Project Title: EUROPEAN TRANSNATIONAL IFO CATALOGUE
Acronym: EUROIFO
Project Coordinator: Paolo Toselli (CISU, Italy)
PURPOSE
The objective is this program is to develop a tool to assist the European UFO researcher to properly identify massively-witnessed UFO sightings that can become IFOs. The catalogue is an index for quick sorting and collating UFO observations, helping us to find sources for event identification, i.e., an opportunity for case-solving. Secondary objective is to enhance and stimulate data exchange amongst European UFO analysts.
GEOGRAPHY
As far as the geographical coverage is concerned, the EuroIFO catalogue collects cases from any European countries, as well as Atlantic Ocean sites that belong to Spain (Canary Islands) or Portugal (Madeira) and North-African territory that in the past century were part of Spain (Spanish Sahara) (if borders any French possessions)..
TYPE OF SIGHTINGS
The catalogue is addressed to contain data on high-altitude, high-magnitude, usually long-standing visual phenomena producing massive UFO reports locally, effectively or potentially generating reports across national boundaries. Typically, space reentries, fireball bolides, giant stratospheric balloon passages, missile and rocket launches, fuel venting in space, clouds in the atmosphere of metal elements, military exercises with flare displays near frontiers, etc.
Regarding the misperception of planets and stars or satellite observation, it is only considered when an unusual astronomical phenomenon occurred, observed by multitudes, as in the case of planet alignment, Mir-Atlantic joint coupling, aurora borealis sighted in Southern latitudes, comet apparition, etc).
By definition, cases here must have achieved society or media impact because of the number of eyewitnesses, the magnitude of the fiery or luminous display, etc. No individual sighting of a meteor in the night, or the observation by a few of a sounding balloon, for example, qualifies for this catalogue.
CATALOGUE DATA CONTENT
We seek simplicity. Only one line for case and country will resume multiple reports at local level. This catalogue will not supersede any regional or theme catalogues in force, it just complements them.
EuroIFO is just an Excel spreadsheet, with the following data structure:
DATE (year, month, day)
LOCAL TIME (for multiple report cases, enter the earlier known time)
GTM (above time converted into Universal Time)
DURATION (enter the maximum duration known, data in seconds, minutes or hours)
COUNTRY
DESCRIPTION (few words to describe the actual phenomenon's appearance)
EXPLANATION (it reveals the nature or cause of the phenomenon)
ADDITIONAL DATA (added details on test responsible organism, base where scientific activity was generated, etc)
IMAGES (if photograph, film or video is available, enter the image mode)
# (enter number of different series of pictures or footage obtained by different people in different locations)
REFERENCE (main literature, URL, researcher, or organization as reference to information availability)
SOURCE (EuroUFO member who provided the line's input)
A blank line inserted between group cases will show blocks of common events.
METHODOLOGY
After submission of an initial sample catalogue by the Project Coordinator, all members of EuroUFO are invited to contribute its own input, by submitting data to Paolo Toselli, he who will update the catalogue on a monthly basis. Project Coordinator will periodically request members to review their files in order to submit data on specific dates where it is probable that transnational events of this type have been produced.
On December 2007 a first version of the catalogue has been placed on the EuroUFO web site, and its existence has been reported elsewhere for general benefit. Since then, the catalogue has been updated on a quarterly basis.
