Friday, October 22, 2021

Introduction - UFO databases, data warehousing and AI analytical tools

This blog focuses on my accelerating efforts from 2005 onwards to develop various UFO databases, a UFO data warehouse and related Artificial Intelligence tools for the analysis of UFO data. This will include details of UFOware, OffCat and other projects that I have been working on.

This overlaps with some of my smaller projects such as a project to scan UFO material (which has now covered most of the world's UFO newsletters/magazines, most UFO books, a mass of UFO case files, UFO dissertations, official UFO documents from various countries and other written material) and to make UFO audio-visual material more accessible (which has resulted in the sharing online of over 2 million pages of automated transcripts and related indexes).

I have, of course, not been working alone on many of these sub-projects. For example, the scanning project has involved helping to coordinate an informal network of over 100 UFO groups/researchers.  Details and credits in relation to that sub-project are given on another of my blogs - "Isaac Koi - New Uploads", particularly in an introductory item : "Scanning project : Introduction and general permission request". 

The lines (if any) between systematised UFO databases (including spreadsheets and formal databases) and collections of raw, unsystematised UFO data (including in books, newsletters, case files and otherwise) have become increasingly blurred given the development of increasingly sophisticated tools (including Artificial Intelligence software) which can extract data from a myriad of forms of information.  

We may have reached the point that development of formal UFO databases is increasingly not the most cost effective way forward. Indeed, they may be becoming redundant. Since around 2010, I have increasingly thought that the focus should be on the AI tools for analysis of any digitised form of UFO information and, of course, the related matter of digitising relevant UFO information.

However, a data warehouse can make use of, and complement, formal UFO databases. We do not have to choose whether to develop a database or a datawarehouse.  A datawarehouse can, of course, contain one or (obviously...) more UFO databases.

This blog will detail:

(1) Some previous UFO databases (and related UFO catalogues, indexes, bibliographies, lists, spreadsheets etc);

(2) Some new UFO databases, including OffCat;

(3) UFO datawarehousing projects, including UFOware;

(4) Tools for making the most of the above (including, but not limited to, Artificial Intelligence tools for analysing data).

 



6 comments:

  1. Great news Isaak. Last year, with CISU, we have theorized the structure of an intelligent database to process the mosr relevant CE3 cases in Italy. We are stuck due to various reasons ( the how to mostly) , so the presentation of your Ufology tools and results will be more than welcome.

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  2. Hi Isaac,

    I recall a database lost for some time. I'm trying to recall the owners name. He passed away several years ago. Larry Haas may be his name. *U* database?

    Terry in Thailand

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  3. Great blog!
    I would suggest a dual approach: For basic data of a UFO case we need a worldwide consented (small) data model. Everything beyond that could be made accessible with analysis tools, but with the awareness that no 100% hit rates can be achieved with these.
    Please consider our current database, www.ufo-db.com, where we have consented a data model among the German-speaking associations based on a commonly used German UFO questionnaire!

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  4. I found the database archived but it seems to be 'infected' as the Update window was hard to close. Larry Hatch is the name.
    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwifscHMuO7zAhXA3jgGHSz1AwUQFnoECAwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pdf-archive.com%2F2016%2F06%2F21%2Fu-ufo-database-by-larry-hatch%2F&usg=AOvVaw2qS3hcnjhxftdOTddkyHqk

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    Replies
    1. The Google search link information:
      U UFO Database by Larry Hatch .pdf
      https://www.pdf-archive.com › 2016/06/21 › u-ufo-dat...
      Jun 21, 2559 BE — map, and do statistics on UFO reports worldwide. Dates range from recent to ancient times. Foo fighters, ghost rockets, flying saucers, disks, ..

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