Most UFO evidence is not good evidence. Bad evidence (which we have in abundance) includes 1) blurry nighttime photos of blobs of light with no point of reference, 2) fake photographs, 3) eyewitness accounts, 4)anecdotal accounts or declassified government documents that are so blacked out they are impossible to read, 5) speculative theories, and 6)the annoying statement "absence of of proof is not proof of absence." Let's first look at the bad evidence and explain why its bad, then make some suggestions for what might constitute good evidence.

BAD PHOTOS. We've all seen them. Blobs of light against a dark background and... Okay, that's it. Just blobs of light against a dark background. Sometimes we are presented with short videos of blobs of light against a dark background that appear to be moving. These may or may not be evidence of UFOs. We can't tell because the photographs and videos are so poorly made. Even daylight photos (such as the many coming out of Mexico in recent years)are so blurred and without reference points they could be photos or clips of almost anything.

FAKE PHOTOS. Ever since Adobe Photo Shop was invented, photographic evidence of any kind has lost a lot of credibility. It is now possible to fabricate a very convincing photograph of almost anything, real or imagined. But even as far back as the 1950's, people were faking UFO photos and getting paid handsomely for them. Sometimes the string suspending the UFO in front of the camera was actually visible in these pictures.

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS. Even in unrelated areas such as law enforcement and law practice, eyewitness accounts have been shown again and again to be the least reliable form of evidence. Not only do eyewitness accounts differ from person to person, they change over time. This is due not so much to any given person's propensity to embellish or lie outright, but rather to the nature of memory, which adjusts itself in every case to the current situation and the survival needs of that situation. Memory is notoriously open to suggestion, even in people who mean well. Mis-perception is another issue. Humans are so prone to it, that an entire branch of entertainment has grown up around it: stage magic. Hundreds of eyewitness accounts are suggestive, provocative, and fascinating; they are just not good evidence.

ANECDOTAL ACCOUNTS. Joe Schmoe is a scientist who was employed by the US military in the late 1950s to reverse-engineer military craft from captured Roswell UFOs.

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