Jellyfish UFO from TMZ's 'UFO Revolution'

Looks like eburacum may well have guessed right back on January 9th:
A Muslim Eid-season celebratory balloon-cluster (these can be quite elaborate)
As presented in this YT video, about 2 minutes in, by TheSneezingMonkey.

Has anyone (here or known to people here) come across such things out there?

But the way UFOlogy works is that debunks are never considered embarrassing failures as there's always ' but what about case XYZ ?' to divert off onto. Never mind that this case was a ' but what about case XYZ ?' example after the debunk of the 29 Palms incident.

And, of course, Corbell always manages to do a ' here's an amazing new UFO case' before any incident is investigated, followed by a ' ah...but the truth is what we were here for all along ' after any debunk.
 
Hello MetaBunkers

This is an interesting case. This is my first time posting, and I wanted to get some summary points from the group.

Balloons are the best explanation only because they are a feasible explanation for such a strange-looking object that we assume to be real.

And it's an extra appealing explanation when others make exotic claims, like it's actually extraterrestrial.

But, outside of that context, what's the likelihood of a cluster of balloons with this appearance floating across this setting (time and place)?

Very low.

Have you ever seen balloons that have this appearance? Is there a video of balloons that have this appearance?

Aliens are a hard sell because we've never encountered them. Similarly, balloons should be a hard sell because they simply don't look like this object.

With that, here are some questions and reflections that are meant to get closer to either A) what kind of balloons we are looking at or B) if there is perhaps a better explanation than the one that's near at hand for the debunker.
  1. Do we know what the ballpark size of this object is? Can we put a definitive range to it?
  2. Why does the object appear translucent? In the GIF here, it looks like the object is either porous or translucent (specifically when it moves in front of the black square) - the spikes at the top darken. If this is porosity, what kind of material/balloon explains this level of porosity? Further, why does most of the object appear to be porous in this way?
  3. Do we know if we can rule out certain types of material, like mylar balloons?

To me, this is most likely a traditional drone with some kind of camouflage or a balloon-like surveillance drone that was set adrift. Saying this is a cluster of regular balloons is a pretty hard sell. It's only an easy sell when you NEED an explanation. I agree that there's insufficient information to come to a concrete conclusion.
 
what's the likelihood of a cluster of balloons with this appearance floating across this setting (time and place)?

Very low.
Is it low? The base in question is at about 70-80km from Baghdad, a city with 7.6 million people, in a direction where the wind might be blowing from. That's a reasonable distance for balloons to fly. Maybe it's low if we think THAT particular shape, but the shape itself is not really relevant since it doesn't resemble anything in particular (as opposed to, for example, there being more footage of an identical looking object, in which case you wouldn't expect a random chaotic cluster of balloons to repeat itself twice and would therefore look for standard clusters of balloons if you think both cases are balloons).

Have you ever seen balloons that have this appearance? Is there a video of balloons that have this appearance?
We don't know how far away the object is, nor do we know how much of the shape is actually the shape of the object and how much of it is actually the result of image sharpening (which as has been discussed in this thread, seems like something that is at play)
There is also the spatial filtering on (the SPA on the overlay). This will apply edge sharpening to everything
Image sharpening is useful at making identifiable objects more identifiable, but it's not magic and the sharpening may just make an already hard to identify object be even more confusing. With that said, there's no point in discussing what balloon combination could fit the shape because you could make up any combination to fit (there's a few attempts of it in the first pages), there's not enough limiting factors in the shape or size to rule stuff out nor to pinpoint anything. People also don't generally film random clusters of balloons floating around, let alone post that footage online, so it's hard to have examples of random clusters of balloons.

