do you really think, that if someone could hypothetically build a craft whic could travel galaxies, it would have problems with the puny forces of re-entry.

I don't think you can translate technology of that magnitude to our simple standards. Just because we can't leave and re-enter an atmosphere without almost killing ourselves, doesn't mean they can not do it..

Originally posted by Karilla
My own guess is that they originated in a 3d package, and that some young, talented modeller is going to turn up at a job interview with these on his show-reel and demostrate how convincing his modelling is by showing all the web pages generated on the strength of them.

Well, you have got to admit, for these to be the work of one guy, there's going to be a lot of people in Hollywood out of a job. I understand some of the best special effects in movies to come from "teams" of artists to ensure best quality/realism, maybe things have changed since some time ago though.

The amount of different "configurations" he has made in different settings and scenes, the amount of web pages generated from each image, even managing to get a woman to phone up C2C and explain how she saw his CGI 2 years ago in "flight" over Sequoia National Park..

I mean, damn, this guy seems like he could take care of all CGI effects for the next 20 or so years on his own, maybe we could even clone him if there was ever more CGI needed than he could do!

I no longer wish to see one person's attempt at CGI to better these, I want to see what a team of artists can do from a top movie studio! I suppose I'll have to wait til Transformers the movie comes though, and I'm not holding out much on being impressed (I tell a lie, I grew up with them..!)

*yawn*

Impressive! Just imagine one of those strange crafts appear over some densly populated area! How many witnesses there would be to back up Chads...errr...the photographers story.

Although I was always dubious about the validity of these sightings, I now believe these to almost definitely be a hoax.


My belief was that, if these things were to be real, then they would very likely be either a military experimental craft, or the work of a rich enthusiast. The first few picture sets had a consistency about them that at least gave the craft some sort of plausible purpose, such as a Power Line Drone or Surveillance vehicle (as some people had suggested). Granted it had strange text, but I always assumed this was either aesthetic, or the work of scientists/engineers with a skewed sense of humour (as I mentioned before, something akin to writing German messages on the side of US bombs in WWII).

This craft, however, is beyond. Its design is far too alien and extensive to be taken seriously, I feel. The hoaxers have made a mistake because they have created a craft so utterly strange and menacing that the possibility of it being military/scientific is all but ruled out, leaving the far less plausible "alien vehicle" theory, one which I personally felt never had much credence.

Add to that the fact that these pictures still have all the same CGI issues that the previous sets of pictures had, and I just feel that this one has gone too far. I find it nigh on impossible to believe there are 3-4 drones of that size, and that sheer design, floating about California with only a handful of sightings. There would be more reports, and frankly the object has gone beyond the realm of "interesting" looking to just pure menace. It looks like it's been built to kill with all the extras added on!

It could be viral advertising, as has been suggested? Some people have mentioned Transformers or The Invasion as a possibility, but something else has come into my mind. Isn't there an AVP2 (Aliens vs. Predator) coming out later this year?

I don't know if the text bears any resemblance to the language of the Predator, but I do recall the self destruct device it uses having a very strange sort of runic text to it. This could always be a long term viral campaign for that film? I don't have much to go on with that theory, I'm just throwing it out there as another possibility.


So yes, I personally feel that, CGI issues aside, the sighting themselves have gone from plausible curiosities to flat out alien invasion, and I think it's been pushed one step too far to hold much credence anymore.

[edit on 8-6-2007 by corda]

[edit on 8-6-2007 by corda]

[edit on 8-6-2007 by corda]

Good point Karilla, very good point. The only way this thing if extraterrestrial could be present is if it was dropped from a craft in earths atmosphere that had the curves for re-entry but this option to me is far from credible. It could well be a guy showing his skills to impress but it's just the fact that this thing is "Transforming" on the run up to the release of the movie that i'm travelling down that path for now. What's the bet that the next image we see will be a little more recognisable as a vehicle of this earth.

