The detailed Canadian UFO Survey released Monday by the Winnipeg-based group Ufology Research includes accounts of where, when and precisely what Canadians claim they saw in the sky last year. The data was collected from 17 sources across the country including Transport Canada, Canada National Defense, the National UFO Reporting Center and YouTube. "Overall in Canada, there was a slight increase in the number of UFO reports, and it's at the second highest level of sightings that we've recorded since we started doing the survey back in the 1980s," said Chris Rutkowski, a science writer who compiled this year's survey. They’re not just looking down at their cellphones,” Rutkowski said. "The [report] does show that people continue to see things in the sky and whether that's an example of more education that's needed or simply an encouragement to get people to look up more instead of staring at their cellphones, I think it's important that we do continue to talk about this," he said.
– Perhaps aliens have taken a liking to the Great White North. The annual Canadian UFO Survey by Winnipeg-based Ufology Research shows "the second highest level of sightings that we've recorded since we started doing the survey back in the 1980s," with 1,267 across Canada in 2015, rep Chris Rutkowski tells the CBC. Only 2012 had more, with 1,981 sightings. The provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland each saw an increase in reports over 2014, but Quebec outpaced them all, according to data from 17 sources, including Transport Canada and YouTube. The province, which typically produces 5% to 15% of all UFO reports in Canada, generated 35% of reports in 2015, reports the Canadian Press. Montreal led Canadian cities with 97 reports, followed by 78 in Toronto, and 69 in Vancouver. That doesn't mean there were that many unexplained cases; about 88% of unidentifiable objects turn out to be stars, planets, airplanes, or helicopters, Rutkowski says. Ufology Research investigates the remaining cases—by visiting a site and talking to witnesses—to determine if a case is "high quality." About 1% to 3% of cases fall into this group, Rutkowski says. One of the perhaps not-so-high-quality ones: A resident in Sainte-Brigitte de Laval, Quebec, recalled seeing three 4-feet-tall "humanoids" with huge heads and "big, black slanted eyes," and hearing a high-pitched hum. "We're not saying the little grey guys are here," Rutkowski tells CTV News. "This is simply what people are reporting." (Aliens might also have a thing for Florida.)