How the research desk decides what gets published.
The Alien Archive is an independent digital archive and research project. These are the standards the research desk applies to every long-form entry before it is published.
Sources are reviewed before publication
Every research entry is checked against its cited sources before it is published. Where a claim rests on a single source, that is stated. Where sources conflict, the conflict is reported rather than smoothed over.
Claims are attributed to their source
Reported events are presented as reports. A witness statement is attributed to the witness; an official statement is attributed to the agency. The archive does not adopt a claim as its own assertion.
Reported events are not presented as established fact
A sighting being reported is not the same as a sighting being confirmed. The editorial desk keeps those two categories separate, on the page and in the language used.
Conflicting explanations are included
Where a conventional explanation has been offered for a case — a lighthouse, a flare drop, a weather balloon, a misidentification — that explanation is presented alongside the account, not buried.
Articles may be corrected or updated
Records are revised as additional information becomes available. Substantive changes are noted with an updated date on the article. Corrections are made openly, not silently.
AI assists workflow; humans publish
Automated systems may assist research, drafting, or organization, but published editorial material is reviewed, edited, and curated before it is published. A machine does not decide what the archive asserts.
What we distinguish between
The single most important habit of the research desk is keeping five categories of information separate, so a reader always knows what kind of claim they are looking at:
- DOCUMENTEDEstablished by records that can be pointed to — a declassified file, a radar log, a dated press release.
- REPORTEDStated by a witness or source, but not independently confirmed.
- DISPUTEDActively contested, with more than one account of what occurred.
- FOLKLORICPart of the cultural tradition around a case — widely repeated, not necessarily originating in observation.
- SPECULATIVEInference or interpretation, clearly labeled as such.
These categories are explained in full on the Sources & Methodology page.
Corrections
If you find an error in a research entry, or have a source that changes what we've written, write to the desk via the contact page. Corrections are reviewed and applied openly.