Overview
If you think you have spotted a UFO, the first step is not to jump to conclusions — it is to document what you saw carefully and methodically. That is the advice from investigator Mick West, who says years of examining roughly 1,000 potential unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) sightings have shown him that many strange lights or movements in the sky can be explained by more familiar objects once the evidence is analyzed properly. His guidance, published through Skeptical Inquirer, focuses less on speculation and more on practical steps that can help distinguish a genuine anomaly from an ordinary aircraft, planet, star or satellite.
West’s central warning is that the quality of the evidence matters. He says the most useful material is an original video file, not a reposted or downloaded copy, because the original can preserve technical details that are often lost when footage is shared online. Audio is even better, he notes, because sound can provide clues about distance, movement, and environmental conditions. In a field where context is often missing, those details can make the difference between a convincing case and a misleading clip.
How to investigate a sighting
West recommends using tools that can help identify what was in the sky at the time of the sighting. Among the apps he highlights is Invisor, which can display and compare technical information from video, audio and photo files. He also points to Sitrec, a tool he created that uses line-of-sight mapping, flight-data integration and sensor recreation to reconstruct what a witness may have seen. These programs, he argues, are especially useful when someone wants to test whether an apparent mystery has an ordinary explanation.
A major part of his approach involves checking for aircraft activity. West recommends the free app FlightRadar24, which tracks aircraft movements and can help establish whether a sighting may have involved planes. He described using flight data to investigate a report from Cincinnati, where a witness saw what appeared to be three lights hovering over a building. West said he suspected the lights were actually three aircraft heading toward the observer, and later confirmed that explanation by replaying the flight activity in the area. As he explained, in earlier decades UFO researchers would have had to call airports or even travel agents; now, he said, plane schedules and live tracking data are readily available online.
Looking beyond aircraft
West also stresses that not every unexplained light is a vehicle. Some sightings are caused by celestial objects such as stars, planets and satellites, which can appear unusual depending on weather, camera settings, perspective or the time of night. He recommends Stellarium, a sky-mapping app that can show what the night sky looks like from any position on Earth at a specific time. According to West, many reported UAPs turn out to be planets, bright stars such as Sirius, or satellites — objects that can seem unfamiliar if the observer is not checking the broader sky context.
His broader message is one of caution and discipline: if you spot something strange, record it, preserve the original file, note the time and location, and compare it against flight and astronomy data before making assumptions. In an era when high-quality cameras are everywhere and social media can amplify a mystery within minutes, West’s advice serves as a reminder that careful verification still matters. For those convinced they have seen something extraordinary, the best next step may simply be to gather the facts first.
