UFOs

[plodder]

Obama confirms he's seen the saucers. All over the news.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... ica-aliens

[Martin Y]

Well that sounded like it might be fun, but turned out to be a whole lot of nothing. Obama confirms that US pilots have sometimes seen things they can't identify.

I was just thinking the other day that there's a nice analogy between the antivaxxers who insist every yellow card reporting a death is a "vaccine death" and UFO nuts who think every unidentified thing is a flying saucer.

[plodder]

It would be nothing if they confirmed the existence of FOs. Given the capabilities of the USAF anything U is definitely in the fun category.

[nezumi]

Pretty much everything that flies is a UFO for me Unless it's a pigeon or a seagull I'm lost mate.

[jimbob]

Pretty much everything that flies is a UFO for me Unless it's a pigeon or a seagull I'm lost mate.

So I guess you wouldn't like the RAF^Luton Twitter account then?

https://twitter.com/RAF_Luton/status/13 ... 64835?s=20

[Bird on a Fire]

It would be nothing if they confirmed the existence of FOs. Given the capabilities of the USAF anything U is definitely in the fun category.

Yes, lots of old sightings bear a surprising resemblance to modern stealth bombers and drones and stuff.

Sooner or later we'll probably find out that all the anal probing people reported was an experimental "enhanced interrogation" technique.

[Sciolus]

Dunno why they're so sniffy about the term "unidentified aerial phenomena", given that the vast majority of so-called UFOs are not in fact flying objects.

[JQH]

Dunno why they're so sniffy about the term "unidentified aerial phenomena", given that the vast majority of so-called UFOs are not in fact flying objects.

That's what they want you to think

[jimbob]

It would be nothing if they confirmed the existence of FOs. Given the capabilities of the USAF anything U is definitely in the fun category.

Yes, lots of old sightings bear a surprising resemblance to modern stealth bombers and drones and stuff.

Sooner or later we'll probably find out that all the anal probing people reported was an experimental "enhanced interrogation" technique.

I have mentioned before that a lot of sightings from the 1940s onwards do seem to have performance that is only a bit better than the frontline aircraft reporting them.

[secret squirrel]

I have mentioned before that a lot of sightings from the 1940s onwards do seem to have performance that is only a bit better than the frontline aircraft reporting them.

The encounters are scaled to our level. Further proof of the simulation hypothesis.

[Woodchopper]

I am impressed with the the aliens’ cultural sensitivity. Their frequent close encounters with people in isolated parts of the US were scaled back as soon as all those people started carrying camera equipped phones everywhere they went.

[bmforre]

I am impressed with the the aliens’ cultural sensitivity. Their frequent close encounters with people in isolated parts of the US were scaled back as soon as all those people started carrying camera equipped phones everywhere they went.

They also seem to be responsible traffic participants, respecting keep-out calls by Spaceforce and other authorities when spacelaunches take place.

[plodder]

If I was an alien explorer I would try and blend in as much as possible with native technology including speeds etc, being sure not to be shot down.

[plodder]

I would also be as sensitive as possible to the weird cultures I'd encounter, in order to observe them in as natural a state as possible.

[Bird on a Fire]

I like to imagine them as the alien equivalent of birdwatchers. Human-spotters are probably considered weirdo anorak types on their home planet.

[dyqik]

I like to imagine them as the alien equivalent of birdwatchers. Human-spotters are probably considered weirdo anorak types on their home planet.

I like Douglas Adam's description of alien visitors as bored rich alien kids who think it's fun to troll humans by finding loners that no one will believe. The trolling aspect explains why the rise of cellphone cameras has reduced the numbers - the trolling doesn't work so well any more.

[lpm]

I am impressed with the the aliens’ cultural sensitivity. Their frequent close encounters with people in isolated parts of the US were scaled back as soon as all those people started carrying camera equipped phones everywhere they went.

It would be interesting to see a chart showing sightings p.a. of UFOs, big cats, big feet, Yetis etc for the past 65 years.

With a line showing number of video cameras owned by the population. And how often people used to take home movie cameras out and about, rather than filming the kid's birthday party.

