Time for action – correlating of sighting duration to UFO shape

Let's do a little more detailed analysis in regards to this shape data. We wondered if there was any correlation between the duration of a sighting to the reported shape. Perhaps cigar-shaped UFOs hang around longer than the rest or formations always appear for the exact amount of time.

1. Save the following to shapetimemapper.rb:

   #!/usr/bin/env ruby
   
   pattern = Regexp.new /\d* ?((min)|(sec))/
   
   while line = gets
   parts = line.split("\t")
   if parts.size == 6
   shape = parts[3].strip
   duration = parts[4].strip.downcase
   if !shape.empty? && !duration.empty?
   match = pattern.match(duration)
   time = /\d*/.match(match[0])[0]
   unit = match[1]
   time = Integer(time)
   time = time * 60 if unit == "min"
   puts shape+"\t"+time.to_s
   end
   end
   end

2. Make the file executable by executing the following command:

   $ chmod +x shapetimemapper.rb
   

3. Save the following to shapetimereducer.rb:

   #!/usr/bin/env ruby
   
   current = nil
   min = 0
   max = 0
   mean = 0
   total = 0
   count...