Stay where you are, protect people and property, and record what you can actually observe. Do not approach a landed object or put yourself at risk for a closer look or better video. In the United States, the FAA directs general reports of UAP or unexplained phenomena to the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO); an apparent dangerous or criminal drone operation should be reported to local law enforcement immediately. Use emergency services whenever there is an immediate threat to life or property.
1. Make safety your first decision
An unusual light or aircraft can be harmless, but you cannot determine that safely by moving closer. Remain in a secure place such as a building, vehicle, or public area away from traffic, restricted sites, unstable terrain, and crowds. Keep children and other bystanders with you rather than sending anyone to investigate.
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- Do not approach, touch, or enter the area around an object that has landed.
- Do not shine lasers, launch objects, fly a drone toward it, or otherwise interfere with an aircraft or unknown device.
- Do not stand in a roadway, on a runway boundary, on a roof, or near power lines to improve your view.
- If smoke, fire, an impact, falling debris, injuries, a collision risk, or threatening behavior is present, stop observing and call your local emergency number.
The FAA Aeronautical Information Manual says that if people believe life or property may be endangered by unidentified anomalous phenomena, they should report the activity to local law enforcement. Emergency dispatchers need the hazard and location first; an explanation for the object can wait.
2. Record observations, not conclusions
A useful report describes what happened without deciding what the object was. Write notes as soon as practical, using a clock and location you can identify later. The FAA’s aviation-safety guidance calls for the date, time, location, people and aircraft involved when applicable, the nature of the event, and pertinent details.
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Minimum field notes
- Date and time: Include your time zone and whether the time is approximate.
- Exact viewing location: Give a street, landmark, coordinates, or the nearest airport or town, while avoiding unnecessary personal information in a public post.
- Duration: Note when you first saw it and when you lost sight of it.
- Direction and movement: Record the direction you faced, the path across the sky, apparent speed, turns, hovering, changes in altitude, and whether the motion was steady or intermittent.
- Appearance: Describe color, number of lights, shape as seen from your position, relative size, brightness, sound, exhaust or contrail, and any changes.
- Viewing conditions: Note cloud cover, visibility, wind if known, precipitation, daylight or darkness, nearby lights, and obstructions such as buildings or trees.
- People and equipment: List other direct witnesses and whether you used a phone, camera, binoculars, or no device.
- Result: State where it went, whether it disappeared behind an obstruction, and whether anyone or anything was affected.
A paper notebook or ordinary note app is sufficient. The FAA and NASA guidance does not require a telescope, binoculars, special camera, or other purchase. If you make a recording, keep the original file and note when and how it was captured; do not crop or enhance it in a way that removes context before preserving the original.
3. Choose the reporting channel by risk and event type
These channels serve different purposes. In the United States, use the most urgent applicable option rather than sending an emergency to an informational portal.
| What you observed | First contact | Purpose and limits |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate danger to life or property | Local emergency services or law enforcement | Use for crashes, fire, injuries, threats, dangerous flight, or any urgent hazard. Do not delay the call to collect more evidence. |
| Dangerous or apparently criminal drone operation | Local law-enforcement first responders immediately | The FAA’s drone-reporting guidance identifies law enforcement as the immediate route. An apparent FAA rule violation may also be referred to the local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). |
| Non-emergency UAP or unexplained-phenomena observation | All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) | The current FAA Aeronautical Information Manual directs people who want to report UAP or unexplained phenomena to the AARO website. |
| Aviation-safety concern without an immediate emergency | NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) | ASRS accepts voluntary reports about aviation safety issues. It is not an emergency service and does not replace the FAA’s AARO referral for a general UAP report. |
4. Reporting a general UAP observation in the United States
For a public, non-emergency report of an unexplained object or phenomenon, follow the FAA’s current direction to visit the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) website. Use the description you documented rather than presenting an unverified identity, origin, or motive.
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Prepare the narrative
- Write the date, local time, time zone, and viewing location.
- Describe the sky and operating environment: daylight or darkness, weather, visibility, nearby lighting, and obstructions.
- Describe the object’s appearance and apparent motion from your viewpoint.
- State how long you observed it and how the observation ended.
- Identify other direct witnesses if they consent, and explain whether a recording exists.
- Separate direct observations from interpretations. For example, write “three lights moved west and disappeared behind cloud” rather than “a silent triangular craft traveled at impossible speed” unless those details were actually measured.
Keep a copy of what you submit and the date of submission. Portal fields and agency responsibilities can change, so check the current FAA Aeronautical Information Manual and AARO instructions at the time you report.
5. If the object may be a dangerous or criminal drone
A drone flying near people, airports, emergency operations, restricted areas, or property can create an immediate safety problem even when its operator is unknown. The FAA says to notify local law enforcement first responders immediately for a dangerous or apparently criminal drone operation.
