ATS, BTS, What would you like to see in the future?, page 34

Suggestion: New HOAX and Reporting System

I have reposted here as the original post was in the wrong place and died a death accordingly.

UFO Sighting/Alien Encounter Posts

ATS is swamped/blessed with posts where the OP is reporting a UFO sighting/alien encounter.

Unfortunately it usually takes around 3 or 4 pages of questioning and an onslaught of ad hominem responses before we actually start to get a clear picture of what actually happened with some of the relevant facts.

It is usually at this stage that these posts are then labelled by the ATS Mods as a hoax while some turn out to inconclusive and are therefore left open to discussion.

The first point to this post is that ATS has the technology to speed up the process and add quality and clarity to the original post. This could be done by creating a post template using the same process that any poster needs to adopt when reporting breaking news items.

The template would require the OP to include the following fields (possibly mandatory) prior to submitting the post. The following have been raised from Gazrok's list as it was comprehensive and impressive :

Date of sighting?
Time of sighting (include time zone, am or pm)?
How long did the sighting last?
City, state of sighting (or nation, province, etc.)?
How many other witnesses?
Just lights, or shape discernable?
Color of lights and/or object/s?
Number of lights and/or objects?
Apparent altitude?
Direction of travel?
Apparent brightness?
Path of travel (straight, curved, etc.)?
Any pictures or video?
Any sound?
Any aircraft around?
Can you illustrate what was seen (if no photos, video, etc.)? (even MS paint can be used to illustrate where things were during a sighting, etc.)

By providing all of this information in the original post ATS members will enjoy quality information in the first post rather than having to wait for all and sundry to fire out the right questions in a sometimes gruelling interrogation over a matter of days/pages of posts.

Another point worthy of mention is the current HOAX tag system. I appreciate the work that the Mods do and how difficult the task is to sometimes make the call on HOAX posts. Actually, some posts are apparently quite easy to call while others can be evasive and cause consternation when finally branded HOAX.

Maybe I am wrong but I have a feeling that there are some HOAX-labelled posts on ATS that not every member agrees is actually a hoax.

So we have two potential problems: The Mod's job/decision and Members opinion.

These problems can be resolved efficiently and satisfactorily with a new HOAX rating system.

This system would be based on the Flag technology already doing a fantistic job on the site.

Essentially, there would be 2 buttons on the thread: HOAX / BELIEVABLE. As members vote the scores would be published as (example) HOAX: 79% / BELIEVABLE: 21%.

This saves Mods from any bashing and criticism and it also factors in the opinion of those members who believe it to be plausible. The opinion could also be left open so that you could change from HOAX to BELIEVABLE (or vice versa) should you wish to do so as the thread progresses.

I believe that these changes would thoroughly enhance the ATS experience by adding quality, clarity and a democratic platform of opinion on a category of posts that has, without doubt, the potential to be the most exciting and important on the web.