Rare things that have been documented much better than UFOs

[JMartJr]

This exists. I see references to more than one of them. but possilby it is just the one being moved around. In any case, pretty rare. And well documented.

Source referring to it is a sculpture made for a particular event (Comic Con in San DIego, 2016)
https://www.ocregister.com/2016/07/25/kfcs-colonel-sanders-has-his-own-comic-book/

Reference to it (or one) being in Tokyo:

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AbsoluteUnits/comments/hqftbe/this_colonel_sanders_bench_in_tokyo/

 

[MonkeeSage]

This exists. I see references to more than one of them. but possilby it is just the one being moved around. In any case, pretty rare. And well documented.

"Mom... do we have to visit grandpa?"
"Why? What's wrong with visiting grandpa?"
"He always makes us sit on his weird lap..."
"I know honey, but grandpa is very self-conscious about his condition. Please just give him a hug and sit on his lap for a few minutes."

 

[NorCal Dave]

To borrow a line from Adams Family Values: "There's something not quite Chippewa here".

 

[Mendel]

"When I die, please turn my body into a park bench."

 

[Todd Feinman]

"When I die, please turn my body into a park bench."

With some plastinization and resin.. And Giger inspiration, you could be something that Joel-Peter Witkin would like to sit on. Set you up near a crematorium.
But an even scarier thought occurred to me. Trump Benches !!
Only certain people would be allowed to sit on them, of course. 24k gold leaf.. It's the only scheme that hasn't been tried yet. Maybe you'd have to put money in to sit on it. I'd keep my kids far away from them.

 

[Ann K]

"When I die, please turn my body into a park bench."

Put bird seed in my navel, and I'll never be lonely.

 

[JMartJr]

Put bird seed in my navel, and I'll never be lonely.

THAT'S A title for an autobiography if I ever saw one!

 

[NoParty]

Put bird seed in my navel, and I'll never be lonely.

Hey Ann, how's it going today?
btw: What would you call these 3 animals...?

 

[John J.]

btw: What would you call these 3 animals...?

Er, Brian, Francois and Mabel?

Or the pictures from the naming task in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment?

 

[Todd Feinman]

Hey Ann, how's it going today?
btw: What would you call these 3 animals...?
View attachment 92228

If she gets 'em right, we'll know she's in the "Stable Genius" category

 

[Ann K]

btw: What would you call these 3 animals...?

Pussycat, angry pig, long-legged beastie. Or if you prefer, Larry, Moe, and Curly.

Do I get a cookie?

 

[JMartJr]

Do I get a cookie?

Take two, they're small...

 

[Ann K]

Take two, they're small...

(doing my best Clara Peller imitation, in her "where's the beef?" commercials)
Where's the raisins?

 

[John J.]

Where's the raisins?

I feel @JMartJr stated his raisins clearly, the cookies are of modest size (this might be subjective) and therefore you deserve two.

In the currant summer weather, maybe the Sun Maid him particularly generous.

 

[Giddierone]

Rare things that have been documented much better than UFOs

1. A man being shot in the neck with a .30-06 from 130 m at a 6.1-degree downward angle over the heads of hundreds of people, including law enforcement, none of whom are able to identify where the shot came from, and it leaving no exit wound.

 

[Fritzkquzerk]

Rare things that have been documented much better than UFOs

1. A man being shot in the neck with a .30-06 from 130 m at a 6.1-degree downward angle over the heads of hundreds of people, including law enforcement, none of whom are able to identify where the shot came from, and it leaving no exit wound.

Wait wait are we talking CK?

 

[flarkey]

Multiple planes flying in formation at night with lights, which of course are claimed to be a massive triangular UFO.....


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djYzqkRypRs&t=5s


(possible other source: link)

 

[MonkeeSage]

A jet transiting the Sun during the solar eclipse with large solar prominences visible. Captured with a hydrogen-alpha telescope.

Credit: Aleksey Shipilëv
Source: https://app.astrobin.com/i/vgdwfh

 

[flarkey]

A jet transiting the Sun during the solar eclipse with large solar prominences visible. Captured with a hydrogen-alpha telescope.

