Anyone with an interest in UFO's is going to watch the skies and hope to spot an anomalous craft. Just seeing it may give personal gratification but having some type of evidence, be it photographs, video, or corroborating witnesses is necessary. This way you will not be so easily debunked or dismissed. Whether a casual sky watcher or a full time UFO hunter, the following 9 tips can help provide the best possible information to share with the world.

1] Always be vigilant and never fall into the habit of thinking there are only certain places a UFO may be seen. While a country setting may provide better visibility and less light pollution, more sitings do occur around populous areas. Nor do UFO's keep a time clock. You are as likely to see one in broad daylight as the middle of the night.

2] Stay Calm! Yes, spotting what could well be an unearthly craft in the sky can be both exciting and frightening. You must control your emotions well enough to provide adequate reporting on the sighting.

Photo "The Future" by Juan Santiago, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

3] Once you do see a UFO, DO NOT LOOK AWAY! This is essential for giving the best observation of the craft for your report. UFO's are notorious for their rapid and often erratic movement and looking around for your camera could easily keep you from sighting it again. Use the buddy system if possible. Not only will a second person provide an alternate set of information, you can have it predetermined who will keep an eye on it and who will fetch the cameras.

4] Always keep some recording equipment handy whether it is a digital camera, cell phone with camera, or a video recording machine. Know where it is and how to get to it without loosing sight of the UFO. Remember that auto-focus is not your friend at long distances. Too many videos are nothing more than fuzzy spots of light as the camera's auto-focus bounces around trying to hold a moving object in place. Manual focus may be harder but even a couple of well-focused frames of your UFO are better than hours worth of fuzzy lights.

5] Always make sure to keep fresh, well-charged batteries in your recording equipment. If you are going to take the time to hunt UFO's be prepared for when you do find them.

6] Make sure you are clear of any obstacles to your field of view. Make sure the lens cap is not still on the camera. Don't let windows stay in your way. If in a car, roll it down. If in a building, raise the window. Glass can cause distortions as well as provide glare from other light sources which can then be used to debunk your legitimate sighting. If you are outside, get out from behind branches, leaves, power lines, or any other object that prevents the best possible shot at your mysterious target.

Photo "UFO Coming?" by Frédéric Dupont, Yerres, Essonne, France

7] Try to provide as detailed and accurate a set of information as possible. This can be done either by using a tape recorder to chronicle your sighting or write the information down. Again, with the buddy system, one person can be designated as field reporter to write down the information provided by the observer.

Some of the most important pieces of information to include are not only what you saw but what you are feeling and experiencing emotionally as well. Keep up with the time so you can give it accurately in your report. Determine how long the sighting was. Describe the weather conditions as they may contribute to a better understanding of what you might have seen. Include wind, clouds, Moon, planets, ground lights, or whatever else you may see in the area.

As for the object itself, describe any sound it made if any. Describe the shape, coloration, light patterns, movement, and any other details you can make out. Use comparative metaphors to help your audience visualize what you saw. Try to determine size of the craft and the speed it was traveling. This can be a very hard part of the report as there may be few or no references nearby. One possibility is to determine how long it took to traverse a specific arc in the sky. If it is low-flying or comes near objects that may be used for reference, by all means describe how it appeared in relation to them.

Include the names of all the people who witnessed the sighting with you. If possible, have them write down their own observations. Make copies of the reports and any photographs or video taken. You do not want to hand over your only proof copy to someone just to have it "disappear" faster than the UFO did. Guard you originals well.

Be Prepared - Day or Night

8] Don't assume all the information you can obtain is over once the UFO is out of sight. Observe the area afterward for any strange or unusual activity. Did very fast moving identifiable airplanes come chasing after it? Even in the days to follow, are there out of place people wandering around or seeming to be observing the area or yourself? This type of behavior has been observed after reporting a UFO sighting. Just because it sounds paranoid does not mean you should allow yourself to remain oblivious to anomalous attention.

9] Unless being the first one to report a UFO sighting is your most important consideration, take the time to do some follow-up research. Rather than calling 911 hysterically, check with the police or the airports and calmly ask if other people are reporting sightings. Investigate the UFO Sighting sites on the internet to see if others are talking about a sighting near where you were or one the same night that sounds like it may be the same craft elsewhere. Not only will this help clarify your understanding of the sighting but adding all the pertinent data together may either confirm a UFO or save you the embarrassment of reporting something that has already been explained as a mundane object misidentified.

Making it a habit to observe the world around you can have positive results in a much greater manner than just to get the good UFO shot. Learning to observe everything around you can help keep you more informed as well as more able to avoid even such mundane threats as a car swerving into your lane while driving or spot someone who may be stalking you with ill intent.

With the increased prevalence of UFO reports from around the world a person stands a chance of seeing some unusual object in the skies just about anywhere they happen to be. There are however some places that seem to draw anomalous sightings like flies to sugar. If you are tired of waiting in your own back yard for that mysterious sighting, you may want to book passage to some of the "UFO hotspots" where strange lights and objects seem to congregate.

North America has a number of these places where multiple sightings are common. Upper New York near Niagara Falls gets more than its share of unidentifiable lights in the sky. To the West, Mount Adams, Washington is host to so many unexplainable light shows that James Gilliland, founder of Enlightened Contact with Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (ECETI) has a ranch at the mountain's base where he hosts UFO seekers who are rarely disappointed. Mount Adams is also where pilot Kenneth Arnold saw the craft that first inspired the term "flying saucer" in 1947.

Mexico City, Mexico and the surrounding countryside seem to attract a number of different types of UFO. In April 2005 thousands of citizens of the city witnessed what was first a few silvery orbs floating in the sky only to be stunned as well over a hundred of these mysterious objects appeared and maneuvered through the sky. The event provided great film footage as the event was in full daylight just as so many UFO sightings in Mexico City occur.

Wiltshire, England is an area that contains not only the monolithic Stonehenge but also wide fields that continue to erupt in crop circles. For over 50 years the citizens have become almost used to the strange lights in the sky and deep booming sounds coming down from above. UFO hunters even hold an annual sky watch at Cradle Hill and are frequent observers at nearby Cley Hill.

Since the early 1990's the number of shiny metallic looking spheres appearing around San Clemente, Chile, prompted the local tourism board to dub the area the "UFO Trail" in 2008. While the terrain is rough, serious UFO hunters often travel to nearby El Enlandrillado for a chance to catch the aerial shows.

ET has not forgotten Australia either. Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, is as well known for UFO activity as the area around Roswell, New Mexico. The Falkirk Triangle in Scotland has spent the last twenty years being presented with multiple unidentified lights and craft. Thousands of residents have reported these oft-occurring events with the small town of Bonnybridge topping the list with an average of 300 sightings a year. Falkirk was responsible for over 6,000 pages of report data recently released to the public by the Ministry of Defense.

These are not the only places for long-term multiple sightings. From the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico to Sochi, Russia, to Ladakh in the Himalayan Mountains some areas of our Earth seem to hold an especial fondness for whatever or whoever pilots these mysterious craft.