What criteria should we insist upon for UFO evidence?

I was recently watching videos on a YouTube channel which purports to show 'UFO sightings'. I realised that many of the videos were probably generated by video editing software, rather than the activities of aliens, and that the creators of the site probably made some money from the frequent advertisements which interrupted the 'UFO footage'.

There are some sites on YouTube which I like - 'Third Phase of Moon' being one of them. And no, I am not involved in the production of that channel in any way! I just like the way those guys put things out there for people to see. They point out if the provenance of the videos is doubtful. They don't tell anyone to believe this or that. I have learned on the whole to trust them, and there is a lot of good material on their channel.

Overall though what worries me is that with AI now being easy to use, a lot of AI-generated fake material will appear on the Internet including videos, which were until recently quite difficult to fake. Now almost anyone can do it.

So what should we look for to assess whether or not a UFO sighting is actually worthy of serious consideration? Here are my suggestions.

1. Date and time of sighting

Videos are sometimes shown on the Internet with no information at all as to where and what date they came from. This undermines any attempt to estimate their reliability. It is particularly frustrating when we do not know the date and time since we can then factor in the availability of video-generation tools at the time the video was made. For example if it is a video shoot during the 1990s, then it was much harder to fake videos in those days.

2. Place of sighting

UFO sightings happen all over the world so it is to be expected that the photographic and video evidence will have diverse origins. The location of a sighting may have big implications for what the sighted object may be. For example if someone takes a photograph of a mysterious object near a military base then we have to ask if the object was one of the military's ever more advanced drones.

There are also some places where UFO tourism is a factor, such as near area 51 and in some parts of South America. Here there are characters who offer made-for-UFO-researcher videos. These have sometimes been offered to professional researchers - for a fee! Since information about UFOs is at a premium there is room for enterprising locals in UFO hotspots to retail videos.

Sometimes the place of a sighting may add some authenticity to it. For example I have seen convincing videos taken by farmers in Siberia, who were clearly surprised to see a landed UFO take-off as they travelled about their business on their snowmobiles! I saw a very good tourist video of a rod-like object from Machu Picchu, where there were clearly multiple witnesses.

3. Who reported the sighting

Who is the source of a UFO report, video or photograph? This is one of the most critical factors in assessing the reliability of sightings. I once heard of a tale where UFO researchers visited a man in Britain who claimed to be a witness. When he left the room in his house where they had been talking, the researchers looked around to see a full set of 'X-Files' DVDs. Yet the witness claimed to know nothing of UFO culture.

4. Reliable multiple named witness corroboration

One of the very best forms of corroboration is where a sighting has multiple witnesses. The best witnesses are ordinary people who have been shocked to witness extraordinary things. Farmers, workers in out of the way places, people simply out for a relaxing walk. Where there are several of these witnesses, just ordinary decent people, it can make for very powerful testimony.

5. Photographic evidence backed by multiple named witnesses

Where one of a group of reliable witnesses has a camera, or nowadays a smartphone, the photographs can be powerful evidence.

6. Video evidence backed by multiple witnesses

I think the best evidence of all is high definition video footage. Millions of people around the world now carry smartphones which can record detailed videos in 1080 HD or even 4K. This makes for very powerful evidence but there is surprisingly little of it, which has caused some sceptics to claim that in the age of mass videography the aliens have suddenly become shy.

Third phase of Moon shows that there are ample examples of video footage from around the world. The sceptics are not looking hard enough.

Conclusion

We should never consider any UFO evidence without good provenance. By that we mean multiple reliable witnesses, with exact date, time and location of the sighting.