Size of Object(s)

1/2 moon diam in length?

Distance to Object(s) & Altitude

Below clouds, less than 2 miles?

Shape of Object(s)

Long thin. could be disc edge-on

Color of Object(s):

Appears grey in image

Full Description & Details

After a quick scan through similar reports on the Internet, I see that this type of unexpected feature is fairly common in digital photos and is thought to be caused by objects moving across the field of view close to the camera, thereby producing an unfocussed blob on the image.

It would seem unlikely that an insect would produce a blob of this particular shape, although a floating leaf is a possible explanation. The nature of the image seems to suggest a long thin object moving horizontally, fast enough to cause considerably more horizontal than vertical blurring.

The data in the file header indicates that the exposure time was 1/355 sec. If the object was an aircraft, and the apparent horizontal blurring was due to motion, it appears to have moved by approx 20% of its length in the exposure time. For an aircraft of length 100 ft, this implies a speed of about 4800 mph, 9600 mph for 200 ft length, etc. For a nearby object such as an insect, this speed is of course proportionally reduced, but it would seem that the insect would still have to move at an unrealistic rate to produce this image, assuming that the horizontal blurring is due to its speed.

After adjusting for a small error in the setting of the camera's clock, the local time was 10:11:41 (hr:min:sec). The camera type is a Pentax Optio 550, other info also being available in the EXIF data in the picture file.

I was one of many people visiting this popular tourist destination on this day, many armed with digital cameras. I can't help thinking that it would be a useful addition to your research efforts if it were somehow possible to assemble this multitude of images to allow corroboration of a particular sighting.

Another possible explanation for this effect is corruption of the data in the camera's memory. However, having some background in this subject, I find it unlikely that random corruption of the jpeg data would give rise to this form of anomaly.

I would be interested to know, given the vast number of digital images being created around the world on a daily basis, whether this is a recurring feature in digital photography.

Witness Background

Electronic design engineer

Other Comments

A very interesting site - best wishes with your endeavours!

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