Is it a satellite, a drone, or something else?
How to identify a UFO: the field guide.
Most UFO sightings turn out to be satellites, aircraft, drones, balloons, planets or camera artifacts. Eleven files teach you to rule each one out fast, so the rare sighting that survives gets taken seriously.
11 files · Satellite, drone or something else
The short answer
Most UFO sightings turn out to be satellites, aircraft, drones, balloons, planets or camera artifacts. To identify one, note its speed, direction, blinking pattern, sound and how long it stayed visible, then check each ordinary explanation in turn. What survives that check is worth reporting.
Misidentification is not an insult to witnesses. It is the first filter every serious investigator uses, and running it yourself is what makes your report credible when something does not fit.
Every field guide file
File 012Starlink or UFO: how to tellSatellite trains fool thousands of people a night. Here is the test.Field guide
File 013Drone or UFONavigation lights, sound, hover and battery limits: the checks that keep a sighting credible.Field guide
File 014Airplane, satellite, balloon or UFO?The civilian filter for common sky mistakes, before a report becomes folklore.Field guide
File 015What are orbs in the sky?Drone, satellite, balloon, aircraft or unknown. Rule out the ordinary first.Field guide
File 016Black triangle UFOs explainedOne of the most reported shapes: aircraft, formations, stealth talk and evidence.Field guide
File 017Close encounter types explainedCE1 to CE5 in plain language, and what each one asks of a witness.Field guide
File 018UFO vs UAP: the differenceWhat the terms mean, why official language changed, and why neither means alien.Field guide
File 070What is that green light in the sky?A green fireball, a wingtip light, a laser or an aurora: how to tell which.Field guide
File 071Orange lights in the skyLanterns, flares, a low planet or a slow meteor, sorted by how the light moves.Field guide- File 072Flashing light in the skyCount the flashes for ten seconds: strobes, beacons, twinkling stars and satellite glints.Field guide
File 073Fireball in the sky last night?What you probably saw, how it differs from space debris, and how to report it.Field guide
Reading is not the same as being ready.
Ten questions tell you which job is yours in the first minute.