# Strange Object Circling Concorde. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045 "2008-08-15T00:08:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/1 "2008-08-15T00:08:22Z")
Forgive me if this has already been shot down in flames, but what is the Dope on the object at 38 secs, in [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SddSuyv-QUM) video? If, as suggested in some of the comments, it is a camera defect, or a reflection on the window being filmed through, why is it not apparent in other sections of the footage? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/2 "2008-08-15T00:41:23Z")
Worst music I’ve ever heard. It’s probably just an insect or dust mote or something close to the camera, judging by how blurry it is. If it were near the concorde it would have been in focus. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/3 "2008-08-15T00:49:41Z")
Looks like a piece of dust or a defect in the original film. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/4 "2008-08-15T01:07:42Z")
So why was it not in view throughout the whole sequence, or in the earlier view from behind? Why would it just appear at that point, whatever it was? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/5 "2008-08-15T02:17:38Z")
Something just fluttered by the lens, probably at or on the surface of the lens or the window of the plane it was shooting from. At the very end of the sequence the camera moves up and the speck moves with the camera. It’s not near the Concorde. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/6 "2008-08-15T02:44:44Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] So why was it not in view throughout the whole sequence, or in the earlier view from behind? Why would it just appear at that point, whatever it was? [/QUOTE] Have you ever actually watched a film? All sorts of crap - dots, lines and specks come and go. Sometimes a piece of grit will get caught in the gate and scratch the film for a while, and then move on. This “UFO” is so laughable it’s amazing anyone would even post it as such. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/7 "2008-08-15T06:10:12Z")
I believe – and I could be wrong – but I believe that is the Travelocity gnome. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/8 "2008-08-15T09:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Have you ever actually watched a film? **. Sometimes a piece of grit will get caught in the gate and scratch the film for a whileAll sorts of crap - dots, lines and specks come and go, and then move on.** This “UFO” is so laughable it’s amazing anyone would even post it as such. [/QUOTE] Yes, I know that, and there are plenty of such artefacts in this footage, but only one of them makes an orb shape that is visible for at least a second or two. You can’t say the object is too blurred to be an actual physical object, because the footage of the Concorde isn’t exactly in perfect focus either. Don’t just laugh at the anomaly, explain exactly how that particular one occurred. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/9 "2008-08-15T10:06:00Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Something just fluttered by the lens, probably at or on the surface of the lens or the window of the plane it was shooting from. At the very end of the sequence the camera moves up and the speck moves with the camera. It’s not near the Concorde. [/QUOTE] I disagree. It looks to these eyes as if it disappears behind Concorde on it’s initial downward pass. How would one go about recreating such a ‘speck’ on a bit of video footage? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/10 "2008-08-15T10:52:32Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Forgive me if this has already been shot down in flames… [/QUOTE] Unfortunate choice of phrase for a thread about Concorde :). ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/11 "2008-08-15T11:02:57Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Cat] Unfortunate choice of phrase for a thread about Concorde :). [/QUOTE] The cabin door is locked securely; your hijack attempt is futile. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/12 "2008-08-15T13:02:04Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] I disagree. It looks to these eyes as if it disappears behind Concorde on it’s initial downward pass. How would one go about recreating such a ‘speck’ on a bit of video footage? [/QUOTE] Look closer. It’s a white artifact moving past a white object. Your eye is tricking you into seeing it move behind the aircraft. And you didn’t address the fact that it moves with the camera, something that would be essentially impossible for an actual object. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/13 "2008-08-15T13:20:23Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Look closer. It’s a white artifact moving past a white object. Your eye is tricking you into seeing it move behind the aircraft. [/QUOTE] If that was the case, why doesn’t it momentarily block that ‘black band’ along the length of the plane?( Is that a line of windows?) [QUOTE=Telemark] And you didn’t address the fact that it moves with the camera, something that would be essentially impossible for an actual object. [/QUOTE] Where exactly do you think it does that? I’m not quite sure what you mean, are you just saying it is impossible for a physical object to do that? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/14 "2008-08-15T13:21:22Z")
It looks like a drop of water on the window of the plane the camera operator is in, that gets blown into a different direction through the motion or perhaps vibration of the plane. What always amazes and disappoints me about these kinds of things is how often people will instantly dismiss the natural and logical explanations, and immediately leap to, and cling to, the supernatural possibilities instead. Strange thing moving on a piece of footage? Is it a drop of water or a speck on the film? No, it’s aliens. Strange noise in the attic? Is it a squeaky floorboard or a rat? No, it’s a ghost. Moving shape amongst the trees? Is it a bear or a deer? No, it’s bigfoot. Pah. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/15 "2008-08-15T13:22:03Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Forgive me if this has already been shot down in flames, but what is the Dope on the object at 38 secs, in [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SddSuyv-QUM) video? [/quote] It’s a leap of faith to call a spot on film an “object”, if you mean a physical object. Before you can all it that, you must establish that it is not an optical phenomenon, which many UFO pictures are. If an optical phenom has been ruled out, next you must consider the distance from the camera and the lighting. Hard to do without 3D imaging, but until you have a distance, a tiny bug is equivalent to a giant spaceship. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/16 "2008-08-15T13:42:25Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] If that was the case, why doesn’t it momentarily block that ‘black band’ along the length of the plane?( Is that a line of windows?) [/quote] It does. Watch the close up at the end. From about 1.02 onwards you can clearly see it moving across the black bits. I’ve seen photography experts discussing this, and their opinion is that it’s a lens flare, caused by sunlight reflecting off a plane’s bright white body. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/17 "2008-08-15T13:46:21Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] It looks like a drop of water on the window of the plane the camera operator is in, that gets blown into a different direction through the motion or perhaps vibration of the plane. Pah. [/QUOTE] Agreed, exactly what I thought. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/18 "2008-08-15T14:04:36Z")
So, it’s definitely not an aerial probe of some kind. Phew, what a relief. All my inbuilt preconceptions were in danger of crumbling to dust. OK. Show’s over…back to work folks. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/19 "2008-08-15T14:12:11Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] I believe – and I could be wrong – but I believe that is the Travelocity gnome. [/QUOTE] He forgot his hat. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045/20 "2008-08-15T14:22:49Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] He forgot his hat. [/QUOTE] Perhaps the bobble on the end slows him down too much? It’ll probably be in his pocket. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-object-circling-concorde/460045.md?page=2)