5 ms·

Almost all of Earth's population carries a camera (with their phones), and yet sightings of UFOs (or any cryptid) have been at an all-time low. https://xkcd.co

by aredox 3y ago

Almost all of Earth's population carries a camera (with their phones), and yet sightings of UFOs (or any cryptid) have been at an all-time low. https://xkcd.com/1235/ https://xkcd.com/1235/

throwaway4aday 3y ago
Dude, you can't even get a good picture of the moon on most phones without some AI assistance. How the hell are you going to snap a clear photo of something much smaller and dimmer? A challenge for the incredulous, bring me some high quality cellphone pictures of airplanes at night without using any extra equipment like tripods, lenses or stabilizers.
- baja_blast 3y ago
  smartphones are optimized for selfies thus the lens is super flat. Any photo I try to take at a distance looks awful, and moon photos are even worse. You'd be better off taking these pictures with a 1960's film camera with an actual lens. Not only did standard cameras have 4.5k resolution (35mm) but the lens allows you to zoom in! And get this 70mm cameras are equivalent to 18k.
Gud 3y ago
Well, there are plenty of UFO recordings using iPhones. I don't consider it credible evidence however. There is much better evidence out there, primarily from the U.S. military. Sadly most of it is classified. Consider this - the flying saucer craze really took off right after the United States developed the atomic bomb - wouldn't such an event pique the interest of an advanced civilization?
- ch4s3 3y ago
  > Consider this - the flying saucer craze really took off right after the United States developed the atomic bomb - wouldn't such an event pique the interest of an advanced civilization? Isn't the paranoid atmosphere cold war and the increase in weapons testing, satellites, spy balloons, etc. a much simpler explanation?
  - Gud 3y ago
    If that were the case, wouldn’t that point the paranoia towards the USSR and not UFOs from space? But I agree, it is a possible explanation.
    - ch4s3 3y ago
      I think the whole atmosphere around governments spying, covering things up, and generally engaged in a lot of sloppy covert action is bound to make UFOs seem more credible.
- bamfly 3y ago
  > Consider this - the flying saucer craze really took off right after the United States developed the atomic bomb - wouldn't such an event pique the interest of an advanced civilization? No? Why would it, any more so than what came before? We're talking about a civilization advanced enough to detect a few little atomic firecrackers on a planet light years away (in the best halfway-plausible case) in a universe full of REALLY BIG atomic firecrackers, then make a series of recon visits just for the hell of it I guess (must not have limited resources, like, at all) all using physics we're not even on the verge of discovering yet and that would seem to sharply contradict what we have discovered, but also leave no to-us-detectable trace anywhere we can detect, in their visits or with their sensing equipment or their civilization itself, but also also be pretty bad at hiding from us in some kinda implausible ways, but also also also good enough that we can't quite prove they're real (so they... kinda care about being hidden, but not much, or they've carefully selected exactly enough stealthiness to confuse us but nothing more or less, on purpose, for... reasons?). Plus they have to be inclined to care in the first place, enough to visit over and over (but if they can detect an a-bomb from light years away, instantly... why bother to enter the atmosphere?). But not to contact us or attempt conquest or any of that. "Maybe they left probes here a long time ago, so seeing the a-bombs wasn't so hard" OK, but you've got the same "they're perfectly stealthy except in some very specific ways that don't seem like they'd be hard for a civilization like that to solve" problem, and most of the rest still holds, too. The "it's aliens" explanation just doesn't make sense to me. It's a whole series of near-impossible or implausible things, required for it to even be possible. Like, it's not technically impossible that Russell's Teapot exists, but... it totally doesn't. I judge "it's aliens" barely more likely than "it turns out god is real and does miracles sometimes".
BobbyJo 3y ago
> and yet sightings of UFOs (or any cryptid) have been at an all-time low. Source? I see the opposite when I Google around for reports per year. There was a dip during COVID, buts it's easy to attribute that to people not being outside, and it's picked right back up since. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2021/05/20/global-ufo-sightings-are-taking-off-again-infographic/amp/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2021/05/20/global...
JPLeRouzic 3y ago
The other day while I was in the countryside I saw a military drone (I live near an airport doing military maintenance). It was the second time in a few months. I had my phone in my backpack, yet I didn't take any photos. Somehow the four seconds or so wasn't enough for me to make the decision.

