For clarification, a "firsthand account" comes from someone who was actually present at an event and saw it with their own eyes.
A "secondhand account" is someone saying that they heard a story from someone who was present.
A "thirdhand account" is somebody saying that they heard it from someone who heard it from someone who was present.
"I saw on TV where they were saying that the geese are disappearing" is a nothinghand account.
