Some swirled, swooshed and hummed while others hovered, zipped and zoomed.

Canadians in four provinces reported seeing a record number of unidentified flying objects in 2007, according to an annual report released by a Winnipeg-based non-profit organization that has recorded UFO sightings since 1989.

The UFOlogy Research Institute, which compiles data from sources including Transport Canada and the Department of National Defence, said researchers examined 836 alleged UFO sightings in 2007, an increase of almost 12 per cent over 2006.

While B.C. typically has the highest number of reported sightings, the 2007 compilation found that New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec all pulled in all-time high numbers of UFO reports.

The reports were filed by witnesses with government and military agencies, police and several online UFO Web sites. Witnesses ranged from farmhands to airline pilots and included teachers and police officers.

Chris Rutkowski, the lead researcher of the study, said that, of the hundreds of reports, only a fraction -- about 16 per cent -- were labelled as unexplained after review by his investigators. But he cautioned that while some UFO sightings can't be rationally explained, there is still no evidence to suggest extraterrestrial contact.

Some of the more bizarre cases from 2007 -- those to which researchers gave a "strangeness rating" of six or more out of 10 -- include one in Hammonds Plain, N.S., on March 10, when several witnesses saw a structured object with lights moving slowly over a lake. The object was also "humming," according to the witnesses.

In Halifax on Dec. 21, a helicopter pilot reported seeing a bright object flying overhead and curving around.

For reasons unknown, the highest number of UFO sightings is usually reported in British Columbia. On May 27 last year, a silent object was observed "maneuvering oddly" over Chilliwack, B.C., while residents in the northern village of Granisle, B.C., saw a "black-light-coloured" object moving across the sky on Nov. 11 near an "odd looking" cloud.

In another instance, residents in North Tryon, P.E.I., saw a small, shiny object spiralling in the sky last Boxing Day. They reported the strange craft flew in a corkscrew manner, leaving behind it a mysterious dark smoke trail.

"This one really caught our attention," recalls Rutkowski, an astronomer who leads the research along with several engineers, journalists and pilots. "It happened during the day and two individuals saw it and they had enough time because it was visible for half an hour and they took video. The trail persisted for quite some time."

So what caused the phenomenon?

"At this time it is still unexplained," he conceded in an interview from Winnipeg, "but we are open to the possibilities."

Rutkowski started the research institute in 1989 because of his passion to explain what people were really seeing. His organization works with Norad, NASA, Transport Canada and other organizations to find out what kind of objects are known to be up in the sky and visible from particular areas of the Earth at specific times.

As such, they are able to explain away many UFO sightings as unusual alignments of satellites, or objects such as meteors and space junk that burn up upon entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

He, for one, remains doubtful that any of the UFOs spotted in Canada are occupied by aliens.

"As an astronomer I think there's is life out there somewhere," he acknowledges. "I don't rule out the possibility, but I don't have anything that convinces me 100 per cent."

These days, reports of flying saucers are rare, but reports of triangles and spheres continue to flow into the UFOlogy institute.

"It could be something as simple as there are more UFOs, or people are paying more attention to what is up in the sky," he suggests.

"Rather than just being too busy all the time, to just pause and look at the sky and wonder what's out there is always a good thing."