being a good UFO witness

We've all seen blurry photos and vague accounts from UFO witnesses, and its very understandable. I think it would be quite easy and natural to just gawk at a UFO without collecting any useful info for filing a report. We've also seen where mass reports of a UFO(s) are inconsistent between people. I've seen blank pages on sites like MUFON or NICAP where one can submit a UFO sighting, but I haven't seen a guide on how one can be a good witness before one actually sees something. Some sort of list of reminders to make good observations. I think this would be a useful things for those groups to post. Some thoughts I had:

-check a clock or watch during the sighting. People's reports of time can vary quite a bit because lots of people will stare at the thing without ever actually checking the time. Checking the time can also help confirm reports of a moving craft seen at multiple locations, and could be used to figure out the speed between 2 sightings. A watch could also be helpful in noting how long it took to get from one landmark to another, or how long the sighting lasts, or a particular part of the sighting lasted.

-use your outstretched hand to get some relative size. Lots of Project Blue Book reports use this methodology, but I think they were mostly estimated after the fact. It would be more reliably to actually do this when the object is in the air rather than guessing afterwards, because the mind and objects in the sky can play tricks on you.

-note reference points on the land. This could be useful in determining what an object was flying over, and how fast its moving. Using a watch, you might also note how long it took to get from one mountain to another, which could be used later on to determine speed.

-record as much as possible. Obviously this includes taking pictures and/or video if you are able, even if it turns out to be one of those maddening blurry ones. But this also includes writing things down. You shouldn't rely on your memory because it can forget and be suggestible, whereas a piece of paper stays the same. A night's sleep can totally ruin the facts of an event.

Those were just a few thoughts I had off the top of my head. Any other ideas on what a good witness should do? Is this a topic worth exploring?

my blurry ufo pic

I gawked at this for a while before a hasty blurry photo, and didn't check the time or anything.

reply to post by conundrummer


I would say in addition to what you have suggested, try to be as steady with the cam as possible. I know, easier said than done. Breathe too for heavens sake. I would also say make liberal usage of the zoom button, at every opportunity. I would then scour the ufo posting websites, Mufon and such to see if anybody else saw what you saw.

reply to post by conundrummer

I've seen blank pages on sites like MUFON or NICAP where one can submit a UFO sighting, but I haven't seen a guide on how one can be a good witness before one actually sees something. Some sort of list of reminders to make good observations.

That's because if they made a checklist of how to write report then people would just make stuff (either consciously or subconsciously) up to make their report seem more credible.

For a witness report to be taken seriously it has to be in their own words with out prompts. A check list or guide would constitute prompts.

What's really funny is...

When I had a giant craft 500' over my House.

The very last thing I thought about was filming it.

I am better prepared now. Still it won't be in my first 100 thoughts.

Using a watch, you might also note how long it took to get from one mountain to another, which could be used later on to determine speed.

This would only work if you know the distance the object was from the observer. This is how we get so many bugs mis-reported as visiting aliens.

PhoenixOD
That's because if they made a checklist of how to write report then people would just make stuff up to make their report seem more credible.

Seems like a healthy imagination would be far more useful in this capacity than an ordered list. Also, the thousands of other UFO reports would probably be a better starting point for faking a UFO tale than a list of things to note.

For a witness report to be taken seriously it has to be in their own words with out prompts. A check list or guide would constitute prompts.

I'm not talking about a checklist written out afterwards where they write things in like Mad Libs. I'm talking about reminders one should consider during a sighting. Good note taking is a useful protocol for remembering all sorts of details, not just laying out a UFO narrative.

PhoenixOD This would only work if you know the distance the object was from the observer. This is how we get so many bugs mis-reported as visiting aliens.

This is true, my mistake. It just seems like being able to articulate something like "the object went from flying over known mountain X to known mountain Y in approximately 10 seconds" would give some idea of speed. But I guess that would require inhuman levels of depth perception to really get any useful numbers from that.

What would this checklist look like? As in, perhaps, having multiple choices as to specifics, such as the craft's metallic appearance; color, shine, with/without lights/symbols/openings/windows, etc.? Is that what you mean, but covering a wider range of specifics that others have witnessed over time?

One more thing to put on the list.
Tell the occupants of the craft we need help. Tell them our leaders are insane and there's a monster called monsatan thats destroying our food supply.

reply to post by conundrummer

Man I wish cameras were more promenant in the 90's..... I would have had a wicked picture of the UFO that I say 19 years ago.
Im glad that You have witnessed a UFO before. I get really annoyed by people who have never witnessed any UFO of anykind and then go on to make a thread Like this.

With my experiences with UFO's I found that if you have a genuine sighting, its hard to look away even if its for 2 seconds to grab and turn on a camera. I grew up in the Okanagan Valley in the interior of BC and witnessed many strange things mostly in the summer time. I saw my first UFO when I was 8 years old and they havent stopped showing up sense (the first sighting was the best though).

