Did you guys know that there is a group that tracks yearly UFO statistics in Canada?
Because there is and they’re goddamn glorious.
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The main crew tracking the data is the Winnipeg-based Ufology Research Centre who just released their 2016 findings of UFO sightings in the great white north. The data—which is totally true because, you know, it’s data—is produced by the centre working in cooperation with investigators and researchers all across the country. The group releases the information yearly “in an attempt to promote the dissemination of information across the field of ufology. “
So, with that in mind, let’s go through these numbers, why don’t we?
To start, since 1989 the crew has reported 18,038 Canadian UFO sightings or encounters. In total, there were 1,131 UFO reports officially filed in Canada—”the fifth year in a row above 1,000 cases,” excitedly reads the study. The only year that had more sightings was 2015.
“This data clearly contradicts comments by those who would assert that UFOs are a ‘passing fad’ or that UFO sightings are decreasing in number,” reads the study.
Fuck yeah, the truth is out there, fam.
Like all good studies, this one is chock full of weird little statistics and breaks down the sightings by province. Turns out, Quebecers see the most little grey men, followed by Ontario, BC, and Alberta and that summer is the best time to see the extraterrestrials. Montreal had the highest amount of any sightings in a major city with 73—Vancouver took a close second with 70.
Sadly, though, most of these sightings had “insufficient evidence” and “the percentage of UFO cases considered unexplained in 2016 has dropped to four percent, the lowest in 28 years of study,” which is a total bummer. The crew writes this off as the “result of more careful scrutiny of raw report information available.”
The best part comes at the tail end of the study where they keep the “unusual” reports. In this segment, you can find the short tale of a man who “reported that an alien entity was responsible for stealing his sunglasses, belt and silver possessions.”
Further into the study, you can read about a person in Cornwall, PEI who had a close encounter with “a thin, six-foot-tall, long-fingered, white alien in a black suit” that appeared in his bedroom. The person then had a chat with the alien before it took its leave by walking through a wall. Meanwhile in Quebec, on the same night, a person was transported in a flash of white light to a bathtub. Here he encountered “three green, big-eyed humanoid creatures who communicated with him telepathically.”
Another is straight-up elegant in its simplicity:
“A report was received which read simply, ‘They contacted me!’”
The study ends with a man in northern Quebec who spotted himself a sasquatch—which I don’t believe counts as an alien but, frankly, who cares, because sasquatches are awesome. Not all encounters were as wonderful as these, some are kinda, well, boring.
In total, close encounters were less than one percent, the majority of sightings (over 50 percent) were just simple lights in the sky. The study also breaks down the sightings that weren’t simple lights and, oddly enough, the “flying saucer” classification only was reported five percent of times, tying it with whatever “fireball” is.
So, kiddos, keep your eyes on the sky and the curiosity in your heart strong because if you’re lucky, very lucky, maybe one day you’ll end up on this list.
At the very least you might see a sasquatch, which apparently counts.
Lead image via Flickr user maxime raynal
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