Longtime UFO researcher and former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer passes away

MYSTERY WIRE – Former Canadian Minister of National Defence Hon. Paul Hellyer has passed away.

Hellyer was also a member of the Canadian Parliament for several years and served in various government roles for almost 40 years. He served as Defence Minister from 1963 to 1967.

He became well known in the UFO research community in 2005 when he told an audience at the Toronto Symposium on UFO Disclosure and Planetary Directions at the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall, “UFOs are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head. That is my unequivocal conclusion.”

UFO disclosure expert Victor Viggiani made the announcement on his website writing, “The Hon. Paul T. Hellyer PC passed away peacefully last evening August 8 in his home at 6:31pm in Toronto Canada.”

Viggiani included a statement from Hellyer’s family.

“Paul passed away peacefully last evening August 8 in his home at 6:31pm. Our family was by his side while he was taking his last breaths, singing him a blessing. We are so grateful he was able to be here at home for his last days. We are especially grateful that he was able to celebrate his 98th birthday surrounded by his family.”

Hellyer’s grandson Josh Hellyer also shared a message of his grandfather’s passing on Twitter writing, “Very sad to share that my Grandfather Paul Hellyer died yesterday, August 8, 2021, at the age of 98. He was a giant personality and a huge presence in our lives. He lived a long and interesting life and will be deeply missed. Rest in peace Grandpa.”

Viggiani writes that “as Minister of Defence, (Hellyer) oversaw the drastic and controversial integration and unification of the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and the Royal Canadian Air Force into a single organization, the Canadian Forces.”

Hellyer was also known for speaking at the Citizen Hearing on UFO Disclosure in 2013.