PRINCIPLES OF UFO INVESTIGATION

CHECK THESE WHEN EVALUATING A UFO SIGHTING:

PRINCIPLES FOR OBSERVERS
1. People who report UFOs sometimes have ulterior motives.
2. People do not always see and identify what is really there.
3. Pranksters are always ready to make you see a UFO.
4. Some sightings combine unrelated events.
5. People will think of UFOs whenever something unusual happens.
6. Power failures cause UFOs more often than UFOs cause power failures.
7. If a person is told there is a UFO, he will find one.
8. If a person has never heard of an object, that person does not know what it is.
9. For each list A, B, C (below), knowing any value in the list requires one of the other values.
10. The witness can get the data in list D (below) accurately with presence of mind.
11. People make strange assumptions about a UFO once they decide it's a space ship.
12. UFOs are unidentified for reasons other than being space ships.
13. UFO effects are not always what they seem.
14. RADAR does not give an absolutely correct picture of where objects are.
15. Rare and unproven events can cause UFO sightings.
16. False "knowledge" sometimes prevents identification.
17. The UFO sighting may not be the reason for the government secrecy.
18. All sighting methods lose information.
19. UFOs are hard to analyze scientifically.
20. Evaluation of the UFO problem is hampered by nonscientific behavior.
PRINCIPLES FOR PHOTOS:
1. Where is the UFO in the photo? If it is not centered, why not?
2. Why was the photo taken? Did the photographer notice the UFO when shooting?
3. Is the UFO focus different than the background? If so, the UFO was within 15 ft.
4. Does the UFO touch any part of the frame?
5. Is part of a daylight UFO darker than the darkest parts of the background? If so, the UFO was close to the camera.
6. Are a bright UFO, the frame center, and a strong light in straight line? Suspect a lens flare.
7. Is the negative available? If not, why not?
8. Was black and white film used?? Why? Note that the red end of the spectrum prints darker.
9. Do multiple photos show UFO under the same object? If so, the UFO might be a suspended model.
10. With multiple photos, did the camera move between shots? If so, why?
11. Does the camera have to be in an unusual place to reproduce the photo?
12. Could the UFO be a bird or insect frozen in flight?
13. Is the background visible through the object? It is probably a double exposure or reflection?
14. Could the UFO be a time exposure of something?
15. Do light direction and shadows agree between the UFO, the background, and the story?
16. With multiple photos, do all meet the same scrutiny? If not, the entire set fails.
17. Do the photos match the story? Are frame numbers correctly ordered?
18. Is the photographer trying to gain money or attention from the photo?
19. Can the object's identity be coaxed out of the photo? See list E.
20. Look for the obvious, the obscure, and the obsolete.
List A - At least one of these must be known to know all of them:
1. UFO Distance
2. Actual UFO size
3. UFO Velocity
List B - At least two of these must be known to know all of them:
1. UFO Radial velocity
2. UFO Transverse velocity
3. UFO True heading
4. UFO Speed
List C - All of the others must be known to find any of these:
1. True UFO Brightness
2. UFO Distance
3. Film speed
4. Exposure time
5. F stop
6. UFO Image brightness
7. Developer timing function
8. Developing time
List D - Values observers can easily know with presence of mind. Be sure to collect them:
1. Angular size
2. Angular size change
3. Angular velocity
4. Angular velocity change
5. UFO azimuth and elevation
6. UFO apparent course (projected on the sky)
7. UFO shape
8. Colors
9. Details
10. Brightness relative to other objects
11. Sound
12. Any changes
13. Date and time
14. Duration
15. Witness location
List E - Coaxing out the identity of a UFO photo:
1. Look for hidden details.
2. Turn the photo to different angles. Is it familiar, but at an unusual angle?
3. Look at it in a mirror and turn it to different angles.
4. Print the photo at different exposures. Check for solarization, halation, and other exposure errors.
5. Make photocopies of the photos on different machines at different settings. This can reveal hidden details.
6. Use various color filters to analyze color photos.
7. Blow up the image and look for details.
8. Digitize the image and look for edges and supporting strings or wires.
9. Is the UFO a failed photo of a non-UFO subject? Did the flash fail to operate?

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