Best budget thermal camera setup for UAP work?

Right lads, I've been doing visual observation for about three years now but I'm finally ready to upgrade my kit. Currently I've just got a decent pair of binoculars and my phone camera, which is frankly rubbish for anything moving quickly.

I'm looking at thermal imaging to get a bit more serious. Budget's around £800-1200 for the actual camera. I've seen some secondhand FLIR units going but I'm worried about reliability. Does anyone have experience with the cheaper Seek Thermal stuff? Or should I save up and go for something proper?

I'm mainly monitoring over the Pennines on clear nights, so I need something with decent range. Any recommendations before I spend a fortune on kit that'll just sit in my shed?

FLIR E8 or E50 if you can stretch to £1500 second-hand. Honestly worth the extra. I bought mine off eBay three years ago and it's still going strong. The Seek stuff is okay for a laugh but the image quality drops off badly beyond about 50 metres.

I've seen some secondhand FLIR units going but I'm worried about reliability

Don't bother with any of it, mate. Most 'UAPs' are just planes at weird angles or Chinese lanterns. Save your money and get down the pub instead 😄

I've got a used Fluke Ti32 and honestly it's been brilliant. Cost me £900 last year. The image stabilisation is decent enough for handheld work. Pair it with a decent tripod mount (another £80) and you're sorted. The battery life is annoying - only about 4 hours - so get spare batteries.

Thermal alone won't help you much without correlating data. You need concurrent audio recording and GPS logging at minimum. Have you set up any of that infrastructure yet? Otherwise you're just getting expensive holiday snaps.

If you're serious about this, join the UFO Sightings Network or MUFON. They've got better forums than this place for proper kit discussions. Worth the membership honestly.