Editing Ufology Handbook 080713/UFO basics (section)

==Defining the UFO...==
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To further the cause of UFO research, UFO (& IFO) reports are placed into various (arbitrary) categories, based on either their reported distance from the observer(s) or on the general nature of what allegedly occurred. The system most often used in Britain today was originally devised by Dr. J. Allen Hynek in the early 1970's and later amended during the late 1970's by British researchers Peter Warrington & Jenny Randles. This system defines UFO reports in the following manner;

The term '''LOW DEFINITION (LD)''' is used to define UFO reports involving claimed observations of a single pin-point of light, a "cluster" of multiple lights or a poorly-defined (often unluminated) shape - the term LITS (Lights In The Sky) also being utilised to describe such events by many UFO investigators. On the other hand, UFOs described as having a well-defined shape are classified as MEDIUM DEFINITION (MD) incidents.

UFO events involving alleged effects on a human, animal, machine or its surrounding area which cease once the UFO leaves the sighting location are labelled CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FIRST KIND (CE1), while the term CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SECOND KIND (CE2) describes UFO events where alleged UFO-originated effects on humans, animals, machines and/or the environment reputedly occur and endure for some period following the sighting.

'''CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (CE3)''' define UFO reports which also encompass claimed observations of supposed UFO "entities". Additionally, some researchers specifically define a certain type of entity encounter - the so-called UFO "abduction" - or incidents featuring notable psychic elements as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FOURTH KIND (CE4), although the use of this particular definition class remains controversial.

Ufologists often refer to UFO events classified as CE1's (or higher) as  "High Strangeness" incidents, due to them being associated with more anomalous aspects than LD or MD reports.

'''INSTRUMENTALLY DETECTED (ID)''' events - sometimes treated as a sub-category of the various other UFO "clades"  - relate to UFO reports involving a stimulus reputedly recorded or detected by a device during the sighting; which can potentially range from a camera  to a RADAR scope.

It is estimated (on figures derived from various "opinion polls") that 2%-7% of the British population (1.1 - 4 million people) have observed what they believe to be a UFO. It is further estimated that only around 10% of these witnesses report their sightings to a formal body and/or civilian UFO societies. This would suggest that a total of around 100,000-400,000 recorded British sightings exist, held by the various bodies involved in collating UFO data.


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