Do we know what the ballpark size of this object is? Can we put a definitive range to it?
IIRC, the size would be limited to around 6 feet tall if it's near the ground, at least that's the upper limit on the Sitrec
Why does the object appear translucent? In the GIF here, it looks like the object is either porous or translucent (specifically when it moves in front of the black square) - the spikes at the top darken. If this is porosity, what kind of material/balloon explains this level of porosity? Further, why does most of the object appear to be porous in this way?
I'm not sure about this, it could be some sort of film/netting covering the object, it could be some funny business going on with how the image is rendered, could be something else or a combination of multiple things.

To me, this is most likely a traditional drone with some kind of camouflage or a balloon-like surveillance drone that was set adrift.
I personally do not see how a drone is more likely than a bunch of balloons, and if you want pictures of balloon clusters I would expect to receive images of drones that fit the bill (getting a picture of drones should be much easier to get since they don't change shape like balloon clusters). If we also don't ignore the non-extraordinary part of the story (which has partially been corroborated by Cincoski), a drone would have needed to fly in a straight line for 17 minutes to the middle of a lake.

I don't think a balloon cluster is an easy sell, but I think it's the easiest sell among any hypothesis out there.
 
Is it low? The base in question is at about 70-80km from Baghdad, a city with 7.6 million people, in a direction where the wind might be blowing from. That's a reasonable distance for balloons to fly. Maybe it's low if we think THAT particular shape, but the shape itself is not really relevant since it doesn't resemble anything in particular (as opposed to, for example, there being more footage of an identical looking object, in which case you wouldn't expect a random chaotic cluster of balloons to repeat itself twice and would therefore look for standard clusters of balloons if you think both cases are balloons).


We don't know how far away the object is, nor do we know how much of the shape is actually the shape of the object and how much of it is actually the result of image sharpening (which as has been discussed in this thread, seems like something that is at play)

Image sharpening is useful at making identifiable objects more identifiable, but it's not magic and the sharpening may just make an already hard to identify object be even more confusing. With that said, there's no point in discussing what balloon combination could fit the shape because you could make up any combination to fit (there's a few attempts of it in the first pages), there's not enough limiting factors in the shape or size to rule stuff out nor to pinpoint anything. People also don't generally film random clusters of balloons floating around, let alone post that footage online, so it's hard to have examples of random clusters of balloons.


IIRC, the size would be limited to around 6 feet tall if it's near the ground, at least that's the upper limit on the Sitrec

I'm not sure about this, it could be some sort of film/netting covering the object, it could be some funny business going on with how the image is rendered, could be something else or a combination of multiple things.


I personally do not see how a drone is more likely than a bunch of balloons, and if you want pictures of balloon clusters I would expect to receive images of drones that fit the bill (getting a picture of drones should be much easier to get since they don't change shape like balloon clusters). If we also don't ignore the non-extraordinary part of the story (which has partially been corroborated by Cincoski), a drone would have needed to fly in a straight line for 17 minutes to the middle of a lake.

I don't think a balloon cluster is an easy sell, but I think it's the easiest sell among any hypothesis out there.

You raise great points.

After reading more of the thread, I see this as potentially a trash bag of party goods, some balloons in there.
 
Hello MetaBunkers
Hiya ideamug,
hope you find lots of things of interest here!
Some of the questions you raise have already been asked in the thread.
A few might have been answered, or at least plausible explanations given or interesting theories raised.

For instance, the possibility of some balloons being in that area (or other areas where there have been similar sightings):

We know that kits of balloons with streamers, including crescent-shaped balloons, are popular for religious holidays (and just general parties, weddings etc.) in that part of the world.
The shape might be due to a collection of balloons, with streamers, in a net or plastic bag that broke free from a seller.

We also know that combatants, including in the Middle East, sometimes release balloons for various reasons.

Have a look back through the thread- you might well be able to come up with better theories than we've got at the moment!
 
Aliens are a hard sell because we've never encountered them. Similarly, balloons should be a hard sell because they simply don't look like this object.

