Paul Hellyer

Political Career

Paul Theodore Hellyer (August 6, 1923 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian engineer and politician who served as Minister of National Defence from 1963 to 1967 under Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Elected to Parliament in 1949 at age 25, he became the longest-serving member of Canada's Queen's Privy Council by the time of his death. His political record focused on defense modernization and military unification.

UFO Awakening

Hellyer remained skeptical of UFO reports throughout his political career. His worldview shifted dramatically in 2005 when he read The Day After Roswell, a book claiming the U.S. government recovered an extraterrestrial craft near Roswell in 1947. The narrative convinced him that the "truth embargo" on alien contact was real. Shortly after, he was introduced to a retired U.S. Air Force general who corroborated the claims, stating: "Every word of [The Day After Roswell] is true, and more."

Disclosure Advocacy

Beginning in the early 2000s, Hellyer became the world's highest-ranking government official to publicly advocate for UFO disclosure and claim the existence of extraterrestrial life. In 2013, he testified at the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, a mock congressional hearing in Washington, DC, organized to pressure the U.S. government to lift what he termed the "truth embargo." He repeatedly claimed that Western governments possessed recovered alien technology and suppressed evidence of extraterrestrial visitation for strategic and economic reasons. Hellyer also argued that releasing alien technologies could accelerate solutions to climate change.

Legacy

Hellyer's institutional credibility—as a Defense Minister and longest-serving Privy Council member—gave his UFO allegations weight in media coverage, positioning him as the most authoritative government voice in the disclosure movement. His conversion from skeptic to advocate demonstrated how classified information or personal testimony could shift even long-established public figures. He maintained his disclosure advocacy until his death at age 98.