Editing Unidentified flying object (section)

==Identification==

{{Main|Identification studies of UFOs}}
[[File:Fata Morgana Example.jpg|A [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|Fata Morgana]], a type of mirage in which objects located ''below'' the astronomical [[horizon]] appear to be hovering in the sky just above the horizon, may be responsible for some UFO sightings.<ref name="Official UFO Investigations in France: the GEPAN/SEPRA Project">[[#Sturrock, et al. 1998|Sturrock, et al. 1998]], Appendix 4: "Electromagnetic-Wave Ducting" by V. R. Eshleman</ref>|thumb]]

Studies show that after careful investigation, the majority of UFOs can be identified as ordinary objects or phenomena. The [[Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14|1952–1955 study]] for the USAF used the following categories: "Balloon; Astronomical; Aircraft; Light phenomenon; Birds, Clouds, dust, etc.; Insufficient information; Psychological manifestations; Unknown; and Other".<ref>{{cite report |publisher=United States Air Force |title=Project Blue Book Special Report 14: Analysis of Reports of Unidentified Aerial Objects |url=https://www.academia.edu/49680297 |page=10 |date=5 May 1955}} [https://www.si.edu/object/siris_sil_97883 Archive.]</ref> Identified sources of UFO reports are:

* Aircraft (including [[Military aircraft|military]], [[Civil aviation|civilian]], and [[Experimental aircraft|experimental]] aircraft as well as such peculiarities as [[aerial advertising]], [[missile]] and other [[rocket launch]]es, [[Satellite|artificial satellites]], the [[International Space Station]], re-entering [[spacecraft]] including [[space debris]], [[kite]]s, and various [[unmanned aerial vehicle]]s often popularly termed "drones")<ref name="Ezzy-2024">{{cite magazine |last1=Ezzy |first1=Pearson |title=16 things commonly mistaken for UFOs |url=https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/things-mistaken-for-ufos |magazine=Sky at Night Magazine |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 September 2024 |language=en |date=June 3, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Starwalk">{{cite news |title=Relax, It's Not Aliens: Man-Made Objects Mistaken for UFOs |url=https://starwalk.space/en/infographics/ufo-sightings-real-objects |access-date=14 September 2024 |work=Star Walk |date=February 12, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Carey-2010"/>
* Astronomical objects ([[List of brightest stars|bright stars]], [[bolide]]s, [[Classical planet|bright planets]], and the [[Moon]])<ref name="Ezzy-2024"/><ref name="Carey-2010"/><ref name="Blackrock-2024"/>
* Balloons ([[Project Mogul|surveillance balloons]], [[balloon#Decoration or entertainment|toy balloons]], [[weather balloon]]s, large [[research balloon]]s, and [[sky lantern]]s)<ref name="Ezzy-2024" /><ref name="Starwalk"/><ref name="Carey-2010"/>
* Hoaxes<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Aaron |title='The truth is out there': UFO group debunks hoaxes in hopes of finding the real thing |url=https://www.kens5.com/article/features/the-truth-is-out-there-ufo-group-debunks-hoaxes-in-hopes-of-finding-the-real-thing/273-610080916 |website=kens5.com |access-date=14 September 2024 |date=31 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="Carey-2010"/><ref>{{cite news |title=The Great Morris County UFO Hoax |url=https://weirdnj.com/stories/unexplained-phenomena/nj-ufo-hoax/ |access-date=14 September 2024}}</ref>
* Light phenomena ([[mirage]]s, [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|Fata Morgana]], [[sundog]]s, [[ball lightning]], [[moon dog]]s, [[satellite flare]]s, [[lens flare]], [[searchlight]]s and other ground lights, etc.)<ref name="Ezzy-2024" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hahn |first1=Jason |title=Christmas Lights Are Likely Source of Multiple UFO Reports in Wisconsin (But Not Everyone's Convinced) |url=https://people.com/human-interest/ufo-sighting-wisconsin-apparently-solved-christmas-lights/ |access-date=14 September 2024 |work=People |date=21 December 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Blackrock-2024">{{cite web |title=How To Identify A UFO |url=https://www.bco.ie/how-to-identify-a-ufo/ |website=MTU Blackrock Castle |access-date=14 September 2024 |date=15 August 2022}}</ref>
* Other atmospheric objects and phenomena (birds, [[Lenticular cloud|unusual clouds]], [[flare]]s, [[Plasma (physics)#Complex plasma phenomena|plasma]])<ref name="Ezzy-2024"/><ref name="Carey-2010">{{cite news |last1=Carey |first1=Bjorn |last2=Melina |first2=Remy |title=7 Things Most Often Mistaken for UFOs |url=https://www.livescience.com/32849-7-ways-to-generate-a-great-space-hoax.html |access-date=14 September 2024 |work=Live Science |date=10 November 2010 |language=en}}</ref>
* Psychological effects ([[pareidolia]], [[suggestibility]] and [[False memory|false memories]], [[Mass psychogenic illness|mass psychogenic disorders]], [[optical illusion]]s, and [[hallucination]]s)<ref>{{cite report |title=Aid to Identification of Flying Objects |url=https://www.cnes-geipan.fr/sites/default/files/Aids_to_identification_of_flying_objects_0.pdf |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |author=United States Air Force |date=1968}}</ref>

[[File:SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch from Vandenberg, CA - October 7 2018 - 45131925812.jpg|[[Twilight phenomenon]] from a [[Falcon 9]] rocket launch|thumb]]

An individual 1979 study by CUFOS researcher [[Allan Hendry]] found, as did other investigations, that fewer than one percent of cases he investigated were hoaxes and most sightings were actually honest misidentifications of prosaic phenomena. Hendry attributed most of these to inexperience or misperception.<ref>[[#Hendry|Hendry 1979]]</ref> Astronomer [[Andrew Fraknoi]] rejected the hypothesis that UFOs are extraterrestrial spacecraft and responded to the "onslaught of credulous coverage" in books, films and entertainment by teaching his students to apply critical thinking to such claims, advising them that "being a good scientist is not unlike being a good detective". According to Fraknoi, UFO reports "might at first seem mysterious", but "the more you investigate, the more likely you are to find that there is LESS to these stories than meets the eye".<ref name=Fraknoi>[[Andrew Fraknoi]], [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2010ASPC..431..514F ''Science Education and Outreach: Forging a Path to the Future''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526194646/http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2010ASPC..431..514F%7C%E2%80%98%E2%80%99Science |date=May 26, 2021 }}. Proceedings of a conference held September 12–16, 2009 in Millbrae, California. Edited by Jonathan Barnes, Denise A. Smith, Michael G. Gibbs, and James G. Manning., p. 514, August 2010</ref>