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Does a CADORS UFO Entry Confirm Anything?

A CADORS entry records a preliminary aviation occurrence, but the object may later prove to be a drone, balloon, meteor, bird or aircraft.

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On this page

  • How pilot and air traffic reports entered CADORS
  • Why CADORS descriptions were preliminary and unsubstantiated
  • How ordinary hazards could appear under the UFO label
Preview for Does a CADORS UFO Entry Confirm Anything?

Introduction

A Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS) entry is evidence that an aviation-related occurrence was reported to Transport Canada, not evidence that an unidentified flying object was confirmed. This distinction matters when assessing reports from Newfoundland and Labrador, where pilots, air traffic controllers and other aviation personnel have occasionally reported unusual lights or objects over remote airspace and coastal waters.

CADORS Records illustration 1

CADORS is designed as an aviation safety reporting system. Its purpose is to alert relevant organisations quickly to events that could affect flight operations. As a result, entries are often created soon after an occurrence, before any detailed investigation has established what was actually seen. A report may later prove to involve a balloon, drone, meteor, bird, another aircraft, an astronomical object or an observation that simply could not be identified with the available information.[ised-isde.canada.ca]ised-isde.canada.caManagement of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in CanadaJune 1, 2025…Published: June 1, 2025

How pilot and air traffic reports entered CADORS

For aviation sightings, the reporting chain is relatively straightforward. A pilot who observes an unusual object normally reports it to the nearest air traffic control unit, flight service station or other NAV CANADA facility. That observation is recorded in an Aviation Occurrence Report before being forwarded to Transport Canada for processing.

Transport Canada analysts then create a CADORS record if the occurrence falls within the system’s reporting criteria. According to the Office of the Chief Science Advisor’s review of Canadian UAP reporting, entries relating to unusual aerial objects may appear under broad occurrence categories that include weather balloons, meteors, rockets and UFO or CIRVIS (Communications Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings) reports. These categories were created for operational awareness rather than scientific classification.[ised-isde.canada.ca]ised-isde.canada.caManagement of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in CanadaJune 1, 2025…Published: June 1, 2025

For Newfoundland and Labrador, this means that reports originating from commercial flights, military traffic, offshore operations or regional aviation can enter a national aviation database even if no dedicated UFO investigation follows.

Why CADORS descriptions were preliminary and unsubstantiated

The wording of many CADORS entries can appear dramatic because it reflects what was reported at the time rather than what was ultimately established.

Several features of the database explain why caution is necessary:

  • The reports are intended for rapid information sharing. CADORS distributes preliminary aviation occurrence information so that aviation organisations are aware of potential hazards.
  • Descriptions often come directly from witnesses. An entry may summarise what a pilot believed they observed without independently confirming the object’s identity.
  • The database is not an investigative conclusion. A CADORS record does not normally contain the full analytical work that might later occur within Transport Canada, NAV CANADA or another organisation.
  • Some reports receive little or no follow-up. If no additional evidence emerges, the entry may remain simply as a record that an occurrence was reported.[ised-isde.canada.ca]ised-isde.canada.caManagement of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in CanadaJune 1, 2025…Published: June 1, 2025

This explains why readers sometimes encounter striking language in CADORS narratives. A report stating that a crew saw a “UFO” or “unidentified object” records the witness’s inability to identify it during the event. It does not represent an official finding that an extraordinary craft was present.

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How ordinary hazards can appear under the UFO label

The aviation environment creates many opportunities for genuine misidentification, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Long stretches of ocean, rapidly changing weather, low sun angles, auroral activity, ice crystals, distant aircraft lights and sparse visual references can all make interpretation difficult. At cruising altitude, pilots may observe objects for only a short period while managing other operational tasks.

The broad CADORS occurrence category itself illustrates this point. It groups together reports involving:

  • weather balloons;
  • meteors;
  • rockets; * unidentified aerial objects;(#endnote-1 “Snippet: June 1, 2025”)[ised-isde.canada.ca]ised-isde.canada.caManagement of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in CanadaJune 1, 2025…Published: June 1, 2025
  • and similar observations affecting aviation safety.

