Random Picture I took while Hiking

Hey ATS,

So I wanted to post this wayyyy back when I first found the website but due to the posting restrictions (and me straying away from the community for some time, I never got the chance too), sadly this picture was taken so long ago that I no longer remember date/specific time it was taken.

What I do Know:

My girlfriend and I were out hiking at Mt. Pisgah's hiking trails in NC, this would've been a late-June/early-August afternoon (~2pm, 2012). They have a nice little area set up overlooking the valley, etc where I was taking a few pictures from (this was the only one that contained an anomaly like this). I did not actually find this anomaly until quite a while after being there/taking the picture (I had read a book on the Stan Romanek story and it mentions going through old photos as most times you would miss such things as this right after taking the picture and sure enough I had...)

I'm including the original image in case anyone would like to double check my Photoshop skills (I can tell you I've never installed Photoshop and as you'll be able to tell by my outlining, my MSPaint skills are sub par as well )

I will say that I have had other experiences with UFOs, such as this (no up close encounters, and hopefully never will :x) mainly at night or while driving (I take driving a couple tons of a metal more seriously than most, nowadays at least, and don't enjoy answering/messing with my phone while doing so).

What I Speculate:

One of two things, it's either a UFO or more than likely a bug. I'm not entirely sold on the bug theory which is why I'd like some 2nd opinions here (I do actually respect the debunkers here, as most of them do quite a bit of in-depth research when necessary).

I'm not sold on the bug theory because to me (as an ex-Mathematics major) the size of the bug in comparison to everything else just makes no sense to me... the UFO (technically this is still true unless one of you can confirm it is indeed a bug), seems like it would be too far away for me to be able to see the wings (?) in the original zoom from that distance unless this is one massive flying insect, also as I stated earlier, these did not appear in any of the other pictures I took (several are from this same location, would gladly post them if someone feels the need to check those as well).

The Goods:

Original:

UFO Outlined:

UFO 500%:

(These were taken with a Galaxy S2 phone, if you click and zoom it's a fairly decent size vs these thumbnails or whatever they want to call it that go into forums; you'll have to click and zoom if you want to check out the wings I mentioned from original view as the thumbnail reduces the quality/size too much)

Summary:

I'm pretty sure the general consensus will follow my bug theory, but feel free to do any image analysis you'd like as I have nothing to hide here.

Thanks in advance,

McGooferson

It's a blurd.

1: Out of focus
2: Roughly disc shaped
3: Don't remember seeing anything unusual when you took it.

reply to post by McGooferson


Given the location I would say the likelihood is it is a bird.

Looks exactly like a bug to me. Resembles a large bee. You can even see its wings. Click on the picture the OP provided, enlarge it, and then zoom in. You can see the wings on either side of it (blurred, which suggests they are moving fast as you would expect with a flying insect)

reply to post by McGooferson

I just did an IPad enlargement and doing that makes it appear to be a flying insect, but I am not an expert.

I want to say its a stealth drone, but if it was actually that far away the dot would be more washed out. Therefore it must be an alien bug.

PinealJockey
I want to say its a stealth drone, but if it was actually that far away the dot would be more washed out. Therefore it must be an alien bug.

I think it's a bird eating an alien bug.

Seriously - It's hard to call it anything besides 'something in the distance'.

To me it looks like a June Bug or a Cicada.

I've been to the area you have hiked at and you will see both of those in the summer.

Hello McGooferson!

Interestingly, the landscape show some haze which can be used as a reference to try to give an estimation of the possible distance of the object, considering it as a dark object.

Indeed, dark objects appears to shading off relatively to their distance to the camera: the more far away they are, the more gray they appears to be.

It appears to be in fact relatively close to the camera, looking at the lowest value of gray pixels of various areas:



As the photo was taken with a Galaxy S2, it could also be possible to give a good range of the distance of the object vs its size.
However, in order to do this, beside the camera model (and its sensor size: 1/3.2" (4.54 mm × 3.42 mm)) I need at least the focal length that was used, that is not in the metadata (stripped by ats?).

So, OP, could it be possible to have a direct link to the unmodified photo (with the full EXIF data)?

Thanks!

McGooferson
... the UFO (technically this is still true unless one of you can confirm it is indeed a bug), seems like it would be too far away for me to be able to see the wings (?) in the original zoom from that distance unless this is one massive flying insect...

Would you necessarily be able to discern distance to the camera?

