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This seems awfully brief and doesn't have much detail. The tittle says it's a "preliminary" report. Is this the expected UAP report or just a preliminary docume

This seems awfully brief and doesn't have much detail. The tittle says it's a "preliminary" report. Is this the expected UAP report or just a preliminary document about it? I would want to see summary statistics for each reported incident and descriptions of the most compelling phenomenon. This document raises a lot of questions and answers few. The document says they have 21 reports of UAP that "appear to demonstrate advanced technology" including moving at "considerable speed" "without discernable means of propulsion." I need more detail! Are these reports among those confirmed by multiple trustworthy sensors and observers? What do we know about these UAP? What speed? Do we have video? I'm also not really impressed by their idea to use "advanced algorithms" and "machine learning". Are UFO encounters so frequent we need to resort to big data? I do think it's an excellent idea to process recorded radar data looking for UAP signs though.

tailspin2019 5y ago
> I'm also not really impressed by their idea to use "advanced algorithms" and "machine learning". Are UFO encounters so frequent we need to resort to big data? I had that same thought - on first read this report seems to contain summary analysis of 144 UAP incidents. Not the sort of numbers that immediately make me think "I need ML to process those!"
- Sanzig 5y ago
  ML/AI/"algorithms" are the buzzwords of the day in the public and private sectors right now.
- JohnBooty 5y ago
  Agreed; ML doesn't make sense to me in the context in which they present it. Seems like they just crammed in a buzzword there. Later in the report, it says this: One proposal is to use advanced algorithms to search historical data captured and stored by radars They do not mention ML in that context, but it seems like a more promising way in which they might usefully employ it.
- trasz 5y ago
  144 _reported_ incidents. They also talk about how some of the cases going unreported. It would make sense to sieve through the radar data (I'd guess all the ATC radars are being recorded, because why not?) to look for those.
  - tailspin2019 5y ago
    Yep that's fair enough. And satellite imagery too I guess.
  - nradov 5y ago
    Most ATC now uses secondary radars. Those generally only pick up aircraft carrying transponders.
    - trasz 5y ago
      Good point. What about the radars used by Air Force to guard the airspace? Do they cover the interior, or only the borders?
    - xxpor 5y ago
      Secondary radar == just an RX only antenna?
      - nradov 5y ago
        Transmitter also, but not powerful enough to get a useful return from an aircraft without a transponder at any significant range.
- jablongo 5y ago
  I think one proposal is to have advanced wide-field cameras placed in "locations of interest". This would be much like an optical observatory and would generate petabytes of data.
  - tailspin2019 5y ago
    Do you have more details on this or a source? I’m curious!
    - jablongo 5y ago
      This program (FRIPON) https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2020/12/aa38649-20/aa38649-20.html https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2020/12/aa38649-... was cited here https://www.3af.fr/global/gene/link.php?doc_id=3695&fg=1 https://www.3af.fr/global/gene/link.php?doc_id=3695&fg=1 as a candidate for repurposing for UAP detection. I'm not familiar with the legitimacy of the 3af french org, so perhaps should be taken w/ a grain of salt?
      - tailspin2019 5y ago
        Interesting!
joshuajill 5y ago
If you're curious, this previously released footage is quite detailed. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/27/pentagon-releases-three-ufo-videos-taken-by-us-navy-pilots https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/27/pentagon-relea...
stride 5y ago
You might have misunderstood the point of the ML strategy. The idea is to train a model on explainable event data such as weather balloons or wildlife as collected via various existing sensors. Then take this model and use it on historical sensor data to identify events that do not match the traits of the known events. I feel like this is a pretty reasonable use for ML.

tailspin2019 5y ago

> I'm also not really impressed by their idea to use "advanced algorithms" and "machine learning". Are UFO encounters so frequent we need to resort to big data? I had that same thought - on first read this report seems to contain summary analysis of 144 UAP incidents. Not the sort of numbers that immediately make me think "I need ML to process those!"

Sanzig 5y ago
ML/AI/"algorithms" are the buzzwords of the day in the public and private sectors right now.
JohnBooty 5y ago
Agreed; ML doesn't make sense to me in the context in which they present it. Seems like they just crammed in a buzzword there. Later in the report, it says this: One proposal is to use advanced algorithms to search historical data captured and stored by radars They do not mention ML in that context, but it seems like a more promising way in which they might usefully employ it.
trasz 5y ago
144 _reported_ incidents. They also talk about how some of the cases going unreported. It would make sense to sieve through the radar data (I'd guess all the ATC radars are being recorded, because why not?) to look for those.
- tailspin2019 5y ago
  Yep that's fair enough. And satellite imagery too I guess.
- nradov 5y ago
  Most ATC now uses secondary radars. Those generally only pick up aircraft carrying transponders.
  - trasz 5y ago
    Good point. What about the radars used by Air Force to guard the airspace? Do they cover the interior, or only the borders?
  - xxpor 5y ago
    Secondary radar == just an RX only antenna?
    - nradov 5y ago
      Transmitter also, but not powerful enough to get a useful return from an aircraft without a transponder at any significant range.
jablongo 5y ago
I think one proposal is to have advanced wide-field cameras placed in "locations of interest". This would be much like an optical observatory and would generate petabytes of data.
- tailspin2019 5y ago
  Do you have more details on this or a source? I’m curious!
  - jablongo 5y ago
    This program (FRIPON) https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2020/12/aa38649-20/aa38649-20.html https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2020/12/aa38649-... was cited here https://www.3af.fr/global/gene/link.php?doc_id=3695&fg=1 https://www.3af.fr/global/gene/link.php?doc_id=3695&fg=1 as a candidate for repurposing for UAP detection. I'm not familiar with the legitimacy of the 3af french org, so perhaps should be taken w/ a grain of salt?
    - tailspin2019 5y ago
      Interesting!

joshuajill 5y ago

If you're curious, this previously released footage is quite detailed. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/27/pentagon-releases-three-ufo-videos-taken-by-us-navy-pilots https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/27/pentagon-relea...

stride 5y ago

You might have misunderstood the point of the ML strategy. The idea is to train a model on explainable event data such as weather balloons or wildlife as collected via various existing sensors. Then take this model and use it on historical sensor data to identify events that do not match the traits of the known events. I feel like this is a pretty reasonable use for ML.