Bellingcat
Type: Independent investigative journalism / OSINT organization
Founded: 2014 by Eliot Higgins
HQ: Netherlands (registered); distributed team
URL: bellingcat.com
Key Facts
- Pioneered open-source investigation methodology using social media, satellite imagery, geolocation, and flight tracking
- Landmark investigations: MH17 (BUK missile attribution to Russian 53rd AAA Brigade), Salisbury poisonings (GRU officers Petrov/Boshirov = Alexander Mishkin/Anatoly Chepiga), Navalny poisoning (FSB FSB team identification via Proekt collaboration)
- Methodology: SOCMINT, geolocation, Maxar satellite imagery, flight records, corporate registry research, open financial data
- Faces sustained harassment campaigns from Russian state-aligned actors; Bellingcat team members have been individually targeted
Methodology Characteristics
- Verification standard: multi-source corroboration, explicit confidence labeling, methodology transparency
- Tools: Google Maps/Earth, Yandex Maps, SunCalc (shadow analysis), FlightRadar24, MarineTraffic, social media archives (Archive.org, Bellingcat’s own archive tools)
- Influence: model adopted by NYT Visual Investigations, Washington Post, BBC Verify, OCCRP, Forensic Architecture