Branchoria IFOs IFOs

Ordinary skies, strange reports, and how UFO sightings get identified.

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What to Check Before Calling It a UFO

A simple checklist can rule out many IFOs before a report is treated as unusually strong.

On this page

  • Time, place and direction
  • Sky, flight and weather checks
  • Photos and follow up notes
Preview for What to Check Before Calling It a UFO

Introduction

Before a UFO report is treated as genuinely anomalous, the first task is not to “debunk” it but to stabilise the facts: exactly when it happened, where the witness was, where they were looking, what the weather was doing, and what ordinary sky traffic was present. This matters because many weak cases remain mysterious only because the basic coordinates are missing. Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force’s long-running UFO programme, put reports with missing duration, date, time, location, sky position or weather into an “insufficient data” category rather than an unexplained one. [Defense Logistics Agency]esd.whs.milDefense Logistics Agency

Overview image for First Checks A useful first-check routine therefore asks a simple question: can the sighting be matched to aircraft, satellites, planets, balloons, drones, weather effects, camera artefacts or witness-position errors before stronger claims are made? Modern official work points in the same direction. NASA’s 2023 UAP study stressed that analysis is limited more by data quality than by lack of techniques, and AARO has resolved many cases as ordinary objects such as balloons, birds, drones, satellites and aircraft. [NASA Science]science.nasa.govSource details in endnotes.

First Checks illustration 3

Time, place and direction

The single most valuable first check is a precise event record. “Last night in the north” is rarely enough. A usable report should preserve the date, start and end time, observer location, viewing direction, apparent elevation above the horizon, object movement, duration, sound, lighting conditions and whether there were other witnesses. Project Blue Book’s own screening logic shows why: a case cannot be tested against flight tracks, satellite passes, weather records or astronomical positions if the time, location, position in the sky or duration are missing. [Defense Logistics Agency]esd.whs.milDefense Logistics Agency

The practical standard is not perfection; it is enough precision to make comparison possible. A witness standing in a street should record the nearest address or coordinates, then describe the object’s direction using compass bearings if possible, or fixed landmarks if not: “above the church tower looking west-south-west” is far more useful than “over town”. Apparent height should be described as an angle, not an altitude. A light “high up” could mean 20 degrees above the horizon to one person and 70 degrees to another, while a real altitude cannot be estimated without distance.

Duration is especially important because several common IFOs have distinctive time patterns. Meteors usually last seconds; aircraft can linger if approaching head-on; satellites cross the visible sky over minutes; balloons and sky lanterns often drift with the wind; planets and stars remain effectively fixed relative to the horizon over the short span of a casual sighting. A report that gives a start time, end time and direction of movement immediately becomes much easier to test.

A useful field note looks plain, not dramatic:

  • Time: exact local time, time zone, and whether the phone clock was used.
  • Place: observer position, not just the town.
  • Direction: compass bearing or landmarks at the start and end of the sighting.
  • Elevation: rough angle above the horizon at first and last sight.
  • Duration: seconds or minutes, not “a while”.
  • Motion: straight, curved, hovering, drifting with wind, blinking, changing brightness, appearing or disappearing.

This is the point where many reports should pause. A sighting with no reliable time, no viewing direction and no location may still be sincerely described, but it is not yet a strong anomalous case. It is an incomplete case.

First Checks illustration 1

Sky, flight and weather checks

Once the basic record is fixed, the next step is to compare it with the normal sky. This is where a sighting often moves from “strange” to “identified” without dismissing the witness. The object may have been real, bright and surprising; the question is whether it fits something already known to be in that part of the sky at that time.

Start with aircraft. ADS-B, short for Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast, allows many aircraft to broadcast position and flight data using onboard navigation and ground infrastructure; the FAA describes it as a more precise surveillance technology than radar for air-traffic purposes. [Federal Aviation Administration]faa.govFederal Aviation Administration Automatic Dependent SurveillanceFederal Aviation Administration Automatic Dependent Surveillance Public flight-tracking sites based on ADS-B are therefore useful first checks, though not complete proof: some military, police, private or low-level flights may be absent, delayed, blocked or hard to match. The check is strongest when the object’s direction, time, apparent path and flashing pattern line up with a known aircraft track.