by aredox 3y ago

Almost all of Earth's population carries a camera (with their phones), and yet sightings of UFOs (or any cryptid) have been at an all-time low. https://xkcd.com/1235/ https://xkcd.com/1235/

throwaway4aday 3y ago

Dude, you can't even get a good picture of the moon on most phones without some AI assistance. How the hell are you going to snap a clear photo of something much smaller and dimmer? A challenge for the incredulous, bring me some high quality cellphone pictures of airplanes at night without using any extra equipment like tripods, lenses or stabilizers.

baja_blast 3y ago
smartphones are optimized for selfies thus the lens is super flat. Any photo I try to take at a distance looks awful, and moon photos are even worse. You'd be better off taking these pictures with a 1960's film camera with an actual lens. Not only did standard cameras have 4.5k resolution (35mm) but the lens allows you to zoom in! And get this 70mm cameras are equivalent to 18k.

Gud 3y ago

Well, there are plenty of UFO recordings using iPhones. I don't consider it credible evidence however. There is much better evidence out there, primarily from the U.S. military. Sadly most of it is classified. Consider this - the flying saucer craze really took off right after the United States developed the atomic bomb - wouldn't such an event pique the interest of an advanced civilization?

ch4s3 3y ago
> Consider this - the flying saucer craze really took off right after the United States developed the atomic bomb - wouldn't such an event pique the interest of an advanced civilization? Isn't the paranoid atmosphere cold war and the increase in weapons testing, satellites, spy balloons, etc. a much simpler explanation?
- Gud 3y ago
  If that were the case, wouldn’t that point the paranoia towards the USSR and not UFOs from space? But I agree, it is a possible explanation.
  - ch4s3 3y ago
    I think the whole atmosphere around governments spying, covering things up, and generally engaged in a lot of sloppy covert action is bound to make UFOs seem more credible.
bamfly 3y ago
> Consider this - the flying saucer craze really took off right after the United States developed the atomic bomb - wouldn't such an event pique the interest of an advanced civilization? No? Why would it, any more so than what came before? We're talking about a civilization advanced enough to detect a few little atomic firecrackers on a planet light years away (in the best halfway-plausible case) in a universe full of REALLY BIG atomic firecrackers, then make a series of recon visits just for the hell of it I guess (must not have limited resources, like, at all) all using physics we're not even on the verge of discovering yet and that would seem to sharply contradict what we have discovered, but also leave no to-us-detectable trace anywhere we can detect, in their visits or with their sensing equipment or their civilization itself, but also also be pretty bad at hiding from us in some kinda implausible ways, but also also also good enough that we can't quite prove they're real (so they... kinda care about being hidden, but not much, or they've carefully selected exactly enough stealthiness to confuse us but nothing more or less, on purpose, for... reasons?). Plus they have to be inclined to care in the first place, enough to visit over and over (but if they can detect an a-bomb from light years away, instantly... why bother to enter the atmosphere?). But not to contact us or attempt conquest or any of that. "Maybe they left probes here a long time ago, so seeing the a-bombs wasn't so hard" OK, but you've got the same "they're perfectly stealthy except in some very specific ways that don't seem like they'd be hard for a civilization like that to solve" problem, and most of the rest still holds, too. The "it's aliens" explanation just doesn't make sense to me. It's a whole series of near-impossible or implausible things, required for it to even be possible. Like, it's not technically impossible that Russell's Teapot exists, but... it totally doesn't. I judge "it's aliens" barely more likely than "it turns out god is real and does miracles sometimes".

BobbyJo 3y ago

> and yet sightings of UFOs (or any cryptid) have been at an all-time low. Source? I see the opposite when I Google around for reports per year. There was a dip during COVID, buts it's easy to attribute that to people not being outside, and it's picked right back up since. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2021/05/20/global-ufo-sightings-are-taking-off-again-infographic/amp/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2021/05/20/global...

JPLeRouzic 3y ago

The other day while I was in the countryside I saw a military drone (I live near an airport doing military maintenance). It was the second time in a few months. I had my phone in my backpack, yet I didn't take any photos. Somehow the four seconds or so wasn't enough for me to make the decision.