Giddierone
Senior Member.
I just want to know if the dog caught the frisbee or not. I think it bailed out because the hill is too steep.
Strange object captured over Malvern Hills, Western England - Reddit
- Thread starter jarlrmai
- Start date
Ann K
Senior Member.
My husband used to come home from bike rides with "roadkill" in his chest hair, especially so on evening rides along the river.
Gaspa
Senior Member.
Picked up by Yahoo News and something called the "Swindon Advertiser". Both stories can be read in the link below.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/dog-walker-captures-ufo-moving-113104044.html
Some quotes from the link above:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/dog-walker-captures-ufo-moving-113104044.html
Some quotes from the link above:
External Quote:
Here's what appears to be Andrew's Instagram account, should someone contact him "on behalf of Metabunk" or something, asking for the original file and/or the frame rate used for the slow motion effect?External Quote:
Ann K
Senior Member.
No, because in that case the ball would precede the streamer, but we see "the streamer precede the ball." That would square with something like a seed with fluff, where the wind blows the fluff and the seed is carried behind.
The video is sort of confusing because it shows it reversed as well. You need to look at just the first portion to see which direction it's going.
John J.
Senior Member.
I suspect Andrew is wrong. The Mk.1 "Grass, dried, airborne, soldiers for the annoyance of" has frequently been witnessed during exercises, usually ending its erratic trajectory in the first mug of tea brewed up after 24 hours of misery, or settling unnoticed on some otherwise spotlessly clean component of a stripped rifle immediately before an inspection, but it is unlikely to be of manufactured military origin.
"Some viewers" might want to explain why it being extrarterrestrial is in any way a likely, or remotely likely, explanation.
I guess we're all lucky we live in an age where odd / not immediately explained events are not taken as evidence of witchcraft;
it's scary how willing and quick some people are to ascribe non-human agency to what might be a strand of grass captured on film.
There might be a mundane reason why Andrew didn't notice anything happening; bits of grass/ dandelion seeds/ horsehair etc. do get blown about in summer breezes and we don't pay them any attention.External Quote:
And his "...strange experience..." must relate to his watching the clip, not to any feeling at the time that the clip was filmed.
There are a couple of threads on MB where it seems a photographer has inadvertently captured a butterfly transiting the frame unnoticed when the photo was taken, to be seen as a mystery object when the photo is examined later. And of course there's the Skinwalker Ranch fly...
Gaspa
Senior Member.
Yes. It's such a strange experience not noticing anything out of the ordinary!
Giddierone
Senior Member.
Just adding this. I think it's a piece of thistle seed before the hairs have expanded.
John J.
Senior Member.
Maybe one of those- I don't know, strands? - associated with conifers.
Normally in little "sprigs" of 2 or 3, but noticed some amongst other dried leaf litter etc. on the ground a couple of days ago; some had come apart into individual strands (for want of a better word). Slightly curved, sandy colour, darker at one tip.
(I'd be grateful if someone could tell me what the right name for these strands is.)
Normally in little "sprigs" of 2 or 3, but noticed some amongst other dried leaf litter etc. on the ground a couple of days ago; some had come apart into individual strands (for want of a better word). Slightly curved, sandy colour, darker at one tip.
(I'd be grateful if someone could tell me what the right name for these strands is.)
jarlrmai
Senior Member.
Pine needles
Gaspa
Senior Member.
Would you mind measuring the length in one of these? Is it about 1 cm?
I like this hypothesis. My issue with something this tiny is, for something this small to show up on camera with the size it did, it would have to really up close, and I think it would be much more out of focus while he was filming the dog a few meters away. However small the aperture might have been, outside in the sun and all.
So I think something larger, similar to a blade of grass or the pine needle brought up by @John J. , something in the 10-15 cm range would make more sense.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
I think the lines on the paper here #33 are 7.5mm apart, so the piece that looks like the UFO is about 2.2cm (about a thumbs width). I just collected some seed heads at random, some were larger, others smaller, but all pretty small.
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JMartJr
Senior Member.
Pine needles don't really have a lot of surface area to catch wind and get lofted:
A blade of grass would be more likely to get airborne in the wind, having a lot more area for the wind to push on:
Not that pine needles can't ever get blown around, but it would take a LOT more wind. (From personal experience each autumn, and for whatever that is worth, raking pine needles from the one long leaf pine in my yard, they fall and stay by the tree while broader leaves blow everywhere.)
