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                  HYNEK  SIGHTING  REPORT  CLASSIFICATIONS
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HYNEK:

     This is the traditional method of describing an event as a distant or
close encounter of the first, second or third kind.  The investigator should
be aware that, unless the case report can reasonably rule out natural and
man-made sources, the HYNEK rationale declares it to be a non-case, and so no
value is given.

HYNEK - __________

DE-1 - Nocturnal Light                CE-1 - Light/object in Proximity

DE-2 - Daylight Disc                  CE-3 - Physical Trace

DE-3 - Radar-visual                   CE-3 - Occupant

UFO reports differ in many details.  But there are a number of similarities
that recur in such features as shape, maneuverability, appearance,
disappearance, sound and color.  There are several basic observational
categories into which sighting reports may be classified.

A. Relatively Distant Sightings

1. Noctunal Lights.  These are sightings of well-defined lights in the night
sky whose appearance amd/or motion are not explainable in terms of
conventional light sources.  The lights appear most often as red, blue, orange
or white.  They form the largest group of UFO reports.

2. Daylight Discs.  Daytime sightings are generally of oval or dis-shaped,
metallic-appearing objects.  They can appear high in the sky or close to the
ground, and they are often reported to hover.  They can seem to disappear with
astounding speed.

3. Radar-Visual cases.  Of special significance are unidentified "blips" on
radar screens that coincide with and confirm simultaneous visual sightings by
the same or other witnesses.  These cases are infrequent.

B. Relatively Close Sightings (within 200 yards)

1. Close Encounters of the First Kind (CE-I).  Though the witness observes a
UFO nearby, there appears to be no interaction with either the witness or the
environment.

2. Close Encounters of the Second Kind (CE-II).  These encounters include
details of interaction between the UFO and the environment which may vary from
interference with car ignition systems and electronic gear to miprints or
burns on the ground and physical effects on plants, animals and humans.

3. CLose ENcounters of the Third Kind (CE-III).  In this category, occupants
of a UFO - entities that are human-like ("humanoid") or not humanlike in
apearance - have been reported.  There is usually no direct contact or
communication with the witness.  However, in recent years, reports of
incidents involving very close contact - even detainment of witnesses - have
increased.

The Kinds of Evidence

In addition to eyewitness reports, scientific evidence for the presence of
something very unusual falls in these categories:

1. Physical Traces.  Compressed and dehydrated vegetation, broken tree
branches, and imprints in the ground have all been reported.  Sometimes a soil
sample taken from an area where a UFO had been seen close to the ground will
be determined, through laboratory analysis, to have undergone heating or other
chemical changes not true of control sample.

2.  Medical Records.  Medical verification of burns, eye inflammations,
temporary blindness, and other physiological effects attributed to encounters
with UFOs - even the healing of previous conditions - can also constitute
evidence, especially when no other cause for the effect can be determined by
the medical examiner.

3.  Radarscope Photos.  A tape of traces from a radar screen on which a "blip"
of a UFO is appearing is a powerful adjunct to a visual sighting, because it
can be studied at leisure instead of during the heat of the moment of the
actual sighting.

4.  Photographs.  While it might seem that photographs would be the best
evidence for UFOs, this has not been the case.  Hoaxes can be exposed very
easily.  But even those photos that pass the test of instrumented analysis
and/or computer enhancement often show nothing more than an object of unknown
nature, usually some distance from the camera, and very often out of focus.
For proper analysis of a photo, the negative must be available and the
photographer, witnesses and circumstances must be known.  In a few exceptional
cases, photos do exist that have been thoroughly  examined and appear to show
a structured craft.
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