Mooncrunch.com Test Drive

Like many of you out there, I have had plenty of sightings over the years and scoured high and low for plausible explanations. Okay, there’s reporting services, local UFO groups and plenty of folk on Facebook more than happy to add their two cents, yet rarely do these offer any sense of closure. That’s why I was very intrigued (although somewhat sceptical) when I got offered the chance to test the software for Mooncrunch.com, an online UFO reporting service which promises an instant analytical report of my sighting.

Straight away, I knew which sighting I would choose to put the platform through its paces. In 2007, whilst driving home from a friend’s house, my clapped out Golf broke down and I rolled to the side of the road. As I waiting in the dead of night for my dad to come and rescue me, I noticed a bright orb swirling above the tree line. To this day, it’s still the most unexplainable event to happen to me. Anyway, armed with my sighting I headed to the site.

The website wastes no time, “What object did you see?” dominates the homepage. Reporting a sighting is completely different to the laborious forms with other organisations. It’s fast (only 9 multiple choice questions) and their aren’t any fields to add any a description. As refreshing as this was, it felt like I was doing a personality quiz rather than reporting a meaningful event. As I answered the final question, I awaited enviable disappointment.

Yet, I have to say I was very surprised. Within seconds a report appeared displaying a wealth of information. Most importantly was the list of possible explanations. My top three came out as: Lens Flare or reflection (39%), military craft (32%) and Weather abnormality (26%). Surprisingly, I had heard all of these explanations before and always knew it possible that the light from my mobile phone was reflecting off the windscreen causing the effect.

So, how did this software reach the same conclusions within seconds? Calvin Field, the founder of Mooncrunch explains, “We work backwards. We don’t try to identify your sighting as such, but eliminate as many possible explanations as possible. The questions are carefully designed to act as a filter process.”

Another interesting feature displayed on the report is the track my sighting option. This enables Mooncrunch to notify you when other people report the same sighting in your area. Okay, the report isn’t going to allow you to stamp solved on your sighting and file it away, but it is a great starting point for further research.

Yet, Mooncrunch isn’t finished there. In fact, reporting a sighting is small fry compared to the real aim of the website.

“Forecasting future sightings is our ultimate ambition and we’re already having limited success. It’s a numbers game, the more reports we receive, the more accurate our modelling is becoming,” Calvin states.

I’m very dubious about whether Mooncrunch will ever achieve this goal, but you have to admire their ambition and I applaud them for creating a reporting service that puts tangible results in the hands of it’s users.

Mooncrunch.com launches it’s free reporting service in July 2020.