Initiated during 2009 and under the framework of the International Year of Astronomy ⁽¹⁾, The Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena (UAP) Observations Reporting Scheme is a project aimed at facilitating the collection of UAP reports from both amateur and professional astronomers, via a questionnaire to be downloaded from a dedicated website.

Over the last 60 years the UAP ⁽²⁾ subject (popularly known as UFOs) has generated intense interest and invaded the modern consciousness on a worldwide basis. Despite the fact that the majority of sightings can be attributed to the misidentification of natural or man-made objects, a small residue of cases seems to remain unexplained and the debate over and fascination for the extraterrestrial hypothesis regularly resurfaces among the public.

The need for legitimacy of the UAP topic has been reiterated several times during the last two years when various countries, such as France, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, have started officially opening their governmental files on the subject to the public and to the scientific community.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder
and discovery. (See http://www.astronomy2009.org/)

⁽²⁾ The term “Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena” or UAP refers to: “A UAP is the reported sighting of an object or light seen in the sky or on land, whose appearance, trajectory, actions, motions, lights, and colours do not have a logical, conventional, or natural explanation, and which cannot be explained, not only by the original witness, but by scientists or technical experts who try to make a common sense identification after examining the evidence.”