Explained: Photo of 747 with Contrails Only on One Side [Fake, April Fool]
- Thread starter Donnn
- Start date
It looks like two of the engines aren't running or maybe have been throttled back to a very low power level. Perhaps this was done during a test flight.
Mechanik
Active Member
Agreed, test flight. The plane is "crabbing" across the sky due to uneven thrust. That's why the contrail is skewed to one side. The contrail is more or less straight, but the plane is angled to the side. It's kind of sliding sideways as it moves forward. Here is a YouTube link to an illustration:
Source: https://youtu.be/dZ74KE90vOY
Source: https://youtu.be/dZ74KE90vOY
tavacid
New Member
This is the oldest source I could find (1st April).
https://www.instagram.com/aeroplanesinsta/p/Bvt0ZHkBOBl/
https://www.instagram.com/aeroplanesinsta/p/Bvt0ZHkBOBl/
External Quote:
That looks more like someone joking or trolling. I don't think this is any kind of standard operating procedure, but may perhaps be done by a test pilot.
deirdre
Senior Member.
That explanation makes zero sense for the plane in the photo. Maybe on a 4 seater little plane, but not a 747.
tavacid
New Member
Yes, you're right. It sounds really absourd
M Bornong
Senior Member.
With the date and explanation, I'm leaning towards an April Fool's joke.
Trailspotter
Senior Member.
Orientation of the plane suggests that it was filmed from another plane, most likely from the cockpit. Were the photo true, it would definitely have caused a stir in the aviation-related social networks, yet there was none as far as I am aware.
It would be interesting to see the same analyses applied to a similar image (ie. plane, blue sky, preferably with contrails) that likely isn't fake.
I would think that the easiest way to fake this (assuming you can get this view of the plane with 4 contrails) would be to copy a portion of the background and use it to paint over the left engine contrails.
From the JPEG error analysis shown above it's not clear this was done. Rather the entire background seems to show a suspicious blocky structure which would seem to suggest that the entire background might be fake.
From the JPEG error analysis shown above it's not clear this was done. Rather the entire background seems to show a suspicious blocky structure which would seem to suggest that the entire background might be fake.
Artifacts like this one around an object are common at high compression and do not mean it is fake.I think the picture is fake
The region under the right side wing is different though.
I suspect it has simply been saved at high compression to hide evidence of tampering.
That's just normal compression artifacts. The key clue is the different region under the wing on the right of the image. However, it does not extend all the way down, and is not conclusive.
deirdre
Senior Member.
someone could just ask on the Instagram post. Last year he posted something else chemtrailers latched onto, and in the comments he said something (major paraphrasing) along the lines of he is just messing with chemtrailers. I don't remember the specifics of the pic but I shared that with the woman spreading it (either FB or YouTube, I don't remember) and she said "thanks." Anyway, he/they will likely answer a "is this photoshopped?" question.
I don't think the very coarse block structure is normal. I tried the analysis on a different image and didn't see anything like that, only fine scale graininess similar to what you see on this image in the plane and contrail areas of the photo.
OK, I guess the underlying cause of the coarse background structure in both images are variations in faint clouds which are difficult to see in the original images but are amplified by the JPEG error analysis.
More like the natural gradient of the low sky, and that alone is not causing the coarse background structure, it's the saving at a low JPEG setting that does that. You can see it in the original posted image, and more so with a simple contrast tweak.
JPEG error analysis is often misleading, and I'd encourage people not to draw conclusions from it unless they really understand what is going on.
M Bornong
Senior Member.
That's it, although the actual Instagram post is more original, although it's the same file:
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Buo8-OtBYcN/
Photo by Baran Aydin
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Buo8-OtBYcN/
Photo by Baran Aydin
Here's one I saw today.
This is a photoshopped version of a 2007 Getty Images stock photo.
At first glance there seems to be a weird artifact where the rear of the fuselage doesn't line up with the rest of the body. But zooming in it is clear that it's just the vertical stabiliser peeking out from behind the body of the plane.
Interestingly there also seems to be mast drain trail visible there, which was also removed by whoever edited it!
This is a photoshopped version of a 2007 Getty Images stock photo.
At first glance there seems to be a weird artifact where the rear of the fuselage doesn't line up with the rest of the body. But zooming in it is clear that it's just the vertical stabiliser peeking out from behind the body of the plane.
Interestingly there also seems to be mast drain trail visible there, which was also removed by whoever edited it!
JMartJr
Senior Member.
OK, while we are all here. what could be causing this? I suppose it might be faked, but the diagonal wisps of smoke/vapor by the engines make me suspect the plane is sliding sideways quite a bit -- but then I'd expect the contrails to be slanting off diagonally as well. My brain can't wrap itself around this one, so I am recruiting more and better brains!
SOurce: https://stockcake.com/i/jet-contrails-aloft_487333_1026011
SOurce: https://stockcake.com/i/jet-contrails-aloft_487333_1026011
Last edited:
Hey I wasn't 100% (on my phone) but there's clues that should have sealed the deal. Look at the wings:
And also the fact that it seems to have three contrails on the right side, none of which is aligned with any of the two engines!
JMartJr
Senior Member.
Oh double poot!
I already felt dumb enough, man!
But more seriously, there may be a lesson there for me and anybody else reading -- I was so focused on the anomaly of the contrails that I didn't scrutinize the whole image, which is where the answers were. They say the Devil is in the details, the trick sometimes is to look at the details not just of the odd bit (why are those contrails way over there?) but also at the part that is not, at first glance, all that interesting (it's another plane, why should I look at that? Oh, because it is obviously fake if you look at it!) Now that I look at it, the details in the livery around the tail also look off...
JMartJr
Senior Member.
To be fair, THAT was the anomaly I was trying to figure out.
JMartJr
Senior Member.
On further review, I think EVERYTHING on Stockcake is AI. I searched for Apollo astronaut, kite and (on a whim) "helicopter lifting an egg."
No images returned looked real, including this fine polydactyl explorer with two American-ish flags on his sleeve,
and this impossibility (though you might have to take my word for it)
and THIS extremely believable image of an elephant being lifted by a helicopter (apparently they did not have any with eggs...)
Interesting business model, in an era where anybody can generate anything on their own...
Last edited:
Were you focussed on the missing main event (said egg), and overlooked the secondary fact of the missing helicopter?
Mendel
Senior Member.
Obviously the helicopter is upside down, but the 5th blade is missing, and tying an elephant to the rotor shaft feels like it won't be a recipe for success.
(Yes, I noticed the first time.)
Similar threads
Trending content
-
-
-
-
Thread 'Explained: Spiralling trails over Croatia (contrails from TV relay plane)'
- Trailblazer
Replies: 3 -