Not the X Files : mapping public reports of unidentified aerial phenomena across America / Marek N. Posard, Ashley Gromis, Mary Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Posard, Marek, author.

Gromis, Ashley, author.

Contributor:

Lee, Mary (Mathematician)

United States. Department of Defense. Office of the Secretary of Defense

Acquisition and Technology Policy Center

Rand Corporation

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Unidentified flying objects--Government policy--United States.

Unidentified flying objects.

Drone aircraft--United States.

Drone aircraft.

Drone aircraft--Government policy--United States.

Other Title:

Not the X-Files

Place of Publication:

RAND Corporation 2023

Summary:

The U.S. government is responsible for an estimated 5.3 million square miles of domestic airspace and 24 million square miles of oceanic airspace. The February 2023 downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon after it had flown across the country raised questions about the degree to which the U.S. government knows who is flying what over its territorial skies. The United States has finite resources to monitor objects flying through its airspace. At the same time, advances in technology allow the general public, private companies, and civilian government agencies to operate ever-smaller commercially available drones that intentionally or unintentionally capture and contribute to activity in the skies. This trend could make public reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) an important source of information for U.S. government officials. In this report, RAND researchers present a geographic analysis of 101,151 public reports of UAP sightings in 12,783 U.S. Census Bureau census designated places. Specifically, they provide findings on U.S. locations where UAP reports are significantly more likely to occur and offer recommendations to increase awareness of the types of activities that might be mistaken for unexplained phenomena or that point to potential threats. The data were collected by the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), one of the nongovernmental entities that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has referenced in official documents for where to report unexplained phenomena. The analyses of these data should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any individual reports to NUFORC or of the accuracy of the database.

Contents:

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 2: Data and Methods

CHAPTER 3: Results

CHAPTER 4: Conclusions and Recommendations

APPENDIX: Methodological Details and Data Preparation