Good, Clear Photographs of UFOs
First of all, when a person is taking a photograph of, let's say a child playing with a toy, everything in the photo is pre-planned, he knows the subject, the area the picture will encompass, and the probable movement, if any, of the subject. If you are out on a picnic, or at the lake with a camera, and someone says, "Look, there's a UFO up there," well, first you have to locate the object, which can be difficult, first of all with the naked eye, and then find the UFO through the viewfinder, then focus the object properly, which can also be problematic, because it is probably not just hovering in one spot.
But, even if it is, you have to focus on it, and hope that it doesn't move. Any movement will cause some motion blur, and with today's digital cameras, the chemical coating on the lens refracts light sources, and create what is called lens flare, and if there is a strong light source anywhere in the picture, you can get all kinds of artifacts in the photo. I get about 10-12 of these a week. Then there are occasional sun dogs that can occur. A fair number of UFO researchers won't even look at a digital photograph because of these reasons, and only study older, analog photos.
As to objects being photographed that the witness didn't see, the majority of these are just what I have mentioned above, but there is another thing that can happen. If you are looking through the viewfinder, and concentrating on the subject of your photo, you are not really aware of everything on the ground, and in the air at the same time. There are quite a number of these kinds of photos, where the witness did not see the unknown object, and it's because the digital camera actually "sees" more than the human eye.
We do receive clear photographs of unknown objects, actually, and I think that someone who asks why we don't, just isn't looking before leaping. Check out our Best UFO Photo Gallery, and then tell me how "blurry" photographs you see, and how many clear photographs you see.
Comments
sort of getting difficult to leave a comment these days on the articles. Many sightings occur in the night sky after dark, and it’s difficult to get a pic of anything in the night sky (Phoenix lights occured over a city and witnessed by many yet the pics are only fair). There’s been good sightings like O’Hare but none of the many witness who saw this had the chance to take a pic (they didn’t have a camera, were so captivated that they didn’t search for their camera or didn’t have time). But one of these days there will be a great pic of a UFO that will also be witnessed by many people. I bet there will be quite a few in the coming decades. It’s just a matter of time. It’ll further main stream UFOs in society.
On a flight from Mexico City to Newark as Catrina hit the US, a UFO - rectangular shaped box with bluish halo around, passed my window seat in 40000 feet above ground. “The box” was in sight for about 6 seconds. Its path was parallel to our plane. Guess what I missed - taking the necessary pictures to document the incident! I was too stunned to grab my camera which I had ready on my lap. The pilots must have seen the object. A year later I took pictures of a plan passing my house. As I “processed” the pictures on my computer a donut shaped object was seen on the screen with the plane. I did not observe the “object” as I took the pictures of the plan. I was a skeptic but now I am sure there is something out there.
I also would say that a any pic of a UFO is probably not good enough these days since photos can be doctored or their can be artifacts as you mentioned. I would want both a good pic and many eye wintesses before I really feel good about the event. I think those days are coming though. The ideal event would have many eye witness of good character, preferably of a science background or at least highly educated. A great pic by someone of the same background. Politicians, pilots, clergy or others with more to lose than gain are also really believable witnesses. Blue collar individual or those of low incomes, even if they are saints probably would be less believable. I know it’s very unfair, but there is more of a motive to make something up or to be superstitious if you have low income, a poor education or have a menial job.
Photos aren’t good enough for the sceptics, we need to arm with rpgs and shoot down a ufo when you see it
Oh come on Billie. The picture taking problems and possible restrictions you outline are just more pressed meat in sausage form (correctly spelled BALONEY). And Scott could have added supreme court judges to his… Politicians, pilots, clergy etc.
FWIW, I have been taking pix since age 8– began shooting 35 mm at age 10. Have shot both serous amateur and professional for many years. Finally gave up my Minolta Maxxum 9 and converted to 35mm-style digital– now use a Sony Alpha 100. Have taken all kinds of pix– pets, landscapes, low/ available light(night time) sports, action, accident scenes, special events, etc. I affirm comments that capturing a good photo, even with professional equipment and considerable training and experience can prove most difficult, especially when the event occurs suddenly and unexpectedly. Add in that you have just a matter of a few seconds at most to react to most UFO sightings (how many of us actually carry our cameras in hand waiting for just such an occasion?) typically far less than ideal lighting conditions, considerable distance, etc. and the result is what we most often see– disappointing inferior and blurry images. FWIW.
It is silly to overlook digital photos of UFO’s. My suggestion is to look at the meta data (properties) If complete it is most likely that nothing was done to the photo. If one gets a good UFO photo they should keep the unprocessed original for inspection. Also it is not hard to identify anomalies as lens flare, AKA ghostly orbs and dust on film or sensors. It is also important to report technical details as lens used, ISO speed, shutter speed, lens aperture and if the camera was on a tripod or hand held. This is especially important with a video as camera movement can be mistaken as UFO movement. Time date and location is also essential.
If you actually see a UFO with a camera first get an over all picture showing the surrounding scene as building, trees and the like. Then zoom in or quickly change lenses to get as much detail as possible. Take different exposures if you have time and you may need to go to manual focus to keep the camera focused on the distant item if it is small. If there is not enough time aim shoot and hope.
On and on and on - just a lot more meat in sausage form.
Scott, “Blue collar individual or those of low incomes, even if they are saints probably would be less believable.” Yes, not only is it “unfair” it’s also depicting (class) prejudice. That’s fairly disgusting!
A pic by someone from a science background or that is highly educated tend to be “good” not because of the quality of the pic itself but because they are less likely to give credibility to the UFO phenomena as real phenomena. To be “highly educated” means that as a student they learned to agree with a lot mainstream, accepted “truths”. They successfully passed through a lot filters and screens to get a PhD or whatnot. It doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination they are more intelligent or more creative than the average working class person.
I’ve seen a lot of good photos and video of UFO’s, its out there for the viewing. A lot of people just have a hard time believing in what they see or read. If your somewhat of a good judge of people you will realize that most people don’t report UFO’s for fame, they report what they see and usually downplay it some. I’ve seen some great video and some great photos, one that comes to mind is the sighting they had in the UK last year, you couldn’t see anything but lights in the sky, there were over 90 witness’s since it happened downtown outside a bar, but the lights moved in such a way it had to be something physical, they arranged themselves in a triangle formation, hovered there for over 30 minutes and did some erratic moves before all flying off towards space…a sighting like this takes a little faith, but when you consider it, it couldn’t of been anything else.