The collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/ufo/ URL returns an error. The website that once hosted Canada’s national UAP sighting database — 9,830 reports filed with the Department of National Defence between 1947 and 1995 — is gone. The domain has been migrated to canada.ca and the old collections server no longer resolves. What was there, and what does its disappearance mean?
What Was There
Library and Archives Canada’s “Canada’s UFOs: The Search for the Unknown” was a virtual exhibit and searchable database launched in the early 2000s. It digitised five decades of national UAP records held in the federal archives and made them publicly accessible online. The database contained:
- 9,830 sighting reports filed with National Defence, 1947–1995
- Reports from civilian witnesses, military personnel, RCAF pilots, police, and scientific observers
- Documentation from Project Magnet (1950–1954) including Wilbert Smith’s detection station records
- Project Second Storey (1952–1954) committee documentation
- Correspondence between the public and National Defence regarding UAP
- A searchable index allowing queries by date, province, description, and other parameters
Why It Was Built
Library and Archives Canada built the exhibit as part of a broader mandate to digitise and make accessible records of public historical interest. UAP sighting reports qualified on multiple grounds: they were formally submitted to a government agency, retained in the federal record system for decades, and represented a legitimate subject of historical and scientific inquiry. The virtual exhibit was structured as educational and archival, not as advocacy.
What the Decommissioning Means
The database’s online disappearance does not mean the records are gone. The physical and digitised records remain within the Library and Archives Canada collection. They can be requested through formal access processes. But the public-facing searchable portal is no longer available, which means casual researchers and journalists can no longer browse or search the dataset.
This matters in the context of global UAP disclosure momentum. The US PURSUE programme is actively releasing records and building public access. The UK DEFE files are at Kew. Australia has its own RAAF UFO files. Canada’s equivalent — a substantial national dataset — is technically accessible but practically invisible, its public portal offline.
The Oracle Assessment
Canada’s 9,830 sighting reports, combined with Project Magnet’s detection station results and Project Second Storey’s classified committee findings, represent a national UAP record that deserves to be part of the global disclosure conversation. The decommissioning of the public portal is a practical barrier, not a legal one. UAP Oracle has logged a formal access request with Library and Archives Canada. We will publish what we receive.
Source: Library and Archives Canada. Formerly at collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/ufo/ — now decommissioned. Records accessible via formal request at bac-lac.gc.ca.