DoD UFO Footage "Leak" 8/27/2022 [SWA4298 Landing Lights]

[RatkingDBK]

thread summary by mick west

The video is from a security camera at Pittsburgh airport, showing a USAF Reserve C-17 hanger of the 911th Air Wing. (Found by @flarkey, image match by @Rory )

A light is seen slowly rising in the distance. The camera zooms in and takes on a diamond shape.

The date and time indicate the light is a plane, SWA4298 (Found by @flarkey)

Overlaying the flight path on a stabilized track of the video shows that it's a match. It also comes into view when the plane turns towards the camera and is coming in to land, with landing lights on.

The shape of the light when zoomed in appears to be bokeh an out of focus highlight reflecting the shape of the aperture. This can be seen somewhat in the streetlight. (Noticed by @RatkingDBK )

The later movement of the light seems to be entirely camera motion. White dots that look like non-moving stars are just stuck pixels.

[Original first post follows]

So, there is a video on reddit that is drawing a lot of discussion right now. The source of the video appears to be a member (former?) of the US Airforce. Their reddit account is deleted now, however there are caches available on google. The person made numerous comments on the Airforce subreddit and claimed to be an active member.

The video shows an object or craft of some sort that flies up from the bottom of the frame. It shows a diamond shaped object that emits a bright light. Another light is seen on top of that pyramid, but does not appear to be connected. Here is a still image of the object as it is seen at 1:04 in the video.



The full video is found on reddit. The object is within the frame when the video starts. It then appears to fly/fall down and then disappear or become not visible. It reappears, flies up and then hovers for a period of time. They zoom in on the object at 1:04. At 1:24, the object appears to become not visible once more. It reappears around 1:32. They zoom back in and remain focused on the object until it seems to move off to the right quickly (1:52 in the video).


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/x004tf/deleted_reddit_video_from_a_dod_facility/


The diamond shape of the object has me thinking that the Bokeh effect may be involved in some manner. Look at the light post in the video, the shape emitted by the light appears to change numerous times. Here is a comparison of some variance between frames.


Source: https://imgur.com/a/2xUXHqb


Here is a short gif that shows the movement of the object.


I'm not sure what kind of craft would produce this kind of light. Any ideas?

 

[Mick West]

The movement reminds me of the landing lights of a plane, coming towards the camera.

 

[RatkingDBK]

The movement reminds me of the landing lights of a plane, coming towards the camera.

This makes the most sense. The light does appear to grow in size during the first minute. After that, zooming of the object make the growing of size hard to determine.

However, the object appears to dash off to the right, which would be atypical of the flight path we were seeing. Is the dash of the object actually a movement of the camera instead?

 

[MapperGuy]

A police helicopter using a spotlight to illuminate someone on the ground could look like this. The helicopter is circling and trying to keep the beam on the same spot on the ground, so there movement and changes in brightness as it circles.
Landing lights on airliners can appear to hover when the plane is flying toward you, and then suddenly disappear when it turns onto a different heading.
When zooming in on a bright object, so it is the only thing in view, it can become impossible to tell if the object moved to the left, or the camera moved to the right. It would be very helpful in identifying lights in the sky if people would stop trying to zoom in to the point where they can't even keep the object in the frame. Most everyday cameras do not keep things in focus when you zoom quickly in or out, so zooming in just makes the object fuzzy.

 

[flarkey]

I think we need to geolocate that hangar to confirm where it is. Some have suggested Minot AFB in North Dakota, others have said it's part of the Air Force One hangars at Andrews AFB.

(The one on the left)

 

[flarkey]

Is there a horizontal stabilizer of an aircraft towards the left of the video at the 2m18s point? Possibly a C-5 or a C-17..?

 

[RatkingDBK]

I think we need to geolocate that hangar to confirm where it is. Some have suggested Minot AFB in North Dakota, others have said it's part of the Air Force One hangars at Andrews AFB.

(The one on the left)
View attachment 54267

I don't think this is the location where the video was filmed. The hangar doors seem to move to the left in the original video. However, the doors appear to move to the right on that Hangar at Andrews AFB. Reddit user u/Disclosure69 shared this satellite imagery of the location in question. The fixtures don't appear to match up with the ones shown in the original video.

