Public information

Mission

The Department applies systematic, evidence-based investigation to reported phenomena that have not yet been adequately explained. Investigations begin without a presumed conclusion: every plausible explanation, conventional or otherwise, is considered and tested against the evidence. Where an ordinary explanation accounts for a report, the Department says so.

It is a private, independent body. It holds no affiliation with any government and receives no public funding. Its findings carry weight only to the extent that its methods are sound, which is why those methods are published.

Jurisdiction

The primary area of study is the United States, with field operations throughout the country. Inquiry is not limited by national borders, and reports from elsewhere are recorded when they bear on a subject under study.

The Department has no authority over anyone. It does not intervene in private or public life except by request, or where there is an imminent risk to human life, and then only to preserve life and within the law.

Areas of study

Unclassified biological organisms

Animals reported but not described by science. Studied as biology: range, behaviour, physical evidence.

Unidentified aerial phenomena

Objects or lights in the air without an established explanation.

Anomalous sites

Places with reported geological, electromagnetic, or atmospheric properties that do not match their surroundings.

Events of undetermined origin

Incidents with reliable witnesses and no satisfactory account.

Other reported phenomena

Anything else reported in good faith that has not been adequately explained.

How to read a record

Every released record carries the same markings. They mean the following.

Danger level

The Department's assessment of risk to a person who encounters the subject. GREEN no known risk; AMBER caution advised; RED avoid; ECLIPSE lethal; do not approach. Danger levels are always public, so people can make their own decisions.

Verdict

What the evidence supports: CONFIRMED, PROBABLE, UNRESOLVED, UNSUPPORTED, EXPLAINED, or FABRICATED. A verdict is released when the case closes, and is always the current assessment as of the date shown. No verdict is final; any case can be reopened.

Evidence grade

A to D, from a physical specimen or trace examined by the Department down to an unverifiable account.

Region

Locations are given by broad region only. Exact places are never released, for the safety of people, property, and the subjects themselves.

Redactions

A black bar with a marking, such as ██████████[TS], shows where a passage is withheld and the level at which it is held. Passages are withheld for safety, not to conceal findings.

Records policy

Release of records is discretionary. The Department may withhold information, chiefly to protect individuals or the integrity of an investigation, but it does not state falsehoods. The full commitments are set out in the Charter.