A tongue-in-cheek look at UFO data collected by the British government in 2009, demonstrating the awesome capabilities of the Palantir Government analysis platform...

1. Leveraging the
Palantir Government
Analysis Platform.
IMSL - Alien Activity Analysis Cell*
* So Damned Secret, We Don’t Really Exist.

2. UFO Activity Reporting in the UK
Up until 01 Dec
09 the Ministry
of Defence in
the United
Kingdom kept
records of
every sighting
of an
unidentified
Flying Object
(UFO) reported
by members of
the public.

3. The Ministry of Defence
We don’t know why
the government went
to the effort of
collecting and
recording this
data*, but we’ve not
seen any coherent
analysis of it.
So what does this
data tell us about
UFO sightings over
the UK?
* It’s possible that this was a cold war legacy issue, and there were
concerns regarding the presence of enemy aircraft over the UK. Then again,
it’s not unknown for the UK MoD to do things without having any specific
objective, logic or rationale in mind…

4. Where do UFO sightings occur?
locations of individual ‘heat map’ giving
incidents. concentrations of activity.

5. Where do UFO sightings occur? #2
population density of
Britian. (light green =
low pop density)
Clear Correlations
For a UFO sighting you
need two things – the
viewer and the object
itself.
More viewers = more
likelihood of a sighting?

6. Where do UFO sightings occur? #2
But also
interesting
anomalies…

7. When do UFO sightings occur?
Your best chance of seeing a UFO (as opposed
to a Chinese lantern or a firework) is mid-
July to mid September.
No spike for new- Interesting period of heightened Bonfire
year fireworks… activity with no immediately Night.
apparent explanation.
Weekend closest
Diwali
to Chinese
Lantern Festival Halloween

8. When do UFO sightings occur? #2
Saturday night at pub closing
time is when you’re most likely
to see an UFO.
Moon Phase does not appear to
influence UFO sighting.

9. Is it the drink?
Left: shows UFO
reporting.
Right: shows
Alcohol
consumption in
the UK.
No clear correlation
between alcohol consumption
and UFO sightings on
available data…

10. Trends and Patterns in
Appearance
By far the most
common colour
for a UFO is Red By far the most
/ Orange common shape for a
UFO is circular /
spherical.
Are we seeing quite a lot
of Chinese lanterns being
reported as UFOs?

11. Are any sightings corroborated?
By picking one day
(25 Jul) we can see
that the sightings Data for these events
are spread across the shows significant
country. Only two discrepancies in
(Reading area) are shape, colour and
close enough to be number of objects.
likely to be the same
object…

12. Are any sightings corroborated?
#2 By focussing in on just one
But interestingly colour of UFO (white) we can see
the two temporally a similarly large geographical
close events are and temporal distribution.
also
geographically
close
Looking at the source reporting
shows that there are significant
differences between the accounts.

13. So You Want to See a UFO?
A 5 Point Guide for Aspirant UFO Spotters:
1. Go to Cornwall or the North-West coast of Wales.
2. Aim for sometime between Mid-July and Mid-September.
3. Look skywards at around pub closing time on Saturday
night.
4. Having had a few beers may not increase the likelihood
of a sighting, but it probably won’t decrease it either…
5. Go alone: UFO’s don’t seem to appear to more than one
person at a time.
Good Luck.

14. Who Are IMSL?
IMSL are experts in analysis and intelligence management.
We don’t really have an Alien Activity Analysis Cell. We just
found an interesting dataset.
But the question we would like you to ask is this:
If a bunch of geeks can do this with some quirky data
about aliens, what insight could they provide you by using
the same tools and techniques on your data?.
Drop us an email, and let’s talk. Because...
The Truth Is Out There!
http://intelmsl.com/contact/

15. Further Reading...
Find the raw data on UFOs here:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInformation/Publicatio
nScheme/SearchPublicationScheme/UfoReportsInTheUk.htm
Find out more about the awesome Palantir intelligence platform
here: http://www.palantir.com/government/analysis-blog