NARCAP
CANADA
Be advised that Incident Reports made to the
Civil Aviation Daily Occurance Report System (CADORS)
ultimately go no further than that and die there.
Some UAP/UFO reports are sent to a non-pilot here in Canada
who uses them only to add to a data list. None are investigated.
Pilots reading the following should also refer
to the safety guidlines for pilots who have had an
incident in the air. These are provided below
titled: Notice To All Pilots
|
Pilots, Aircrews, ATC/Radar, Safety Administrators, Aviation Union Representatives and Aviation Professionals: If you are any of the foregoing and you are seeking a venue where you can report Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena [UAP] - NARCAP [Canada] is interested in receiving your comments. Those reporting UAP can Contact me. I will send you a complete NARCAP reporting form. Please indicate whether you are a pilot, aircrew, air traffic controller or radar operator. The reporting forms are extensive-about three pages long. The pilot/aircrew reporting form and the ATC/Radar Operator form are separate for obvious reasons. Be assured that your name will be not be released to anyone should you not wish it so. Your UAP sighting will be assigned a case number and will be referred to as such. Confidential Aircrew Survey -- UAP reporting form. I am circulating a generic UAP reporting form to varous aviation centers. This form asks eleven questions but does not request that you include your name. Again the information resulting from the survey form will be entered into a database. There is a return address supplied or you may return it to the location where it was aquired. Again a copy may be requested from myself without fear of your name or address being used. Finally, all of us like to know that we are in company with others when we experience strange events-particularly when that company is our peers. With pilots it helps to share the experiences of those with same professional qualifications as ourselves. The following UAP Encounters Link will take you to a page with links and with a brief description of the event associated with each link. Thank you. Don Ledger - Pilot |
Notice to all Pilots
Recommendations to Pilots from NARCAP
What to Do and What Not to Do if you Have a Near Encounter with an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon
Dear Pilot: You have probably
heard about ufos and flying saucers and other strange lights and objects
in the sky. But if you are like most pilots you don’t believe in their
existence or at least you don’t think you will ever encounter one.Based
on literally thousands of past pilot sighting and reporting statistics worldwide
that we have studied over many decades you probably won’t ever see
something that you couldn’t identify. But a small percentage of
you will experience an unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP). It is for
you that we present the following things to do and not do during and after
a close in-flight encounter. Throughout the history of powered flight aircrews
and air traffic controllers have reported seeing very unusual lights and
objects, sometimes at close range. The fact that many of these incidents
included effects that reduced aviation safety seems to have been lost in
the larger discussion, pushed out of sight by events that were given higher
priority. But these in-flight sightings continue to occur around the world
even though they are not being reported as consistently as they should be.
Identifying the potential safety impact of the so-called “other traffic”
in these cases is what NARCAP is attempting to do. Until we know much more
about UAP no one can guarantee your safety in flight. There is no way to
reliably determine that a UAP on an apparent collision heading will always
avoid your aircraft. The high rate of closure in many cases represents a
threat that cannot be ignored. Indeed, there is no reason for aircrews to
expect that the UAP will simply avoid the aircraft on its own. Given the
low survival rate of aircrews involved in midair collisions and the reported
radar transparency of many UAP it cannot be said with certainty that UAP
have not been a primary factor in past catastrophic air crashes. Ultimately
it is the aircrew’s judgment and ability to assess risk that defines
an appropriate response to danger. That ability to assess risk accurately
is dependent on education and adequate preparation. We believe that following
these conservative recommendations is likely to contribute to improved flight
safety and also help you remember the basic details better. We understand
your reluctance to report these incidents. However, if you do not report
your sighting you do the safety community a disservice because you have
prevented (or pre-filtered) vital information from reaching investigators
who are trying to discover the influence of UAP on flight safety. So here
are NARCAP’s suggestions as to what you should do in such situations.
Do:
1.) Do Aviate - Fly the aircraft
FIRST. Observe the UAP, but not to the point of distraction. Keep your scan
going. Keep track of all your aircraft systems to insure they are functioning
properly. If your aircraft systems are starting to fail or are unreliable
deal with it as best you can. Continue to fly the aircraft, don't let it
fly you.
2.) Do Navigate - Maintain
your situational awareness. Stay aware of your UAP traffic but not to the
exclusion of everything else. (i.e., terrain, position, other known traffic,
etc.)
3.) Do Communicate - Determine
if Center has any other known traffic in your area. If so, determine its
location. If they aren't painting the UAP go back to steps 1 & 2. Admit
to Center that you have an unknown object or light nearby and answer all
their questions. Doing this can help contribute to your overall safety.
4.) Do Delegate your F.O. (if
one is present) to observe the UAP if the UAP is on the starboard side of
your aircraft. If the UAP is on the port side of the aircraft delegate your
F.O. to fly while you act as observer. It only takes one pilot to fly and
one to observe and advise. If both are preoccupied with observing then nobody
is aviating (see step 1).
