Interesting photography taken in Italy - Rocket, bird....unidentified?

reply to post by WhiteHat


I'm not sure why people are convinced that it is way farther from the camera than the boat is.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

Let' say that it's a gull and that this gull wingspan is 94–105 cm.
It could also be a larger gull (such as the Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis for example) with a wingspan comprised between 140 and 155 cm.

Now, using my favorite software, I can give an estimation of its distance depends of these sizes:



With an estimation of the wingspan angular size of +/- 0.05°, a small gull will be 1.128km away from the camera.
A bigger gull will be 1.859km away.

reply to post by elevenaugust

So how big/far away is the boat?

Again, I'm not sure why the object could not be "about" the same distance (give or take) as the boat. Why is that being ruled out by some people? I don't quite get it.

If the object was a gull, I suppose it could be about the same distance as the boat. That would be about the right scale, considering the other objects on the boat (for example, the length of gull's body would be comparable in size to the width of the boater's body -- maybe a bit larger, which is about right).

My point basically is that if the object was a about the same distance from the camera as the boat -- maybe even a little closer than the boat -- then the size of the object looks like it could be gull-sized when compared to the boat.

In the enlarged images I can clearly see a missle pointing to the top right corner with the exhaust angled down and a little to the left like its making a course correction. I can't understand how anyone can see a bird. The exhaust flames look kinda split in two, where the left side is angled differently. Maybe thats whats being mistaken for the "birds" left wing.

reply to post by geldib


So, there's a missile flying through the air, and the person taking the picture focuses on the boat? And the people on the boat don't appear to be freaked out either. So missiles flying through the air are so common there that no one even blinks anymore?

Originally posted by geldib
In the enlarged images I can clearly see a missle pointing to the top right corner with the exhaust angled down and a little to the left like its making a course correction. I can't understand how anyone can see a bird. The exhaust flames look kinda split in two, where the left side is angled differently. Maybe thats whats being mistaken for the "birds" left wing.

This is how I see a bird.
It seems to be flying toward the camera and also toward the right of the image frame:

Wasn't there a recent thread stating "According to the telegraph Ufologie is dying!"
I now see why......

reply to post by elevenaugust


Yes, I can see why this is one of favorite software. Is this available to the general public? Definitely a very useful tool.

I looked around the 'net for something similar but have not found anything except in some of the astrophoto freeware. But this looks much simpler.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Is this bird you see bursting into flames? I can see how you think its a bird, but why is it on fire? What you are seeing as the left wing is just the rocket exhaust angled further left caused by thrust vectoring. Think of it like a bigger sidewinder rocket that can control the angle of its exhaust to maneuver, and the reason there is no contrail is because of smokeless propellant. Its also pretty far behind that boat.

reply to post by geldib


So again, there are so many missiles flying around the area that people just completely ignore them? The person taking the picture, and the people on the boat? They would have heard it, because missiles are loud when they're fired, but the picture is focused on the boat, and the people on the boat aren't concerned at all.

reply to post by geldib

Is this bird you see bursting into flames? I can see how you think its a bird, but why is it on fire?

It isn't on fire that's the reflection of the Sun on its white body .
It is a bird not a missile.

Originally posted by geldib
reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

 

Is this bird you see bursting into flames? I can see how you think its a bird, but why is it on fire?...

The sails of the boat are possibly of a similar white color as the object (the object that I say could be a bird), and the sails in the image have a similar glow as that object....

...Would you also say that the sails are on fire?:

I'm just curious to see how many pages this generates with people refusing to see that it is obviously a bird and not some kind of missile or UFO. I'm going to guess 11, but I could be wrong.

You people must be blind. So some of you claim this is a bird and you must believe its right side is being lit by the sun. In that case the object's left side is completely in the shadow as you can from the photo. The boat's sail is being hit by the sun coming from the SE if we are looking North in the photo. How on Earth can the object's right side be entirely lit up and its left side not if the sun is coming from the SE? The side which isn't lit up all should at least be somewhat if not all in this case. The "bird" looks to be flying towards the SE or possibly in the opposite direction so shouldn't its left or right wing (in the case that it's flying away) be lit up as well. Compare the sail to the object and you'll see how what you're claiming makes no sense. Some people need to stop feeling they're the one to call in a discussion like this and instantly claiming something they've looked little into.

Originally posted by SeriousIndividual
You people must be blind. So some of you claim this is a bird and you must believe its right side is being lit by the sun. In that case the object's left side is completely in the shadow as you can from the photo. The boat's sail is being hit by the sun coming from the SE if we are looking North in the photo. How on Earth can the object's right side be entirely lit up and its left side not if the sun is coming from the SE?

To me it looks like BOTH the bird and the boat are moving in generally similar directions -- which is to the right of the image frame, but also toward the camera. ALTHOUGH, the boat does seem to be moving toward the right of the image more than the bird is -- and the bird seems to be moving more toward the camera that the boat is...

...but I think they are generally moving in similar directions. The bird's body and the boat's hull are oriented in similar directions to relative to the sun.

Therefore, if the right side of the boats hull could be sunlit, then why mi the right side of the bird's body?

Yeah -- the boat is moving less towards the camera as the bird, but the boat's hull is also more sunlit than the bird. It seems the sun was probably behind the photographer's right shoulder -- about SE, like you say, but probably more south -- i.e., SSE (assuming "straight in front of the photographer" is North).




EDIT TO ADD:

it's a bird guys, bummer

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Can you not see where some would claim the "bird's" beak is? You can begin to see what looks to be a shadow and the entire part of one side appears to not be getting hit by light at all. Maybe you're missing the shadow on the boat. The "bird" isn't flying East, if we are looking generally North. The Sun's light just doesn't decide it won't light up a part of the object. The "bird's" wing on the side that isn't lit up should at least be somewhat lit up, but you can clearly see where the shadow begins on the area which would be the beak which would have to mean the Sun is towards the W/SW, but that's not possible given that the boat shows otherwise. Either it's poor work making it believable in the area of getting the lighting/shadows correct or the object is not a bird and the area which appears lit up is not simply light, maybe fire, and the side which looks dark is the physical part of the object which is a darker color.

Also, please answer how the "bird's" wing which is in its "shadow" isn't lit up at all if what you're claiming about the direction of the Sun is true. Maybe the side of the "bird's" body which is in its "shadow" isn't lit up because it doesn't stick out, but the wing surely does and if this photo has never been edited then that one wing should at least be lit up, but it clearly is not.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Also, you're wrong about the direction of the Sun. Your drawing is not showing what the photo shows. Look at the the back right of the boat. It is clearly less lit up than the front which would have to mean the Sun is located more in front of the bow. You can see how the bow is much brighter than the back right which is caused by the boat's slight jutting out on the sides as you move away from the bow and towards the stern. If that object in the background is truly a bird then its front or back end is definitely pointed towards the South (we're saying we're looking North for reference like always) much greater than the boat's bow is.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Take a look at these. There's nothing more to say. When I refer to the "diagram" I'm speaking about the one in the comment above mine.

ukingfay etardedray,

Why the hell would anyone even remotely think that this is anything other then a bird??

someone with half a brain please put this in teh hoax bin and CLOSE the thread.

I feel even dumber for looking at this.