Ok, firstly thanx so much to Miguel and his lovely gal for giving me the skinny and the for being gracious enough to send me everything I asked for. I
dont see anything unusualin EXIF data, nor do I see anything like tampering. I also dont believe Miguel or his girlfriend are blatent hoaxers...so
lets leave that alone. Let do this from a bit of a different angle as if we didnt h
Looking at channel specific data, in this case in red/green/blue or RGB.
I've cropped to the object itself.
First the red channel:
Essentially isnt telling us anything.
Now the Green:
Interesting no? On the left side were seeing a bump from top to bottom we dont see in the red channel and not to this definition in the original RGB
image. We also see that there's an arcing light grouping going from that appendange to the right, and tapering. Hmmm. Seems like something we've
seen maybe.
How about the blue:
Aha. Now we have that appendage on the left more defined...and to boot, it's now highlighted by a tight white grouping (which would be dark in the
combined RGB). The blue is emphasizing it out of lack of blue channel data. We also see another appendage that seems to be making a break of the
"underside" of the object. It's angled so it's bottom in almost pointing right.
Now the environment this was taken in seems to be a maritime community. Boats, water, canal inlet.
I think we're safe in calling this a seagull. Looking at the green channel I believe we're seeing the head as the appendage on the left. The arc is
the wing, as if it's in mid glide. In the blue channel, what we're seeing as the tight group of white? The beak/head.
Given the motion, the lack of definition, the environmental habitat of seagulls, and all these instances of similarity, it's pretty much a certainty
what we're seeing is a medium distance seagull.
I will say Miguel's girlfriend told me she did not see any birds, nor hear them. That's something I considered, however it could be very easy to
miss. It may not have been her focal point when shooting the pic, and it may not have been visible thru her viewfinder. And, lets face it, the little
fellas can be quick. By the time the pic was shot and she looked back up...it could well have been gone.
So, thats what I got. In no way should Miguel or his girlfriend feel dumb...cuz honestly? I'd have thought it wierd too. I mean it does look
similarly to the O'Hare and LaSalle object, but I dont see any of the structure I do in those here. The outward appearance is definitely odd, but
channel specific data does show alot more at times like this.
Keep lookin up you two...with the northeast sightings as of late I wouldnt be shocked to see something come outta NY.
~J