So I Saw a UFO, Now What?
photo by dev null If you are lucky enough to see a UFO (hopefully it was a pleasant experience and nothing horrific happened), the first thing I would suggest doing is writing down a detailed account of what you saw (including the date, time and direction you were facing) and draw as detailed diagrams of the craft and maps of where you were in relation to it. If you later choose not to report the sighting you can just destroy this information if you like, but if you do report your encounter it will help you make it as detailed as possible. Once you have taken notes about your sighting, take a minute to relax and let the initial excitement pass. Now you have to consider a very important question, whether or not to report your UFO encounter.
When you consider reporting your sighting the first thing to think about is if there is a simple, non-UFO, explanation for what you saw. Ask yourself, could what I have seen been an known aircraft? Another common source of UFO reports is the misidentification of stars or other celestial bodies. You can use a sky chart like the one at Sky & Telescope (free registration required) to see if there are any visible stars, planets located where you saw your UFO. You may even want to call your local community college or science museum to see if there were any meteor showers the night of your sighing. Don’t feel like this analysis should make you doubt what you saw - you did see something. This is just an exercise to see if when you think back about your sighting if you can come up with any good explanations. Even if you are not 100% sure you saw a UFO it is okay to report it (you just do not want to report something that you 100% know wasn’t a UFO). The next question you have to ask yourself is much more personal and will require some soul searching to find the answer.
If you decide to report your sighting (or even tell your friends about it), you have to consider what sort of ramifications it will have on your life. Previously I posted about the phenomena where UFO sightings made by even very credible witnesses are viewed as having no credibility what so ever to the public at large simply because the person witnessed a UFO and not something more “everyday” like a crime. Unfortunately, people who are lucky enough to see a UFO are often not held in the highest regard and are often subjected to a fair amount of ridicule. Going on record about seeing a UFO can even completely destroy your credibility and depending on your work, have a negative effect on your job. You have to seriously consider the benefit to the public that your sighting report will have versus any personal challenges you may face because of it. Personally, I wouldn’t blame anyone who chose to keep their sighting to themselves or only share it with a select few. One ray of sunshine in this dark issue is that almost all UFO research groups will let you submit reports anonymously (though it will have an affect on how credible they feel the report is) or help you to remain anonymous in any public disclosure of your report. Ultimately, the choice is yours alone. There are no wrong answers.
If you got through the paragraph above and still feel that it is important that you report what you saw to someone, then it’s time to do it. Now, you could call your local news station and if it is a slow news day they might listen to you, but if they air your story don’t expect them to portray you as anything other than a crazy person. A much better choice would be to report your sighting to MUFON (the Mutual UFO Network) or NUFORC (the National UFO Reporting Center) both organizations are serious about UFO research and are fully capable of conducting a full investigation of your sighing if they feel it warrants it. Even if they don’t send an investigative team out to you, they compile your reports in a database (which is partially publicly viewable) so they can see if your sighting in part of a trend in UFO reports. Each organization has its own online form (MUFON’s is here and NUFORC’s is here) and NUFORC has a UFO hotline to report recent sightings. On the subject of reporting a UFO to the police, I am of the opinion that if the UFO is not threatening your or the public’s safety that you should avoid calling 911 (don’t hesitate to call if someone’s safety is at risk though). If your police department has a non-emergency line and you want to file an official report, that would be a good way to do it.
Don’t forget to drop us a line at tips@meetstheweird.com to share any sightings with us too!
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