Project Magnet
Encyclopedia
Project Magnet was an unidentified flying object
(UFO) study programme 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.
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
.
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:
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 Defence 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:
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.
, 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.
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."
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.
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
(UFO) study programme established by the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Department of Transport
Transport Canada
Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities portfolio...
(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
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
as a source of propulsion
Vehicle propulsion
Vehicle propulsion refers to the act of moving an artificial carrier of people or goods over any distance. The power plant used to drive the vehicles can vary widely. Originally, humans or animals would have provided the propulsion system, later being supplemented by wind power...
for vehicles. Smith and his colleagues in government believed that UFOs, if real, might hold the key to this new source of power.
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
Extraterrestrial hypothesis
The extraterrestrial hypothesis is the hypothesis that some unidentified flying objects are best explained as being extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens from other planets occupying physical spacecraft visiting Earth.-Etymology:...
and likely operated by manipulation of magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
.
History
Smith had been interested in UFO reports since about 1947, when, according to a friend, he first claimed to have received "mental messages from space people."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
Frank Scully
Frank Scully was an author in the 1940s and 1950s and wrote for the show business publication Variety.In October and November 1949, Scully published two columns in Variety, claiming that extraterrestrial beings were recovered from a flying saucer crash, based on what he said was reported to him by...
called Behind the Flying Saucers, about crashed New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
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 BushVannevar BushVannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator known for his work on analog computing, his political role in the development of the atomic bomb as a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project, the founding of Raytheon, and the idea of the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer...
was looking into the "modus operandiModus operandiModus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
" of the saucers (see Majestic 12Majestic 12Majestic 12 is the alleged code name of a secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, supposedly formed in 1947 by an executive order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman...
) - Other aspects of the saucers were being investigated, including possible "mental phenomena"
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
Omond Solandt
Omond McKillop Solandt, CC, OBE, CD, FRSC was an important Canadian scientist who was the first Chairman of the Canadian Defence Research Board.-Career:...
, head of the Canadian Defence 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
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
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
Project Second Storey
Project Second Storey, also known as Project Second Story, also known as Project Flying Saucers also known in international correspondence as Project Theta, Dated April 22, 1952, Canada....
, 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 called "the world's first 'flying saucer sighting station' at Shirley's BayShirley's Bay
Shirleys Bay is a bay of the Ottawa River, about ten miles from Ottawa in Ontario, Canada.It is also the name of a Canadian military and civilian telecommunication research campus which is located on the shore of the bay...
, outside Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
." The Shirley's Bay facility contained some expensive, highly sensitive equipment, including a gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
detector, a magnetometer
Magnetometer
A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...
, several radio receivers, and a gravimeter
Gravimeter
A gravimeter or gravitometer is an instrument used in gravimetry for measuring the local gravitational field of the Earth. A gravimeter is a type of accelerometer, specialized for measuring the constant downward acceleration of gravity, which varies by about 0.5% over the surface of the Earth...
; each of these was wired to a graph paper
Graph paper
Graph paper, graphing paper, grid paper or millimeter paper is writing paper that is printed with fine lines making up a regular grid. The lines are often used as guides for plotting mathematical functions or experimental data and drawing diagrams. It is commonly found in mathematics and...
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
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, 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.
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."
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.