And of course seeds that rely on getting blown around to spread the species around are quite good at getting lofted and carried along.
Edit to add: Many, but not all, pine trees have seeds with a"blade" on one end, like a maple tree, to allow the to "whirligig" as the fall from the tree, and coast away from the parent tree a bit in the breeze:
They might be more likely to get lofted than needles, but I'd expect them to be whirling -- perhaps my expectation is wrong!
New word of the day: Such a bladed "helicopter" seed is called a samara.
A blade of grass would be more likely to get airborne in the wind, having a lot more area for the wind to push on:
Not that pine needles can't ever get blown around, but it would take a LOT more wind. (From personal experience each autumn, and for whatever that is worth, raking pine needles from the one long leaf pine in my yard, they fall and stay by the tree while broader leaves blow everywhere.)
And of course seeds that rely on getting blown around to spread the species around are quite good at getting lofted and carried along.
Edit to add: Many, but not all, pine trees have seeds with a"blade" on one end, like a maple tree, to allow the to "whirligig" as the fall from the tree, and coast away from the parent tree a bit in the breeze:
They might be more likely to get lofted than needles, but I'd expect them to be whirling -- perhaps my expectation is wrong!
New word of the day: Such a bladed "helicopter" seed is called a samara.
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Ann K
Senior Member.
They are also significantly heavier. It appears that the object was lofted above the viewer (or at least above the camera level), and I doubt someone would be throwing the frisbee-dog toy into a wind strong enough to blow pine needles that high toward him.
JMartJr
Senior Member.
I guess if your dog was not good at going to get the toy, at least the wind would blow it back to you. Saves you same walking, if your dog is a jerk... ^_^
But yeah, that'd be a LOT of wind. Having spent some time out in really heavy winds, when the festival organizer thinks "Great day for kites, look at all this wind!" and the fliers are thinking"Well, gonna break a lot of gear today!" -- that is not weather conditions particularly conducive to a pleasant romp with ol' Fido.
Which is slightly odd, as where the picture seems to be taken (see Post #14 and Post #19) COULD have been experiencing some pretty strong gusts, locally higher than the forecast. Think "umbrella-inverting" sort of stuff during gusts, but without the rain.
Not Super-duper-impossible I don't believe it would ever happen odd, but a bit odd, to be playing Frisbee with a dog in that. With the eternal caveat that wind forecasts are often off, especially inland.
Edit: Typoed "should" where "could" was meant. Fixed that.
John J.
Senior Member.
Of course they are! Thank you. (Note to self: Stop using the lead saucepans).
The dried ones I noticed on the ground a few days ago were about 5-7 cm (approx. 2-2.75 inches); I guess there's a lot of variation depending on age and the pine species.
They were pretty desiccated and a sandy-beige colour, lots of them. I don't think it would take much wind to blow them around, and they drop from trees. The similar curvature to the video object and the darker tip at one end made me think of this thread.
Some pines have needles in the 1-2 cm range (25 Most Popular Types of Pine Trees Grown in The UK) but I think they might be proportionately broader than the object in the video (thinking about Fraser firs and similar, used as domestic Christmas trees).
Just a suggestion; maybe a piece of straw / grass is more likely.
There appears to be significant grass-mowing in the area at the start of August (perhaps not on the hillsides!),
Malvern Hills Trust, Our Stance on Mowing, June 2023 https://www.malvernhills.org.uk/media/3089/malvern-hills-trust-stance-on-mowing-2023.pdfExternal Quote:
John J.
Senior Member.
Ah, just noticed:
Looking at the OP video,
At approximately 35 to 36 seconds into the video, which at that point is monochrome if you look very closely,
there might be a suggestion of wings fluttering.
I think it might be an insect- a dragonfly maybe?
(Edited to add: Got confused about what direction the video was playing in; at 35-36 seconds in it is forward, the object flies towards us).
Looking at the OP video,
At approximately 35 to 36 seconds into the video, which at that point is monochrome if you look very closely,
there might be a suggestion of wings fluttering.
I think it might be an insect- a dragonfly maybe?
(Edited to add: Got confused about what direction the video was playing in; at 35-36 seconds in it is forward, the object flies towards us).
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JMartJr
Senior Member.
