Also, there are lots of Amateur Astronomers out there with good equipment, in the dark, and experience identifying things. And yet I haven't heard of any reputable sightings by them.
I've had my UAP moment myself, for about 10s, as a big bright light shined down on me when I had my telescope out one night. When it finally went overhead, I could only then hear the jet engines. The landing headlight and glide path aligned perfectly over my location that night so that the plane's wingtips were washed out, and the noise didn't reach me until the jet was really close.
I've frequently driven back from dark sky sights and watched as Venus rose/set. With her near the horizon she can eerily "follow" you as you drive around, and if there are light clouds, look like it is accelerating very quickly.
Amateur astronomers can take good images of ISS flying overhead, I'm sure if there was a UAP nearby they'd have dozens of high quality photos on astrobin within hours!
This whole Loeb debacle just kicks dirt in the face of every serious researcher, including SETI researchers like Jill Tarter (inspiration for the Contact movie). If Loeb does get funding, hopefully it isn't stolen from real scientists. I guess if he builds his telescope network, we'll at least have lots of cameras tracking more meteor fireballs. https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffireballs.ndc.nasa.gov%2F