# Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: What's going on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 28, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759 "2020-04-28T18:21:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/61 "2020-04-29T17:51:14Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Ever notice how, after the passage of time, the “evidence” for aliens doesn’t get any stronger? Irving Langmuir said this was one characteristic of pseudoscience. > > I have a large coffee-table style book, _UFOs, the Best Evidence_. The “best evidence” is fuzzy blobs of light and other undefinable or easily faked images. You would think by now, with cameras in everyone’s pocket, the evidence would have improved somewhat, but it hasn’t. [XKCD said it best.](https://xkcd.com/1235/) Amazingly, the proliferation of cell phone cameras has made all the UFOs and aliens go into hiding. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/62 "2020-04-29T18:01:21Z")
As for “It’s not stopped previous presidents blabbing about having a Stealth aircraft before the F-117 was introduced in the late 80’s.” that is really a good point for this not being extraterrestrial, by now someone would had blabbed on that. And that takes us to one overall point: Decades of looking at these phenomena end up being disappointing in the end as nothing new comes out from it, if no good explanations, we also do not get aliens nor time travelers. It is a lot like the Tim Minchin rule: “Throughout history, every mystery ever solved has turned out to be… not magic.” Nor aliens… ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/63 "2020-04-29T18:12:25Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > Okay, but how do you reconcile that with multiple pilot descriptions of the objects. Well, the accounts do not really tally. Fravor’s account describes something relatively nearby, while the FLIR clip shows something tens of kilometres away. And the radar accounts describe traces that descend from 80,000 feet to sea-level, which is nothing like Fravour’s sighting, and nothing like the FLIR clip. So we basically have three unrelated accounts. Note as well that the radar returns were reported on several days, so were likely to be part of an ongoing phenomenon that was not related to the other sightings. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/64 "2020-04-29T18:19:31Z")
I recommend this short video by Mick West. He has also produced much longer ones- but the results are the same; these clips can be explained by mundane objects. > [@](#): > > Today the Navy officially released three videos of UFOs. They are called FLIR, GIMBAL and GOFAST. The internet immediately took this as meaning that aliens are real. But the videos are not actually new. They were internally declassified back in 2017, and immediately released by Tom DeLonge’s To The Stars Academy. I started writing about them in December 2017. With the help of others, I quickly arrived at likely explanations for all three videos. > The FLIR video is most likely a distant plane. The video was taken well after the famous encounter with a hypersonic zig-zagging tic-tac by pilots from the NIMITZ. This object doesn’t actually move on screen - except when the camera moves, and it resembles an out of focus low-resolution backlit plane. I don’t know what the pilots saw, but this video does not show anything really interesting. > The GIMBAL video is also probably of a plane. … It’s not rotating. What you see is the infrared glare of the engines, larger than the plane. It looks like it is rotating because of an artifact of the gimbal-mounted camera system. This is all a bit confusing, so I made several videos explaining it. Oh, and the “AURA” around the plane, that’s just image sharpening. It happens all the time in thermal camera footage. It’s not an alien warp drive, it’s just the unsharp mask filter. > The GO-FAST video probably shows a balloon. It’s not moving fast, it’s not skimming the water, and you can verify this yourself because all the information you need is in the numbers on screen. It’s just an effect caused by parallax. Over the last few years, I’ve made a variety of videos explaining all this. > You can find the playlist here: Source: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-4ZqTjKmhn5Qr0tCHkCVnqTx\_c0P3O2t](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-4ZqTjKmhn5Qr0tCHkCVnqTx_c0P3O2t) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/65 "2020-04-29T19:55:44Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Amazingly, the proliferation of cell phone cameras has made all the UFOs and aliens go into hiding. Remember when that meteorite fell in Russia, it was recorded by a score of cameras. None seem to catch these things. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/66 "2020-04-29T20:14:30Z")
It’s all bullshit until I can kick the tires of one of the UFOs. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/67 "2020-04-29T20:30:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s all bullshit until I can kick the tires of one of the UFOs. …or dissect an alien body, or have a beer with BigFoot. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/68 "2020-04-29T20:55:47Z")
Dashboard cameras have a particularly good chance of capturing a UFO, if they exist. Even better are the all-sky meteor cams that record the sky all night. Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/69 "2020-04-29T21:36:43Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > …or dissect an alien body, or have a beer with BigFoot. Hey, this was about aliens. If you think BigFoot isn’t real you’ll need a whole new thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/70 "2020-04-29T23:29:29Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Well, the accounts do not really tally. Fravor’s account describes something relatively nearby, while the FLIR clip shows something tens of kilometres away. And the radar accounts describe traces that descend from 80,000 feet to sea-level, which is nothing like Fravour’s sighting, and nothing like the FLIR clip. > > So we basically have three unrelated accounts. Note as well that the radar returns were reported on several days, so were likely to be part of an ongoing phenomenon that was not related to the other sightings. That’s a completely wrong synopsis, they initially tracked them coming down from 80,000ft, Fravour and co were on a training exercise and then they were directed to the area to investigate the anomaly. The UAP then whizzed around Fravors aircraft, they eventually went back to the carrier, and another team was sent out as they were tracked on radar again. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/71 "2020-04-29T23:44:17Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > …or dissect an alien body, or have a beer with BigFoot. I’ve done the latter. They’re partial to porters. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/72 "2020-04-30T03:58:48Z")