 

[Alexandria Nick]

I don't think Andrews either. To be looking past any of the candidate hangars there, you're looking at wooded or golf course areas, so you're not going to see a lot of town lights from the field like the background of that video. It is surprisingly dark around Andrews.

 

[JMartJr]

Does it actually move? Compared with lights on the ground? Hard to be sure on my phone where playback controls are clumsy... if it does not, I'm thinking moon through clouds. If it does move much, then the moon is out.

 

[RatkingDBK]

Here are some slides that show the object rising. It seems to rise in a linear manner. The object is likely still rising during the zoom-ins, but its not easily discernable at that magnification level.

 

[flarkey]

Better picture of the hangar...

 

[Rory]

The video shows an object or craft of some sort that flies up from the bottom of the frame. It shows a diamond shaped object that emits a bright light.

I'm seeing the glare of a light but I'm not seeing an object or a craft "flying". Is there a still that shows the object/craft that I'm missing?

The object is within the frame when the video starts. It then appears to fly/fall down and then disappear or become not visible.

When you say "it appears to fall down and then disappear" do you mean the part where he's rewinding the video?

 

[RatkingDBK]

I'm seeing the glare of a light but I'm not seeing an object or a craft "flying". Is there a still that shows the object/craft that I'm missing?

The bight dot is what I'm referring to. When I say 'flies' I don't mean that literally. Perhaps 'moves' is a better term.

When you say "it appears to fall down and then disappear" do you mean the part where he's rewinding the video?

Yes. I mistakenly thought that the object was behaving in that way before I realized it was simply the rewinding of footage. That's my bad.

 

[Rory]

Does it actually move? Compared with lights on the ground?

Yep, it moves (rises) and the light grows brighter/glare larger (over the course of a few seconds).

 

[JMartJr]

So not the moon then. Carry on.

 

[flarkey]

The OP refused to state the exact location of the video, but they did say that it was an East/North East location and in one of the 'original 13 colonies', which leaves us wtht he Air Force Bases in the map below - less those in Florida.

 

[Ann K]

View attachment 54275

Here are some slides that show the object rising. It seems to rise in a linear manner. The object is likely still rising during the zoom-ins, but its not easily discernable at that magnification level.

These have the benefit of a constant scale, that is, the lights on the ground remain the same. So the object gets brighter, then fades. Is that consistent with the searching-helicopter suggestion approaching and then receding?

Then we have the zoomed version, which no longer seems to have any reference points. Are we sure that is a zoom of the same object?

 

[flarkey]

Hmm, strill trying to geolocate that hangar....are we looking at a C-17 Hangar at McGuire AFB....?

https://www.walshgroup.com/news/2020/walshconstructiondeliversnewc17twobayhangarto911thairwing.html

 

[Rory]

Then we have the zoomed version, which no longer seems to have any reference points. Are we sure that is a zoom of the same object?

It doesn't look like it's edited and the timestamp is continuous. Plus seems to be the same light as the one that rises in the beginning.

Speaking generally, the shape I wouldn't personally be too curious about. A zoomed still of a light/glare in a video could probably take on just about any shape. Naturally, it's going to pique curiosity when it happens to look like a "classic" flying saucer.

 

[Rory]

strill trying to geolocate that hangar....are we looking at a C-17 Hangar at McGuire AFB....?

Have to admit to being a bit confused as both the pictures you show are of the hangar at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Or are you suggesting that McGuire have the same hangar but you don't have any pictures of it?

 

[RatkingDBK]

Hmm, strill trying to geolocate that hangar....are we looking at a C-17 Hangar at McGuire AFB....?

This hangar looks very similar to the one in the video. Excellent find. I have located an additional photo from the inside of the hangar facing outwards.

 

[flarkey]

Found it on Google Earth (unfortunarley the hangar doest show in 3d Imagery)

Have to admit to being a bit confused as both the pictures you show are of the hangar at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Or are you suggesting that McGuire have the same hangar but you don't have any pictures of it?

You're right - it is Pittsburgh Airport - my mistake!

