reply to post by itchy_tartan_blanket
You ask how we discern which videos and pictures are real. There are various techniques being employed by members on this very site, which can to a
reasonable degree show when a picture or a video has been tampered with by way image alterations. The methods they use are somewhat of a mystery to
me, but they involve examining the images, and the information about the file itself. However, another important factor in establishing the
authenticity of a piece of evidence is close examination , and good solid research.
All to often a video or a photograph will pop up on this site, which has no solid locational data (I.E. someone posts up a fantastical story, with a
photo or vid as evidence, and provide no information about exact latitude and longitude, direction in which they were facing, rough idea of what
facilities they may be near). This makes establishing the truth very difficult. Say for instance someone posts a video containing numerous blobs of
light, but neglects to tell us that they were right next to an air feild, or a ballon race start point, or that they were pointing in a direction
which would mean thier camera was fixed on a road on a dark night, from across a valley floor. All these things and many more, can explain an odd
light in the sky . Hell, I remember the time when an American news crew captured video of what they thought was a UFO ... turned out to be a damned
street lamp and that was during daylight! The only way that members here were able to confirm this identification was to observe the street for
themselves with , I am assuming, google. In either case, by side by side comparison, it was possible for the membership to establish that the images
were of a streetlamp.
What I am saying is that even when an image is untampered, you have to consider things like exposure times(so that you dont get sucked into the
"Rods" fan club) , lighting, flash settings, time of day , geographical and environmental issues like landscape, local infrastructure, events in the
locality . There is so much that must be known in order to make a valued assesment of a piece of evidence, and very often the provider of the original
images and videos being examined , do not provide adequate data for a deep and proper investigation of thier evidence , or indeed thier claims.
It is dissapointing in the extreme, because it means that effort and energy get wasted on evidence which under properly informed circumstances ,
could be put aside as bunk, leaving researchers and other interested parties, more time to examine the most fascinating and unexplainable cases .