I'm sorry to repeat myself for the 3rd time but,
1) Why there are no exif data in the pictures? These are supposed to be 'original full size' pictures yet the exif fields are empty. AFAIK canon rebel xt is not capable of making pictures without exif data.
2) Where exactly were these taken, google earth coordinates would be nice.
3) Anyone ID those flowers the photographer was originally shooting?
4) It seems like he was focused on the flowers first and then started manually focus on the craft which with the rebel xt's small viewfinder would be pretty difficult unless you just crank up to 'infinite'.
5) I want to know what lense was used to take these.

So if the photog is really up for discussions and not hiding here's few points from me

Originally posted by LoDGiKaL
do you really think, that if someone could hypothetically build a craft whic could travel galaxies, it would have problems with the puny forces of re-entry.

I don't think you can translate technology of that magnitude to our simple standards. Just because we can't leave and re-enter an atmosphere without almost killing ourselves, doesn't mean they can not do it..

As I understand it the travelling of interstellar distances is theoretically possible using our current physics. Unprotected re-entry of our atmosphere of such an object is not. Surely it would be far more likely that things such as the obvious technology on the 'drone' would be done away with before fundamental physical laws are circumvented? It would be easier to come up with alternatives to all the gubbins than to get all the gubbins through the atmosphere. Remember, you are going from a vacuum to a relatively highly viscous medium: air. This is like flying a plane from the air to the bottom of the sea.
Besides, the object SEEMS to require the gubbins it posseses in order to overcome gravity. To suggest that some un-named method of negating air resistance must exist seems a bit of a stretch to me, unless anyone has any ideas?

If we have to invoke technology that totally refutes all our current understanding seems pointless to me, as where does it stop? The command of such technology would actually mitigate against the existence of such a craft. What could its purpose possibly be?

If this were an invasion, what better time to launch one than now? And in this country?

The people in this country are so distracted on so many levels its horrific if you think about it. We have a war that nobody is supporting and everyone is arguing over. We have a president who can not effectively lead his people because he is apparently incapable of securing the confidence of the people. We have children who are so addicted to various forms of media input from computer gaming to text mesaging, let alone they are eating themselves to death. Then there is the violence that we allow in this country and don't forget our sickening fixation on emaciated blonde billionaire bimbos who for some reason don't need to follow the same rules of law as the rest of the population.

There is a lot distracting our attention right now, to be frank, and if some alien population wanted to send down a probe comprised of whatever materials that could re-enter our atmosphere in whatever configuration, don't you think this would be a good time for it?

Or maybe it is just some guy with phenomenal mastery of CGI who is by himself posting this as an elaborate hoax just to tweak all of you watchers on here who think every UFO sighting is a balloon you can pop with the pin of self-assuredness: we are alone in this stinking vast and infinite universe.

Why not? It's a much more convenient solution than the alternative...

[edit on 8-6-2007 by newtron25]

Originally posted by Karilla

Originally posted by LoDGiKaL
do you really think, that if someone could hypothetically build a craft whic could travel galaxies, it would have problems with the puny forces of re-entry.

I don't think you can translate technology of that magnitude to our simple standards. Just because we can't leave and re-enter an atmosphere without almost killing ourselves, doesn't mean they can not do it..

As I understand it the travelling of interstellar distances is theoretically possible using our current physics. Unprotected re-entry of our atmosphere of such an object is not. Surely it would be far more likely that things such as the obvious technology on the 'drone' would be done away with before fundamental physical laws are circumvented? It would be easier to come up with alternatives to all the gubbins than to get all the gubbins through the atmosphere. Remember, you are going from a vacuum to a relatively highly viscous medium: air. This is like flying a plane from the air to the bottom of the sea.

Well i think the issue of areodynamic is moot. The "craft" is obviously capable of lifting itself, so it could just undergo a powered reentry, wich could happen at any speed desidered.

Beside, as it's reported disappearing or moving very fast [as usual for an ufo], that means that either its apparently fragile structure is unearthly strong to resist the acceleration forces, or its equipped with some inertialess drive like a proper alien craft should.

" was able to get one more shot which came out kind of blurred and then the thing _vanished_ -- like, as in, now you see it now you don't -- "

If it's a real object, such behavior is far over actual known human flying capabilities.

