Where do I report my UFO sighting?

 

Where do I report my UFO sighting?

 

So, you think you’ve seen a UFO! Congratulations!

Now what?

Well, you’ve joined a somewhat exclusive club. Surveys and statistical studies have suggested that one out of every ten North Americans has seen a UFO. There are reports on record from a very broad spectrum of people, from pilots to farmers, and from children to seniors, all genders, from coast to coast to coast (to coast).

The difference is that this data comes from UFO reports, and you haven’t reported your sighting yet.

Other surveys have shown that only one in ten of all UFO witnesses will ever bother to make a formal report of a sighting, so that means you have to decide if you want to file one or not.

But how? And to whom, or which organization?

Unfortunately, there isn’t one central location to report a UFO. This, despite the apparent huge amount of interest and publicity and media attention to the subject. But the fundamental basis for ufology is the UFO report itself, and there’s not much being done to gather this actual data, upon which is built all the speculation concerning UAP propulsion, physical composition, and (by ET believers) the aliens themselves.

I found that Googling “How do I report a UFO” generates five answers.

The first is “UFO Daddy”, which directs you to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a private organization of UFO fans that trains teams of Field Investigators (FIs) to investigate your UFO sighting.

The second hit is a UFO FAQ on HubPages, which first notes: “According to NASA’s web page, you should report UFO sightings to 911, or your local emergency number. However, there is no official government agency that is responsible for investigating sightings.” However, the web page in question has nothing to do with UFOs and the original must have been deleted long ago. Curiously, if you search for “UFO” on that NASA web page, you get one link that is to an explanation about how an unusual object photographed during Apollo 16 was actually a long boom and floodlight attached to the spacecraft. But with no relevance to a typical UFO sighting.

The other three answers are garbage UFO sites with general comments from readers.

It seems like the first option is the best: MUFON. If you go to its website, you can find a link to a page for reporting a UFO to them.

Done!

Oh, wait, what about the suggestion to reporting UFO sightings to 911? That’s a very reasonable possibility. After all, that way you can lodge a formal complaint and you know that police do have investigators that will do something about it. Maybe you should do that first.

Or not. Because calling 911 about a UFO sighting may take an emergency responder away from a call about a medical emergency or a heinous crime in progress. No, don’t do that.

That site also noted that “there is no official government agency that is responsible for investigating sightings.”

But haven’t we heard in the media and news recently that there is such an agency? Wouldn’t it be better to report a UFO sighting to an official body?

I guess so, but how, exactly? NASA seems uninterested, despite what we found. What about the air force?

The USAF website says the following: “Persons wishing to report UFO sightings should be advised to contact local law enforcement agencies.”

That’s funny. I thought the USAF had a task force to investigate UFOs (or UAPs, as they are called now, apparently).

Oh, it’s the US Navy is going to be investigating UFOs. But there’s no indication of how they will collecting UFO or UAP data, nor how an average citizen can report a sighting. In fact, Pentagon’s Task Force on UAPs issued its first report and noted that only a relative handful of military UAP sightings were studied. (Only 144, to be exact.) Its report noted that its investigation: “…remains limited to USG reporting.”

So although the Department of Defense is going to be studying UFO/UAP reports to see if any are a threat to national security, they aren’t interested in your personal sighting. But you might try anyway, by emailing the USAF with your sighting details. Otherwise, maybe do what the USAF suggests, and report your sighting to your local police.

Good luck with that.

Okay, what about other UFO groups and organizations?

Absolutely. Many are very eager to get your sighting reports. Many have websites with online forms to fill out.

A significant one is the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), based in Washington State. They get many hundreds of cases each year reported to them, and their info is open to the public, unlike MUFON, whose case reports are private. So if you want others to know what you saw, NUFORC is a good option.

Another is UFOs Northwest, originally devoted to the American Northwest, but now accepting reports from all around the world. They also post details of everyone’s UFO sightings and allow for comments and letters.

A group with a good website is UFO Hunters. They are exactly what they say they are, a group of people dedicated to searching for UFOs, and readily acknowledge the work of NUFORC and MUFON. UFO Hunters has an added bonus of providing an interactive map that shows UFO activity around the world, and has a searchable index.

The group with historically the best record is the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). It was the creation of the “Grandfather of Ufology,” Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who worked with the USAF and then went rogue, saying that the USAF ignored all the good cases.

Of course, other countries have their own UFO groups and organizations, all of which accept UFO sighting reports. The largest of these is the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA). In Italy, there’s the Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici (CISU), and they have an online UFO report form you can email to them. A French group, Groupe d'Études et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés (GEIPAN), is very active and has an interactive website where you can not only report your UFO sighting, but also triage it, so you might be able to yourself identify what you saw. There are other groups around the world, and you can search for them online. (Here’s what Wikipedia says.)

In North America, both Canada and Mexico also have groups that investigate UFOs. Canada is particularly of interest, because not only are there civilian UFO groups, but its government also has taken an interest in UFOs.

The Canadian UFO Survey has been cataloguing UFO sightings there for more than 30 years. An online web form can send them your report if you see one in Canada. There’s a second form to reach them on a podcast website.

The Canadian UFO Survey includes sightings reported to a host of other groups in Canada, such as UFOBC, Quebec based groups such as Groupe d’assistance et de recherche sur les phénomènes aérospatiaux non-identifiés (GARPAN) and Association Québécoise d’Ufologie (AQU), plus Canadian cases reported to MUFON and NUFORC.

