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With the proliferation of mobile devices, you'd expect there to be an increase in footage of such sightings with an equivalent increase in quality. Yet virtuall

With the proliferation of mobile devices, you'd expect there to be an increase in footage of such sightings with an equivalent increase in quality. Yet virtually everything available is low quality, grainy rubbish. On the other hand, the accessibility of video editing software makes such claims dubious at best regardless of quality or presentation. I agree with others who've suggested this is either a counter intelligence effort or the military is doing something and wants to involve others in "sightings," probably to gauge the success of certain programs. If it's not some sort of clever projection, those UFOs probably have US markings on them. Otherwise, the belief it has something to do with aliens is probably wishful thinking. I'd recommend listening to John Michael Godier's top 10 lists regarding alien messages, first contact, or SETI [1] if you want a healthy dose of realism. In particular, his "10 SETI messages that we may not want to receive" [2] is especially good, even if the first part is rather depressing. [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEszlI8-W79IsU8LSAiRbDg/videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEszlI8-W79IsU8LSAiRbDg/vid... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVpHTMj3XM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVpHTMj3XM

api 7y ago
Try photographing a bird with a phone camera. Then try it with no advance notice, whipping it out and shooting as fast as you can. You'll get a blur, just like the crappy phone camera photos of "UFOs" all over the Internet. It's an extraordinary claim, sure, but it isn't impossible that some fraction of UFOs are someone else. "They are here but are not making overt contact" is one potential Fermi paradox answer. The apparent abundance of possibly habitable planets demands some answer here I think. There are many rational reasons an alien intelligence would avoid overt contact with some being altruistic (prime directive type thinking), some neutral (same reason we decontaminate space probes), and some selfish (we are aggressive and capable of rapid technological progress).
- Zancarius 7y ago
  There's also other solutions to the Fermi Paradox that don't require alien contact but likewise don't exclude the possibility for life. For one, it's possible FTL (or FTL-ish) travel isn't something that can be done in our universe. The other is to reflect on what we've done as a species. Consider the last time we sent manned probes to another world--then consider how many unmanned probes. I'm of the mind to believe that if we do encounter anything alien, it'll likely be autonomous or intelligent probes. It'll catalog us and move along. I still stand by my point with cameras. Mobile devices, dash cams, etc., are all vastly prolific. While it's true they don't capture anything far away particularly well, the shear number of these devices ought to suggest that multiple sightings by large groups of people could be corroborated--even if the footage isn't particularly great. But, we're not seeing that. It may not be impossible these UFOs are other intelligences, but it's exceedingly unlikely. More so when you consider that a non-trivial fraction of those same habitable worlds you mention are, at present, speculative at best and around stars that are unfriendly to life at worst. TRAPPIST-1 comes to mind as an example of worlds directly measured via the transit method: A large number of worlds in a habitable zone surrounding a red dwarf known to be a flare star. Then there's another consideration. If life is common in our galaxy (or in the universe), far more intelligent beings may simply be uninterested in us--a relatively pedestrian world around a fairly ordinary star with intelligent primates that haven't yet figured out how to leave their home world with any degree of consistency.
rockinghigh 7y ago
> With the proliferation of mobile devices, you'd expect there to be an increase in footage of such sightings with an equivalent increase in quality. Phones have lenses with wide focal lengths and tiny sensors. You need a very different device to capture small objects far away from you with high resolution.
- ithkuil 7y ago
  I recently had a wildfire close to home, and had airplanes flying at very low altitude. The sight of the belly of those airplanes flying the whole day on top of my home along with the noise was spectacular so I thought I might capture a snap to share with my remote coworkers. The result was not even mediocre; my phone captured a tiny insignificant object in the sky, not that awe inspiring machine that I just felt grazed my head IRL
- hindsightbias 7y ago
  Well, true, but when was the last time you heard of an alien abduction? Seemed like everyone was getting kidnapped a generation ago.
- Zancarius 7y ago
  That is true, but it doesn't exclude the possibility that if a particularly noteworthy event occurred, there should be at least one or more observers attempting to film it along with commentary. Of course, your comment raises another interesting prospect. Anything of decent quality that claims to be a UFO sighting should be immediately suspect as it may be a professional production.
givinguflac 7y ago
I’ve personally seen what some would call a UFO, and was too awestruck to even consider recording the event. I’m not saying it was an alien craft, but it was being chased by military jets and lost their trail when it started flashing a row of rainbow lights and rose from above the trees to disappearing like a satellite in the sky. I’ve never really spoken about it and who knows what it was. All I know is it didn’t follow any propulsion rules I’ve ever seen, and didn’t even think about the chance to record it until much later.

