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Sci-Fi Open Source

UFO Hunters Built an Open-Source AI System To Scan the Skies (vice.com) 72

Posted by BeauHD from the citizen-led-UFO-research dept.
An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a Motherboard article: Now, frustrated with a lack of transparency and trust around official accounts of UFO phenomena, a team of developers has decided to take matters into their own hands with an open source citizen science project called Sky360, which aims to blanket the earth in affordable monitoring stations to watch the skies 24/7, and even plans to use AI and machine learning to spot anomalous behavior. Unlike earlier 20th century efforts such as inventors proposing "geomagnetic detectors" to discover nearby UFOs, or more recent software like the short-lived UFO ID project, Sky360 hopes that it can establish a network of autonomously operating surveillance units to gather real-time data of our skies. Citizen-led UFO research is not new. Organizations like MUFON, founded in 1969, have long investigated sightings, while amateur groups like the American Flying Saucer Investigating Committee of Columbus even ran statistical analysis on sightings in the 1960s (finding that most of them happened on Wednesdays). However, Sky360 believes that the level of interest and the technology have now both reached an inflection point, where citizen researchers can actually generate large-scale actionable data for analysis all on their own.

The Sky360 stations consist of an AllSkyCam with a wide angle fish-eye lens and a pan-tilt-focus camera, with the fish-eye camera registering all movement. Underlying software performs an initial rough analysis of these events, and decides whether to activate other sensors -- and if so, the pan-tilt-focus camera zooms in on the object, tracks it, and further analyzes it. According to developer Nikola Galiot, the software is currently based on a computer vision "background subtraction" algorithm that detects any motion in the frame compared to previous frames captured; anything that moves is then tracked as long as possible and then automatically classified. The idea is that the more data these monitoring stations acquire, the better the classification will be. There are a combination of AI models under the hood, and the system is built using the open-source TensorFlow machine learning platform so it can be deployed on almost any computer. Next, the all-volunteer team wants to create a single algorithm capable of detection, tracking and classification all in one.

All the hardware components, from the cameras to passive radar and temperature gauges, can be bought cheaply and off-the-shelf worldwide -- with the ultimate goal of finding the most effective combinations for the lowest price. Schematics, blueprints, and suggested equipment are all available on the Sky360 site and interested parties are encouraged to join the project's Discord server. There are currently 20 stations set up across the world, from the USA to Canada to more remote regions like the Azores in the middle of the Atlantic [...] Once enough of the Sky360 stations have been deployed, the next step is to work towards real-time monitoring, drawing all the data together, and analyzing it. By striving to create a huge, open, transparent network, anyone would be free to examine the data themselves.

In June of this year, Sky360, which has a team of 30 volunteer developers working on the software, hopes to release its first developer-oriented open source build. At its heart is a component called 'SimpleTracker', which receives images frame by frame from the cameras, auto-adjusting parameters to get the best picture possible. The component determines whether something in the frame is moving, and if so, another analysis is performed, where a machine learning algorithm trained on the trajectories of normal flying objects like planes, birds, or insects, attempts to classify the object based on its movement. If it seems anomalous, it's flagged for further investigation.
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UFO Hunters Built an Open-Source AI System To Scan the Skies More

UFO Hunters Built an Open-Source AI System To Scan the Skies

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  • I don't get aliens (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Blue_Astronomy_Geek ( 6006148 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2023 @10:47PM (#63510103)

    I know UFOs (or UAPs) are not always suggested to be by aliens. But I don't get the idea of aliens. Do people really think that various alien races are flying trillions of kilometers to our planet, flying around a bit, abducting people, mutilating cattle or making crop circles, and then flying back? Why don't they contact us? Or conquer us... It makes no sense.

    • We can fly to Thailand for a weekend. We would not have done that when it was a monthlong boat ride, but now we do.

      • Re: I don't get aliens (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Joce640k ( 829181 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @12:50AM (#63510227) Homepage

        Flying to Thailand doesn't break any laws of physics.

        • Re: I don't get aliens (Score:4, Funny)

          by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @01:49AM (#63510295)

          Depending on what you intend to do there, it can break quite a few other types of laws...

          • Depending on what you intend to do there, it can break quite a few other types of laws...

            That's precisely the point being made: Would they really come all that way and not do anything illegal to the locals?