40.496497, -80.213318

 

[flarkey]

Better picture of the hangar...

View attachment 54276

The hangar isnt in 3d Google Earth, so I created just a block to show the rough location and try to recreate the view from the security camera. It seems to match - note the smaller building with an apex roof just to the right...

 

[Rory]

Hangar's an excellent match - down to the number and location of the lights above the doors:

You did well to get it before trawling through all these bases:

Pittsburgh is where the green cross is.

 

[flarkey]

Are we assuming that the clock in the video indicates local time....?

00:07 local is GMT-4, so the UTC date and time of the event would be just after 4am.


That gives this aircraft as a possiblity...

After downloading the kml from ADSB exchange... (the red line on the ground is the estimated direction of the camera),

If so, I'd say that's a slam-dunk debunk.

 

[Duke]

Hmm, strill trying to geolocate that hangar....are we looking at a C-17 Hangar at McGuire AFB....?

View attachment 54278

View attachment 54277

https://www.walshgroup.com/news/2020/walshconstructiondeliversnewc17twobayhangarto911thairwing.html

View attachment 54279

I was going to suggest either McGuire or Dover. Both are AMC bases.

 

[flarkey]

The flight log on FlightRadar24... https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/wn1648#2d3a3ce3

ADSB Exchange: https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?ica...310&zoom=9.8&showTrace=2022-08-27&trackLabels

The aircraft in question - a SouthWest 737-800:

https://www.planespotters.net/photo/1235007/n8644c-southwest-airlines-boeing-737-8h4wl

 

[jarlrmai]

@flarkey Amazing work, I never thought anyone could geolocate this one. It's the main issue these days working out where something is taken from, because the witness will often not tell you.

 

[Mick West]

Here's the video stabilized (using the distant light under the plane), and blending frames every 3 seconds

Angle matches, as does where it becomes visible when it turns towards the camera.

 

[RatkingDBK]

Nice job Flarkey. It's surprising that a simple plane would throw so many people off like this. There are a couple things that I'm still confused on.

With this theory, is the movement of the object to the right actually a movement of the camera? I don't think this is the case because the stars in the background don't move, only the plane/object does. Is that movement produced by a turn of the plane, entering a patch of clouds, or the lights being turned off? The movement seems a bit rapid for a plane like that, but I'm not an expert.

Second, the arrangement of the lights is kind of unique. The diamond shaped bokeh is nothing surprising. But the second light that rests atop that diamond bokeh seems uncommon? Has anyone else seen any photos or videos that show something similar? I'm just trying to understand how the configuration of lighting on the 737-800 would produce that pattern.

 

[Mick West]

I don't think this is the case because the stars in the background don't move, only the plane/object does.

Those are not stars, those are single oversaturated pixels that appear in the same position at varying zoom levels.

Second, the arrangement of the lights is kind of unique. The diamond shaped bokeh is nothing surprising. But the second light that rests atop that diamond bokeh seems uncommon? Has anyone else seen any photos or videos that show something similar? I'm just trying to understand how the configuration of lighting on the 737-800 would produce that pattern.

I think it's all bokeh. At 1:00 we see a sensor reflection, which is usually the actual size of the light.

 

[Mick West]

I've added a thread summary to the OP.

 

[flarkey]

@flarkey Amazing work, I never thought anyone could geolocate this one. It's the main issue these days working out where something is taken from, because the witness will often not tell you.

It took a while - maybe about an hour. Once I had seen the C-5 or C-17 tail plane towards the end of video it restricted my search to bases on the east coast with those aircraft. I think I then Googled "C-17 hangar" and a matching image came up. Once I confirmed the location using Google Maps everything else fell into place in about 5 mins.

 

[flarkey]

Just to complete this analysis, I checked the line of sight from the video back to the building to see exactly where the camera was located. I used a point near the corner of the hangar and the lamp post as a reference. This leads back to another hangar, upon which there appears to be a security camera on the back wall facing the C-17 hangar.

 

[Ravi]

Excellent Sherlock work @flarkey et al!

Nice to see an almost perfect match. The debunk level is high on Metabunk, which sets the standard.

