Bart Uytterhaegen takes a holistic approach in looking at the phenomenon, examining many different aspects, and looking to join the dots. This is important and is similar to the way in which intelligence officers work, looking for connections between bits of information, and trying to piece them together to make a bigger picture, like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. Working with documents is a particularly important part of this, because in intelligence analysis, it is very important to differentiate between what you know, and what you think. Documents – particularly where they have been obtained from governments, under the Freedom of Information Act – are vital, because unlike much information in UFO research, they cannot be challenged in terms of their authenticity, because other journalists and researchers can make the same request and obtain the same documents. In all research, it is important to set aside preconceived opinions and to go into the investigation with an open mind. In this way, investigations are data-led and not conclusion-led. Unfortunately, the latter approach is very common in UFO research, and predictably leads to believers concluding that there is an extraterrestrial explanation and skeptics concluding that there is a conventional explanation. Bart Uytterhaegen takes the first approach and is a better model. It offers interesting possibilities for the future.

Nick Pope (ex MoD)