            • I think you've missed the point - the tourists don't give a shit about whether what they do in [foreign country] is illegal there. They're not expecting to get caught (or if they get caught, to be able to bribe/ diplomacy their way out of trouble). What they're concerned about is if their actions abroad follow them home and result in convictions for crimes in their home country.

              If mutilating alien food animals or anally probing a redneck without a complete memory-wipe afterwards is a crime on Betelgeuse-7,

        • Flying to Thailand doesn't break any laws of physics.

          Thats the thing that gets me about all of this. The common refrain is "Well, we dont know what sort of tech we would have in a thousand years", and heres the thing. In a hundred years, thousand years, million years and in a billion years, the speed of light will remain precisely the same (Because it has done so for the last 13 billion) and have precisely the same laws guarding it. We just aren't getting around those. Physics is a bitch like that.

          Well unle

          • Which physics are you talking about? The 2023 version? The 1905 version? The 1890 version? I am quite sure the physicists of 2123 will look back at our 'physics' and think 'how quaint', they thought there a light speed limit ....haha

            • If you could break the speed of light, we'd be seeing time travellers.

              I dont see time travellers. That means it doesn't get broken. In fact the fact it doesn't get broken is literally the only information you can recieve from the future, a message you recieve in the form of "No time travellers".

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by 605dave ( 722736 )

          Yup, we know everything now! Good thing we weren't born 100 years ago when they didn't know everything, because now we do!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by taustin ( 171655 )

        But we do not fly to Thailand for the weekend and not interact with the locals in any way.

    • Do people really think that various alien races are flying trillions of kilometers to our planet, flying around a bit, abducting people, mutilating cattle or making crop circles, and then flying back?

      Yes.

      frustrated with a lack of transparency and trust around official accounts of UFO phenomena

      ie. The official accounts aren't pandering to the nutjobs or telling them what they want to hear.

    • > Why don't they contact us?

      1. They already have. Multiple times such as the Taygetans. Governments literally got scared shitless about not being able to defend themselves so they declared everything classified with the excuse of "National Security" to save face.

      2. Technically they aren't officially allowed to as the Prime Directive of the Galactic Federation of Light doesn't allow official contact for undeveloped species that haven't yet developed FTL. I know it all sounds like a bad episode of Star Tr

    • Why don't they contact us? Or conquer us... It makes no sense.

      Prime Directive [wikipedia.org]

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      Think of Earth as a Alien Amusement Park. They don't come here for any serious reasons, just for giggles and the occasional intercourse with humans.

      The proposed Sky-Watch-Net should be fun.

      SKN-Geek: Hot damn, I think we got one!

      Scientist: Errrmmm....it looks like a duck.

      SKN-Geek: It may be a duck but it is an Alien Duck.

    • See A., B. Strugatsky: "Roadside Picnic" (spoiler: they never did make contact with the aliens)
    • Anthropomorphize all you want, but it doesn't get you answers

    • Well admittedly, that's what we do on the moon, fly huge distance to get there, fly around a bit, occasionally land to hit a golfball or collect some rocks leaving rover tracks, then fly back. Why don't we contact "them"? Or conquer them? It makes no sense.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sloppy ( 14984 )

      I'm not saying it's practical, but c'mon, you never went out and did a little teasing after buying a new saucer? It's right up there with counting the parsecs in your Kessel run.

    • Everyone assumes these things are intelligent. From the behaviors I've seen in the reports, all they seem do is move together, dart away suddenly and hang around areas of activity as if curious.

      My guppies do that.

      These things may be aliens, and may have evolved in space with the ability to move without propellants, but I see no evidence of intelligence whatsoever.

    • The crop circles are almost certainly made by humans. Many have been caught in the act, and some happily demonstrate their technique.

      > and then flying back?

      We don't know that. Maybe they usually hang out in stealth mode or the far side of the moon or an asteroid, etc.

      • Yeah, I think cattle mutilation is done by people too.

        Okay, I guess they could be hiding, but it still seems strange to travel here, do relatively little, hide, and presumably eventually go back home.