Spent a few moments looking at "Dragonflies of the UK" and similar terms. So far I am not finding any with a light body and a dark tail, but the opposite is a thing they have:
Image source: https://www.stephenburch.com/dragonflies/dragon_pics.htm
Unless the wind was so strong he was flying backwards, further dragonfly hunting is required...
Image source: https://www.stephenburch.com/dragonflies/dragon_pics.htm
Unless the wind was so strong he was flying backwards, further dragonfly hunting is required...
MonkeeSage
Senior Member.
Maybe a cranefly?
Tipula maxima
Tipula maxima
Source: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/craneflies-daddy-long-legsExternal Quote:
Source: https://www.naturespot.org/species/tipula-maximaExternal Quote:
Lue Elizondo has now commented on this and has concluded it has a mundane explanation.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1mqo2r3/lue_elizondo_debunks_ufo_behind_dog_video/
NewsNation Link: https://www.newsnationnow.com/video...ane-explanation-luis-elizondo-cuomo/10984402/
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1mqo2r3/lue_elizondo_debunks_ufo_behind_dog_video/
NewsNation Link: https://www.newsnationnow.com/video...ane-explanation-luis-elizondo-cuomo/10984402/
jarlrmai
Senior Member.
He is, after all, the leading expert in vegetation based UFOs..
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Well that settles it: we're concluding it is definitely extraterrestrial.
owntheissue
Member
Only been smacked in the face by 2 dragonflies ever.
My bro science theory is Dragonflies use their 4 wing hover capability (and quick eyes) to evade laterally- thus less strikes.
Perhaps thats what we are seeing - a lateral adjustment in forward flight.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
What does he say? Newsnation link doesn't appear to work.
Gaspa
Senior Member.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzD3Z6USDsk
Paraphrasing:
He thinks it could be some sort of camera artifact, but hasn't high confidence.External Quote:
Doesn't look like a camera artifact to me.
John J.
Senior Member.
At risk of seeming needy, but are any of you guys interpreting those few frames as possibly showing beating wings too?
To me, it's only visible (or at least suggested) by viewing the footage playing in monochrome, from approx. end of 34th second in to the 37th second, roughly from when the object is at the same horizontal level on-screen as the frisbee and as it continues upwards (or as it travels downward to the frisbee's level in the reversed footage).
If the object has beating wings -and though I'm proposing this I'm by no means sure- I think that effectively falsifies* any technological artefact explanation (either military tech or, ahem, a tiny alien craft surveying the Malvern Hills in broad daylight in the middle of summer).
The mystery object would most likely be a flying insect, even if its species could not be determined from the footage.
If it doesn't have beating wings, a windblown bit of grass (remembering this is in an area where hundreds of hectares of grassland are mown at this time each year) straw (the hills are largely bordered by agricultural land) or some other piece of detritus remains a more likely explanation than an ETI artefact, given what we know about the Malvern Hills and the evidence we have for (1) grasses etc., (2) ETI visits at that location.
*At least at present, but various research groups, notably in China, have worked on electronic control of insects:
"Insect–computer hybrid legged robot with user-adjustable speed, step length and walking gait", Feng Cao, Chao Zhang, Hao Yu Choo, Hirotaka Sato [Nanyang Technical University, Singapore], Journal of the Royal Society Interface 13 (116) 2016
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2016.0060;
"Chinese scientists create first cyborg bee with world's lightest brain controller", South China Morning Post 10 July 2025
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/sci...t-cyborg-bee-worlds-lightest-brain-controller
(I haven't accessed the full article), see also
"Rumors about Chinese researchers creating bee-control device buzzing out of control", Snopes website, Cindy Shan 27 July 2025
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chinese-developed-cyborg-bee/
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JMartJr
Senior Member.
Yeah... hence a poke about the Interwebs looking for candidate dragonflies!
I mean, what you are seeing is there, looks like wings, so might well be wings. Worth exploring for sure!
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I think that's just compression artifacts. Ideally, we'd have the original video to verify that. But it really does not look like an insect to me.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
It's remarkable that he's considered an expert analyst, yet has done as much analysis as someone who's played the video a few times on their phone.
As for the thistle seed suggestion, ahem, one thing that supports it is that the plant is rampant across the UK at the moment with bits of it flying everywhere... I wonder if a bit of it could have come off the frisbee itself.
I couldn't see it myself.