With that, here are some questions and reflections that are meant to get closer to either A) what kind of balloons we are looking at or B) if there is perhaps a better explanation than the one that's near at hand for the debunker.
  1. Do we know what the ballpark size of this object is? Can we put a definitive range to it?
  2. Why does the object appear translucent? In the GIF here, it looks like the object is either porous or translucent (specifically when it moves in front of the black square) - the spikes at the top darken. If this is porosity, what kind of material/balloon explains this level of porosity? Further, why does most of the object appear to be porous in this way?
There is no substitute for reading the whole thread, and your questions have already been addressed. Yes, I know there are a daunting number of posts here, but I'll try to point you toward some answers.

As to (A), see post number 42, where @Eburacum shows balloons of a plausible shape that would fit the object in question. From posts 300+ there are a number of photos of the large part that balloons play in festivals in Baghdad, including ones with the popular crescent shape.

Question (1), size: that's addressed right at the start, post number 2 from @Mick West, with a comparison with the size of the dogs on the ground.

Question (2), discussed at length in the thread: it's a thermal camera. The temperature of the floating object is imaged in comparison to the background. It's cooler than some objects, warmer than others, and as the camera adjusts it gives the illusion of translucence.

As for the drone suggestion, people have pointed out that drones make noise, and both people and dogs paid no attention to the object, suggesting it's quiet.
 
But, outside of that context, what's the likelihood of a cluster of balloons with this appearance floating across this setting (time and place)?

Very low.
The number of "floating IR jellyfish" videos is also very low, so that tracks.

Including "this setting" is misleading, because the frequency of occurrence is low for any setting. It's kinda like "this volcano eruption must be a government lie to scare us all, because it occurred exactly on my uncle's 47th birthday, and what are the chances of that?" You are making it appear more improbable by introducing artificial constraints.

Similarly, balloons should be a hard sell because they simply don't look like this object.
They generally do, though; consider that it's thought a bundle of balloons, with some (partially) deflated. Example photos are in this thread.


To me, this is most likely a traditional drone with some kind of camouflage or a balloon-like surveillance drone that was set adrift.
Could you show us pictures of these so we can compare? I don't think I've ever seen either.
 
Last edited:
The number of "floating IR jellyfish" videos is also very low, so that tracks.

Including "this setting" is misleading, because the frequency of occurrence is low for any setting. It's kinda like "this volcano eruption must be a government lie to scare us all, because it occurred exactly on my uncle's 47th birthday, and what are the chances of that?" You are making it appear more improbable by introducing artificial constraints.


They generally do, though; consider that it's thought a bundle of balloons, with some (partially) deflated. Example photos are in this thread.



Could you show us pictures of these so we can compare? I don't think I've ever seen either.

Well, these claims were made while having a small amount of information. My assumption was that this was in a remote region, much farther from an urban area. So, it is not an artificial constraint; balloons are less likely in the middle of nowhere. But I see that this was near Baghdad, which changes things.

I don't think balloons generally look like this. What's new here is that we generally don't see a lot of balloons or floating trash filmed with this type of camera, and it's tough to parse out what is a physical characteristic of the object and what is an artifact of the camera.

Since the object doesn't demonstrate qualities that potentially rule out balloons (controlled flight, changes in speed, etc.), it seems acceptable to think that what we're seeing is the rare event of an oddly shaped cluster of balloons/trash showing up oddly on an IR camera.

These are challenging waters for UFO people and debunkers because rather than say, "Meh, it could be anything causing that unlikely appearance," it's tempting to jump to theories that directly handle the odd visual (drone, cloud, UFO).

It would be interesting to get better answers about the appearance. From the replies, some say the appearance could be due to netting, film, or a bag; others say that it's mostly an artifact of the camera. Knowing more may narrow down the type of material or ballons.
 
I don't think balloons generally look like this. What's new here is that we generally don't see a lot of balloons or floating trash filmed with this type of camera, and it's tough to parse out what is a physical characteristic of the object and what is an artifact of the camera.
Read post #42.

