How to actually document UAP sightings - a guide that doesn't sound like rubbish

Everyone and their nan's got a mobile now, but half the UAP footage out there looks like someone's filmed a crisp packet through a foggy windscreen at night. If we're serious about this, we need better documentation standards.

Here's what I recommend: Use your phone's torch to time-reference footage (quick flash at start and end), note the exact time and GPS coordinates, describe weather conditions, get witness statements from at least one other person, and upload raw footage - not compressed TikTok garbage. I've been monitoring the skies over the Yorkshire moors for five years and the difference between good evidence and "see? UFO!" is literally just taking ten extra minutes.

Skeptics will tear your work apart anyway, so you might as well make it bulletproof. What's your current setup?

This is actually solid advice and I hate admitting it. Too many posts here are basically "I saw a light move fast and weird" with zero corroborating evidence. If you want people to take UAP seriously, you need to approach it like actual scientists do. Photo metadata, clear audio reference points, multiple witness statements with contact details - that's how you get results.

I use a Canon EOS M50 with a telephoto lens mounted on a tripod, proper tripod not a cheap Argos one. Cost me about £800 total but I've caught some genuinely unexplained phenomena over the Scottish Highlands. The key is patience - you spend 95% of your time filming boring clouds and 5% catching something worth analysing. GPS timestamps are essential because skeptics will always ask where and when.

All well and good but honestly the authorities don't care how good your documentation is. They've known about UAPs for decades and they're not interested in what some bloke from Yorkshire filmed in his back garden. The real evidence is probably classified.

GPS coordinates, describe weather conditions, get witness statements from at least one other person

This is what separates actual research from fan fiction. I've been doing this for years and the best footage I've ever captured came from having a mate present to verify what we were seeing. One person can be confused or hallucinating - two people seeing the same thing is data.

What lens specs would you recommend for someone just starting out? I don't want to drop £800 immediately if I'm just doing this as a hobby. Currently using a Samsung Galaxy with a telephoto lens but the results are pretty mediocre in low light.