As for the thistle seed suggestion, ahem, one thing that supports it is that the plant is rampant across the UK at the moment with bits of it flying everywhere... I wonder if a bit of it could have come off the frisbee itself.
John J.
Senior Member.
Me neither, at least not the slender curved thing by itself.
But watching those few seconds of footage, I got the impression of small fluctuating areas of brightness each side of the line, roughly opposite each other and fluctuating at a frequency which might be in the range of an insect's wingbeats, difficult to be sure about that as the footage is slowed down, and my investigative methods consisted of watching and re-watching that brief bit of footage while trying to keep an eye on the time elapsed!
The flickering areas seem closer to the middle of the slender curved thing than might be expected if that line is actually the body of a dragonfly, cranefly or damselfly catching the light, and there is an absence of any other detail that might suggest an insect.
Thought it was worth raising, though.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
Now having looked at it on a proper monitor I see how broken up it appears as it first emerges. Sometimes appearing as two or more parts. Is that just video compression?
Cropped section:
Cropped section:
John J.
Senior Member.
When first visible the object appears to be moving roughly horizontally before moving upwards and toward the film maker.
(Thumbnails, click to enlarge and view in succession if interested.)
Probably a bit of grass and file compression.
Or a white-legged damselfly with motion blur.
Aargh, I can't decide!
(Thumbnails, click to enlarge and view in succession if interested.)
Probably a bit of grass and file compression.
Or a white-legged damselfly with motion blur.
Aargh, I can't decide!
Z.W. Wolf
Senior Member.
Word for word transcription of Elizondo's explanation:
This makes no sense.
- A scratch on a lens can't appear as a sharp, well-defined object. It's effectively at a distance of zero. Because it's well outside the minimum focusing distance (MFD) of the optical system, the lens couldn't form a focused image of it on the sensor plane.
-Refraction is the wrong word. Surface defects cause scattering, diffraction, or attenuation. What you'd get would be veiling glare, flare, or a general loss of contrast and brightness. Not a focused object.
-The camera is barely moving in relation to the world and the Sun. But we're expected to believe this ghost image would move like this through the frame. If it were caused by a static scratch or lens defect, it would not appear to move this quickly. The camera is just wobbling, not panning or tilting, so the artifact wouldn't move in this smooth, linear path.
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Gaspa
Senior Member.
Looks like it. If we had the original video, more could be said about it.
Gaspa
Senior Member.
omg she's so cute!Or a white-legged damselfly with motion blur.
Sorry for the quick off-topic. But now I have to go look for a "white legged damselfly" origami model. If it doesn't exist, it's going to my list of "models to create once I learn how to design origami" - which might never happen.
Ann K
Senior Member.
Anabatic winds, winds which blow uphill, are common during the daytime in calm sunny weather, which appears to describe the weather conditions of this video.
Guys from Corridor Crew explained it is likely an arrow (see
Source: https://youtu.be/l9zxEcUvD5s?t=234
). They explained why it does not appear wobbly. It has something to do with a rolling shutter. I'd rather won't go into more detail to not misrepresent their explanation, though.
Source: https://youtu.be/l9zxEcUvD5s?t=234
). They explained why it does not appear wobbly. It has something to do with a rolling shutter. I'd rather won't go into more detail to not misrepresent their explanation, though.
Z.W. Wolf
Senior Member.
I'm not convinced by the arrow explanation.
BTW they're off about the next one as well - the light in Mazatlán. What we're seeing is an airy disk caused by constructive and destructive interference as light passes across the edges of the aperture. It's not caused by something on the lens cover. If there's crud on the lens or cover, that would just distort the airy disk into strange shapes.
So O for 2 so far in this video.
BTW they're off about the next one as well - the light in Mazatlán. What we're seeing is an airy disk caused by constructive and destructive interference as light passes across the edges of the aperture. It's not caused by something on the lens cover. If there's crud on the lens or cover, that would just distort the airy disk into strange shapes.
So O for 2 so far in this video.
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The "Ring camera alien" debunk was pretty good, though. Once you see the image as a guy in dark clothing carrying one or two milk jugs (or a jug and a light colored shopping bag) it's hard to unsee.
If you don't believe in the milk jug, the explanation also works the other way -- if the image is so ambiguous that someone's suggesting of what it is will influence your perception of it, the "alien" interpretation is also just a suggestion.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
They did a test, but didn't publish their test? They also don't appear to note how it travels on a curving path.
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