Automatic Measurement Station
Means of study
In the southeast of France, numerous witnesses have reported strange phenomena in the sky.
In the area inland from Vence, in particular the Col de Vence (Vence Pass) is an area known for the frequency of such sightings. However, a lot of them prove to be perfectly banal and really strange cases are rather rare. Between mistakes, lies and credible cases, the amalgam is such that truly exploitable testimonies are extremely difficult to extract. This is partly the reason why many serious-minded people are uninterested in the study of the phenomena surrounding the Col de Vence and, even more generally, the UFO files.
Our small team's purpose is not to prove the existence of an intelligent presence of exotic origins at the Col de Vence or elsewhere. Our purpose is more to show or demonstrate rather than to analyze. But if we want our experiences not to be limited to just witness statements, we must find concrete exportable elements.
Photographic and video documentation appear to be the best means to communicate this information. Of course all documentation, as extraordinary as it may seem, is never proof as long as hoaxes are easy to create. Still they are important as information supports. There are technical means available today that give us much more precise information. Cameras that in the past were too costly and only reserved for l aboratories, are now readily accessible to everyone.
A technical approach
Although there is an accumulation of witness testimony, this has not allowed us to advance significantly in our understanding of UFOs. Our team has the chance to go several times a month to the Col de Vence and the surrounding areas and we always bring our own recording equipment. But even being very vigilant, it is very difficult to register a fleeting phenomenon. In addition, sightings are rather rare and the little time available to spend observing the sky is far from sufficient to realize everything that is taking place over our heads.
Therefore we must find a solution to obtain reliable information and to optimize the little time that we have to collect information onsite. This is where the idea came from to obtain a computerized recording system which would provide a quality of image that would be exploitable for study. Finally, to maximize the chances to record unusual phenomena, it is necessary to automate the recording procedures from the sky.
The Automatic Measurements Station (AMS) was born from this idea.
Project objectives
The AMS project is the equivalent of the Hessdalen team's project (www.hessdalen.org). This team has installed automatic measurements stations in a region rich in luminous phenomena, certain of which has yet to be explained.
In August 2005, our contact with the Hessdalen team (Dr. Erling Strand, Ostfold College) convinced us that we must follow in the same scientific path and apply this to our zone of study.
The Hessdalen project has existed since 1983 and is the only one of its kind in the world. With our modest means, we wish to initiate this method for the first time in France and to make available to everyone all of our obtained data.
The main objective of this station is to gather measurements linked to known and unknown aerial phenomena. The recordings can be varied and the majority could concern only natural or anthropic phenomenon. It is therefore very useful to clearly determine which criteria would be used for identification. For some, the criteria are evident e.g. aircraft light positions, known satellite paths; for others, the task is much more complicated. Sometimes the data analysis (a simple video for example) is not that evident and can take a lot of time. This is the reason that we limit ourselves to presenting the measurements and not to interpreting them.
About this site
This purpose of this site (http://ams.coldevence.net) is to present data.
Concerning the material used for recording:
We will give you the maximum information concerning the material used. If you have the competence, we willingly accept any help that you could offer to improve the system. In addition, if you wish to set up a similar project we hope to provide you with sufficient information for you to achieve this goal.
Concerning the data collection:
We have classified the videos by themes according to the type of content. We hope to add new files regularly.
We have put online the videos that can be "explained" which represent the large majority of recordings, but which are nevertheless very interesting in order to have a general view of the different aerial phenomena that can be seen.
This is followed by the "unexplained" cases which do not appear to belong to any known category. Naturally if an explanation is found, we will change the category of the video.
The original files are uncut and it is not possible to put them online unedited because of their size. In general, for each recording we put up two types of videos : the entire video in low quality as well as the same recording in higher quality but edited. If you wish to make a serious analysis of one of the videos, after agreement we may be able to send you the original documentation.
On one hand, we want the project to be clearly accessible and open to everyone. Everyone is able, if they wish, to participate in the project. There is clearly no commercial aspect to this project and we ask for no money. The material is bought using the funds provided through friends' support of the team. We have also been helped by "sponsors" who are businesses which provide assistance either financially or by donation of equipment. We would like to do more, but we are unfortunately limited by two principle obstacles : lack of funds and lack of time. However we hope to continually improve our AMS project and whereby you can profit from it.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to consult our FAQ or one of our forums.
Enjoy your visit.