Toronto dematerialization claim (1953)

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Toronto dematerialization claim (1953)
Illustration of a jet meeting an unknown object
Illustration: a jet meeting an unknown object. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
Date1953
PeopleWilbert Smith
TestimonyShellenberger testimony, p. 47
Year1953 in UFO history
Timeline1953 on the UAP Timeline
Sources1

Toronto dematerialization claim (1953) — An RAF instructor claims he saw a successful 'dematerialization' experiment in Toronto.

The testimony includes a claim by a man described as a former Royal Air Force instructor who said that in 1953 he witnessed a successful "dematerialization" experiment in Toronto, Canada, in which an object was made to vanish. The only source cited is a YouTube video interview, and we haven't found any document, publication or second witness that supports it.

Claims of secret dematerialization or invisibility experiments are a recurring theme in UFO and conspiracy literature, the best known being the "Philadelphia Experiment", a legend that the U.S. Navy made a warship disappear in 1943, which the Navy has long said never happened. In the early 1950s, Canada did have a small official UFO-related project, Project Magnet, run by radio engineer Wilbert Smith of the Department of Transport, which looked at magnetism and possible new forms of propulsion.

There's no evidence linking the Toronto claim to Project Magnet or any other known program. It should be treated as an unverified personal account.

People and topics

Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
  • U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
  • Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
  • Allende letters and the Philadelphia Experiment — Allende letters and the Philadelphia Experiment
  • U.S. Navy — The U.S. naval service, whose pilots reported the UAP encounters revealed in 2017.
  • Project Magnet — A Canadian Department of Transport study of magnetism and UFOs run by Wilbert Smith in the early 1950s.
  • Wilbert Smith — Canadian radio engineer who ran Project Magnet and recorded talks with Robert Sarbacher.

On the Timeline

Illustration of a humanoid figure under a hovering craft
Illustration: a humanoid figure under a hovering craft. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

See every 1953 event on the UAP Timeline →

References

  1. youtu.be · youtu.be · archived copy

This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.

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