SUBJECT: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON HANDLING WITNESS'S        FILE: UFO1586




A continuing       Mutual UFO Network - MUFONET-BBS Network   "Investigator's
series for Field  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Edge" No. 8
Investigators

                          "THE INVESTIGATOR'S EDGE"
                         ---------------------------
[Note: This edition of the "Investigator's Edge" is from the January, 1991
issue of "GEORGIA SKYWATCH", published by GEORGIA-MUFON.]

                                   GENERAL
                                  ---------

             Things to keep in mind while doing investigations
            ---------------------------------------------------

AIRCRAFT:  Have a minimum of three non-flashing running lights; one on each
wing tip and one at the rear.  Right wing running light is green, left wing
running light is red, and the rear running light is white. [Note: many
aircraft also have two strobe lights, one mounted on top and on mounted below
the fuselage.]  There must not be more than one green running light.  Blue is
not used as a running light.  Helicopters have the same general running light
configuration as light planes.

ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE:  Can cause an object (that is near the horizon) to
look distorted and magnified.

AUTOKINETIC MOTION:  Eye movement can cause the witness to think a stationary
light or object is moving when in fact it is not.  Lining the target up with
two other stationary reference points can help to determine whether in fact
the object is moving.  When a witness says the light was moving in jerky
motions--side to side and up and down--suspect the witness is looking at a
star.

BALL LIGHTENING:  Appears hazy or solid, spherical, oval or rod shape.  Colors
range from red-white with orange being the most common.  It can hover, go less
than 5 mph or up to 60 mph.  It emits a hissing sound and when it explodes an
odor of sulfa or ozone is present.  It can appear after lightening strikes the
ground or in midair.  Ball lightening almost always appears during a
thunderstorm.

DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES:  UFO investigators are looking very hard for consistent
groups of facts, while UFO witnesses are looking for support and counseling.
These are two very different objectives and can be the source of conflict
between the witness and the investigator.  The wise investigator will keep
this in mind when dealing with witnesses.

DISTANCE:  Most witnesses underestimate the actual distance from the
observation point to the object.

ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE:  Electromagnetic interference that can cause an
automobile's engine to stall and can interrupt the operation of other
electrical devices has sometimes been linked to UFO sighting reports.  Such
occurances are not limited to gasoline engines.  Diesel engines such as found
in trucks, boats, trains, and bulldozers have also been affected.  Similar
reports on airplane engines and radar equipment have also been reported.

INVESTIGATOR'S DUTY TO THE WITNESS:  The UFO investigator must subordinate his
or her need to collect UFO information to the needs and interests of the
witness.  The health and well-being of the witness must ALWAYS come before the
collection of UFO evidence and proof.

INTERPRETATION OF WITNESS TESTIMONY:  The interpretation of both free and
regressed witness narratives is BEST acomplished by behavioral psychologists
and other professionals skilled in the process.

FEELINGS REPORTED BY WITNESSES:  Feelings reported by witnesses include:

(A) Being watched
(B) Looking me over
(C) Feeling of being observed
(D) Feeling of fear
(E) Feeling of anger
(F) It was a beautiful experience
(G) Felt happy when it happened
(H) Felt object responded to witness
(I) Felt the object was trying to communicate with witness

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: The number of witness reports which suggest aliens are
interested in observing or manipulating the witness's sexual organs and/or
otherwise conducting gynecological examinations of the witness appears to be
far less than would be euggested by popular reports.  More often, witnesses
report examination of their heads.

HIGH STRANGENESS:  When a large number of witness narratives are examined, it
quickly becomes obvious that the witness experience is very complicated and
full of unknowns.  The vast majority of witness accounts describe perceptions
and experiences far stranger than any reported by mainstream abduction
researchers.  Do not rule out what a witness tells you because it has a high
strangeness level.  Because we do not know what is true, we must not edit
testimony or it becomes absolutely worthless.  When reporting witness
testimony, do not try to make it seem credible and believable.  Rather, expose
it as it really is.  Unless we do this we have no chance at all of getting at
the truth.

HYPNOSIS: Information from a regressed subject is sometimes used in the
context of other evidence, but it is not itself evidence.  Because regressed
testimony of UFO witnesses cannot currently by confirmed by hard facts, there
remains enormous difficulty with trying to use hypnotized testimony as
evidence of real events, even when that testimony agrees in particulars among
a group of unconnected witnesses.  The primary value of hypnosis is as a
counseling device.  It is recommended that nobody except a professionally
trained hypnotist - preferably one with the credentials of a health
professional - hypnotize any UFO witness for any reason, and then only for
therapeutic purposes.

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