Z.W. Wolf
Senior Member.
People are primed to see anything in the sky as a drone, including ordinary aircraft.
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/01/03/drones-mystery-lincoln-county-colorado/
An ordinary airliner with normal navigation lights. You can clearly see the starboard engine. Obviously not several hundred feet up. It's a larger object farther away.
Distances and sizes in a featureless night sky are ambiguous. Witness expectations about the size of the object lead them to see it as much closer than it is.
The people who spotted this airliner may have also heard the distant jet noises as the hum of a nearby drone.
It makes a convincing story.
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/01/03/drones-mystery-lincoln-county-colorado/
External Quote:(Caption) RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
The grouping of lights in the center of the photograph shows a drone flying several hundred feet in the night sky on Jan. 2, 2020 near Limon.
An ordinary airliner with normal navigation lights. You can clearly see the starboard engine. Obviously not several hundred feet up. It's a larger object farther away.
Distances and sizes in a featureless night sky are ambiguous. Witness expectations about the size of the object lead them to see it as much closer than it is.
The people who spotted this airliner may have also heard the distant jet noises as the hum of a nearby drone.
It makes a convincing story.
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