Then check satellites and space objects. Heavens-Above provides predictions for bright satellites, Starlink passes, the International Space Station and other visible objects for a chosen location, while Stellarium provides a realistic star map for matching planets, stars and the Moon to a time and place. [heavens-above.com]heavens-above.comOpen source on heavens-above.com. This is a high-value step because satellites and planets repeatedly generate UFO reports. NASA’s Night Sky Network notes that Venus shining bright and low has often been reported as a UFO, and popular astronomy guides similarly warn that bright planets, satellites and meteors are frequent sources of mistaken identity. [Night Sky Network]nightsky.jpl.nasa.govNight Sky Network Identifying UFOs and UAPsNight Sky Network Identifying UFOs and UAPs

Weather comes next, not last. METAR aviation weather reports include time, wind, visibility, present weather, sky conditions, temperature and pressure; they are issued at reporting locations and are considered valid for a defined observation period. [National Weather Service]weather.govSource details in endnotes. These records help test whether haze, low cloud, fog, high humidity, precipitation, lightning, unusual visibility or strong winds could have changed the appearance of ordinary lights. In the UK, the Met Office describes its observation network as measuring wind, rainfall, temperature, cloud, visibility, sunshine, radiation, snow depth and pressure, while its DataHub offers recent historical observation data including cloud cover. [Met Office]metoffice.gov.ukSource details in endnotes.

Balloons and drifting objects deserve a separate check because they often look stranger than expected. AARO’s official imagery pages include cases assessed with high confidence as balloons because the object’s appearance and performance matched lighter-than-air objects drifting with wind speed and direction. [AARO]aaro.milOpen source on aaro.mil. Radiosonde weather balloons also provide an important comparison point: the U.S. National Weather Service explains that radiosondes measure atmospheric conditions and that wind speed and direction aloft are obtained by tracking their position during flight. [National Weather Service]weather.govSource details in endnotes. A bright, silent object moving steadily with upper winds is therefore not strong evidence of anomalous propulsion until balloon and wind data have been checked.

The order of checks should be disciplined:

  1. Aircraft and helicopters: match time, bearing, route, altitude, lights and engine noise where available.
  2. Satellites and Starlink: check visible passes shortly after sunset or before sunrise, especially if multiple lights move in line.
  3. Planets, stars and the Moon: test whether a bright “hovering” light was Venus, Jupiter or a star distorted by haze.
  4. Meteors and re-entries: consider very brief bright streaks, fragmentation, colour changes and wide-area witness reports.
  5. Balloons, lanterns and windborne debris: compare motion with surface and upper-air winds.
  6. Weather and optical effects: check cloud layers, visibility, fog, mirage-like conditions, reflections and searchlights.
  7. Drones: consider proximity to populated areas, event venues, airports, filming sites and repeated local appearances.

A case becomes more interesting only after these checks fail in a documented way. “I could not identify it” is the starting point. “It did not match known aircraft, satellites, planets, balloons, local drones, weather records or camera artefacts, and the time-place-direction data are precise” is a much stronger position.

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Photos and follow-up notes

Images can help, but only if they are preserved and interpreted carefully. A cropped, compressed social-media clip often removes exactly the information an investigator needs: the original timestamp, frame rate, focal length, exposure settings, audio, surrounding landmarks and the minutes before and after the exciting moment. NASA’s UAP study emphasised calibrated instruments, metadata and contextual comprehension because UAP observations are often incidental and not collected for scientific analysis. [NASA Science]science.nasa.govSource details in endnotes.

The first rule is to keep the original file. Do not rely only on a screenshot, messaging-app copy or edited export. Original images may contain metadata such as timestamps, device model, exposure information and sometimes geolocation; digital-forensics literature treats EXIF metadata as useful because it can include time, location and device information, though it can also be stripped or altered by apps and platforms. [SCIEPublish]sciepublish.comSource details in endnotes. This does not make metadata infallible, but it can anchor the report when it is consistent with witness notes and other records.

