marduk
quelling chaos since 2352BC
So you find it plausible that the Chilean Air Force was totally surprised by the IR image of not one but two commercial airliners? From > 100km away? With a plume that starts randomly?Explained: Chilean Navy "UFO" video - Aerodynamic Contrails, Flights IB6830 and LA330
"There are likely TWO planes involved IB6830 and LA330. The plane that initially seems to fit best is LA330, a two engined A320, which was reported to be climbing through 20,000 feet at that exact visual position at 14:01:39. It was actually 65 miles away, not 35-50. This explain why it was not seen on radar (the actual plane was on radar, just not where they thought it was)"
Doesn't sound so implausible to me.
I find it implausible that:
a) dudes that can fly helicopters for the military using IR (used to catch drug traffickers in SA all the time) would be surprised by seeing a commercial airliner. I mean, Santiago international airport flew 17M passengers in 2013 alone according to wikipedia. Thats a hell of an oops. List of the busiest airports in Chile - Wikipedia
b) I'd be very surprised if they could image this from more than 100km away. Radar has a habit of being longer range than optical... that's why it was invented. Besides, the stats on the camera (webcam MX-15) explicitly say that the laser range finder has range of 20km. http://www.wescam.com/wp-content/uploads/PDS-MX-15-April2015.pdf
c) the object was actually descending, not climbing.
d) the chopper was at 4500 feet. The plane at 20,000 feet. Going the wrong direction (climbing not descending).
e) there is no explanation for the sudden expulsion that makes any sense if it is a commercial aircraft to me.
I just don't see it.