api 7y ago

Try photographing a bird with a phone camera. Then try it with no advance notice, whipping it out and shooting as fast as you can. You'll get a blur, just like the crappy phone camera photos of "UFOs" all over the Internet. It's an extraordinary claim, sure, but it isn't impossible that some fraction of UFOs are someone else. "They are here but are not making overt contact" is one potential Fermi paradox answer. The apparent abundance of possibly habitable planets demands some answer here I think. There are many rational reasons an alien intelligence would avoid overt contact with some being altruistic (prime directive type thinking), some neutral (same reason we decontaminate space probes), and some selfish (we are aggressive and capable of rapid technological progress).

Zancarius 7y ago
There's also other solutions to the Fermi Paradox that don't require alien contact but likewise don't exclude the possibility for life. For one, it's possible FTL (or FTL-ish) travel isn't something that can be done in our universe. The other is to reflect on what we've done as a species. Consider the last time we sent manned probes to another world--then consider how many unmanned probes. I'm of the mind to believe that if we do encounter anything alien, it'll likely be autonomous or intelligent probes. It'll catalog us and move along. I still stand by my point with cameras. Mobile devices, dash cams, etc., are all vastly prolific. While it's true they don't capture anything far away particularly well, the shear number of these devices ought to suggest that multiple sightings by large groups of people could be corroborated--even if the footage isn't particularly great. But, we're not seeing that. It may not be impossible these UFOs are other intelligences, but it's exceedingly unlikely. More so when you consider that a non-trivial fraction of those same habitable worlds you mention are, at present, speculative at best and around stars that are unfriendly to life at worst. TRAPPIST-1 comes to mind as an example of worlds directly measured via the transit method: A large number of worlds in a habitable zone surrounding a red dwarf known to be a flare star. Then there's another consideration. If life is common in our galaxy (or in the universe), far more intelligent beings may simply be uninterested in us--a relatively pedestrian world around a fairly ordinary star with intelligent primates that haven't yet figured out how to leave their home world with any degree of consistency.

rockinghigh 7y ago

> With the proliferation of mobile devices, you'd expect there to be an increase in footage of such sightings with an equivalent increase in quality. Phones have lenses with wide focal lengths and tiny sensors. You need a very different device to capture small objects far away from you with high resolution.

ithkuil 7y ago
I recently had a wildfire close to home, and had airplanes flying at very low altitude. The sight of the belly of those airplanes flying the whole day on top of my home along with the noise was spectacular so I thought I might capture a snap to share with my remote coworkers. The result was not even mediocre; my phone captured a tiny insignificant object in the sky, not that awe inspiring machine that I just felt grazed my head IRL
hindsightbias 7y ago
Well, true, but when was the last time you heard of an alien abduction? Seemed like everyone was getting kidnapped a generation ago.
Zancarius 7y ago
That is true, but it doesn't exclude the possibility that if a particularly noteworthy event occurred, there should be at least one or more observers attempting to film it along with commentary. Of course, your comment raises another interesting prospect. Anything of decent quality that claims to be a UFO sighting should be immediately suspect as it may be a professional production.

givinguflac 7y ago

I’ve personally seen what some would call a UFO, and was too awestruck to even consider recording the event. I’m not saying it was an alien craft, but it was being chased by military jets and lost their trail when it started flashing a row of rainbow lights and rose from above the trees to disappearing like a satellite in the sky. I’ve never really spoken about it and who knows what it was. All I know is it didn’t follow any propulsion rules I’ve ever seen, and didn’t even think about the chance to record it until much later.