What is an IFO?
An IFO is an Identified Flying Object. In essence, it is a natural or man-made object that people reported as a UFO. About 90%-95% of all UFO reports prove to be IFOs, after an examination of the evidence by a trained investigator. People report natural or conventional objects as UFOs because they do not recognize them as such, due to unusual environmental conditions, ignorance, or the rarity of a natural event. For example, people have reported the planet Venus as a UFO, unaware of how bright the planet can appear at certain times of the year. Stars near the horizon are sometimes reported as UFOs because atmospheric turbulence and thermals (columns of warm air) cause them to twinkle rapidly in red and blue colors. Stars may also appear to dart back and forth because of autokinesis. This is a psychological phenomenon in which a person's eye movements create the illusion that a bright object seen in the dark without a frame of reference is moving.
In order to distinguish between UFOs and IFOs, an investigator must find as much information about a sighting as possible, without leading witnesses into giving false details. It is also important that UFO reports are investigated soon after the sighting, so all relevant information about possible IFO explanations can be considered.
It is significant that IFO reports, along with genuine UFO reports, have decreased over the past decade. People almost never report Venus or advertising planes, for example, as UFOs. The reasons for the decline in IFO reports are worthy of serious study and could shed light on the nature of the UFO phenomenon. If UFOs are misperceptions of natural or man-made objects, as many skeptics claim, why don't people misperceive these objects as UFOs today? If UFO sightings are the result of psychological problems, can we assume people report fewer UFOs today because they are psychologically healthier? If UFOs are a rare or unknown natural phenomenon, what has happened in the earth's environment to cause the decline in sightings? The answers to these and other questions may provide missing pieces to the UFO puzzle.