Camera Phones

[Ghost]

I was listening to the Para-cast interview with Travis Walton and the question arose again about why aren't there more UFO pictures with all the camera phones out there. Allow me to submit this as a possible way of explanation:



This is a shot of the Blue Angels flying over Cleveland in an air show. I was traveling with my brother-in law who was driving. We saw the airplanes as we approached the city. The aircraft circled SEVERAL times. At one point we drove under the planes and I could read the "Navy" markings on the wings.

The shot you see here is the best of my shots. I did not even THINK of taking a photo until we were almost out of sight of the airfield where the show was taking place.

I was interested in seeing these aircraft as I would have been a UFO. I have relatives who I wanted to share the pictures with. I didn't get a picture when they were close enough to read the wings. It wasn't until it was almost too late to get any shots at all that I remembered the camera phone.

Is it too much of a stretch to think that most people who might spot something as stunning as a UFO might have a similar reaction that I had? And what if the object doesn't make several passes like the Blue Angels made?

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Consider taking the time to recall you had a smartphone, pluck it out of pocket or purse, access the camera function and perhaps the moving picture option. It doesn't happen in a single second unless you're ready. Besides, aren't most people looking DOWN on their smartphones?

The bigger ones, the phablets, such as the iPhone 6 Plus, are awkward enough to use.

 

[withoutlimits09]

I routinely argue with others who automatically think that because people have "HD" cameras in their pockets, we should automatically see a major upswing in the amount of quality UFO photos. To show them how weak of a point this is, I will take my cellphone and attempt to photograph something I can clearly see like a plane at high altitude or a helicopter in the distance. In both cases, I can physically see the plane and helicopter, I can hear them, but when I take a photo of them, the plane will appear as a small spec and the helicopter a blurry white light.

Unless the UFO is landing, the chances of getting a good photo of one is slim. Furthermore, I have a very expensive full frame Nikon I shoot with. I also used that to photograph some planes from afar at cruising altitudes and was left with a slightly better photo, but still nothing out of this world. I think we give camera phones far too much credit and without a 300 mm lens on a nice DSLR, good luck.

As Gene's pictures have shown, the planes look like black blobs void of detail, we can make out they are planes because that is a familiar sight. Moreover, they made several passes and presented a clear opportunity to be photographed. Again, unless the UFO is participating in an air show, flying low to the ground, the likelihood of getting a good "HD" photo of one with your smart phone is pretty low.

 

[technomage]

Also, there are probably very good photographs out there but they're mixed in with fakes so they're lost in the "noise".

 

[johancw]

I have been umbilicaly attached to my phones for years and I can't count how many times I have said "well would you look at that" and not passed a thought to grabbing my phone until too late.

 

[Stagger Lee]

I would challenge those who expect more ufo pics with cell cams, to take a picture of the full moon one night, then show that pic to others the next day and see how many can ID the photo. Considering this, an argument could be made that less people are carrying quality cameras around because of phone technology. Cameras that might better capture the image of an object in the distance.

 

[Sentry]

Consider taking the time to recall you had a smartphone, pluck it out of pocket or purse, access the camera function and perhaps the moving picture option. It doesn't happen in a single second unless you're ready.

Right, also the limitations of the camera phone are a big problem. My pictures of big helicopters come out looking like gnats. Night pictures are even worse, the Moon is just a bright speck.

Here's a photo I snapped of under the very best conditions. My camera was already in hand, while taking pictures of a lizard. I heard a plane, looked overhead to see a massive C-17 flying slow, low and close. Angular size was about that of a tangerine held at arm's length. What the iphone captured was another story, it looks about like the size of a sparrow.

I only had time for 3 quick pictures, and it would have been zero without already having the phone out and ready- and this was a giant, fairly slow-flying object.

 

[Jeff Davis]

I could not agree more with everyone. As someone who has seen UFOs several times I can assure you that the last thing you are cognizant of, or at the "ready" for, is your phone's camera. Even though a sighting can last for several minutes, it's just too mind blowing to give a damn about proof. You can't take your eyes or attention off what you are looking at. I have seen thousands of planes in my day and the experience of observing them, even at an air show, has never come close to the mouth agape mind blown daze that I experienced when witnessing UFOs. The one sighting I had lasted for 15-20 minutes, and after I did mange to come to my senses and realized that I should video tape (this was before the common cell phone cameras everyone has now) what I was witnessing, the fricken' video cameras batteries were dead. In the event of a 10-30 second average sighting, or even a couple minutes worth, the mind is not in photo journalist mode. It's just too awe struck.