" Stephen has given me permission to contact you with his photos and information and you may email him directly if you wish. "

Ok this people is saying they have no problem to reveal themselves. So, anonymous factor is over? Time to dig!




[edit on 8-6-2007 by JackHill]

Invasion or leap in technical capabilities by humans here (with some "outside" help?)

This is just plain weird, even by UFO standards...

Not supporting the validity of these things at all but it makes me laugh when people try to force our perceptions and beliefs into the equation.

If this were an alien situation why would a drone have to look a certain way to make it alien? What should an alien craft look like?

Why do some assume that it would be a modded version of the same craft? Why couldn't it be multiple craft?

Why assume any of these drones would need to break thru the atmosphere when they could have just been deployed from a larger ship?

Now, the odds of this being a real alien event are less than remote, however we can't keep assuming that there's know way it's alien because of this or that with the exception of CGI or a photographed model arguments.

Originally posted by jbondo
Not supporting the validity of these things at all but it makes me laugh when people try to force our perceptions and beliefs into the equation.

Welcome to Earth.

Originally posted by jbondo
Now, the odds of this being a real alien event are less than remote, however we can't keep assuming that there's know way it's alien because of this or that with the exception of CGI or a photographed model arguments.

The CGI argument is a good one, however, I'm yet to see anyone create any replica which is nearly as convincing. What happened to that effort anyway? Is there a 3D model which is even close to looking as "realistic" as these drone pictures? If so, where?

Originally posted by Implosion
Welcome to Earth.

Although I have an extremely dry sense of humor that comment caught me off guard. Have I somehow given you an impression somewhere else that I support these drones as being alien? Or are my joke sensors just not firing at the moment?

Originally posted by Megadeth
The guy who allegedly took these pics seems to be open to discussion and not hiding who he is. The story seems believable and the drone is freaking awesome looking.
A question I have is does the blurry photo prove anything one way or the other? Would faking this photo be harder than faking the others?
I have gone back and forth from both sides of the fence on this drone issue and these photos to me seem........ well I really don't know. Lets see what the photo experts have to say about this one.

Faking the photo, and also faking GOOD footage of it is 100% possible and real. Ive seen some footage of the original 'faked on purpose' cgi examples, and theyre spot on the same model, just different in how it moved. The guy them changed it to show more accurate movement.

Adding elements to this model is NOT HARD. It's the same as placing another leggo block on an existing leggo block.

Thats all this is.. In My Humble Opinion, it's nothing more than computer animated leggo.

Originally posted by promomag
What is this thing doing, going around and collecting new pieces as it moves?

I hope I don't get called up for it, but all I want to add to that is LOL.

For one, UFO's DON'T FLY. Airplanes fly.

Second, if this is what some of you are calling an advertising campaign, it's the worst in history. The only place I've heard anything about it is on this site. IF I found out it was for something like the transformer movie, I wouldn't go on GP.

Third, given all the historical documentation on saucer craft over the last several thousand years, I cannot remember ever seeing a craft like this drawn or described.

Conclusion? If it pops up more, and it's submitted by a verifiable source that is willing to actually talk to us, then throw it up here and let's discuss it. If it's an anonymous submission, file it in the trash bin so we can focus our attention on verifiable events, not play "Tag, you're it!" with the hoaxers.

Originally posted by jbondo

Originally posted by Implosion
Welcome to Earth.

Although I have an extremely dry sense of humor that comment caught me off guard. Have I somehow given you an impression somewhere else that I support these drones as being alien? Or are my joke sensors just not firing at the moment?

I don't think that's what he meant. The rest of your original comment was that people force their ideas and perceptions on others. He's saying, welcome to earth in that this behavior is typical. I think he was reacting to the last half of your sentence, not the first half. As an outsider, that's how I took it, anyway.

Originally posted by schuyler
I don't think that's what he meant. The rest of your original comment was that people force their ideas and perceptions on others. He's saying, welcome to earth in that this behavior is typical.

Thank you, that is exactly what I meant.