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ast week I spent a few days looking at UFO videos on Utube. I typed "UFO" in the search field and came up with about 10,000. Of course, this is too many to view so I just sampled about 100 or so and even that many is a chore. I found that there are many good fake UFO videos there (I mean ones that are intended to really fool the viewer or perhaps "enlighten" him?). I've given links to the best of these. It's easy to spot the best because they are posted very many times in the 10,000. A fairly large percentage are "chaff" which consists of simple joke videos not intended to fool anyone, just waste their time (like pie tins thrown and things hanging from a string).

Perhaps all of them are fake. I doubt that but in general, I found that the more realistic a video looks, the more likely it is that it is fake. If there are "real" UFO videos, they are simply the "lights in the sky" type where you can't tell anything for sure.

Here are links to my picks. The links (click on the pic to go to the Utube page) were good as of 12/20/06.

World Trade Center UFO

This is probably the best UFO video ever made in the area of drama and realism. The actress in the video was hired by the SciFi channel to do the "bit" and the UFO was later added with graphics software. Some notable errors in the film are the impossibility of a large UFO going unnoticed by others in a daylight sighting (at least a hundred feet in diameter when behind the WTC).

Math: There are at least 8,000,000 people in the Naked City. If each of them sees the world trade center 100 times per year ...there are 800,000,000 sightings of the world trade center per year.

Then,

365_days x 12_{daylight hours} x 3600 _seconds/hour = 15,768,000 daysec/year

And,

800,000,000 / 15,768,000 = about 50 people looking at the WTC every second of every day.

Now, I'm assuming that people only look at the world trade center for one second per view but this is unrealistic. Before 9/11, there were thousands of people milling around the base of the Towers all day and among them hundreds of tourists (with cameras). So, the idea that a UFO could just hover around the WTC for several seconds minimum without being noticed (and providing corroborative photos) ...during the day ...is laughable.

Here is a link to a sight which "debunks" the photo (I assume prior to the actress' statement that it was a fake). WTC Fake UFO? @ Alcione.org. He makes some good points but I found that there was nothing he objected to that I couldn't counter the objection. Thus, I see why it is true that a picture (or video) is worthless without eyewitness testimony. It's like the law. There are two sides to anything and the best lawyer is the one who can "prove" his point of view is correct whether or not it is.

Back Yard UFO

This is cool. They even put in a sound effect that travels from the UFO to the camera faster than the speed of sound. I think this one is a blurry beer bottle (probably Coors Light or Heineken but not Budweiser).

Nanjing China

This one just plain disappears (with about six little lights in the frame of disappearance) and the background chatter in Chinese is really corroborative in it's sense of authenticity. I'll bet my left nut that it's fake though. I saw another obvious fake that used the same disappearing act.

Wobbly UFO

This wobbly UFO is seen on SciFi channel quite often. It looks fake to me because of the apparently ridiculous wobbling as if on a string. Nevertheless, maybe it's just that the aliens are trying to make a daylight sighting less reasonable so we won't think it's real? Nahhhh...

Bulgarian UFO

This one makes the mistake of moving to the left two times just before going to the right behind the building. When it moves left, it does so in lockstep with the camera as though the CG'r got confused with his placement coordinates.

This one looks reasonable for a fake. I included it here because it looks like somebody may have copied it from the following UFO crash video.

UFO Crash

This video has the look of authenticity about it ...except for the craft itself. It's the same as the Guataemala UFO. Apparently, somebody got hold of an old "bounce bomb" video from WWII or thereabouts and digitally removed the bomb and substituted the Guatemala UFO for the bouncer and ...voila! ...UFO crash. Very good work here.

Portland UFO

This is a nice piece of work ...but where did it go? Why did the camera go off before the UFO left? Did the cameraman get bored after taking a few seconds of video? Well, extraterrestrial craft are pretty ho-hum subjects.

Fucken'UFO

This one appears to b authentic from many standpoints. But it doesn't exhibit any anomalous motion. So, it just might be a mylar balloon for all I know (one of those UFO ballons about 2 feet in diameter that you play with indoors but be careful outdoors 'cause it'll get blown away in a strong wind).

Fake UFO

Here's a genuine fake that shows how easy it must be to insert a UFO into a video with editing software.

How to make a good fake UFO video

• Get at least one partner to assist you. When you make a mistake, your partner may see it and you can correct it. More eyes means less mistakes in the editing room. A team effort is best.
• Make your video first and practice till you've got what you want ... then put your CG UFO in.
• Be spontaneous.
• Have multiple participants engaged in some spontaneous activity that is "interrupted" by the UFO like playing soccer or having a picnic.
• Temporal extension ...let your video go past the moment the UFO leaves so as to hear the subsequent spontaneous comments of all participants.
• Don't let the UFO come too close. The observer should never become emotionally affected by the actions of the UFO. He can be spontaneously emotional from the sighting itself but not because it interacted with him. If your subjects interact with the UFO your video loses the credibility of disinterested observers. Very important here ...a pilot reporting a UFO 500 yards to starboard is far more credible than a pilot reporting that he was "abducted" after he landed his plane subsequent to the sighting, i.e. give the viewer something good but not tooooo much.
• Show anomalous motion to verify the UFO video as either real or fake but nothing in between. If you show something that stays still like a balloon, it will be identified as a balloon. Leave no margin for error.
• You must show a reference building or tree or something in the same frame as the UFO. A UFO on a plain blue sky background doesn't convey any information about scale. And the UFO should go in front of something and behind something else to show its distance from the camera.
• Of course, you must have sound. A video is soooooo worthless without sound. And put dialogue in. But it can't be a robot's speech. A little swearing is good but not too much as you lose credibility by way of being a "junkie" or "street person". You want to be an average guy or gal. Be Joe Average.
• Do your CG work with diligence. Remember, each frame will be judged on its own merit. Nothing will escape the eagle eye of your "debunkers". Watch those edges and your blurring when in motion. Be careful to respect the camera's motion and don't lose sight of the cameraman's reaction time.
• Careful with the sound effects. Read up on the subject and duplicate just what witnesses report often. Don't make up anything on your own.
• You and your other participants must stand up for your video and take the heat. Anonymous videos in these CG days aren't worth spit without a corraborating witness(s).
• When the heat gets to be tooooooo much ...fess up and show 'em how you done it.

Remember, a good fake video is a tremendous aid to understanding the phenomenon. If you can help people to visualize what was seen by a genuine witness, you have done a public service. In fact, I would like to see a fake UFO video contest sponsored by the UFO community (with cash prizes) to show what is possible and show everyone how easy it is to do so they don't think a video is worth anything without the witnesses backing it up.

How about this …

$100,000 1st Prize
$50,000 2nd Place
$25,000 3rd Place
$1000 Honorable Mention (twenty five winners)

This would cost the SciFi Channel only $200,000. What a small price to pay for an entire one hour UFO program! Easy money. Many talented people would give it a try. Open to all comers including pros. Hell, have more cash prizes and bigger ones too. Sky's the limit.