Hi Ryan,
Of course I remember you from FB... I was fairly certain that the Rygywa login was you...
http://www.narcap.org/ProjectSphere.htm
With respect to Project Sphere, we are interested in examining one facet of UAP reports to see if we can identify trends and establish a path of inquiry that might be productive. We invited our team to submit research related to any aspect of UAP reports that seem to indicate a spherical form or light. The reason for the focus on the sphere shape is related to the lack of aerodynamic properties and the prominence of spherical UAP reports in the literature.
Originally I wanted to focus solely on reports of apparently metallic or seemingly solid spherical shapes. However, Dr. Haines felt that we should look at any round UAP regardless of the bandwidth and then refine the data from there since we have many reports of globe-like lights. I think this is a very good approach and happily followed through.
We didn't assign any particular topic though we did discuss the topics that were chosen by the team to develop strategies and to see how they might dovetail together. Some chose case studies and analysis, others went after other aspects of the situation. Topics included radar studies, proposed theories about mechanisms that might create stable spherical forms in nature, case studies and quantitative analysis, photo-documentation, etc... all of it from an Aviation and Aviation Safety perspective.
I think the entire project is a pretty good read but if you are looking for something a little more condensed review my paper, which is section 3.1.6 Aviation Safety in America- Spherical UAP It is a quantitative analysis of spherical UAP reports for characteristics and I devote a second section to aviation safety-related analysis and recommendations.
http://www.narcap.org/Projsphere/3.1.6_narcap_projSph.pdf
Project Sphere is a preliminary study. The results are still being engaged by our group and we are working on developing the next phase of research.
We did come to some interesting conclusions at the first level though. Of particular interest is the radar transparency of UAP. Martin Shough addresses the issue somewhat in his paper. Basically the trend suggests that expecting UAP to be radar reflective and demanding radar data as proof of their presence is probably not an effective strategy. If they are as transparent as the data suggests then we have no way of knowing if they have been involved in aviation catastrophes and they can not be excluded as a possible hazard.
Further there may be separate and different phenomena showing up in the data. For example, we have aviator reports of orange balls of light. There are reports and documentation of orange balls of light at Hessdalen by Cabassi, Strand and the CIPH team. The question is "Are they the same phenomenon?".
So the whole point of the exercise was to do a foundational study and see where that leads....