We obviously have [Jews In Space](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAZhtT-dUyo). My experience modding a once-prominent paranormal-conspiracy-UFO forum showed that all Western conspiracy theories eventually blame Jews. Expect UFO images to resolve to 6-pointed stars, at least in some imaginations. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > What stands out to me is the utter impossibility of a bunch of Congressmen hearing convincing evidence of extraterrestrials and never blabbing about it to anyone. Bingo! > [@Musicat](#): > > The logical conclusion, in the absence of any other evidence, is not “it’s an alien craft that violates the laws of physics,” but “it’s a light image obeying the laws of physics.” IOW, an illusion. Bingo! > [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > …“floaters in camera equipment” Isn’t a satisfactory or plausible explanation. Have you ever handled film or worked a movie camera? Photo-floaters exist. Shutter, aperture, and lens artifacts intrude. Dust invades and wriggles. I especially distrust military small-format optical systems that aren’t adequately maintained. I have witnessed uncanny events revealed to be mundane. I have recorded real and faked images of such events. I know alien-abduction re-enactors; they’re more fun than Civil War or Sherlock costume freaks. I have viewed Area 51’s sky filled with odd lights - because gear gets test-flown there. I built an alien beacon; didn’t work AFAIK although I suspect a certain neighbor… :eek: If advanced aliens are around, they’re too clever or invisible to be noticed. Our solar system is in a sparse cosmic neighborhood. ETs will find better pickings elsewhere. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/73 "2020-04-30T04:02:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’ve done the latter. They’re partial to porters. How do they feel about redcaps? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/74 "2020-04-30T06:55:14Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > We obviously have [Jews In Space](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAZhtT-dUyo). My experience modding a once-prominent paranormal-conspiracy-UFO forum showed that all Western conspiracy theories eventually blame Jews. Expect UFO images to resolve to 6-pointed stars, at least in some imaginations. We know this is true because of the Deneb Deli and the Betelgeuse Bagel store. But if we Jews control the world, how come I get bupkus? ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/75 "2020-04-30T07:30:11Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > That’s a completely wrong synopsis, they initially tracked them coming down from 80,000ft, On several occasions, for at least a week before the event. These traces may have been meteors or some other natural phenomenon. Probably unconnected with the FLIR clip. Kevin Day, one of the radar operators, has admitted these returns may not have been connected. > [@](#): > > Fravor and co were on a training exercise and then they were directed to the area to investigate the anomaly. The UAP then whizzed around Fravors aircraft, they eventually went back to the carrier, Whatever Fravor saw, it does not resemble anything ‘coming down from 80,000 feet’ and it does not resemble the object seen in the FLIR clip, which is a fuzzy, apparently stationary blob tens of kilometres away. The object Fravor saw was between him and the sea, so was only a few thousand feet away, and was probably a large seabird or perhaps a balloon or drone. He circled around the object, and probably fell victim to the same parallax effect that occurs in the GOFAST video, which made the object appear to be circling opposite him, whereas it was merely stationary (or nearly so). But we don’t have much data to analyse in this sighting, apart from a 16 year-old testimony. > [@](#): > > and another team was sent out as they were tracked on radar again. We do, however, have data to analyse in this case; the FLIR clip, which does not show the rapid manoeuvrability described by Fravor, but instead shows a distant aircraft that is probably moving almost directly away from the camera. The crew in this case were directed towards a possible radar contact, but the thing they filmed was many kilometers away from the radar return, so was probably not connected. The Nimitz was using a relatively new radar system at this time, and they were probably detecting a lot of false returns that they didn’t know how to identify yet. The FLIR system is also deceptive, since it can detect and lock on to targets that look impressive but are in fact entirely innocuous, and display them in ways that can be confusing. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/76 "2020-04-30T10:12:55Z")
Maybe it’s aliens, maybe it’s Jesus, or maybe it’s a hoax or some mundane explanation that results in an illusion of high-speed flying objects. The latter seems a lot more likely than the former explanations. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/77 "2020-04-30T16:41:02Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > It is common to hear observers express surprise at how fast the “object” moves, or the impossible maneuvers it makes. Sudden turns, appearing to disregard gravity, etc. This is a strong suggestion that what is being observed is not an object, but an image formed by light, such as a reflection. Reflections have no problems with gravity and inertia; physical objects do, whether they’re Earth-sourced or otherwise. > > The logical conclusion, in the absence of any other evidence, is not “it’s an alien craft that violates the laws of physics,” but “it’s a light image obeying the laws of physics.” IOW, an illusion. I don’t have a cite but remember someone claiming a similar statement was made in an unofficial interview with a member of the UAP investigation team. The investigation team determined the UAPs were not physical objects so they shut down the investigation. Might be complete B.S. but it made sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/78 "2020-05-01T23:09:26Z")
I’m not seeing any “proof” or even disturbing anomalies. Looks like separate events mashed together. Made worse by the time and memory gaps. Show me something easily discernible, physical evidence, and multiple corroborating accounts and I’ll waste some of my limited time on earth looking/reading. Until then; it’s just another drunk in a gorilla suit. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/79 "2020-05-01T23:20:51Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Until then; it’s just another drunk in a gorilla suit. “Say…what’s a drunk in a gorilla suit doing way up here in a cloud bank?” ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759/80 "2020-05-02T01:48:04Z")
He was launched from our super secret submarine riding on a stealth drone also equipped with helium weather balloons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-whats-going-on/852759.md?page=5)