A random collection of Eid balloons might explain the strange shape. This might just be a curious accident, a random escape of drifting balloons, or a deliberate hoax. I'm not convinced by my own graphic here, but it doesn't seem entirely impossible
 
I'm not seeing this frame in the edited/consolidated videos linked at the top of the thread. I tried to find it in the Tubi TMZ video and also couldn't find it (though to be fair I did not watch the whole thing closely since it is way too long and makes it difficult to find all the pieces of the actual clips).

What is the source for this clip included in Mick's analysis video on YouTube? Can someone point to the video it comes from, or the timestamp in the TMZ video?

Screenshot 2024-07-01 at 2.05.21 PM.png
 
Yeah, it is funny to look at... but seriously I was struck with how much of the "Jellyfish" is there. See that an hour earlier when it still had enough helium to get off the ground, and look at it in IR, and we're trying to debunk "Jellyfish 2."

Am I saying this Hello Kitty balloon is the same design as the balloon in the Jellyfish video? No, there seem to be some differences. But it need not have been something as elaborate as I'd been thinking, with multiple balloons in a bunch and streamers. It could have been something very much like ol' Hello Kitty there.
 
Yeah, it is funny to look at... but seriously I was struck with how much of the "Jellyfish" is there. See that an hour earlier when it still had enough helium to get off the ground, and look at it in IR, and we're trying to debunk "Jellyfish 2."

Am I saying this Hello Kitty balloon is the same design as the balloon in the Jellyfish video? No, there seem to be some differences. But it need not have been something as elaborate as I'd been thinking, with multiple balloons in a bunch and streamers. It could have been something very much like ol' Hello Kitty there.
But what about its propulsion? Did it have wheels in its feet that drove it forward?
 
Sarah Gamm who claims to have been a UAPTF Intel Analyst, talked about the Jellyfish video in an interview with YT channel "Disclosure Team"
In regards to the Jellyfish video, she said "that video is not a UAP" which she says at 54:55 in the video below.

The video is cued to where they talk about the Jellyfish video. She also seems frustrated that people are leaking info. And also that they only provide 5% of the incident story and not the whole story and analysis


The Disclosure Team interview with Sarah Gamm: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfMiA-PHvZY&t=3225
 
Last edited:
In regards to the Jellyfish video, she said "that video is not a UAP" which she says at 54:55 in the video below.
This is interesting, but her statement lacks any kind of corroborative evidence. If not a UAP, what is it? Or are we mere mortals doomed to ignorance forever?
 
I assume she meant whoever gave it to Corbell?

Didn't Elizondo leak the 3 Navy videos that started this whole thing though.. What are her thoughts on him/that?

I mean almost every single piece of evidence that has given momentum to this current movement has been a leak of some sort. The politicians working towards 'disclosure' are convinced, possibly in a large part by these leaked videos, what exactly is it not helping?

Will there ever be an even slightly adversarial interview with any of these people?
 
56:20
"I just wanna say that, whoever's leaking these videos, screenshots, whatever...please stop...it's not helping. It's not helping anything and it's illegal."

Good on her for saying it. I supposed that means we won't be seeing her on Weaponized.

[EDIT: improved readability, no semantic changes]

And requesting these kinds of things be kept hidden from the public will "help", will it?
She's feeding the conspiracy theorists just as much fodder by saying that as the leakers are feeding the ufo believers, a significantly overlapping brood.
 
Last edited:
And she accuses someone of leaking information that intentionally misleads. She suggests the intel is classified. I assume the Aerostat base footage was also classified? We need to know who leaked this, and why they were misleading people by not providing the full details - that it was NOT a UAP! She gives 3-4 clues here also mentioning another leaked photo that was part of a bigger similar analysis - assuming again a non-UAP - we can consider these were leaked by someone within the UAP Task Force or with access to their files. Corbell is mentioned as the recipient in the question presenting these as evidence of NHI.
 