View attachment 92632
Credit: Aleksey Shipilëv
Source: https://app.astrobin.com/i/vgdwfh

Ah, but which plane was it?

Location: Babelsberg Palace, P (BB), DE

We should be able to identify it!

 

[jarlrmai]

It looks like about 17:37 UTC

When the Sitrec camera is locked to the sun the roll is fixed and this shot is significantly rolled from level, so it's hard to match the moon coverage

 

[flarkey]

It looks like about 17:37 UTC

When the Sitrec camera is locked to the sun the roll is fixed and this shot is significantly rolled from level, so it's hard to match the moon coverage

No match yet,

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=15857/Plane in front of eclipse/20260813_132533.js

 

[jarlrmai]

 

[jarlrmai]

9H-QBT hmm maybe wrong angle, slight position changes make a difference

 

[jarlrmai]

Is the telescope image mirrored?

 

[GM4AJK]

 

[flarkey]

Is the telescope image mirrored?

The orginal post says this:

• The airplane! Based on FlightRadar24, seems to check out as Boeing 777, Ethiopian Cargo (ETH3605) from Zhengzhou to Liege. Its inversion plume casts a clearly visible shadow in Hα. This plume develops over time and moves across the disk in later frames.

That flight should have been seen going right-so-left, so It would therefore appear that the image is flipped horizontally

 

[Easy Muffin]

The Ethiopian is too far north. The Ryanair 9HQBT is an exact match though. Passes right in front of the Sun as seen from the palace at 1737Z. Image flipped for whatever reason.

 

[flarkey]

With the camera flipped Ryanair flight FR6972 Arhaus to Corfu (plane reg 9H-QBT) fits perfectly: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/fr6972

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=15857/Plane in front of eclipse/20260813_142957.js

 

[jarlrmai]

Yeah I just confirmed it myself

 

[flarkey]

I messaged the photographer Aleksey Shipilëv and he has updated the entry on the photo page.

https://app.astrobin.com/i/vgdwfh

 

[FatPhil]

The Ethiopian is too far north. The Ryanair 9HQBT is an exact match though. Passes right in front of the Sun as seen from the palace at 1737Z. Image flipped for whatever reason.

Images flip handedness each time they encounter a mirror (including a TIR prism), and different telescope tech can have different numbers of reflections. Adding more reflecting elements loses signal, so most astrophotographers will not waste glass attempting to correct this. The tagged image files (e.g. FITS) should contain enough data to let you know which direction the two axes point, so everything can be fixed digitally in post.

 

[JMartJr]

jet transiting the Sun during the solar eclipse with large solar prominences visible. Captured with a hydrogen-alpha telescope.

I got that beat...

ISS transit the 2017 eclipse. https://www.space.com/37896-iss-transits-eclipsed-sun.html

 

[flarkey]

Since we worked out which plane was in front the the eclipse I've done two more on Reddit.


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Whatisthisplane/comments/1vodvc7/can_anyone_id_this_planeflight_i_caught_in_one_of/

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=15857/Whats this plane/20260814_220042.js


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comments/1vowpqr/nice_shot_my_son_made_with_his_seestar_s30_pro_in/

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=15857/Eclipse Plane Amsterdam/20260815_083525.js

@JMartJr : I got that beat...

View attachment 92651

ISS transit the 2017 eclipse. https://www.space.com/37896-iss-transits-eclipsed-sun.html

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=15857/ISS Eclipse/20260815_091922.js

These are all a bit trivial, but they just validate the Sitrec software and show that how accurate it is.

 

[jarlrmai]

A bit of ground truth never hurts

 

[FatPhil]

The lesser-known giant aerial portuguese manowar, var. eldritchhorrensis:

Source: https://i.imgur.com/vTHoQfC.mp4

 

[Brian]

I've seen the UAP live in daylight; I have no doubt in my heart...
These ultra-advanced (shape-shifting) machines exist.
And when it finally happens, you usually have very little time to react.
You probably just choose to watch so you don't miss anything !!

And who walks around with expensive camera equipment 24/7, ready to photograph or film a UFO sighting?
It always happens when you least expect it.
But it happens...

 

[John J.]

