A Korean Linear "UFO" [Reflection]

[Mick West]

I was approached by a Korean UFO investigator with the above video of a UFO spotted by a local witness. My first thought was a Starlink train, but they also included a video from a wider angle:

The video was very dark, but I was able to enhance it in After Effects with a combination of:

1. Adjusting Levels
2. "Echo" filter, 15 frames, Echo Operator: "Maximum"

"Maximum" takes the brightest value of a pixel in the last 15 frames, which greatly increases the definition of the edges of bright or dark areas in a noisy video that does not move too much.



I could now see that object seemed to move with the wires attached to the utility pole. I suggested this, but the witness account was of something 500m away, "floating in the sky." I then suggested taking a photo in the daytime from the same location.

This took a while. First, the witness sent photos from a different position, indicating the object was not near the wires.

He then sent a sketch, again showing it was not near the wires.

They then contact Korea Electric Power Corporation, asking if there might be a power pole malfunction. With great efficiency, they sent out a worker to check, and they returned with several photos, but seemingly not of the lower area needed.

The investigator then went himself to the location and sent me some photos, roughly from the position:

This was not actually the right location, but I was able to adjust the viewpoint to match, and, voila, the UFO lined up with something clamped on one of the cables.

More investigation by the Koreans resolved this to be a "wire inlet clamp"

So the UFO was resolved as a light reflecting off this clamp.

This case is a good example of not prematurely eliminating things. The eyewitness was convinced it was 500m up in the sky and not near the pole. But investigation eventually zeroed in on the actual culprit. If the pole was ignored due to the eyewitness account, then much time would have been wasted looking for something else.

It also highlights the importance of getting the EXACT viewpoint right when replicating the image. Witnesses are often eager to show you things, so you get photos from different angles and then zoomed in. What was needed was them standing in the same spot, with the same camera, at the same zoom. If zoom can't be determined, then default to a wider angle.

 

[Buck]

Amazing work! Thanks for the explanation.

 

[jarlrmai]

This is another case where the witness seemingly "wants to believe," they tend to passively hinder the investigation, remove context etc whilst still making claims and producing their own "analysis," then when real data finally comes out the solution is mundane.

I understand that with the public outreach face that Mick has that he is keen to also wise to chalk these things to misunderstandings, but from a practical investigation point of view, you need to be aware of these issues when looking at a case, the witness will often not be forthcoming and will sometimes provide bad data.

 

[Mendel]

This is another case where the witness seemingly "wants to believe," they tend to passively hinder the investigation

this is something i will never understand

if i believe, and want others to believe, then I need the report of a sighting i believe in to be as detailed as possible: time, location, camera type, witnesses, weather/wind, etc.

the only reason to be vague about this, i imagine, is if i don't really believe the sighting is genuine? (possibly in the form of thinking it was genuine when posting initially, but then realizing later it's not, and trying not to admit to the mistake)

 

[JMartJr]

if i believe, and want others to believe, then I need the report of a sighting i believe in to be as detailed as possible: time, location, camera type, witnesses, weather/wind, etc.

Yes, but would a True Believer think that way? None of those details are important to somebody who sees something that they do not understand, jumps immediately to aliens (or whatever paranormal explanation for UFOs they like) and then stops there. They are not trying to figure out what it was, they already KNOW, it was a Real Genuine UFO!

I would be very curious to know if the idea of trying to find out if it is maybe not a Real Genuine UFO (whatever that means to them) ever even crosses their mind. I suspect not. Similarly, if I see an owl fly across the back yard, I don't think in terms of investigating if it is really an owl because owls are not mysterious to me, I know they exist. I don't see them very often, I think it's neat when I see one, but I don't worry about establishing its an owl.

Now if you didn't think there were owls around here, and asked for details, I would not balk at taking a picture of the yard from where I was standing, or the like. But I might not do so super-carefully, as I'm not super concerned about whether it was an owl, as I already know that.

 

[jarlrmai]

Yes, but would a True Believer think that way? None of those details are important to somebody who sees something that they do not understand, jumps immediately to aliens (or whatever paranormal explanation for UFOs they like) and then stops there. They are not trying to figure out what it was, they already KNOW, it was a Real Genuine UFO!

I would be very curious to know if the idea of trying to find out if it is maybe not a Real Genuine UFO (whatever that means to them) ever even crosses their mind. I suspect not. Similarly, if I see an owl fly across the back yard, I don't think in terms of investigating if it is really an owl because owls are not mysterious to me, I know they exist. I don't see them very often, I think it's neat when I see one, but I don't worry about establishing its an owl.

Now if you didn't think there were owls around here, and asked for details, I would not balk at taking a picture of the yard from where I was standing, or the like. But I might not do so super-carefully, as I'm not super concerned about whether it was an owl, as I already know that.

It's interesting though, that the only way to "publicise" their sighting to phrase it as "what is this." So they might be classed as a true believer but the evidence is only ever presented as a question.

So maybe they believe UFOs are real and sort of desperately want this to be one.

The more I get into the cases, the more I wonder about the psychology of this specific belief.