I posted the following on Twitter this morning.
For the past five months, I’ve been working with an organization to add functionality, increase usability, and improve the documentation of my UAP/UFO analysis tool, Sitrec. Part of this process included making Sitrec open-source so that anyone can examine the code and so that other individuals and organizations can install Sitrec on their own systems and use it for their own work.
All the edits and changes to Sitrec are public data and can be found here:
https://github.com/MickWest/sitrec/commits/main/
About 80% of the “commits” (changes and additions to the project) are part of the work, the rest being things I do for my investigations on Metabunk.
Documentation can be found here:
https://github.com/MickWest/sitrec?tab=readme-ov-file#readme
The improvements focus on making Sitrec both simpler to use and more powerful. When we began in December, adding a new situation (a “sitch”) to the program involved a complex process of adding a new code module, often writing some custom code, and then rebuilding and re-deploying the entire application.
With the release of Sitrec v1.2.1, this can now be as simple as dragging and dropping in a video file and one or more data files (in various supported formats, but mostly ADS-B/KML or MISB-style aircraft or drone tracks) and then tweaking a few variables. The resulting sitch can then be saved on the server and shared with others as a simple permanent web link, like https://www.metabunk.org/u/cwClZ9.html
A benefit of this work is that you can now create custom “mods” of existing sitches, such as Gimbal, GoFast, Aguadilla, etc, where any changes to the parameters, including the curve editors and viewport configuration, will be saved in the same way, for example,
https://www.metabunk.org/u/YgLuXs.html
This work is still ongoing. Bugs need fixing, features need adding, and documentation needs writing. It’s open source so that anyone can contribute, although I recognize it’s a large and messy codebase. That’s improving, as is the documentation.
I’m paid for this work at a reasonable hourly rate. So, any external contributions to the codebase don’t make me money (if anything, that’s less work for me, so fewer hours). But the contributions benefit the UAP investigation community, as do the contributions I make on my own time, and the contributions from Metabunk members.
I’m not paid by the organization to do anything other than write code and documentation. Besides this one project involving Sitrec, the only paid work I’ve had in the last couple of years has been writing a few magazine articles (e.g., Skeptical Inquirer) and a few TV appearances (e.g., The Proof is Out There). Nobody has ever told me what to say or write (let alone paid me for a particular spin.) I’m not paid to spread disinformation, propaganda, or a particular narrative.
I am interested in analyzing (and hopefully solving) UAP/UFO videos. I enjoy the mental challenge and the detective work. I also give my personal opinions on the subject as a whole when asked. I have no ill will and generally enjoy my interactions with the good people of the UFO community. I hope this open-source project can help solve more cases, and if there is something more interesting out there in all the noise, I hope my work helps bring it to light.
For the past five months, I’ve been working with an organization to add functionality, increase usability, and improve the documentation of my UAP/UFO analysis tool, Sitrec. Part of this process included making Sitrec open-source so that anyone can examine the code and so that other individuals and organizations can install Sitrec on their own systems and use it for their own work.
All the edits and changes to Sitrec are public data and can be found here:
https://github.com/MickWest/sitrec/commits/main/
About 80% of the “commits” (changes and additions to the project) are part of the work, the rest being things I do for my investigations on Metabunk.
Documentation can be found here:
https://github.com/MickWest/sitrec?tab=readme-ov-file#readme
The improvements focus on making Sitrec both simpler to use and more powerful. When we began in December, adding a new situation (a “sitch”) to the program involved a complex process of adding a new code module, often writing some custom code, and then rebuilding and re-deploying the entire application.
With the release of Sitrec v1.2.1, this can now be as simple as dragging and dropping in a video file and one or more data files (in various supported formats, but mostly ADS-B/KML or MISB-style aircraft or drone tracks) and then tweaking a few variables. The resulting sitch can then be saved on the server and shared with others as a simple permanent web link, like https://www.metabunk.org/u/cwClZ9.html
A benefit of this work is that you can now create custom “mods” of existing sitches, such as Gimbal, GoFast, Aguadilla, etc, where any changes to the parameters, including the curve editors and viewport configuration, will be saved in the same way, for example,
https://www.metabunk.org/u/YgLuXs.html
This work is still ongoing. Bugs need fixing, features need adding, and documentation needs writing. It’s open source so that anyone can contribute, although I recognize it’s a large and messy codebase. That’s improving, as is the documentation.
I’m paid for this work at a reasonable hourly rate. So, any external contributions to the codebase don’t make me money (if anything, that’s less work for me, so fewer hours). But the contributions benefit the UAP investigation community, as do the contributions I make on my own time, and the contributions from Metabunk members.
I’m not paid by the organization to do anything other than write code and documentation. Besides this one project involving Sitrec, the only paid work I’ve had in the last couple of years has been writing a few magazine articles (e.g., Skeptical Inquirer) and a few TV appearances (e.g., The Proof is Out There). Nobody has ever told me what to say or write (let alone paid me for a particular spin.) I’m not paid to spread disinformation, propaganda, or a particular narrative.
I am interested in analyzing (and hopefully solving) UAP/UFO videos. I enjoy the mental challenge and the detective work. I also give my personal opinions on the subject as a whole when asked. I have no ill will and generally enjoy my interactions with the good people of the UFO community. I hope this open-source project can help solve more cases, and if there is something more interesting out there in all the noise, I hope my work helps bring it to light.
