This book is based on archival research at the National Archives in Ottawa.
From the jacket:
For more than a century, unidentified flying objects have been sighted
across Canada, mystifying witnesses and baffling investigators. Adding to
the riddle of UFOs is the government's official response to the myriad
reports, which has been secretive and at times strangely contradictory,
even duplicitous. In this revealing book, author Palmiro Campagna digs into
the government's archives to unravel the true story of Canada's fascinating
connection to the UFO phenomenon.
Weaving together eyewitness accounts and secret government files, including newly declassified documents, Campagna relates some startling episodes in Canadian UFO history, from the revelations made to Wilbert Smith, a Canadian Ministry of Transport engineer in Washington, D.C., to the United States' so-called "black" program that may have hidden behind A.V. Roe's made-in-Canada flying saucer, to the unexplained case of Stefan Michalak, whose close encounter with a strange, burning-hot craft left him physically scarred.
The UFO Files is a provocative chronicle of some of North America's most perplexing sightings and an often disturbing portrait of the role played by government in investigating those events. But are more secret files still hidden away? As Campagna amply demonstrates, the truth is indeed out there.
The back cover has the following:
What do Ottawa's secret files reveal about contact with extraterrestrial beings?
Is there a concerted government cover-up of close encounters in North America - from the Roswell incident in New Mexico to the Stefan Michalak case in Manitoba?
Has the United States military used USAF flying saucers (Project Silver Bug based on a Canadian prototype to hide the truth about sightings of an alien spacecraft?
Did the CIA actively contrive to discredit a Canadian researcher after he was told the truth about UFOs?
The UFO Files tackles these and many other disturbing questions about the shadowy and often dubious role of government regarding the UFO phenomenon in North America. Finally, the inside Canadian connection is exposed.
Here are some reviews:
From amazon.com there is the following review:
Dhawley@prodigy.net from USA (Virginia) , 11/13/97, rating=10:
Well-written, meticulously researched and revelatory.
Mr. Campagna serves up a top-notch treatment of an important component of the UFO enigma. Working on several levels, the author provides the UFO researcher (or just the curious reader) with many little-known examples of well documented sightings form our neighbor to the North, while skillfully weaving a trail of plausible connections between the various Canadian governmental agencies involved with the UFO question and their American counterparts. He makes a compelling case that many UFO sightings are of craft with very earthly origins, touching upon the alleged Nazi saucer developments, the Canadian AVRO project and the American Silver Bug project, while providing strong support for the reality of "other worldly" sources, as well. It is difficult to read this book without developing a sense of foreboding; if one was not inclined to think seriously about conspiracy before reading this work, it is hard not to afterwards. A truly fascinating and eye-opening exposition. A must read!
Here is a review from the MUFON Eastern Regional Director George Filer:
UFO Reports
uninvestigated reports from the Eastern Regional Director
Posted August 31, 1997
Filer's Files #33
21 August 1997
THE UFO FILES
The new book by Palmiro Campagna, an engineer who works for the Department of National Defense in Canada and acts as the Canadian representative to NATO in the area of electromagnetics is excellent. Palmiro digs in the government's archives to unravel the true story of Canada's fascinating connection to the UFO phenomenon. He relates some startling episodes in Canadian UFO history. One of the most interesting was the saga of Wilbert Smith, a Canadian Ministry of Transport engineer, who visited Washington D. C. and attempted to discover the cause of the UFO reports. On November 21, 1950, Smith wrote a secret memo which has since created a sensation in the field of Ufology. Writing to his controller of telecommunications at the Department of Transport. Smith stated, I made discreet inquires through the Canadian Embassy staff in Washington, who were able to obtain for me the following information:
a. The matter (of UFOs) is the most highly classified subject in the United
States Government, rating higher even than the H-bomb.
b. Flying saucers exist.
c. Their modus operandi is unknown but a concentrated effort to discover
the modus operandi is being made by a small group headed by Doctor Vannevar
Bush.
d. The entire matter is considered by the United States authorities to be
of tremendous significance.
I was further informed that the United States' authorities are investigating along quite a number of lines which might possibly be related to the saucers such as mental phenomena and I gather they are not doing too well since they indicated that if Canada is doing anything at all in geomagnetics they would welcome a discussion with suitably accredited Canadians.
Campagna states, Not only does Smith's information appear to prove the existence of a cover-up, it also suggest the U.S. was actively investigating UFO phenomena along a number of different lines. Moreover, the involvement of Dr. Vannevar Bush speaks to the high priority given the subject.
The book tells the complete story of the Avrocar, Y-2 and Silverbug projects a joint U.S./Britain/Canadian project to build disc aircraft. He also provides the most detailed story and analysis of the Stefan Michalak case. He claims to have been seriously burned by a UFO's propulsion system when it took off. The heat passing through the UFO grillwork left distinctive marks on his chest. It includes documents declassified as recently as 1996. The book is well worth reading and helps unravel the true story of UFOs in Canada and fills in many formally unknown areas. The author implies some disc aircraft belong to various governments. Note: Disc craft have been observed on the ground and in hangars at many air bases.