About SkyWatch
Aircraft observation & sky reporting
Observe. Document. Research. Understand. SkyWatch is a grassroots platform bringing together firsthand observations, aircraft data, and scientific research to help people investigate what's happening in our skies.
It combines community-submitted sky observations and photographs with available aircraft tracking information, publicly available atmospheric and weather data, government research and scientific publications, and transparent community documentation. The goal is to encourage research, documentation, evidence, transparency, and public participation — without presenting unverified observations as established facts.
Live aircraft data is prepared against the OpenSky Network. Requests go through a server function with caching and rate-limit handling — never directly from the browser — and the integration is disabled by default until API access and usage permissions are confirmed. Until then, the map shows clearly-marked demonstration data and never presents it as live.
Interactive map
See live aircraft positions and community sightings on one OpenStreetMap-based view, with directional markers and popups.
OpenSky Network
Aircraft data is prepared against the OpenSky Network REST API, called through a server function — never directly from the browser.
Community reporting
Submit sightings with a photo, time, location, and description. Every report is reviewed by a moderator before going public.
Moderation gate
User-submitted reports are kept separate from verified aircraft data and never displayed as confirmed facts.
Important notes
- • User-submitted reports are community observations, not verified aircraft data.
- • Reports are held for moderation and do not appear publicly until approved.
- • SkyWatch makes no claims about the chemical composition or origin of any observed trail.
- • Until the OpenSky integration is enabled and tested, the map shows demonstration data and live tracking is not operational.