What is this? A UFO?

Seoul_lasers said:

Indeed. What I think (99% sure) you are seeing is IR passing through and or reflecting off different surfaces. I have captured some pretty unusual pictures from cheaper cameras due to the fact that they lack the filters for UV and IR. Leaves are almost completely transparent to NIR/IR light.

Click to expand...

If you look at the frames closely you can see a small branch in front of one
of the lights from the tree closest to the cam, yet the trees in the
background obstruct nothing?

Open the pics in photoshop and play around with them in layers, you will
see what im referring to..

Well, I too looked at this picture in Photoshop and tried several filters out. There is a line or some sort of a projection from the base of the camera. All in a row just like in the highlighted spots in the picture. I believe the model of Camera being used has some sort of night/ motion sensor activation trip on it. Game/hunting camera?

I can see there is quite a bit of throw from the camera which leads me to believe your camera is projecting the "row of diodes" UFO. Look at the shape when compared to the rows of IR LEDS on the hunting camera, in fact on further inspection I can even see the emitter shapes in your UFO.


Mystery solved.

^Ok, but how would that happen?

Could have been moisture in the air or something reflecting the LEDs back into the camera optics. You have it mounted inside ? or Outside? Both have likely scenarios. I can see the LED emitters in the picture when I magnified up.
Either way, you have a very explainable "ufo".

Outside. Its just that wouldnt that be a lot of moisture to stay there for over 30 seconds and to move slightly frame by frame?

Seoul_lasers said:

Look at the shape when compared to the rows of IR LEDS on the hunting camera, in fact on further inspection I can even see the emitter shapes in your UFO.


Mystery solved.

Click to expand...

I was just about to post about these cameras. Good find SL.

They do have 7 IR LEDs in a row, and the picture you provided also has many columns of them. Reguardless, this is the most probable explaination for the lights I have found. There is one problem...

The reflection of them is not easily explainable.

Let us say there was a surface to reflect them, then the LEDs would have needed to be colaminated like a laser for the light to be reflected that destinctly and clearly at that distance. But the IR LEDs in these night cameras are designed to throw as much light as possible in all directions forward of the camera. Unless someone used optics to colaminate these LEDs and used a different IR light source to illuminate the praire/forest scene (which is highly unlikely) there are not many explainations (shy of a guy or guys with 7 lasers pointing them in unison at the light) that are easily explainable, IMHO.

Fog and or condensation can and does reflect IR back. If there was ANY surface condensation that night (I don't know your dew point), even a little there is probable cause that this is what we are seeing. As the condensation collected on the front of the camera it changed the optical properties and henceforth your UFO appears to have moved.
Anyways...

Condensation on the leaves also.

The light doesn't have to be focused for it to relfect back as a small dot like that, afterall it's just a mirror image.

I knew it had to be the LED's from the camera, thus why I made that post, they are the same shape, and that's what IR looks like on that camera.

My guess is there was a small amount of dew on the leaves, and at the right angle, they were slightly reflective.

I dont want to sound like Im just rejecting every idea, but wouldnt it be really hard to get a perfect line to reflect off of leaves which are smaller than the dots?

Shameful bump.

Amazing! If it is an UFO, that would be pretty cool! alien!