  • Glad to hear about this approach (Score:3)

    by Beerismydad ( 1677434 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2023 @11:32PM (#63510155)
    There will be lots of false positives at first (I know, I know... defining a "positive" case of something UNIDENTIFIED is a bit slippery) but it is still good to establish a uniform approach to collect much more data. Over time, a small subset of data collected will probably align with the findings released by the U.S. DoD and Intelligence Community; that there are still many cases of "we don't know what that particular thing is, but we are trying to figure it out". Any additional imagery/telemetry captured by this effort will contribute toward a better understanding of what is happening.

    • Re:Glad to hear about this approach (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @02:06AM (#63510331)
      There is a 100% probability they will find something.

      It is also 100% certain it will not be outer space aliens.

      The people who will find life off Earth will be astrobiologists and/or astronomers. It will not be some farmer in the back 40, a aircraft pilot, a bunch of true believer nerds using the latest AI fad, or some wacko out in the middle of the desert.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Viol8 ( 599362 )

        And don't forget that despite this being the era of smartphones with beyond HD camera definition any pictures or videos with look like they were taken on something made in the 19th century. In the dark.

        • Re:Glad to hear about this approach (Score:5, Interesting)

          by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @06:31AM (#63510597) Homepage Journal

          > the era of smartphones with beyond HD camera definition

          What exactly are you expecting smartphones can do?

          Here's a video I took:

          https://youtu.be/Bel6val5yN8 [youtu.be]

          a few weeks ago of a KC-46A Pegasus refueling an unknown craft (no ADSB) at 21,000' in clear skies with low humidity and good light for making out detail.

          This is a Pixel 5 at maximum optical zoom with no postprocessing.

          The aircraft are barely disernable. I can't even ID the second craft because this is the limit of the sensor. It's much, much better than the Galaxy S4 I started with but still quite limited.

          For reference, I have thirty years' experience in the field and (previously) in the darkroom.

          Just because NASA tracking cameras can get a good image of a SpaceX launch does not mean every camera becomes that good. They have 20" lenses and expert operators with sensors larger than my phone (probably smaller today).

          Now make it night time. The object is emitting light itself. It moves quicky relative to the observer and does sudden course corrections. The operator is a typical person.

          What do you expect from a smartphone sensor in these typical conditions?

          Correct me if I'm missing a capability I don't know about, but othewise let's drop this "but smartphones!" nonsense. It's willfully avoiding the scientific method to argue for a predetermined conclusion.

    • There will be lots of false positives at first

      At first? This AI will be subject to the same "garbage in garbage out" problem all AI faces.
      And yes, color my a skeptic, but I am assuming 99.999% of this AI's training will be garbage.

      Although maybe it will eventually filter out all these reports as "definitely not aliens"

      but I don' think the humans that went through the trouble to set this up will like that.

  • what it thinks about these *other* AI bots looking for ET.

  • Whatever makes them happy. (Score:3)

    by Petersko ( 564140 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2023 @11:54PM (#63510187)

    Seriously. Basically harmless, and a lot of fun for the participants. Like flat earthers. I say, enjoy yourselves and have at it. I might not subscribe to your beliefs, but I truly and with full voice wish you the very best of luck in your search. The world is awash in less benevolent belief systems. I'd be happy to live next door to a Ufologist.

    • I'd be happy to live next door to a Ufologist.

      Sure, but would you want them in positions of power making important decisions?

    • Flat Earth UFO cam (Score:5, Funny)

      by flyingfsck ( 986395 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @01:01AM (#63510249)
      I’m planning a special UFO hunt cam for Flat Earthers called Sky180.

    • The problem with lets call them 'unusual beliefs' is the wider community it involves. While some may be just say alien visitor believers, many will have all sorts of potentially problematic views. For example, regularly interacting with flat earth believers will very likely also expose you to a lot of anti-modern healthcare messages, government conspiracy theories and so on.

      Believing something that the vast majority reject can be relatively harmless (although even that is debatable)... but interacting wit

  • Shut down by governments in 3, 2, ... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TuringTest ( 533084 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @12:20AM (#63510197) Journal

    If they are successful and create a public record of every anomaly in the sky, they will be forced to take it down when they start to reveal the patterns of secret military satellites and experimental flights.

    Which ironically will further fuel the conspiracy theories that governments are hiding reports of aliens...

    • Exactly!
      This has huge security implications...

    • If they are successful and create a public record of every anomaly in the sky, they will be forced to take it down when they start to reveal the patterns of secret military satellites and experimental flights.

