Intel Categorization/Source Rating

The Army/Military has a system of rating intelligence such that one can determine how reliable/credible the information might be.  One can use the system to give one a basis for evaluating the people one deals with everyday.  It certainly helps to avoid over-reacting to office water cooler talk!  A shooter can apply this rating system to his shooting buddy's reloading advice, recommendation for a boat motor, or even to dating advice. 

Source Rating

Code	Source Rating	Explanation
A	Reliable	No doubt of authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; has a history of complete reliability
B	Usually Reliable	Minor doubt about authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; has a history of valid information most of the time
C	Fairly Reliable	Doubt of authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency but has provided valid information in the past
D	Not Usually Reliable	Significant doubt about authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency but has provided valid information in the past
E	Unreliable	Lacking in authenticity, trustworthiness, and competency; history of invalid information
F	Cannot Be Judged	No basis exists

Information Content Rating

Code	Rating	Explanation
1	Confirmed	Confirmed by other independent sources; logical in itself; consistent with other information on the subject
2	Probably True	Not confirmed; logical in itself; consistent with other information on the subject
3	Possibly True	Not confirmed; reasonably logical in itself; agrees with some other information on the subject
4	Doubtfully True	Not confirmed; possible but not logical; no other information on the subject
5	Improbable	Not confirmed; not logical in itself; contradicted by other information on the subject
6	Cannot Be Judged	No basis exists

Thus a fireman standing in front of a burning building telling you it is a complete loss is likely an A-1 source while Rosie O'Donnell talking about Building #7 at the World Trade Center is likely a E-5.

I was told that Gabe Suarez distills it to this:

"Tin-foilishness" (TF for short) is stuff found on militia forums, or from the doom-and-gloom crowd. You know...the sort of thing that never gets printed here.

"Somewhat credible" (SC) is what they may term "hearsay evidence" in the legal world. This means that someone overheard someone else saying something about something he overheard. This would never convict anyone, but still bears some attention.

"Very credible" (VC) is stuff that comes directly from friends in the intelligence world usually under the "don't tell them where you got this", and "change some of the details so it won't come back to me" categories.