On the night of 22 September 2013, a father and son saw and photographed this “tornado” of light spiraling up from behind the tree line near Wilkes-Barre, Pennyslvania. There were other similar reports the same night from the state.
13-081 (1 of 3 photos)
This article describes the rare condition of people who remember almost everything about their lives. We should note though, that very few of us can expect to accurately remember details of our lives – even highly exceptional events. We also know that how certain you are of your memories has nothing to do with how accurate they are.
That is why we try to emphasize the most recent UFO reports. With details will fade and the memories will bleed into each other. So, when something anomalous happens, write it down and make sketches the same day if possible. Do this before discussing the details with other witnesses or with us.
We tweet and retweet all kinds of good stuff. We need Twitter followers who will help us spread the word about API and the podcast. We almost always follow back:
We’re looking to refresh our logo and lose the flying saucers. We need something more abstract, and something that we can vary a bit for the website, the podcast, and other uses. Any artistic volunteers want to submit your idea?
The spreadsheet showing our 2014 cases has been added to the Investigations page. There are 61 cases listed there.
In our upcoming video series as well as our ongoing podcast API Case Files, we want to answer your 
questions. What questions do you have about reporting UFO sightings, how API Investigates sightings, what you can expect from us, or how to become a Field Investigator? Or, anything else related? Let us know in the comments to this post, or shoot us your question via the contact form.
Please keep your questions specific, and let us know if it is ok to use your name when we give the answer.
In the last few months, we have worked to improve the sighting report form to make it friendlier and easier to understand. Previously, we had a check box on the form to request anonymity. We have changed that.
We assume you want anonymity, and we will protect your anonymity and privacy. Period.
If you want your real name or other identifying information about you used in our public materials, then you will need to tell us that in writing, but we will not otherwise release this information to the public.
However, as explained in the policy, it is possible that we will want to share your case file (which may include your contact information) with other ethical investigation groups. This is unlikely in most cases, but it could happen. We want to assure you that it will not happen without your permission. The new checkbox on the report form gives you the option of requiring us to specifically ask you if the transfer is OK with you before we do it (check “No”). if you check “Yes”, then we may (but probably won’t) share your file with other organizations if they are well vetted and have a written ethics agreement with us. We will always inform you when we do this.
Update: the checkbox has been removed. From now on the policy is to ask ALL witnesses for permission before sharing their case file with anyone.
Questions? Comments? Let us hear from you.
Starting with this calendar year, we will publish our Reports of Investigation on this site, redacted of any possible witness Personally Identifying Information (PII). The data in these reports are not the story – often there is much more in the way of photos, videos, and detailed analysis. Interested parties can contact us for full resolution photos and other details.
Witness PII will NOT be released without witness permission, and only to those persons of verified identity with whom we have an agreement on investigatory ethics. Contact us if you need to discuss this.