I've seen the UAP live in daylight; I have no doubt in my heart... ...And who walks around with expensive camera equipment 24/7, ready to photograph or film a UFO sighting?

This thread is about rare things that have been clearly videoed or photographed.
I think the original poster @Edward Current was making the point that good photographs and footage of very rare events exist, but despite many thousands of reports of UFOs we don't have any unambiguous photos/ footage of them.

He gave the example of the Chelyabinsk meteor of 2013. No-one in that region, in the morning after sunrise, was walking around with a camera in the hope or expectation of filming a meteor. But many videos of it exist (including from dashcams and security cameras).
We don't see this with UFOs (or at least structured UFOs as opposed to points of light in the sky).

People do photograph/ video extraordinary things and rare events, sometimes in situations where they might be at at risk doing so.
Not all rare events get clearly filmed or photographed of course, but with UFOs, despite tens of thousands of reports over nearly 80 years, we don't have one photograph or video clip which clearly shows a structured flying craft of non-human origin.

 

[NorCal Dave]

It always happens when you least expect it.
But it happens..

EDIT: Not piling on, just cross posted with @John J. above. He and I tend to do that.

Welcome to the forum Brian!

I think the point of this thread is that lots of rare stuff happens when people least expect it, yet they still manage to be recorded. Not always, but occasionally. UFOs never seem to be more than un-discernible blobs or points of light, like the classic "orb".

And who walks around with expensive camera equipment 24/7, ready to photograph or film a UFO sighting?

This used to be a valid point, but nearly every human in the modern industrialized world now carries a pretty capable camera in their pocket. No, phone cameras are not on par with high end DSLRs with interchangeable lenses, but they are more than capable of recording something like a giant black triangle floating overhead. Even going back to the iPhone 6, it had an 8MP main camera. When mine broke, I tried the Android world with a Pixel 2 and I was amazed at the night photography abilities from its 12MP main camera and software. And the phone makers have been in an arms race for years, especially with the camera capabilities. Currently:

iPhone 16: 48mp main camera with a separate 12mp ultra wide camera. Pro: 48mp main, 48mp wide and 12 mp telephoto
Pixel 10: 48mp main camera with a separate 13mp wide angle camera and a 10mp zoom camera. Pro: 50mp main, 48mp wide and 48mp tele
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: 200mp main camera, with a 50mp ultra wide, and 2 telephoto cameras of 10 and 50.

Those are high end, but even more budget level ones like the Samsung A16, available from WalMart for around $120 has a 50mp main camera.

IF there are that many UFOs flying around for the last 70+ years, at least someone should have been able to create a decent record of 1 of them, especially in the camera-phone era.

 

[GM4AJK]

No, phone cameras are not on par with high end DSLRs with interchangeable lenses

I am a keen (but shi*e) amateur photographer. I used to lug around a heavy Canon DSLR and "all the kit" in a backpack. That was until I got an iPhone 13. Now I only take out the DSLR for nighttime astrophotography. And even the iPhone 13 actually does pretty well at night too tbh.

 

[NorCal Dave]

I am a keen (but shi*e) amateur photographer. I used to lug around a heavy Canon DSLR and "all the kit" in a backpack. That was until I got an iPhone 13. Now I only take out the DSLR for nighttime astrophotography. And even the iPhone 13 actually does pretty well at night too tbh.

Yeah, I used to drag around a small mediocre Panasonic Micro 4 thirds with a couple of lenses. Then in 2022 I was out at Burningman in all the dust and heat, so I just left it in the trailer and pulled out my iPhone 13(?). I managed to record enough stuff to make an entire YouTube video for our group that still looked good up on a 65" TV. And it fit in my pocket.

Road tripping last week, I noticed some people in picturesque areas using DSLRs and starting looking on Marketplace for some. Then I realized I should probably spent time learning all the ins and outs of the iPhone 16 pro in my pocket first, before spending money on more stuff.

Obviously for some tasks a camera phone just wont do, like @jarlrmai incredible nature photography he does. But I imagine some of his lenses cost as much as a used car. He had a link somewhere to some of his work, it's stunning.

The takeaway is that there are certainly enough capable phone cameras in circulation that there should be at least a few good photos of flying saucers or black triangles.