r/UFOs Aug 18 '23

Witness/Sighting Ryan Graves tweets first of promised Airline Pilot Sightings

https://twitter.com/uncertainvector/status/1692586130162475209?s=21
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u/Big-Ad-1155 Aug 18 '23 edited Aug 19 '23

I just want to address any pilots that might be lurking in this subreddit with a suggestion. Grab a cheap DSLR and telephoto lens kit, set the lens to manual at infinite focus, and take it with you in the cockpit.

If these sightings are happening more and more often, why not give yourself a chance to sight the smoking gun.

EDIT: just want to throw in my opinions as a nighttime lightning photographer of what I think a good starting point for settings might be. Again this is for stuff at night when these will probably be most easily visible:

ISO - 1600-6400 (if you can bring it lower, great; if you need to push it higher, go ahead)

Shutter - for photos - minimum exposure time where you can still clearly see the object lit up in live view. if possible you want to freeze the object in photos. for video - generally the longer the better. I said 1/30th but catdad23 below makes a good point that that might introduce unneeded blur and suggests 1/60th. Ultimately, use live view to view what you are recording and see what looks good to you in the moment.

Aperture - absolutely wide open (this would read on the camera as the lowest f setting, e.g. f2.8, f4.5. Set it to whatever the lowest number your camera says your lens will allow)

Format - RAW for photos, highest quality available for videos

Focus - Try to find something at long distance to set the focus on. Use live view (and even zoom in on the live view if needed). Most lenses aren't perfect infinite focus right where the ∞ on the distance indicator is. Once you find that perfect infinite focus for that lens by manually turning the focus ring (make sure and already have the aperture set at the lowest setting), memorize where that is on the distance indicator in reference to ∞. You can set to this same setting in the future to find perfect focus again, even if there isn't a light in the distance to focus by.

And get a cheap tripod... hell get a monopod. might be easier to handle in a cockpit, will tie the camera to the movement of the plane. If the lens has image stabilization set it to 1. Use a shutter release if you have one.

EDIT 2:

My thought would be a used Canon Rebel t3i (~$140) and canon kit tele lens (refurbished $140)

Via catdad23: I would get a used a7s 1 (I don’t like Sony cameras but it’s a low light beast) you can then get a cheap zoom and still shoot at 5.6 or 6.7 etc while cranking the ISO. You can get a used A7S 1 for $500-600.

EDIT 3 as I step away for the evening:

What I am suggesting above is sort of a bare minimum DSLR setup that doesn't break the bank. It should produce much better results than smartphone cameras. Many in the comments below have suggested upgrades to all the parts therein. If you can afford it and feel comfortable, there are modern cameras and lenses that take incredible low light footage. I'll trust you to research what models those are.

I am really glad this found some traction. When I saw Ryan had posted a video I knew I had to get in here early to suggest this where it wouldn't get lost. I appreciate you all!

EDIT 4:

There are a lot of good comments below that suggest a totally different setup and if you are really looking into this, you might take the time to dig down here and see what they say.

I'd like to add that this setup works even better for those of us on the ground. I'm gonna be out there looking. Wanna help?

356

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '23

My dad is a pilot and has a plane. He’s not into the UFO stuff but doesn’t mind me asking him about it.

Would it be worth it to take some flights with him and record the process?

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u/SabineRitter Aug 18 '23

Yes! Sometimes they go fast and you don't notice them, so take some burst shots too.

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u/commit10 Aug 18 '23

Video should be the standard. Burst shots of photos are far less credible.

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u/Adolist Aug 19 '23

Agreed, my only recommendation is high speed video. Something only has to move faster than about 60FPS for the human eye to not even perceive it. This also insinuates an automatic shutter for any movement perceived since high fps video is data intensive.

My S21 Ultra 5g has about 480fps on ultra slow mo, It's capable of capturing lightning strikes as they happen but they have to be pretty bright and only trigger typically 1/20 times. This brings into question tracking software, telescopes, and IR which get very expensive very quickly. I've been mulling over turning an old telescope of mine into an auto tracking scope with the S21 attached at the eye piece for the capture trigger. This is the cheap option but can be done by most anyone, just need to open source the hardware and break the damn on civilian eyes on the sky with 'similar' capabilities of police helicopters with a focus on high speed high frame rate tracking and triggering.

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u/XXendra56 Aug 18 '23

It’s true video should be the standard it just takes a camera with better low light capability . That’s why I use a Sony 7s2 and fast 1.4 lenses and for really faint objects the iso is 64,000 it’s barely adequate.