The second rule is to record context outside the frame. A small bright dot in a black sky is often nearly impossible to evaluate on its own. A better evidence packet includes a wide shot showing landmarks, a spoken note giving time and direction, a second clip after zooming out, and a still photo from the same position in daylight to show the horizon. If the camera is moving, the witness should say so. If the object is seen through glass, in a car, near streetlights or beside reflective surfaces, that should be recorded rather than cleaned out of the story.

The third rule is to separate what the image shows from what the witness inferred. “The object crossed from left to right in the video” is an observation. “It accelerated faster than any aircraft” requires distance, scale and camera-motion analysis. NASA’s report makes this point in physical terms: determining distance is key to assessing claims of high speed and acceleration, because apparent speed in an image can be created by parallax, zoom, camera panning or a nearby object crossing the field of view. [NASA Science]science.nasa.govSource details in endnotes.

Follow-up notes should be made quickly, before retelling reshapes the memory. The witness should write down what was noticed first, what changed, who else was present, what sounds were heard, what the object seemed to do at disappearance, and what checks have already been made. GEIPAN, the French official UAP study group within CNES, uses a technical questionnaire as the reference document for launching an investigation, reflecting the same basic principle: structured testimony is more useful than dramatic summary. [Geipan]geipan.frOpen source on geipan.fr.

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First Checks illustration 2

When the sighting is still worth escalating

A sighting should not be called anomalous merely because it felt strange, appeared in a video, or could not be identified in the first few minutes. It becomes a stronger candidate when it has precise time-place-direction data, independent witnesses or sensors, original media, clear environmental records, and failed checks against the usual IFO sources. Project Blue Book treated “unidentified” as a small category for cases with enough pertinent data where the object or motion could not be correlated with known objects or phenomena, not as a label for every puzzling report. [Defense Logistics Agency]esd.whs.milDefense Logistics Agency

Modern UAP work applies the same restraint with better tools. AARO’s public material lists common UAP causes including windborne debris, balloons, birds and other airborne clutter, and its recent official statements say that hundreds of cases have been resolved as commonplace objects while only a small percentage require focused scientific inquiry. [AARO]aaro.milOpen source on aaro.mil. NASA’s study similarly argues for baseline knowledge of “normal” phenomena, such as balloons and solar glint, before searching for the abnormal. [NASA Science]science.nasa.govSource details in endnotes.

A practical escalation threshold might look like this:

  • The time is accurate to within a minute or two.
  • The observer’s position and viewing direction are known.
  • The object’s apparent path and duration are recorded.
  • Aircraft, satellites, planets and known local events have been checked.
  • Weather, visibility and wind are consistent with the claimed observation or have been ruled out as explanations.
  • Original images or video are preserved, not just edited copies.
  • At least one independent witness, sensor record or separate vantage point supports the report.
  • The claimed behaviour still appears unusual after distance, parallax and camera movement are considered.

This standard does not require every odd light to be solved. It simply keeps the word “anomalous” for the cases that survive ordinary checks rather than the cases that lack them. In UFO reporting, the strongest first move is often the least glamorous one: write down the time, place and direction before the mystery outruns the evidence.

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Endnotes

  1. Source: esd.whs.mil
    Title: Defense Logistics Agency
    Link: https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/UFOsandUAPs/proj_b1.pdf?ver=2017-05-22-113513-837

  2. Source: science.nasa.gov
    Link: https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/uap-independent-study-team-final-report.pdf

  3. Source: faa.gov
    Title: Federal Aviation Administration Automatic Dependent Surveillance
    Link: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/afx/afs/afs400/afs410/ads-b

  4. Source: heavens-above.com
    Link: https://www.heavens-above.com/

  5. Source: stellarium.org
    Link: https://stellarium.org/

  6. Source: nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov
    Title: Night Sky Network Identifying UFOs and UAPs
    Link: https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/news/39/