The Canadian UFO Survey also includes reports of UFOs made to the Canadian government. This includes Transport Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Pilots are required to report UFOs as per “AIP CANADA Part 2 - Enroute (ENR)”:

“Communication Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS) reports should be made immediately upon a vital intelligence sighting of any airborne and ground objects or activities that appear to be hostile, suspicious, unidentified or engaged in possible illegal smuggling activity. Examples of events requiring CIRVIS reports are: unidentified flying objects…” (https://www.navcanada.ca/en/2enreng27january2022.pdf) (Retrieved 29 January 2022)

In addition to pilots, civilians have been known to file UFO reports as “Aviation Incidents,” and there is separate form for drone incidents. (Drones have been blamed for many UFO sightings.) These incident reports usually are available as Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS). The justification for reporting UFOs is broadly interpreted as: “Any occurrence which may generate a high degree of public interest or concern or could be of direct interest to specific foreign air authorities.”

In regard to the FAA in the USA, all its website says regarding reports of UFOs is that: “Persons wanting to report UFO/unexplained phenomena activity should contact a UFO/ unexplained phenomena reporting data collection center, such as the National UFO Reporting Center, etc.” and “If concern is expressed that life or property might be endangered, report the activity to the local law enforcement department.” The FAA equivalent to the Transport Canada incident report seems to be FAA 8020-23. (You can report a drone to the FAA too.)

It is interesting to note that the FAA Order 8020.11D has a section on “Spacecraft incidents," which can be investigated under Chapter 7(8)e, noting that: “the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) has the authority to conduct independent investigations parallel to an NTSB investigation, including, but not limited to the following: (1) Accidents not investigated by the NTSB. (2) Incidents or other identified mishaps.” So I suppose technically, the FAA could investigate UFO reports under this Order.

But I digress.

Finally, one has to acknowledge that social media is possibly the best way to share your UFO sighting with others. In theory, it’s the most efficient; if all states and provinces had their own separate Facebook groups for reporting UFOs, it would be a tremendous boost to UFO/UAP investigations. Unfortunately, UFO information on social media is in a state akin to the Wild West, with disparate groups that have conflicting agendas controlling the discourse.

Yet, one can find pockets of interactions that have useful information.

In Canada, for example, there are Facebook groups where witnesses in specific provinces report their sightings and others are able to comment (and criticize and flame, unfortunately). The same is true of most US States.

You can find many, many UFO videos posted on YouTube (just search for them), but beware of misinformation and sensational channels that exploit believers.

Possible one of the better sources of UFO info on social media is Reddit, where subreddits on specific UFO topics can provide good insight. In fact, the subreddit lists some way to report your UFO sighting, including: the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP) (which has info for pilots to report their UFO sightings); MUFON; The Black Vault; and Aerial Phenomena Investigations (API), which also accepts UFO sighting reports. (In fact, API notes that: “It’s fine to report your sighting to NUFORC, but raw, uninvestigated sightings have very little weight on their own.”)

The other organization mentioned, The Black Vault, is a site created by UFO researcher John Greenewald, whose primary interest is retrieving government documents on various topics, many of which are UFO-related. Nevertheless, his site has a link for reporting UFO sightings, conducted by TBV Investigations (operated by Tiffany Hahn, a licenced private investigator with an interest in the paranormal.)

In other social media, there are some UFO groups and researchers on Twitter, such as the aforementioned UFO Hunters, among many others. Also, many people post Tweets with the hashtag #ufotwitter, which has dozens and dozens of Tweets posted every day.

One thing to consider is that despite the many groups mentioned so far that have links to UFO reporting forms and mechanisms, some may not have the resources or capabilities to investigate UFO reports. You may live hundreds or thousands of miles away from where a group’s investigators live, and how would they visit you and examine where the UFO was seen or landed?

Finally, it’s worth noting that if you see a UFO and report it, your observation may not be considered as useful data for “solving the UFO mystery” at all. The UAPTF doesn’t seem to be interested in civilian UFO reports, just those experienced by military personnel and perhaps recorded by radar and video. The recently formed Galileo Project, which includes a lot of scientists who are interested in the UFO phenomenon, is not interested in the average UFO report. Its founder has been quoted as saying that: “...the best sightings would be those that did not involve humans. He wanted instruments to collect the data without human interaction. He wanted to remove errors that were often generated by human perception and human bias.”

So there you have it. It’s not that there are no ways to report your UFO sighting – it’s that there are so many options. Do you want your report to go the government for its UFO/UAP study? Do you want your report to go to a private UFO group? Do you want to share your UFO/UAP experience with others? MUFON has recently made its database completely closed to non-subscribers, so it’s not open for public viewing, but maybe it’s worth it for you to open your wallet or purse and join them in their quest to understand UFOs. NUFORC might be a good bet for sharing your UFO experience and allowing others to read about what you’ve seen, if that’s your goal.

Maybe you should take care in observing the UFO, noting all relevant details such as those listed on UFO reporting forms, and hang onto your information. Perhaps start a “UFO diary” to record your sighting(s).

Regardless of what you decide, you’re not alone. (No, I’m not necessarily talking about aliens visiting Earth.) Polls and studies have suggested there are at least 35 million people in the United States alone who believe they have seen a UFO.

It’s now up to you.

[NB: All URLs were live as of January 29, 2022. Special thanks for Curt Collins and Ralph Howard for their comments and insight. Thanks also to Mark Rodeghier and Isaac Koi.]