5.) Do try to Discriminate as soon as possible whether or not the other object is a conventional airplane. If it is you should follow normally approved flight-control (and avoidance) maneuvers that you have trained for. If it is not a conventional airplane it is likely that its appearance and flight dynamics will clearly demonstrate this to you in amazing ways. Many pilots have been captivated by what they see nearby them and are distracted from flying their airplane (see step 1).
6.) Do Describe using your on-board microphone as many details as you can (during the encounter if possible) in the order in which they are happening. If they are present have other witnesses in the cockpit do the same. The more voice recorded details there are the more valuable your sighting will be for later scientific research by staff of the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and NARCAP specialists. Even if your verbal description is not recorded at the time later on you will remember the details better by doing this. You might request a cabin attendant to come forward to write down notes and even serve as an eye witness.
7.) Do Write down the following
basic details as soon as practical: time, location, and those visual features
of the UAP that convince you that it is not another airplane. Noting changes
in its angular size and movements relative to your window frame is also
important particularly if you are under straight and level autopilot control
at the time. Also include all cockpit instrument deviations from nominal
(when they started and when they ended), and total duration of the sighting
incident. While there are many other UAP details of interest these are the
more important ones. The more accurate your notes are the safer future flights
are likely to become. The longer you wait to do this the more errors of
memory and perception will occur and the less likely you will be to make
any report at all.
8.) Do make a 100% confidential report of your sighting both to the FAA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and to NARCAP upon landing at www.narcap.org. NARCAP provides a specially designed pilot reporting form for this purpose. This request applies to all flight crew witnesses on board because the reliability and validity of the details can be enhanced by multiple witness reports. NARCAP does not disclose witness identity details to anyone. We use the same confidentiality procedures as are used by the ASRS. Our only goals are to improve flight safety and gain a better scientific understanding of these phenomena.
9.) Do try to radio other aircraft in your area for visual confirmation of the UAP. Doing this can encourage other flight crew to make their own reports when they might not otherwise do so. It can also improve the chances of triangulation to the UAP and thereby improve air safety and assist Center in locating it on radar.
10.) Do let NARCAP know if you want a copy of its investigation findings of your sighting.
Don't:
1.) Don't let this event rattle
you as it unfolds. Work the problem. Force yourself to keep focused on the
job at hand - flying your aircraft. You can fall apart later. Many past
pilot reports have revealed that some UAP behave very dynamically; this
includes high speed acute angle turns, sudden stops, acceleration and disappearance
(and/or reappearance), and even head-on approaches with last second veering
away or near-misses. Some phenomena appear to possess strong magnetic fields
and/or electric charge that can cause cockpit instruments to malfunction.
These events can cause confusion and high stress in the cockpit. Some UAP
appear to possess extremely coordinated flight capabilities. In spite of
all this try to stay as calm as possible! In the final analysis each incident
is different and will call upon critical judgments and calm responses by
the flight crew throughout the encounter.
2.) Don't attempt to out-maneuver or "shake" the UAP. Hundreds of reliable pilot reports indicate that you probably won’t be able to anyway.
3.) Don't attempt to chase
or engage the UAP in any manner. If possible, place the UAP behind you or
move away from it.
4.) Don't flash your landing lights at it or try to signal it in any manner in the interest of aeronautical safety. Scores of past pilot reports suggest that if you do some UAP may appear to respond to your signals. The significance of this is not yet known. If this happens don’t let it distract you from flying.
5.) Don’t rely on any cockpit instrument that has unexpectedly changed during your encounter. A majority of pilot reports where instruments were affected by the near proximity of a UAP have confirmed that these disturbances were not permanent. Nevertheless, include all details of malfunctioning hardware on your post-flight equipment maintenance report even if these instruments returned to normal operating condition upon landing.
6.) Don’t inform your
passengers during the event unless you feel it is safe to do so. It is generally
true that the more witnesses the better, however, the possibility of panic
within the cabin must be avoided at all cost. You may want to instruct cabin
attendants to make an appropriate general announcement after the fact to
see if anyone saw the UAP and to suggest that they might want to give their
assistance as witnesses by contacting NARCAP at www.narcap.org. Again, the
identity of all reporting witnesses will be protected. Their reports can
help back up yours. Please go to NARCAP’s website for more information
- www.narcap.org
Disclaimer These recommendations represent conservative, common sense actions to take based on many decades of aviation research. NARCAP does not accept legal responsibility for any incident, accident or consequence (either direct, indirect or implied), which may result from the use of any of these suggested recommendations, which must remain entirely voluntary.
NARCAP wishes to thank the
following people who contributed to these recommendations; P. Davenport,
R. Eaton, D. Geisler, R. Haines, M. Hall, L. Kean, P. Kinzelman, L. Lemke,
G. Mcleod, T. Roe, M. Shough, B. Smith