These are operationally linked because they may all require air traffic awareness, not because they are considered equally mysterious.[ised-isde.canada.ca]ised-isde.canada.caManagement of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in CanadaJune 1, 2025…Published: June 1, 2025

Similarly, an initially unidentified object may later be recognised as:

  • a weather or research balloon;
  • a recreational or commercial drone;
  • another aircraft viewed under unusual atmospheric conditions;
  • a meteor or bright fireball;
  • a bird flock or airborne debris;
  • fireworks or other ground-based light sources viewed from altitude.

The original CADORS entry may still remain valuable as a historical aviation record even after a conventional explanation becomes more likely.

CADORS Records illustration 2

What CADORS records can genuinely demonstrate

Used carefully, CADORS provides important evidence for researchers studying Canadian UFO history, including that of Newfoundland and Labrador.

A CADORS entry can demonstrate that:

  • an aviation-related report was officially received;
  • the approximate time and location of the occurrence;
  • which aviation organisations became aware of it;
  • the initial description provided by witnesses;
  • whether the event was considered relevant enough to enter the national aviation occurrence system.

These are significant historical facts because they show that an incident entered Canada’s official aviation reporting process rather than existing only as a newspaper story or later recollection.[ised-isde.canada.ca]ised-isde.canada.caManagement of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in CanadaJune 1, 2025…Published: June 1, 2025

For provincial UFO history, this helps establish that some Newfoundland and Labrador sightings were regarded as aviation occurrences worthy of documentation, particularly where pilots or controllers were involved.

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What CADORS records cannot demonstrate

Readers often ask whether a CADORS record proves that something genuinely unexplained occurred. On its own, the answer is no.

A CADORS entry cannot establish:

  • that witnesses correctly identified what they saw;
  • that radar confirmed an unknown object unless supporting evidence is separately documented;
  • that multiple reports necessarily referred to the same object;
  • that military authorities reached extraordinary conclusions;
  • that extraterrestrial technology was observed.

Nor does inclusion in CADORS indicate that Transport Canada endorsed the witness’s interpretation. The database exists primarily to document aviation occurrences, not to determine the nature of every reported object.[ised-isde.canada.ca]ised-isde.canada.caManagement of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in CanadaJune 1, 2025…Published: June 1, 2025

This distinction is especially important when older entries circulate online without their operational context. A headline quoting the word “UFO” from a CADORS narrative may accurately reproduce the original report while implying a level of official confirmation that the database was never intended to provide.

CADORS Records illustration 3

Reading Newfoundland and Labrador CADORS reports in context

For anyone researching UFO history in Newfoundland and Labrador, CADORS is most useful when combined with other evidence.

A stronger historical assessment comes from comparing a CADORS entry with air traffic records where available, contemporary weather information, astronomical conditions, witness interviews, local news coverage and, where relevant, archival files held by Library and Archives Canada or other federal agencies. If several independent sources point in the same direction, confidence in the historical reconstruction improves. If only a brief CADORS narrative survives, uncertainty remains.

In other words, CADORS preserves valuable primary evidence that an aviation occurrence was reported. It does not, by itself, resolve what was actually in the sky.[Canada]canada.cas UFOs: The search for the unknownCanada's UFOs: The search for the unknown - Canada.ca…

Air traffic control audio: Pilot reports unusual lights over northern Canada on Jan. 30, 2023

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Endnotes

1. Source: ised-isde.canada.ca
Title: Management of Public Reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in Canada
Link:https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/sky-canada-project/management-public-reporting-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-canada

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June 1, 2025...

Published: June 1, 2025

2. Source: ised-isde.canada.ca
Link:https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/sky-canada-project/preview-sky-canada-report-ocsa

3. Source: canada.ca
Title: ‘s UFOs: The search for the unknown
Link:https://www.canada.ca/en/library-archives/collection/research-help/science-technology/ufos.html

Source snippet

Canada's UFOs: The search for the unknown - Canada.ca...

