Sighting Categorization

Most ufologists devise some means to categorize their collection of sighting reports.  J. Allen Hynek published a simple system in 1972 for quantifying strangeness.  He defined these categories:

Class Category Characteristics
Distant Sightings Nocturnal Lights; NL Only a light is seen, although it may behave anomalously.
Daylight Discs; DD Typically an oval or disc shape.
Radar-Visual; RV Simultaneous, direct observation by radar and human eye.
Close Encounters First Kind; CE1 Close range, details visible, but no interaction with environment.
Second Kind; CE2 Physical effects -- ground marks, tree branches broken, animals frightened, vehicle interference, headlights, etc.
Third Kind; CE3 Alien occupants observed in and/or around the UFO.

Later researchers added a CE4; close encounter of the fourth kind: abduction.

Jacques Vallée, a close associate of Hynek, published a more detailed system in 1990 to better describe the growing range of reported phenomena.  But note that Vallée, who questioned that people are actually abducted, provided no explicit symbol for abduction:

1 2 3 4 5

AN
Anomaly

FB
Fly-by

MA
Maneuver

CE
Close Encounter
Sighting Physical
Effects		 Living
Entities		 Reality
Transfor-
mation		 Lasting
Injury

Some researchers, e.g. John E. Mack, postulate that reality transformation phenomena occur during the sighting while the witness experiences altered states of consciousness: mental states subjectively recognized as different in psychological functioning from the normal, alert state.

Using Vallée's system, what three-character code would you give to the sighting of an object which circled your house at treetop height, with an alien figure visible in the dome of the object?  Answer

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