Details that help responders
- Give the drone’s current location and direction, not only where you first saw it.
- Describe altitude approximately (for example, rooftop height or above a tree line) without guessing a precise measurement.
- Report behavior such as hovering over a crowd, following a person, shining a light into windows, dropping something, or approaching an aircraft.
- Note a controller or operator only if you can see one safely; do not confront or follow that person.
- Preserve original photos or video and tell officers whether the object is still visible.
If you believe the event violates an FAA rule but is not an emergency, the FAA says you may also contact your local Flight Standards District Office. That additional referral does not replace an immediate law-enforcement call when someone may be in danger.
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6. When NASA ASRS is the right fit
NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System is designed for aviation-safety issues. NASA characterizes ASRS as a “voluntary, confidential, non-punitive, safety reporting system,” and says anyone may report an issue related to aviation safety. A witness who observed a near miss, hazardous operating practice, communication problem, or other safety event may therefore have a reason to use ASRS.
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ASRS is not a substitute for emergency services, police notification, or the FAA’s AARO direction for a general unexplained-phenomena report. NASA’s UAS safety guidance uses prompts such as who, what, where, when, why, and how, along with weather, lighting, operating environment, and the result. Those prompts can help organize a narrative, but they are written for UAS safety reporting and should not be treated as mandatory fields for every public UAP observation.
NASA’s current ASRS overview reports that more than 2 million safety reports have been collected and analyzed since 1976. This is a cumulative ASRS program figure, not a count of UAP sightings. ASRS protections also have eligibility conditions and a 10-day reporting timeframe for qualifying FAA protections; do not assume that every submission provides immunity or that filing one shields unlawful conduct.
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7. What to do if you are outside the United States
The procedures above are U.S. federal guidance and should not be presented as a universal international system. If you are elsewhere, contact your national aviation authority for non-emergency aviation reporting and your local emergency or law-enforcement service for danger, suspected crime, or an unsafe drone. Follow the reporting body’s current instructions about privacy, evidence, and deadlines.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.8. Keep observation separate from explanation
“Unidentified” means only that you do not yet know what you saw. It does not establish an extraordinary origin. A point of light can be affected by distance, perspective, atmospheric conditions, camera exposure, or nearby objects; apparent hovering or unusual speed can also result from viewing geometry. The official guidance cited here does not provide a universal method for identifying every unfamiliar light or object.
Use calibrated language in notes and reports: “appeared,” “seemed,” “possibly,” and “I could not determine” are more accurate than certainty based on a short observation. Do not edit a recording to imply details that were not visible, and do not identify a person, aircraft, or operator from an indistinct image.
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9. Common situations and the safest response
You see a bright light moving steadily with no apparent danger
Stay in place, record time, direction, duration, lights, sound, and conditions, then use the AARO route for a U.S. public UAP report. Do not chase it or divert traffic to keep it in view.
An object appears to descend toward a neighborhood
Move people away from the apparent landing area and call emergency services or local law enforcement if there is any chance of impact, fire, hazardous material, or injury. Do not approach a landed object while waiting for responders.
A drone repeatedly approaches an airport, helicopter, crowd, or emergency scene
Call local law enforcement first responders immediately and state the current location and behavior. If safe, preserve the original recording and note the time. Do not attempt to disable, signal, or follow the drone.
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Use the applicable emergency or air-traffic procedure first. After the immediate risk is controlled, consider an ASRS report for the aviation-safety event and provide the operational details requested by that system.
10. A compact checklist before you submit anything
- Is anyone in immediate danger? If yes, call local emergency services now.
- Could this be a dangerous or criminal drone operation? If yes, notify local law enforcement immediately.
- Have you written the date, time zone, location, duration, direction, movement, appearance, sound, and conditions?
- Have you separated what you saw from what you think it was?
- Did you preserve original files and avoid unsafe attempts to improve the view?
- Are you using AARO for a U.S. public UAP report, ASRS for an aviation-safety issue, or the appropriate national authority outside the United States?
- Have you checked the current agency instructions, since portals and responsibilities can change?
11. What not to do after the sighting
- Do not trespass, climb, drive while filming, or enter a restricted area.
- Do not confront a suspected operator or publish private identifying information based on a guess.
- Do not call emergency services merely to obtain an explanation when there is no hazard; reserve urgent lines for urgent safety concerns.
- Do not treat a blurry image, social-media claim, or unverified witness account as proof of an extraordinary explanation.
- Do not assume a report automatically triggers an investigation, provides legal protection, or confirms what the object was.
The most useful response is disciplined and proportional: protect people first, preserve direct observations, and send the information to the agency whose job matches the risk and event type.
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