A question of interest: Did the guy who leaked this video get paid? If so, is this a pattern? Is someone putting out a bounty on leaked videos?
 
I assume she meant whoever gave it to Corbell?

Didn't Elizondo leak the 3 Navy videos that started this whole thing though.. What are her thoughts on him/that?

I mean almost every single piece of evidence that has given momentum to this current movement has been a leak of some sort. The politicians working towards 'disclosure' are convinced, possibly in a large part by these leaked videos, what exactly is it not helping?

Will there ever be an even slightly adversarial interview with any of these people?

Wasn't one of the videos (I think FLIR) released years prior to the other two, and available at the Above Top Secret website?
 
Well, if we trust Sarah Gamm, the Jellyfish isn't a UAP.

But as for the Flying Brain... (from 50 minutes 3 seconds into video):


:rolleyes:
She sounds like a female version of Elizondo. Basically, saying a lot of words, but not actually saying anything.
 
She sounds like a female version of Elizondo.

Sarah's clearly familiar with Luis Elizondo's take on things.

Capture.JPG


The picture behind her looks a bit like the cat has taken a selfie including flying saucers.
In fairness to her lots of people have whimsical or unusual paintings/ photos and other décor that might not be to everyone's taste. If the picture had just featured a cat, I wouldn't have thought anything about it.
 
Sarah's clearly familiar with Luis Elizondo's take on things.

View attachment 72489

The picture behind her looks a bit like the cat has taken a selfie including flying saucers.
In fairness to her lots of people have whimsical or unusual paintings/ photos and other décor that might not be to everyone's taste. If the picture had just featured a cat, I wouldn't have thought anything about it.

I think its a solved jigsaw puzzle

https://www.amazon.com/UFO-Selfie-Cat-Piece-Puzzle/dp/B0CV5TDTXD

1729355563835.png
 
FYI,
If people were interested in what kind of camera took the jellyfish video, here is one for sale.
https://www.hdaerial.com/mx-20-for-sale/
Only $1.1million, used.
So, can people really confidently say they 'know' things about how the camera works, given its complexity? This is a real world price of what it costs, and if you can buy an equivalent cheaper, then why are they asking this for it? It has features far beyond the average persons knowledge of cameras.
 
FYI,
If people were interested in what kind of camera took the jellyfish video, here is one for sale.
https://www.hdaerial.com/mx-20-for-sale/
Only $1.1million, used.
So, can people really confidently say they 'know' things about how the camera works, given its complexity?
I have used the slightly smaller MX-15 camera for many hours. I have been part of a team that integrated it into an airborne surveillance system and then tested it in the air on two aircraft types in different environments. The MX-20 has the same basic design & sub systems, but the larger diameter (20in rather than 15in) allows for larger optics. So yes, I am confident that not only do I know how it works, but how the system that supports it works and how to operate it and how to analyse the video imagery from it.
 
Last edited:
So, can people really confidently say they 'know' things about how the camera works, given its complexity? This is a real world price of what it costs, and if you can buy an equivalent cheaper, then why are they asking this for it? It has features far beyond the average persons knowledge of cameras.
It could be expensive and complex because it has a variety of features all in one while still having systems that follow fundamental principles. Or be expensive because there's not many providers for top-of-the-line military imaging systems so they can overcharge. Or because the manufacturing process is expensive since it's not streamlined for mass production.

Something expensive and/or complex doesn't necessarily mean everything about it is beyond the understanding of people with knowledge (even basic knowledge) on the relevant areas,
 
I whole heartedly encourage everyone to constructively add to the discussion. All the MX have some similar characteristics, and pointing out how they differ from more commercially available cameras will help educate those that want to learn.
My comments were mainly directed at the video and comments where they are 'sure' its a lens smudge or bird poop. It doesnt seem to matter how much evidence is given that its not, some people just want to be contrarian.
 
Back
Top