Overview
The 2025 Canadian UFO Survey, released on March 9 by Ufology Research, records 1,052 sightings reported across the country by 1,006 individual witnesses. The data, compiled with the assistance of South Cariboo resident Leanne Sallenback, marks the latest entry in a series of annual reports that have been published since 1989. While the headline number draws attention, the survey’s detailed analysis shows that the majority of incidents can be explained by conventional phenomena, and only a small fraction—3.42 percent—remain classified as “unknown.”
Data Collection and Sources
Ufology Research aggregates reports from a variety of channels: official filings with Transport Canada, submissions to the Washington‑based National UFO Reporting Center, direct observations from pilots, and crowdsourced entries posted on social media. The organization also encourages the public to submit sightings through its website, www.canadianuforeport.ca, via the “Report a Sighting” page. Sallenback notes that despite these efforts, “many more cases go unreported and unrecorded,” underscoring a persistent gap in systematic data capture.
The 2025 survey identified Ontario (307 sightings) and Quebec (210 sightings) as the leading provinces, with British Columbia ranking third at 131 reports. The average sighting involved 1.72 witnesses, a figure unchanged from the previous year, indicating that most encounters are solitary experiences.
Classification and Findings
The report categorises sightings by visual characteristics and duration. Lights in the night sky—whether white or multicoloured—account for 50.24 percent of all reports and are largely identified as ordinary nocturnal lights. The remaining 49.78 percent are divided among “nocturnal disc,” “daylight disc,” and other less common categories.
Average sighting duration rose to 47 minutes in 2025, up from 36 minutes in 2024. Longer durations often correlate with astronomical objects that move in sync with Earth’s rotation, while brief flashes typically indicate meteoric events such as fireballs or bolides. The survey’s methodology explicitly rules out alternative explanations before assigning an “unknown” label, examining flight paths, International Space Station trajectories, rocket fuel dumps, drone activity, planetary alignments, and other publicly available data.
Expert Commentary
Sallenback, who serves as Ufology Research’s communications specialist, emphasizes the changing cultural climate surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena. “It’s a fascinating time, because there is a renewed interest in this topic, especially with (U.S. President Donald) Trump talking about releasing the UFO files in the U.S.,” she said. “The stigma of talking about UFOs and reporting them is also going away, so you will start to see a lot more engagement in this field in the coming years.”
She cautions against conflating “unknown” with extraterrestrial visitation. “The classification of Unknown does not imply alien visitation,” the report states. “Each case may still have an explanation following further investigation… they are not incontrovertible proof of extraterrestrial intervention or some mysterious natural phenomenon.”
Looking Ahead
Both Sallenback and the research team highlight a critical shortfall: the absence of a centralised, national repository for UFO data. They advocate for a coordinated system that would integrate governmental, academic, and civilian reports, improving both the completeness and the scientific rigor of future surveys. As public interest grows and reporting barriers diminish, the 2025 findings suggest a modest but measurable shift toward more comprehensive documentation—an essential step for any meaningful analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena in Canada.