  7. Source: weather.gov
    Link: https://www.weather.gov/asos/METAR.html

  8. Source: aaro.mil
    Link: https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/Official-UAP-Imagery/

  9. Source: weather.gov
    Link: https://www.weather.gov/upperair/factsheet

  10. Source: sciepublish.com
    Link: https://www.sciepublish.com/article/pii/567

  11. Source: geipan.fr
    Link: https://www.geipan.fr/en/faq-page

  12. Source: aaro.mil
    Link: https://www.aaro.mil/

  13. Source: science.nasa.gov
    Link: https://science.nasa.gov/uap/

  14. Source: science.nasa.gov
    Link: https://science.nasa.gov/uap/faqs/

  15. Source: essex.police.uk
    Title: ufo reports 2014 to 2024
    Link: https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/essex-police/other-information/previous-foi-requests/ufo-reports-2014-to-2024/

  16. Source: cnes.fr
    Link: https://cnes.fr/en/projects/geipan

  17. Source: space.com
    Link: https://www.space.com/starlink-satellite-train-how-to-see-and-track-it

  18. Source: space.com
    Title: 14884 jupiter venus mistaken ufos
    Link: https://www.space.com/14884-jupiter-venus-mistaken-ufos.html

  19. Source: weather.gov
    Link: https://www.weather.gov/rah/virtualtourballoon

  20. Source: radar.weather.gov
    Link: https://radar.weather.gov/

  21. Source: weather.gov
    Link: https://www.weather.gov/ilm/aviation

  22. Source: media.defense.gov
    Title: DOPSR 2024 0263 AARO HISTORICAL RECORD REPORT VOLUME 1 2024
    Link: https://media.defense.gov/2024/Mar/08/2003409233/-1/-1/0/DOPSR-2024-0263-AARO-HISTORICAL-RECORD-REPORT-VOLUME-1-2024.PDF

  23. Source: faa.gov
    Title: Decode Section 2. Encode. EXPLANATION OF CODES. GEN
    Link: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/cnt_html/chap2_section_2.html

  24. Source: heavens-above.com
    Link: https://www.heavens-above.com/explain.aspx

  25. Source: in-the-sky.org
    Link: https://in-the-sky.org/skymap.php

  26. Source: metoffice.gov.uk
    Link: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/when-it-matters/heart/observations-network

  27. Source: wow.metoffice.gov.uk
    Title: metoffice.gov.uk Met Office WOW
    Link: https://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/

  28. Source: weather.metoffice.gov.uk
    Link: https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/how-forecasts-are-made/observations/weather-stations

  29. Source: metoffice.gov.uk
    Link: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/services/data

  30. Source: metoffice.gov.uk
    Title: how do we know when weather records are broken
    Link: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2025/how-do-we-know-when-weather-records-are-broken

  31. Source: Wikipedia
    Title: Project Blue Book
    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book

  32. Source: Wikipedia
    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METAR

  33. Source: noaa.gov
    Link: https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/upperair/radiosondes

  34. Source: archives.gov
    Title: Project BLUE BOOK
    Link: https://www.archives.gov/research/military/air-force/ufos

  35. Source: maps.avnwx.com
    Link: https://maps.avnwx.com/page/winds.html

  36. Source: flightradar24.com
    Title: Automatic Dependent Surveillance
    Link: https://www.flightradar24.com/how-it-works/ads-b

Additional References

  1. Source: aviationweather.gov
    Link: https://aviationweather.gov/

  2. Source: noaa.gov
    Link: https://www.noaa.gov/noaa-collections/collections/media/2559

  3. Source: aviationweather.gov
    Link: https://aviationweather.gov/gfa/

  4. Source: aviationweather.gov
    Link: https://aviationweather.gov/data/metar/

  5. Source: war.gov
    Link: https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/release_1/255_413270_ufo%27s_and_defense_what_should_we_prepare_for.pdf

  6. Source: cia.gov
    Link: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp81r00560r000100010001-0

  7. Source: cia.gov
    Link: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100040072-9.pdf

  8. Source: noaa.gov
    Link: [https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/weather-atmosphere

  9. Source: youtube.com
    Title: Practical Methods for Documenting Sky Observations
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9O0T4M0x6M
    Source snippet

    Debunking vs. Investigating: Scientific Standards for UAP...

  10. Source: youtube.com
    Title: How to Investigate a UFO Sighting: A Scientific Approach
    Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0T03U-3d20
    Source snippet

    Why Most UFOs Turn Out to be Ordinary Objects...

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