 

[yoshy]

This video has reappeared on reddit for whatever reason.

@flarkey is currently the top response, linking here.

But there is some pushback of course. Outside of the usual accusations of being a shill, bot, or just "nuh uh not a plane", there are a few apparently good faith responses with further questions.

Here

First of all I'll say that the video is not a great one for the case of UAP, slow steady movement of a light in darkness can be anything.

However, I find that that thread does a good job of finding the location of the camera without answering a pertinent question. It certainly looks like a match, but I see no explanation for why it suddenly disappeared? And where are the required blinking lights? Judging from the flight path, it was approaching the camera for the next few minutes while turning slightly NE, barring any cloud cover, lights in general would become more obvious, especially for those obscured by the landing lights while watching it head on. But instead they disappear in an instant. No attempt to explain this in the slightest? What about the apparent sudden shift to the right when it fades away?

There's also no mention of the duration of the sighting compared to the approach of the aircraft, though looking it up they're definitely within the same window. Yet there's no attempt made to prove that an approaching plane from that distance and over the course of several minutes would look like that. It's all implied without an attempt to substantiate it.

Why aren't these questions even posed though? It seems that everyone there is really happy to have found the location and then forget to do the rest of the homework.

In essence, what we have is a light in the sky that just happens to match a flight path of a plane. With the amount of traffic we see, I wonder how many times you can apply that explanation.

Mind you I'm not assuming this is anything other than video of something mundane, I just think the way you apply the label "debunked" is incredibly easy.

OP here

That is INCORRECT; in the thread you linked, they were able to:

1. find solid evidence narrowing down the exact location of the facility down to 2 possible locations
2. based on the time stamp in the leaked video, they were able to find that there was an airplane flight in the same general direction of one of these locations, and the plane has a "curved" flight path

They were NOT able to account for:

1. how the object seems to "disappear" and "reappear" instantly; they give two possible theories to try to explain this: the first is that it this could be due to a helicopter spotlight pointing directly at the camera vs in a different direction; however, there does not appear to be any helicopter flights at the time of recording at either location. The second theory is based on the curved flight path of the airplane they identified, theorizing that the object only "seems" to disappear because the flight path curves away from the camera, and then back towards the camera; HOWEVER, in the leaked video this "disappearing and reappearing" happens all within about 20 seconds, whereas if we use the given flight path curve, the "disappearing and reappearing" would have actually happened over the course of 5-10 minutes.
2. the object disappears and reappears TWICE. This is unexplainable if we are using the "curve of the flight path" hypothesis which only has one curve
3. based on the curved flight path theory, the airplane would have eventually flown directly over the camera. The camera operator says in the video that he monitored this area for the rest of the night and didn't see the object again
4. the flight path they used is assuming that the video time stamp is GMT-4 time (which is 1 hour ahead of EST). This facility is on the east coast and likely using EST, unless I am missing something here

I hope this helps:) Feel free to let me know if I am missing something!

Might be worth adding answers to these questions into the first post along with the rest of the debunk.

 

[Mendel]

Might be worth adding answers to these questions into the first post along with the rest of the debunk.

well, this one's easy:

the flight path they used is assuming that the video time stamp is GMT-4 time (which is 1 hour ahead of EST). This facility is on the east coast and likely using EST, unless I am missing something here

August means daylight savings time, so EDT at GMT-4.

 

[Mendel]

In essence, what we have is a light in the sky that just happens to match a flight path of a plane. With the amount of traffic we see, I wonder how many times you can apply that explanation.

not often at all, why would a random line in the sky match a flight path? the chance of that is miniscule.

And the other consideration is, with time and place matching, the aircraft should be in the video, so if it's not the light, where is it?

That's why a flight path matching the trajectory of the UAP is typically considered a first-class debunk.

 

[yoshy]

@Mendel regarding your response #38, you're 100% right. Very well put. My experience has been if they still argue with the conclusion after that logic, while not actually engaging the logic, it's generally not worth further engaging that person.

 

[flarkey]

They're onto us! (in hindsight I think that last comment is sarcasm)


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/HighStrangeness/comments/1guo0mk/comment/ly4y5og/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button