Canadian Radio-Engineer and UFO-Researcher (1910-1962)
Wilbert
Brockhouse
Smith
was born in Lethbridge. in the providence of Alberta - Canada, on the 17th of
February, 1910. Early in life his he displayed an eager interest in the nature of
things and at the age of 15 he wrote a treatise on the concept of perpetual motion. He
was also the author of several scientific novels.
After having obtained his
B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of British
Columbia, he joined the staff of radio stacion C.J.O.R., Vancouver, in 1935, where he
remained for four years and became chief engineer.
In 1939 he joined the
Department of Transport of Canada, where he continued his work in the broadcasting
field and deserved much credit in advancing the technical aspects of broadcasting in
Canada. He participated in the development of Frequency Modulation and television
broadcasting agreements between Canada and the United States.
In June 1942
Wilbert married Murl James. They took up residence at 10 Lotta Street, City View, on
the outskirts of Ottawa in 1950. During World War II he was responsible for the
establishment of a network of ionosoheric measurement stations throughout Canada. In
December 1950, following his request to the Department of Transport,
Project Magnet was
authorized and permission granted to make use of the Departments laboratory and field
facilities, in a study of Unidentified Flying Objects and the physical principles
which might be involved.
Smith established the world's first
flying sauccer sighting station" at Shirley bay, outside Ottawa in November 1953.
This station consisted of a small wooden DRB building, containing some highly
sophisticated instrumentation specially adapted to detect flying saucers. These
instruments were: a gamma-ray counter, a magnetometer, a radio receiver, and a
recording gravimeter. These four instruments produced traces on a multiplepen
graphical recorder which was checked periodically to note any disturbances.
At 3:01 p.m , August 8, 1954, the station registered a definite disturbance, quite
different from disturbances registered by passing aircraft.
Smith and his colleagues were
alerted by a built-in alarm system. Regrettably, heavy fog prevailed and it was
impossible to see anything overhead. The recorded evidence, however, indicated that
something strange had flown within feet of the station.
Unfortunately
Project Magnet was plagued by well-meaning but misguided journalists, to an extent
where those who were involved in the project, and the Department, found themselves in
an embarresing position.
Project Magnet was therefore officially dropped on August 10, 1954 and continued
to operate strictly as a private venture.
In 1952, the Canadian Government set
up a special committee representing various departments, to consider the UFO problem
and to recommend government action. Wilbert Smith was a member of this group, which
was identified as
Project Second Storey. Smith's work on UFOs made him Canada's leading authority on
the subject.
In 1957 he was appointed superintendent of Radio Regulations
Engineering, responsible for the engineering aspects of all matters concerning the use
of radio in Canada, including equipment standards, radio relay systems, broadcast
facilities and inferference studies.
On January 11, 1959 while speaking at an
local conference in Ottawa,
Smith stated:
"Various items of (UFO) hardware are known to exist, but are slapped into security
and are not avaible to the general public."
In 1961 Smith wrote the
following words to Mr Fitch.. "You seem to be most interested in UFO 'hardware'
There is a great deal of this around, most of it in U.S. official (Not USAF!) hands;
but there is quite a bit in private hands as well."
It discovered in May of
1962 that Wilbert Smith was afflicted with cancer and after a valiant struggle, he
died on December 27, 1962. at the age of 52.
Wilbert Smith's (WBS)
world famous meeting with Robert I Sarbacher (RIS) at the
Canadian Embassy on
September 15, 1950
WBS: I am doing some work on the
collapse of the earth's magnetic field as a source of energy, and I think our work may
have a bearing on flying saucers.
RIS: What do you want to know?
WBS: I have read (Frank) Scully's book on the saucers and I would like to know
how much of it is true.
RIS: the facts reported in the book are substantially correct.
WBS: Then the saucers exist?
RIS: Yes, they exist.
WBS: Do they operate as Scully suggests on magnetic principle?
RIS: We have not been able to duplicate their performance.
WBS: So they come from some other planet?
RIS: All we know is, that we didn't make them, and it's pretty certain they
didn't originate on the earth.
WBS: I understand the whole subject of saucers is classified.
RIS: Yes, it is classified two points higher than the H-bomb. In fact. it is
the most highly classified subject in the U.S. government at the present time.
WBS: May I ask the reason for this classification?
RIS: You may ask. but I can't tell you.
WBS: Is there any way in which I can get some information, particularly as it
might fit in with our own work?
RIS: I suppose you could be cleared through your own Defense Department and I
am pretty sure arrangements could be made to exchange information. If you have
anything to contribute we would be glad to talk it over, but I can't give you any more
at the present time.
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