principles in a qualitative manner and provided useful data for the design of a better unit.

The design has now been completed for a unit which should be self-sustaining and in addition provide a small surplus of power. Such a unit, in addition to functioning as a 'pilot power plant' should be large enough to permit the study of the various reaction forces which are expected to develop.

We believe that we are on the track of something which may well prove to be the introduction of new technology. The existence of a different technology is borne out by the investigations which are being carried on at the present time in relation to flying saucers.

While in Washington attending the NARS Conference, two books (3 words unreadable) "Flying Saucers Are Real" by Donald Keyhoe.

 

Both books dealt mostly with sightings of unidentified objects and both books claim that flying objects were of extraterrestrial origin and might well be space ships from another planet. (Unreadable) claimed that the preliminary studies of one saucer that fell into the hands of the United States Government indicated that they operated on some hitherto unknown magnetic principles.

 

It appeared to me that our own work in geomagnetics might well be the linkage between our technology and the technology by which the saucers are designed and operated. If it is assumed that our geo-magnetic investigations are in the right direction, the theory of operation of the saucers becomes quite straightforward, with all observed features explained qualitatively and quantitatively.

I made discreet enquiries through the Canadian Embassy staff in Washington who were able to obtain for me the following information:

  • The matter is the most highly classified subject in the United States Government, rating even higher that the A-bomb.

  • Flying saucers exist.

  • Their modus operandi is unknown but concentrated effort is being made by a small group headed by Doctor (unreadable) Bush.

  • The entire matter is considered by the United States authorities to be of tremendous significance.

I was further informed that the United States authorities are investigating along quite a number of lines which might possibly be related to the (unreadable) such as mental phenomena and I gather that they are not doing too well since they indicated that if Canada is doing anything at all in geomagnetics they would welcome a discussion with suitably accredited Canadians.

While I am not yet in a position to say that we have solved even the first problems in geo-magnetic energy release, I feel that the correlation between our basic theory and the available information on saucers checks too closely to be mere coincidence. It is my honest opinion that we are on the right track and are fairly close to at least some of the answers.

Mr. (unreadable), Defense Research Board liaison officer at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, was extremely anxious for me to get in touch with Doctor (unreadable), Chairman of the Defense Research Board, to discuss with him future investigations along the lines of geo-magnetic energy release. I do not feel that we have as yet sufficient data to place before Defense Research Board which would enable a program to be initiated within that organization, but I do feel that further work of our own organization with, of course, full co-operation and exchange of information with other interested bodies.

I discussed this matter fully with Doctor (unreadable), Chairman of Defense Research Board, on November 20th and placed before him as much information as I have been able to gather to date.

 

Doctor (unreadable) agreed that work on geo-magnetic energy should go forward as rapidly as possible and offered full co-operation of his Board in providing laboratory facilities, acquisition of necessary items of equipment, and specialized personnel for incidental work in the project. I indicated to Doctor (unreadable) that we would prefer to keep the project with the Department of Transport for the time being until we have obtained sufficient information to permit a complete assessment of the value of our work.

It is therefore recommended that a PROJECT be set up within the frame work of this Section to study this problem and that the work be carried on a part time basis until such time as sufficient tangible results can be seen to warrant more definitive action. Cost of the program in its initial stages are expected to be less than a few hundred dollars and can be carried by our Radio Standards Lab appropriation.

Attached hereto is a draft of terms of reference for such a project, which if authorized, will enable us to proceed with this research work within our own organization.

(W.B. Smith)
Senior Radio Engineer