The number of video cameras owned by ordinary people has increased by, what, 100,000 times? Factor in the frequency cameras are carried around every day, and it would be something like 100,000,000 times more video cameras ready to start filming a UFO compared to 50 years ago?

Has there been a 100 million times increase in the number of UFOs captured on film?

[Woodchopper]

Has there been a 100 million times increase in the number of UFOs captured on film?

Of course not.

Someone who believed in alien visitation could assume that they are monitoring our technology and have changed their interactions accordingly (for whatever reason). But that couldn't be claimed about sasquatch, ghosts, fairies etc.

And on photography, modern fighter aircraft have very sensitive optical and infrared sensors to detect targets (a passive sensor is much more stealthy than radar). So if there is UFO footage from aircraft, it should be very high quality

[Martin Y]

... And on photography, modern fighter aircraft have very sensitive optical and infrared sensors to detect targets (a passive sensor is much more stealthy than radar). So if there is UFO footage from aircraft, it should be very high quality

Unless of course the aircraft they had spotted was 50-100 miles away, in which case it'll still just be the traditional unidentifiable blob.

The three videos which the Department of Defense recently confirmed to be authentic
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/15/politics ... index.html
(and which led to much breathless reporting that they had actually confirmed flying saucers are real) contains at least one such.

There's a very enlightening series of shortish videos here
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... Tx_c0P3O2t
which explain just what's shown in the three navy videos and dispel any mystery. Recommended.

[Sciolus]

I am impressed with the the aliens’ cultural sensitivity. Their frequent close encounters with people in isolated parts of the US were scaled back as soon as all those people started carrying camera equipped phones everywhere they went.

It would be interesting to see a chart showing sightings p.a. of UFOs, big cats, big feet, Yetis etc for the past 65 years.

With a line showing number of video cameras owned by the population. And how often people used to take home movie cameras out and about, rather than filming the kid's birthday party.

The number of video cameras owned by ordinary people has increased by, what, 100,000 times? Factor in the frequency cameras are carried around every day, and it would be something like 100,000,000 times more video cameras ready to start filming a UFO compared to 50 years ago?

Has there been a 100 million times increase in the number of UFOs captured on film?

You're welcome.

[plodder]

pah.

a thread, from someone who knows good evidence when he sees it:

https://mobile.twitter.com/bengoldacre/ ... 4100007937

[dyqik]

I am impressed with the the aliens’ cultural sensitivity. Their frequent close encounters with people in isolated parts of the US were scaled back as soon as all those people started carrying camera equipped phones everywhere they went.

It would be interesting to see a chart showing sightings p.a. of UFOs, big cats, big feet, Yetis etc for the past 65 years.

With a line showing number of video cameras owned by the population. And how often people used to take home movie cameras out and about, rather than filming the kid's birthday party.

The number of video cameras owned by ordinary people has increased by, what, 100,000 times? Factor in the frequency cameras are carried around every day, and it would be something like 100,000,000 times more video cameras ready to start filming a UFO compared to 50 years ago?

Has there been a 100 million times increase in the number of UFOs captured on film?

There's probably at least a 100 million times increase in sky monitoring by astronomers as well. And not just in temporal pixels on the sky, but also increases across wavelength as well.

[plodder]

...to the extent that our ability to detect and record aliens totally outweighs the signal-masking tech available to any interstellar visitors. Of course.

I mean, if you were exploring a planet where the inhabitants were in the bronze age, you wouldn't use your cloaking device, you'd hide in the bushes. Otherwise you wouldn't get any explorer cool points from your mates.

[Martin Y]

Their cloaking isn't perfect, but it's good enough. When you have to cross intergalactic space you don't carry more tech than you absolutely have to. You pack (faster than) light.

PS Maybe we were in the bronze age when they set off.

[dyqik]

...to the extent that our ability to detect and record aliens totally outweighs the signal-masking tech available to any interstellar visitors. Of course.

I mean, if you were exploring a planet where the inhabitants were in the bronze age, you wouldn't use your cloaking device, you'd hide in the bushes. Otherwise you wouldn't get any explorer cool points from your mates.

If you knew enough to turn on particular cloaking devices exactly when a research instrument for turned on for the first time, then I'm not sure why you'd bother coming at all.