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A New Research Initiative...

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Derek Wood

Derek Wood

Skilled Investigator
How about a concerted effort to conduct and carry out observational studies during commercial flights.

Much of this could be done passively (on holiday flights for example) and many people could be co-opted into providing data from their experiences on their flights (we have similar exercises here in the UK with e.g. BBC SpringWatch programmes encouraging people to record various song birds in their back gardens etc and report this to the programme).

Taken further, a number of forum members could all muster together and arrange to carry out say 2,000 hours of flying and use this to make detailed observations via a formal process.

Such an initiative could be really quite useful and if it was properly co-ordinated and standardised correctly, could provide more meaningful observational data from a vast range of altitudes and geographical distances.
 
Derek Wood said:
How about a concerted effort to conduct and carry out observational studies during commercial flights.

Much of this could be done passively (on holiday flights for example) and many people could be co-opted into providing data from their experiences on their flights (we have similar exercises here in the UK with e.g. BBC SpringWatch programmes encouraging people to record various song birds in their back gardens etc and report this to the programme).

Taken further, a number of forum members could all muster together and arrange to carry out say 2,000 hours of flying and use this to make detailed observations via a formal process.

Such an initiative could be really quite useful and if it was properly co-ordinated and standardised correctly, could provide more meaningful observational data from a vast range of altitudes and geographical distances.
Click to expand...

That would be very handy for situations like the American Airlines 434 case recently discussed on the Paracast with Erica Lukes. If the pilots don't want to say anything, then maybe some passengers might, or at least they might be able confirm that something was seen. Great idea. Any suggestions on how to make it work on a zero dollar budget?
 
If sites like this one,your own site Randall,Ats,Mysterious Universe etcetera got on board to publicize the idea could mufon or similar organization set up a web page to collate this information.It would be interesting to see the number of volunteers and the demographics.
 
Exactly. A standardised series of questions that people could answer. Give an hour of their flight up for observation. Could provide some useful data over time of the idea took off, so to speak.


Derek
 
Good suggestions, but there are challenges. My experience is that although a lot of people find the subject interesting, very few have the time and resources to actively participate. NARCAP is the obvious choice for aircraft based sighting reports, but they're focused on pilots and UAP, and have ( or at least had ) an anti-UFO attitude, which I don't think is particularly helpful. Personally, I think the best way to go about it would be to advertise through travel agencies, airports, and travel magazines, but that costs money.

Then even if we had the money for the ads, then there's all the work coordinating the project, and then if there are reports, there's all the work involved in processing and investigating them, which isn't realistic for me personally because I haven't got the budget or the time, and neither does anybody else I know. Some wealthy philanthropist interested in this subject would need to feel motivated enough to fund one or more of our organizations to the extent that those involved could earn a living from it.

Attracting such donations isn't entirely unrealistic, just very unlikely, and past involvement by philanthropists hasn't been as fruitful as we might have hoped ( alluding to Rockefeller and Bigelow ). I realize this all sounds rather pessimistic, but it's the situation we're dealing with. I also personally don't like asking for handouts. I've considered getting a fund-raising specialist to help out, but even they cost money and take time to deal with. Right now the best way to do it is just spread the idea around to any of our friends who are travelling, and have them join the Paracast and report anything they happen to see, and to keep spreading the word around and hope it catches on :) .
 
May start a FB group. A survey to ask people to allocate one hour of their holiday/business flight to observing.

What questions can be suggested as key:

(Obviously)

1. If you saw something, describe:
A) estimated size, size change
B) colour, colour change
C) relative direction of movement
D) did it change direction

Etc


Derek
 
Derek Wood said:
May start a FB group. A survey to ask people to allocate one hour of their holiday/business flight to observing.

What questions can be suggested as key:

(Obviously)

1. If you saw something, describe:
A) estimated size, size change
B) colour, colour change
C) relative direction of movement
D) did it change direction

Etc


Derek
Click to expand...
What drew your attention to it.
Did anyone else witness it (To your knowledge)
 
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