Wilbert B. Smith

Wilbert Brockhouse Smith (1910-1962) was a Canadian electrical engineer and government scientist born in Lethbridge, Alberta. Graduating from the University of British Columbia with a B.Sc. in 1933, he joined the Department of Transport in 1939, rising to Superintendent of Radio Regulations Engineering. His expertise spanned radio propagation, geo-magnetism, and auroras. Intrigued by UFOs after a 1940s magazine article, Smith shifted from skeptic to researcher. At the 1950 NARBA conference, Dr. Robert Sarbacher informed him U.S. UFO studies under Dr. Vannevar Bush exceeded hydrogen bomb secrecy. Smith authored a pivotal Top Secret memo (declassified 1969) proposing geomagnetic UFO detection, launching Project Magnet (1950-1954) at Shirley's Bay with magnetometers and detectors. He contributed to Project Second Storey (1952). Despite official denial in 1955, Smith pursued contacts and sightings privately, authoring 'The Boys from Topside.'