Encounter Atlas
What makes a report credible
Nobody can prove what you saw from a written report. What a good report does is let other people judge it fairly: it's specific enough to check, honest about what you're unsure of, and backed by original files.
Written early
Memory changes fast, especially after you talk it over or read other people's stories. Notes made the same night are worth far more than a polished account written a year later.
Specific
"9:40 p.m., about 60 yards away, on the gravel bar east of the bridge" can be checked. "Late one night near the river" can't.
Honest about doubt
Saying "I only saw it for two seconds and my headlamp was weak" makes you more believable, not less.
Shows the ruling-out
Say what you considered and why it didn't fit: "too tall for a bear standing, no muzzle", "no aircraft on the flight tracker at that time".
Independent witnesses
Two people who wrote separate notes before comparing them are much stronger than two people who agreed on a story in the truck.
Original files
Unedited photos, video and audio, straight off the device, with their dates and times intact.
Helps
- Times, distances and directions, even rough ones
- Plain description of what you saw, then what you think it was, kept separate
- Conditions: light, weather, moon, what you were looking through
- Saying what you didn't see or hear
- A sketch
Hurts
- Edited, filtered, cropped or "enhanced" images
- Only screenshots or social media copies of the media
- Details that grow with each retelling
- Certainty beyond what you could see ("it was definitely 9 feet")
- Leaving out the boring explanation you thought of
Write it down now
- Get safe first. Then get somewhere you can think.
- Separate the witnesses. Ask everyone to write or voice-record their own account before you discuss it. It feels awkward. Do it anyway.
- Tell it in order. What you were doing, the first thing you noticed, what happened next, how it ended. Times wherever you can.
- Describe before you name. "Dark, upright, about as tall as the road sign, moved on two legs" before "it was a Bigfoot". Let the reader see what you saw.
- Sketch it. A simple drawing of the shape, plus a bird's-eye map with you, it, and landmarks, with distances. Rough is fine.
- Save the files. Back up the original photos, video and audio somewhere else before you do anything else with them.
Write-it-down-now card
The basics
What happened
Photographing evidence and keeping files
- Scale in every close-up. A ruler or tape is best; a phone, boot or hand is better than nothing. Put it at the same level as the thing you're photographing.
- Context first, close-ups second. A wide shot showing where it is, then closer, then straight-on detail. Lots of them.
- Comparison shots. Go back in daylight and photograph the same view from the same spot, with a person standing where the subject was. This answers "how big was it?" better than anything.
- Keep the originals untouched. Copy them to a computer or cloud folder as they are. Work on copies. Never save over the original.
- Watch out for apps that shrink files. Most messaging and social apps compress photos and video and strip out the date, time and camera details. When you send us files, share the original (from the camera roll or as a file, or a cloud link set to "original quality").
- Audio: export as recorded. No noise reduction, no "enhance speech". If you made a cleaned-up version to hear it better, send both and say which is which.
- Physical evidence: hair in paper envelopes, casts wrapped in paper, everything labelled with date, place and who collected it. The casting guide covers tracks in detail.
Don't
Don't brighten, sharpen, upscale or run images through AI "enhance" tools before sending them. Those tools invent detail that wasn't there, which is the fastest way to have a real photo dismissed. If you've already done it, send the original as well.
Privacy: yours and other people's
Your name
Plenty of witnesses would rather not be named, and that's fine. Tell us how you want to be credited, if at all. We still need a way to contact you with questions.
Exact locations
Photos carry GPS coordinates in their hidden data. That's useful to us, but strip it before posting publicly (your phone's share options usually have a "location" switch). Tell us if the spot should stay private or be shown only roughly.
Private land
Don't publish a landowner's name or address, or anything that would send strangers onto their property. A town or county is enough for the public.
Other people
Blur faces and number plates of bystanders before sharing anything publicly, and never post children without their parents' OK.
Real-time posts
Posting "I'm alone at the trailhead on Forest Road 23 tonight" tells everyone where you and your gear are. Post after you're home.
Where to send it
- Encounter AtlasAny creature, UFO or strange encounter. Goes on the map.
- American Meteor SocietyFireballs and bright meteors
When it's an emergency or a known animal
If anyone was hurt or threatened, call 911 (or your local emergency number) first. An aggressive bear, cougar or other animal near homes or trails should be reported to your state or provincial wildlife agency, and trespassers or someone threatening you to the police. You can still send us the report afterwards.
Out in the field soon? The expedition guide, skywatching guide and night encounters guide show you how to collect the kind of evidence that makes a report strong.