the fight for the truth starts here

I am a long-time lurker, but after the latest posts, I just had to say something. I will start with the very reason that triggered me into writing this: lint. Yes, lint. The amount of second-hand embarrassment has gotten too much to bear. Consider this an intervention.

Lint
I can’t believe I have to say this, but here it goes:

A piece of lint on your camera lens is not “the mothership.”

I love theory crafting around UFOs and aliens and all that. It’s all good and fine. After all, Kubrick has done it too, and it is a necessary part of the scene to broaden our horizons. I am not a purist who advocates for only the most serious of discussions on the sub.

But we have to draw the line somewhere. I am not going to link any posts, but let’s just say the mothership isn’t hovering over London. Yes, it’s lint. This is just a piece of lint, nothing else.

The only thing this video proves is that you can’t be bothered to clean your camera. There is real evidence made by real pilots that actually warrants discussion, but here we are with your dirty camera.

By the way, and again, sorry for having to say this, but the same goes for those who’re selling the reflection of their IKEA lamp in the window.

Hoaxes
Moving on to hoaxes. Just a few days ago, a badly photoshopped image of a diorama turned people into a frenzy. The image in question was very obviously made with army figurines, and the only reason I didn’t debunk it before anyone else is because I couldn’t be bothered to Google for longer than 2 minutes to find this exact set.

People who called this out were called all kinds of names. But the worst are perhaps not those who call people names.

What bothers me are comments along the lines of “why would anyone fake something like this???” This sub has a tendency to attract very gullible people. The reason why anyone would fake something like this? Because people are like that. It’s that simple.

Even before you could make money off these hoaxes by running a YouTube channel, tons and tons of people did it for no other reason except that they could. They’re the archetypal tricksters who simply enjoy it because YOLO. This bears repeating. Some people don’t need an incentive to prank others. They do it for the heck of it. Obviously, other motives include money, attention, marketing and clout.

And let’s be real, even if this image had been faked perfectly, you’d have to ask yourself why a government official would leak such an image to a random YouTuber. It just doesn’t make sense. If I ever come across the biggest secret in the history of the planet, I am not going to Joe Shmoe with it.

What is the point of this post?
We are talking about the biggest, most important mystery in the history of the planet. It deserves us putting in the necessary work. Artificial intelligence has made it so easy to fake images that I am afraid, before long, we won’t have any chance of discovering new things in this space. That would be the end of ufology.

We will get buried by so many fakes that nothing can be trusted anymore. If we don’t step up our game as a community and start giving ourselves some standards, put in the work, and do our due diligence, then that’s the end of it, and the truth will remain hidden for a very long time.

I don’t know what these standards are but I am starting with dirty cameras. It’s the least we can do. If we sink any lower, we’re doomed.