I realize it "looks" as if it is somewhere over that valley (it "appears" to me to be on the near side of the valley), but that just may be a trick of perspective, with our minds basing the distance to the object using visual clues of the scene. I think it is possible that it is much closer than that, maybe as close as those near bushes in the foreground.

In that case, it could be a bug (or maybe an odd angle view of a bird).

Here is one example of how visual clues can trick our brains into thinking something is farther away/bigger than it is:

I can't say exactly what it may be but the Asheville airport isn't that far away from this area (as the crow flies) and that could simply be a small plane or helicopter in the area.

Its one of those unmanned drones flying around, that's what it looks like to me.

DeadSeraph
Looks exactly like a bug to me. Resembles a large bee. You can even see its wings. Click on the picture the OP provided, enlarge it, and then zoom in. You can see the wings on either side of it (blurred, which suggests they are moving fast as you would expect with a flying insect)

No.
No. NO NO

So you can see a freaking bug/bee a good 100-200yards away? wow, must of been a HUGE bee...im talking....huge...

you wouldn't even be able to see a baseball or football at that range let alone a bug

(feel free to go outside sometime chief and tell me how big those visible bugs are at distance)
((really, pls do and post results))

rolls on floor laughing uncontrollably

elevenaugust
As the photo was taken with a Galaxy S2, it could also be possible to give a good range of the distance of the object vs its size.
However, in order to do this, beside the camera model (and its sensor size: 1/3.2" (4.54 mm × 3.42 mm)) I need at least the focal length that was used, that is not in the metadata (stripped by ats?).

So, OP, could it be possible to have a direct link to the unmodified photo (with the full EXIF data)?

Thanks!

edit on 27-1-2014 by elevenaugust because: (no reason given)

Sadly, that phone is out of commission and this pic was still my cover of my FB page (which I'm assuming would have stripped the metadata over ATS), I was trying to get the phone to turn on before I uploaded these to try and get the original image from it, but I'd need a Walter Bishop for that feat at this point.

I do have to agree with you though, as this was my sneaking suspicion in the first place, I think your methodology is proof enough, for me especially.

I see quite of bit of randomness in general though (balls of light on street level while walking around the neighborhood, interesting stars/UFOs, etc.) so I'll keep my eyes peeled and try to catch another. Wish I could have caught the early star (~5/5:30PM, only star-like object in the sky at that point) I saw one day that went dark all of a sudden and floated up til it disappeared, but sadly I was on a major highway without a passenger to help me out, so that'll be a mystery I'll never solve :/ (and them balls of light I'll never follow lol...).

Thanks for all of your opinions/help!

McGooferson

Soylent Green Is People

McGooferson
... the UFO (technically this is still true unless one of you can confirm it is indeed a bug), seems like it would be too far away for me to be able to see the wings (?) in the original zoom from that distance unless this is one massive flying insect...

Would you necessarily be able to discern distance to the camera?

Yea, I had a feeling it may have just been an optical illusion making it seem as if it were further away than it actually was, I'm glad elevenaugust could post a methodology that could prove that for me though.

ThinkYouSpeak

DeadSeraph
Looks exactly like a bug to me. Resembles a large bee. You can even see its wings. Click on the picture the OP provided, enlarge it, and then zoom in. You can see the wings on either side of it (blurred, which suggests they are moving fast as you would expect with a flying insect)

No.
No. NO NO

So you can see a freaking bug/bee a good 100-200yards away? wow, must of been a HUGE bee...im talking....huge...

you wouldn't even be able to see a baseball or football at that range let alone a bug

(feel free to go outside sometime chief and tell me how big those visible bugs are at distance)
((really, pls do and post results))

rolls on floor laughing uncontrollably

Please tell me you are trolling...

What exactly gives you the idea that the object is 100-200 yards away? It could easily be close to the camera. The fact you can actually see it's wings would suggest that it IS close to the camera. Laughing uncontrollably indeed.

reply to post by whatnext21

I played around with it but i don't know if i helped or hurt the object detail.

Not that there was much detail to begin with but...you hurt it.

and this one was magnified by 3000 pixals

Pixels (as in picture elements). And the interpolation algorithm utterly erases any hope of seeing anything. It doesn't "magnify" anything, it makes stuff up.

You can't get information from an image which is not there in the original. No matter how much you play with "filters" or try to "magnify" it beyond its native resolution.

reply to post by McGooferson


Beautiful location. Sure looks like a bird to me.

I think it's time this thread category (aliens & UFOs) be closed down...

How bored do you have to be?