      Amateur satellite watchers have been publicly tracing 'secret' military satellites pretty much from day 1 of the satellite era. Satellites are so trivial to track that you really *can't* hide them: trying to keep the data secret would make no difference when literally anyone can step outside and observe your satellites. Translating observations to orbit parameters is also mathematically trivial, although not something you'd do by hand if you can avoid it: as a part of an astrophysics course, I've done the

  • Hope its not ChatGPT based (Score:3)

    by ClueHammer ( 6261830 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @12:36AM (#63510213)
    That likes to make up lies, don't need more lies in the search for UFO's

  • Been there, done that (Score:3)

    by dsgrntlxmply ( 610492 ) on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @01:10AM (#63510255)

    The "geomagnetic detectors" video shows a silly instrument. This was actually written up in some magazine around the same time as the video (which says 1968), probably one of the sci-fi pulps.

    I built one from a wire coat hanger, one piece magnetized and suspended by a fine wire from a small framework. A swing of that arm, from Absolutely Certain to Be There UFO magnetism, would swing the arm to touch the conductive framework, closing the circuit between a battery and a buzzer.

    Every night I would go to sleep hoping that I would be awakened by the buzzer, to look outside and see a flying saucer, preferably (having read Incident at Exeter more than once) to be abducted away from history and English homework. Sadly, I was awakened only once, when some masking tape holding part of the thing together, failed.

  • There's a whole lot of stuff that's going to be moving from frame to frame.

    Stars. Asteroids. Geostationary satellites. GPS satellites. Low Earth orbit satellites. Airplanes. Birds.

    And gosh darn it, if you change your coordinate system to keep one set of things from moving, the others move faster. Those aliens are sneaky bastards.

  • Extraterrestrial visitor believers are laughed at by those cite the laws of known physics.

    However, just because we havenâ(TM)t achieved or demonstrated a âoeviolationâ of our known laws of physics, it doesnâ(TM)t mean that another civilization hasnâ(TM)t.

    But, FTL travel would require something akin to a Star Trek transwarp conduit, Star Wats hyperdrive, or a wormhole that the beings could survive in order to cover the vast distances involved.

    So, if FTL were possible, the âoevel

  • Scanning the sky, 24x7 ; performing telemetry on objects observed, triangulating their locations from multiple positions. I'm not describing a UFO tracking network here - I'm describing existing, expanding networks for detection of meteor fireballs in the sky. There are already dozens of such networks in Europe, various parts of North America, parts of Australia ... and that's just the ones whose reports I've noticed being published in the science literature.

    Your technical problem would be to persuade the

  • If hey do this you'd need some high resolution SLR type cameras with good lenses.

    You can't half ass this shit. If not you're just going to get footage that is questionable.

    All the other sensors are useful for spotting potential objects. But they need to be used to tell the high quality camera where to look. Some googling shows the obvious. Yes ther eare long zoom high end survlence cameras. That should be one of the PTV cameras.

  • If there are other civilizations in the universe (and I believe it's almost impossible there aren't) let's remember:
    - the universe is 15bn years old, the first galaxies formed at about 350m years so call it 0.5bn years on the clock
    - our system is fairly average, and we are the result of a nova, a collapse, a new system, and then human evolution on Earth. That whole process is something less than 6bn years.
    - That would mean that any civilization we encounter could be 6.5-15bn years old, that is, 0-8bn years

    • Maybe observing or experimenting is not a high priority to them resource-wise such that sometimes they slip up their stealth and don't care a whole lot about such mistakes. So yes, a super-advanced race could probably be super-stealthy, but doing such is not necessarily free.

      You may be making the mistake of those before Galileo who assumed Earth was "important", and thus in the center of everything. We may merely be yet another Roadkill Cafe of the galaxy.

      • I'm not saying they're stealthy.

        I'm saying they're so far beyond us that we can't COMPREHEND what they are. And they wouldn't care any more about us than we do about bacteria that don't harm us.

        As I mentioned: do you think bacteria understand what humans are?
        Or would we just see stuff like volcanoes popping off and call it 'natural event'?

  • Aren't there meteor showers like almost weekly? There's so much that can be seen on these. Kinda creepy in a way this was all setup so no way civilians just did this all by themselves.

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