Misidentifications and Misperceptions

Misidentifications and Misperceptions

On occasion, an eyewitness will observe something which, at first glance, might appear to be highly unusual and completely out of the ordinary. And if they're lucky enough to have a camera with them, they wind up with photographic evidence and proceed to report the incident as a UFO sighting.

It's only when you've taken a closer look and examine what the observer has recorded that a determination can be made as to the validity of the film or digital photo. By looking carefully at the photos or videos, you'll be able to make out some details which will lead you to a different conclusion: misidentification or misperception.

It's also a very good idea to check out the location of the sighting during daylight hours in order to familiarize yourself with any structure or object that might be responsible for the sighting(s).

Unlike hoaxing, misidentification or misperception is not intentional. If the observer is seeing something for the very first time, he or she may get the impression that they're seeing a real UFO and they can easily get caught up in the excitement.

Mysterious Lights Spotted South of Downtown San Diego

Mysterious Lights Southwest of San Diego.mp4

This video was taken by our NBC 7 crew in San Ysidro. Several viewers also told us about the lights. Some said they appeared to be red, blue, and green and kept flashing and changing colors. Some who saw them say the lights didn't seem to move,like those on a plane or a drone. We put in calls to the military here to see if they could identify what these were. So far, no response. (Published Thursday, Apr 30, 2015)

Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Mysterious-Lights-Spotted-Above-San-Diego-301729021.html#ixzz3bMMCaetW

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Did you see those mysterious lights southwest of San Diego on Tuesday night?

A viewer sent us several photos he took, capturing a string of multicolored lights in the sky above San Diego. The viewer, Larry Fox, said the lights that appeared to be red, blue and green kept flashing and changing colors from his vantage point in Del Cerro.

"It looked like a strobe light," he said.

Fox said he was out in his backyard when he saw the strange lights southwest of the Coronado Bridge. He didn't think it was a plane or even a drone because it was stationary.

"It was a series of flashing lights," he said. "If it was a plane, it would have moved."

A NBC 7 reporter and photographer also spotted the strange lights from San Ysidro as they were covering an unrelated story on Tuesday night.

A number of folks also called us here at NBC 7, reporting the same thing.

Later, an NBC 7 news photographer returned to the same location during daylight hours and noticed the lights were coming from a mountaintop where there were TV antennas.

Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Mysterious-Lights-Spotted-Above-San-Diego-301729021.html

On Saturday, November 22, 2014, I received an e-mail from a resident of Azilda, Ontario stating that he had recent photos of a UFO sighting in the Sudbury area and thought that I might be interested in seeing them. I waited until I was off work to go over for a visit and see what he had caught on his cell phone.

This first photo shows the general area where the subsequent photos were taken. Nothing out of the ordinary is present in the photo.

In this photo, a triangular formation of lights can be seen, along with additional light patterns at the base of the triangle and to the right of it.

This second photo showing the same triangular formation of lights also includes an additional area to the left of the main formation which is barely visible in the previous photo.

It's only when I took a closer look at the enlargements that I realized what I was looking at. The lights in the sky were actual reflections of the building signs and street lights reflecting on the windshield of his vehicle. He did specify that he had taken the photos from inside his SUV. Using Paint Shop Pro, I was able to use the red color to highlight the so-called formation of lights and the original source of the reflections.

Soon after I had made the connection between the reflections of light and the actual light source, I called the eyewitness to tell him of my analysis, and he agreed with me.

Despite this, he is still convinced that UFOs exist and will continue to watch the skies. He now knows how to avoid reflections and hopes to capture the real thing in the future.

No infringement intended. For educational purposes only.