The scale is as follows:
— Close Encounters Of A 1st Kind — This is the most common category of close encounter. It involves seeing something in the sky which you categorize as being a UFO. Anything FROM flashing lights to disc shaped craft gliding through the clouds - anything like that fits INTO this section.
— Close Encounters Of A 2nd Kind — A bit deeper than the 1st kind, to have a 2nd class encounter you must have witnessed what you can almost guarantee as being completely unknown - close up. If you come across a UFO landed in front of you or hovering above the ground in front then you’ve had a 2nd class encounter. Interaction with a UFO in any way is also a class 2 Encounter.
— Close Encounters Of A 3rd Kind — Aliens are involved in this class of encounter. If you see what you think is an alien - whether a UFO be involved or not, you’ve had a close encounter of the 3rd kind.
— Close Encounters Of A 4th Kind — This is the big one - actual contact with the Alien life forms. Whether they approach and communicate telepathically to you or silently bring you aboard their ship, that is considered as a class 4 encounter. Very few people have ever had this category of encounter.
Properly credit source: Gareth Innes, Encyclopedia Of The Unexplained
Thank you,
Mop
Mop
Time Travel Institute