Friend told me my UFO photo was just a drone and it changed how I look at footage

I recorded a weird light over Lake Michigan near Chicago about 2 months ago. Thought I had something real until a buddy pointed out the blinking pattern was exactly like a DJI Mavic. Now I always check for FAA registration lights and sound profiles before I even record. Anyone else have a skeptic change how they investigate sightings?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_park929d agoTop Commenter

The Mavic's strobe pattern is actually two quick blinks followed by a pause, not a steady pulse like most people think. I had to look that up myself after a buddy called me out on some "orb" footage that turned out to be a Phantom 4 Pro. It's annoying but it makes you realize how many sky lights are just drones that look way further than they really are.

riverdavis9d ago

That bit about "sky lights" being drones that look way further than they really are is too real. I think people forget drones can be super small and faint from just a few hundred feet away, especially if the lights are set to low power mode for battery conservation. What nobody really talks about though is how light pollution messes with our depth perception. A blinking light in a dark suburban sky could be a Mavic 300 feet up or a commercial plane 5 miles out, and our brains just guess. I tested this with a buddy once and we were both off by like half a mile on where we thought a drone was. The strobe patterns help but only if you know what you're looking at, which most people don't.