Growing up in that area I heard lots of stories about Underground bases inside old gold mines in the mountains, I always tried going splunking to find them but never had any luck. There are videos though on youtube that show Some people splunking near the Okanagan and they found one of these bases hidden in an old mine shaft. I will see if I can find the name of the video and I will add it to the bottom of this as an edit when I find it.
All in all this was a cool thread, I really appreciate that You actually witnessed something, And yes you have a good check list of things to do. Personally I would not call Mufon though, If you report with them and its a genuine sighting then its gone for ever. I would say to research and Find some one other then mofun, there are many out there, It would be best to send your pics/vids to a researcher who Dosnt get paid to do the research, I find you get more truth out of those guys then you get from any corporate company.us

reply to post by VoidHawk


I hear you. I sense they are already aware of this. How could they not?!

reply to post by conundrummer


You do realize that your 'UFO' video is a remote controlled toy, right?

They are inexpensive, easy to fly, and entertaining. Dress them up with a little fluorescent paint, some LED lights and it can be hard to truly judge the distance and size of the 'craft'.

It took awhile, but people eventually caught my husband flying his and no longer are astonished at 'The Visitors'.

P.S. Google 'quadcopter' and you will see the model you filmed, sans the lights.

nugget1
reply to post by conundrummer

 

You do realize that your 'UFO' video is a remote controlled toy, right?

Its not a video its a photo. Anyway, yeah, I realized later what it was, but it was a big one and I saw it before I'd ever heard of octocopters (the pic is kinda old). To the ignorant (me), it was unidentified at the time. It gave me some firsthand familiarity with the difficulty of photographing flying things, and that flustered feeling where you don't want to look away but you want to get a camera before it leaves. And, to be honest, seeing it sparked a sense of wonder inside me. Sure, it seems silly now: a grown man looking up at a dang fancy toy and having his mind race to UFO possibilities. In retrospect there was probably a guy with a remote control laughing at my dumb self somewhere.

The only other time I've gotten that I'm-looking-at-a-UFO feeling, I was under the influence of credibility-destroying substances.

InTheLight
What would this checklist look like? As in, perhaps, having multiple choices as to specifics, such as the craft's metallic appearance; color, shine, with/without lights/symbols/openings/windows, etc.? Is that what you mean, but covering a wider range of specifics that others have witnessed over time?

I wasn't thinking a standardized form to give after the fact, I was thinking about a small set of procedures to follow if you suspect you're currently looking at a UFO. Something short that a person could store in their memory banks just in case. I wouldn't recommend that all UFO enthusiasts carry a checklist around in their wallet or anything. I'd also avoid multiple choices about specifics because in a way it confines the explanation to past events, and it may also "lead the witness". Also, a checklist like that would be filled out after the event, possibly the next day or something. I'd suspect that people would give more accurate reports if they scribbled some notes down on some scratch paper as soon after the event as possible.

reply to post by conundrummer


Don't be hard on yourself; you're in good company!

With the advent of quadcopters, flying toys have become all the rage- and UFO sites are becoming over run with photos and videos.
At least it gives a good practice opportunity for photographing til the real thing comes along!

reply to post by conundrummer


I think UFO witnesses are generally better at describing what they have seen then they get credit for.

Seems to me that hardcore debunkers sometimes start out with the conclusion that a UFO is this explanation or that, and accept only eyewitness testimony that supports that conclusion.
Say for example, the witness provides a report completely consistant with that of a weather balloon. The debunker looks at the description of the object and says, "this is clearly a weather balloon."

If the witness instead reports a "flying saucer" the debunker will look at the description say, "eyewitness testimony is unreliable, this is actually a weather balloon." Right. Since the testimony doesn't fit the debunkers explanation, it must be flawed. I doubt they would be making that argument if the description was that of a weather balloon.

NOT ALL SKEPTICS!! I am only talking about the biased, hardcore debunkers.

One other distinction must be made. On several occasions I have heard skeptics argue that since so many UFOs turn out to be identified, the witnesses are not reliable observers. In other words, they reported something as a UFO, but it really wasn't, therefore they are poor observers.
Really, the opposite is usually the truth. The fact is that most of the time the witness provides a perfect description of the object that turns out to be the explanation—he/she just didn't realize what it was, or didn't know it existed.

The actual description of the object is usually accurate—meaning when there are thousands of credible cases of unknown objects all described similarly, there is probably something amazing going on.

reply to post by whyamIhere


Would you mind telling more about your sighting? It sounds very interesting.

data5091
reply to post by conundrummer

 

I would say in addition to what you have suggested, try to be as steady with the cam as possible. I know, easier said than done. Breathe too for heavens sake. I would also say make liberal usage of the zoom button, at every opportunity. I would then scour the ufo posting websites, Mufon and such to see if anybody else saw what you saw.

I agree, as well using trees, lampposts, deck posts or sides of building to anchor the camera or phone against is golden. I've even seen in mexico out in the open folks will lie on their backs and anchor themselves to the ground for better quality footage. I would also add that while many slow moving glowing abjects can now be conventional there are still reports of many ufos carrying out maneuvers that defy our physics. This would be good to capture from a studious minded observer using anchoring techniques and a good understanding of the equipment they are using..

I would like to add something to that list:
If the object is stationary or moving very slow, move to a different place and take more photos/videos, that way you will have two reference points and, if the object was not too far away, the different point of view will help to get a distance and from the distance you can get a size.