Sightings and seeing: public discussion of NASA's UFO footage

The increasing distribution of video materials online provides opportunities for the analysis of 'found media' - materials made available, discussed and dissected online. In this paper I investigate the online activities of a somewhat maligned group - UFO enthusiasts - using the video materials they discuss and share online in their attempts to convince readers of the existance of objects from another planet. These enthusiasts and their extensive online resources present not only an example of a deviant epistemic community, but also one in which video analysis is a key part of their practice. Investigating the discussions and debates around one particular video (recorded by NASA and much discussed by both enthusiasts and even NASA scientists) provide an arresting example of both how involved and complex the work of UFO enthusiasts can be, but also how similar their video analysis techniques are to those of us in the social sciences.