4. Source: ised-isde.canada.ca
Title: annual report chief science advisor 2024 2025
Link:https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/annual-reports/annual-report-chief-science-advisor

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Report of the Chief Science Advisor 2024-2025December 17, 2025 — Canada’s Sovereign Airspace: The Sky Canada Project Canada exercises sov...

Published: December 17, 2025

5. Source: tc.canada.ca
Title: ca Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS) Manual
Link:https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/aviation-publications/civil-aviation-daily-occurrence-reporting-system-cadors-manual-tp-4044

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Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS) Manual - TP 4044September 5, 2025 — CIVIL AVIATION DAILY OCCURRENCE REPORTING SYSTEM...

Published: September 5, 2025

6. Source: publications.aws.tpsgc-pwgsc.cloud-nuage.canada.ca
Link:https://publications.aws.tpsgc-pwgsc.cloud-nuage.canada.ca/site/fra/9.954480/publication.html

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Iu37-59/2025E-PDF - Publications du gouvernement du Canada - Canada.caJune 1, 2025 — MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC REPORTING OF UNIDENTIFIED AERIA...

Published: June 1, 2025

7. Source: tc.canada.ca
Title: ca Report an incident affecting airport or aerodrome safety
Link:https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/operating-airports-aerodromes/report-incident-affecting-airport-aerodrome-safety

8. Source: tc.canada.ca
Title: ca4. High Altitude Object Incidents
Link:https://tc.canada.ca/en/binder/4-high-altitude-object-incidents

9. Source: tc.canada.ca
Title: ca The Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS)
Link:https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/publications/aviation-safety-letter/issue-2-2021/civil-aviation-daily-occurrence-reporting-system-cadors

10. Source: tc.canada.ca
Link:https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/reference-centre/exemptions-canadian-aviation-regulations-cars/exemption-standards-specified-cadors-manual-made-pursuant-section-80701-canadian-aviation-regulations

11. Source: tc.canada.ca
Link:https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/reference-centre/aerodrome-safety-circulars/aerodrome-safety-circular-asc-no-97-002a

12. Source: tc.canada.ca
Title: aerodrome safety circular asc no 97 002a annex b
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13. Source: canadacommons.ca
Link:https://canadacommons.ca/artifacts/53274763/report-of-the-sky-canada-project/54173224/

Additional References

14. Source: lois.justice.gc.ca
Title: justice.gc.ca Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations
Link:https://lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2001-286/page-23.html

Source snippet

of Dangerous Goods RegulationsJune 5, 2026 — TRANSPORTATION OF DANGEROUS GOODS REGULATIONS (SOR (STATUTORY ORDERS AND REGULATIONS)/2001-2...

Published: June 5, 2026

15. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgbNKOK7lr4

Source snippet

Air traffic control audio: Pilot reports unusual lights over northern Canada on Jan. 30, 2023...

16. Source: science.gc.ca
Title: Sky Canada Project
Link:https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/sky-canada-project

Source snippet

December 3, 2025 — SKY CANADA PROJECT DISCLAIMER It should be noted that the Sky Canada Project is not intended to access and collect fir...

Published: December 3, 2025

17. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6JgyhoCyi8

Source snippet

Unusual object spotted on Winnipeg flight...

18. Source: youtube.com
Title: Document reveals first known Canadian UFO study in nearly 30 years
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGCggCRTh1c

Source snippet

UFOs Part 2a - UFOlogist Chris Rutkowski Interview...

19. Source: youtube.com
Title: Unusual object spotted on Winnipeg flight
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgZ_2Y0_6d4

Source snippet

Document reveals first known Canadian UFO study in nearly 30 years...

20. Source: icao.int
Link:https://www.icao.int/safety-management/SMI/SI/Examples

21. Source: science.gc.ca
Link:https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/sky-canada-project/preview-sky-canada-report-ocsa

22. Source: science.gc.ca
Title: Questions and Answers about the Sky Canada Project
Link:https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/sky-canada-project/questions-and-answers-about-sky-canada-project

23. Source: science.gc.ca
Title: chief science advisor annual report 2022 23
Link:https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/office-chief-science-advisor/annual-reports/chief-science-advisor-annual-report