A shared vocabulary
Observables
Shared terms for the characteristics under investigation.
An observable is a characteristic that someone reports or investigates, such as unusual movement or the composition of a sample. Shared definitions make it easier to compare descriptions across accounts, recordings and research.
Explore how observables workHow observables work
Connect a description to a shared term
Records preserve the original information. The observable catalog supplies terms for characteristics described in those sources. This lets someone investigate a specific question while keeping the source’s own words and measurements intact.
- 01 / Source description
Start with the source
In the fictional example, Observer A describes a light that appeared to move upward relative to a ridge.
The account belongs to the record. - 02 / Relevant characteristic
Name the question
The account prompts a question about movement. OC-T02 identifies the term “Abrupt Motion,” which can describe apparent or measured changes.
The term identifies what is being investigated. - 03 / Supporting information
Keep the source in view
Read the account alongside the available optical readings. Preserve what each source records and what is missing.
An assessment belongs in an attributed claim.
This is a way to organize an investigation, not a required sequence. A characteristic can be reported without instrument data. Whether it is supported remains a separate question.
Explore the characteristics
Shared terms for different questions
The catalog has two families of six terms. Technology covers movement, detection and reported effects. Biologics covers material composition, biological structures and reported interactions.
Each term describes a characteristic to investigate. Its definition identifies the question and its limits, without assigning a cause or confirming that the characteristic occurred.
Catalog term: Abrupt Motion
What change in motion was recorded?
This term concerns a rapid change in direction, speed or apparent position. The source may describe movement in a view or measure motion through space. Keep the quantity and its limits clear.
Relevant source information
- Timed positions, distance and movement of the observing platform
- Measurement uncertainty and the method used to calculate acceleration
- Whether independent recordings follow the same subject
An angle or an apparent jump in a video does not, by itself, determine physical acceleration.
Read the full definition
The standard defines this term as follows. Naming a characteristic is separate from finding that it applies to a record.
An apparent or measured rapid change in motion, including a change in direction, speed or angular position. Any claim about physical acceleration must identify the quantity estimated and the observations used.Ways to investigate
- Preserve timestamps, exposure duration, frame cadence and any missing intervals.
- Estimate angular motion separately from physical motion and document range information or constraints.
- Account for sensor/platform motion, tracking changes and processing before comparing derived accelerations with a stated reference.
The related review leaves its stated question unresolved. Its scope and sources are recorded separately from the catalog term.
Inspect the example reviewTerms in context
See how a term connects to a record
These two examples connect a catalog term to the information that prompted its use. All sources are fictional and belong to the DisclosureOS example case, named Meridian in its source files.
A description of apparent movement
I have now read the first report and seen the three plotted channels. I want to clarify what I meant by “moved upward” in my first account. I meant that the light's apparent position changed relative to the ridge. I did not measure its distance, and I did not calculate a physical speed. The plotted optical angle is useful context, but I cannot independently confirm that every plotted sample corresponds to the light I was watching.
Observer A (fictional) · Page 1
- Distance to the light
- Not supplied
- Physical acceleration
- Not determined
This plot shows an angle over time. It is not an object’s path through space.
What a term includes
A definition that travels with the term
Each catalog entry supplies more than a label. Open a topic to see how the definition, suggested methods and qualifications help people use the same term consistently.
A name and identifierRecognize the same characteristic across records
- A stable term identifier, a short code and an exact catalog revision
- The catalog’s name and definition, kept alongside any plain-language explanation
- A technology or biologics category; the category is not a finding about a case’s origin
Signals and ways to investigateUnderstand what information could be relevant
- Descriptions or signals that could prompt examination of the characteristic
- Methods suggested for investigating it
- References for the definition; listing a method does not mean it has been performed
Qualifications and limitsKeep the meaning and its limits together
- Scientific qualifications supplied with the definition
- The distinction between a descriptive feature and a proposed explanation
- Information that is missing from a case, retained without inventing a negative finding
From description to claim
A term is not a finding
The vocabulary identifies the characteristic. Claims records who assessed a specific question, what information they used and how they reached that assessment. Origins provides terms for possible explanations.
What is being examined?
OC-T02 names a change in motion. Selecting that term does not establish physical acceleration.
What does the information support?
The fictional reviewers leave physical acceleration unresolved. Their claim preserves the reasoning, sources and authorship.
Support labels such as “Reported” or “Measured” belong to an assessment. They are not properties of the definition and are not assigned automatically. No assessment does not mean a characteristic is absent.
How Claims keeps assessments attributableExplore or build
Use the standard
Keep statements and assessments connected to their authors, sources and reasoning.