3 ms·

I haven't looked into these too much but weren't some of the infrared ones explained as reflections within the optical system? The sun is a pretty bright source

I haven't looked into these too much but weren't some of the infrared ones explained as reflections within the optical system? The sun is a pretty bright source of light, with lots of radiance in the infrared... you can only prevent so many interreflections within an optical system with coatings - the sun (or its reflection) can get though at some angles and the tracking algorithms makes the optical system adjust to keep the artifact relatively stable. Publishing these as 'unidentified' might be a good way to putyour own branch into the news cycle and acquire more money through political channels. Also, keeping enough of the environment/state in which the phenomena occured classified prevents any foreign actors from precisely identifiying weaknesses in the systems in use.

wtf_confused 7y ago
No, they are not reflections in the optical system. In fact, Raytheon is actually using this to advertise the system that was involved. I don't think they would be doing that if it was in fact a flaw in their system that was at fault. Also, they were tracked on radar, infrared, and visually. How does that that square with a flawed infrared system?
- wnkrshm 7y ago
  The involved Raytheon FLIR system for the Hornet is also getting replaced [0]. Maybe Raytheon will win the contract. [0] https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-navy-looks-to-replace-or-improve-fa-18ef-eoir-460357/ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-navy-looks-to-...