Viewing the UFO in MUFON case 71086

The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) case 71086 includes a possibly-authentic video recording: Slow moving UFO captured on video over Alabama. This document summarizes my frame-by-frame analysis of part of that video. I've used open-source software to:

1. Select interesting frames from the UFO video.
2. Extract (crop and interpolate) UFO closeups (enlargements) from the frames.
3. Create an online slideshow of UFO closeups.
4. Examine the UFO's features, including its components and activities.

UFO video
At approximately 10:00 PM on October 1, 2015, in Ocean Beach, Alabama, a witness made a video recording of a UFO as it moved east to west slowly across the sky. The witness reported his UFO sighting to MUFON, which investigated the sighting and posted the video on YouTube.

Note: To view this video in slow motion or frame-by-frame, you can use either RowVid or Anilyzer. For more information, please see How to analyze UFO videos.

UFO closeups

Using procedures in Analyzing UFO videos through interpolated closeups, I've extracted interpolated closeups from various frames of the video in MUFON case 71086.

Each uninterpolated UFO closeup has relatively few pixels, typically between 200 and 2500. Therefore, we cannot see details as clearly as we prefer because each pixel appears as a relatively-large square. However, graphics software uses interpolation to calculate many new pixels among the uninterpolated pixels, which smooths out the squares. While not perfect, an interpolated closeup helps us see general shapes more clearly than would the patchwork of pixels in an uninterpolated closeup.

UFO slideshow
I've created an online slideshow, Closeups of the UFO in MUFON case 71086, which lets you see clear, large, sequential images. As you scroll through the slideshow, you can see how the object changes over time. I identify each closeup according to the time at which its frame had been recorded after the start of the video, at 00.00 seconds. This slideshow consists of closeups extracted from 27 frames, recorded at 0.04-second intervals, starting at time 48.14 and ending at time 49.18.

Note: My UFO slideshows are central to these analyses. I initiate each UFO-analysis project by creating a slideshow. Multiple, sequential images are more informative. No single image can show whether the object is making changes.

UFO features
I've examined this UFO's features (components and activities), after extracting its interpolated closeups and creating its slideshow. In my opinion, if the video is authentic (not a hoax), these closeups indicate that this UFO is probably an object of unknown origin.

UFO components - As shown in Figure 1, this UFO exhibits five major components: three circular components at the top and left, one circular component at the top right, and one compound component at the lower right. The middle component at the left seems to have a permanent extension. Circular components in the object usually seem to have dark centers and/or slots. The lower-right component seems to have three cylindrical subcomponents; the visible ends appear as three circles.

Figure 1 - UFO at 48.14 seconds - This object 
seems to be made mostly of solid materials.

UFO activities - Compare Figures 1 and 2 (both are also in the slideshow). The components of this UFO seem to make changes individually, but not as a grouping. Among the components, their relative positions remain static. Circular components in the object usually seem to have dark centers and/or slots. Components at the top and left make frequent shape and color changes. Components at the right make few changes, if any.

Figure 2 - UFO at 48.38 seconds. Though the UFO maintains its overall
shape, some of its components make changes to their shapes and colors.

Analyzing UFO videos through interpolated closeups

This document can help you analyze UFO videos through the following process:

1. Find a UFO video that is useful for analysis. 
2. Identify interesting UFO behaviors and make screenshots of selected frames.
3. Extract interpolated UFO closeups (enlargements) from selected frames. 
4. Create a slideshow of sequential UFO closeups.

Note: This document includes specific procedures for analyzing YouTube UFO videos. For analyzing Facebook videos, you need slightly-different procedures. For more information, please see my document, How to analyze UFO videos.

Finding a UFO video useful for analysis

A UFO video can be useful for analysis if it meets the following requirements:

• Published by a website not listed in the UFO Theater, which blacklists sites that promote phony UFO videos. 
• Not an obvious hoax. Note: Always be careful, you can find video hoaxes on any UFO website.
• Exhibits an authentic unknown object that is probably neither a natural phenomena nor a human aircraft.
• Includes images that might be large enough. After you zoom a video frame, and crop its UFO image, you should see some its basic features. For example, a bright light can never exhibit features regardless how much you magnify it.

Identifying interesting UFO behaviors

After you find a useful UFO video, you can identify portions of that video in which the object is performing interesting behaviors, such as making changes to its:

• Direction 
• Speed 
• Brightness 
• Color 
• Size 
• Shape

To identify interesting UFO behaviors, do the following:

1. Start playing a YouTube UFO video, pause it, and then copy its URL. Note: Play the video directly from the YouTube website. If you have accessed the video through a third-party website, click on the YouTube icon (tooltip: Watch on www.youtube.com) to watch the video directly through YouTube.
2. Open a new browser tab, and do either of the following:
• Go to RowVid, paste the URL into the ENTER VIDEO URL OR ID field, and click WATCH VIDEO.
• Go to Anilyzer, paste the URL in the ENTER VIDEO URL field, select YouTube, and then click WATCH VIDEO.
3. Click Settings (the gear icon), click Quality, and then select the highest possible quality; preferably 1080p.
4. Watch the entire video, writing down times at which the most-interesting UFO behaviors occur. You can restart the video as often as necessary. 
5. Within the video portion that contains each interesting action, do the following: 
1. Click 0.25 for the slowest video speed. 
2. Click either the forward or back arrow button to stop the video at a specific frame, and then continue clicking these buttons until you find a frame you wish to save as screenshot. 
3. Click the icon at the lower right corner of YouTube, select Full screen, press Print Screen to display a Save Screenshot dialog, and then click Save to copy the screenshot of the frame to a working folder. Note: To keep track of your UFO screenshots, you should associate each filename with its video time. For example, I made a screenshot of a frame that had been recorded at 58.06 seconds, and then stored it as filename 5806.png in my working folder (You cannot use a decimal point in any number within a filename.)

Extracting interpolated UFO closeups
After you identify interesting portions of a UFO video, you can extract interpolated closeups of the unknown object performing an interesting action. To extract an interpolated UFO closeup, do the following:

1. Create a screenshot of an interesting UFO action according to the above procedure for Identifying interesting UFO actions.
2. Use image-editing software, such as GIMP, to zoom into the screenshot as closely as possible, typically 800%.
3. Crop the UFO screenshot to approximately 50 by 50 pixels.

   

   Figure 1 - UFO screenshot cropped to 50 by 50 pixels.
   This is a closeup that has not yet been interpolated.

4. Scale the image; resize it to 400 by 400 pixels, and use the best possible interpolation, such as Sinc (Lanczos3). This exhibits only the center portion of the image.
5. To see the entire image, zoom out to 100%.

   

   Figure 2 - Interpolated UFO closeup at 100% zoom. 

6. Save (export) the interpolated UFO closeup into a separate working folder. Note: For each each interpolated closeup, you can use a filename associated with its screenshot and video time. For example, I stored the interpolated UFO closeup in Figure 2 as filename 5806.jpg in a working folder.

As shown Figure 1, an uninterpolated UFO closeup has relatively few pixels, typically 2500 (50 X 50). Therefore, you cannot see details as clearly as you might prefer because each pixel appears as a relatively-large square. However, when you use graphics software, such as GIMP, to scale (resize) the closeup to a larger size, that software also uses interpolation to calculate many new pixels that smooth out the differences among the original pixels. As shown in Figure 2, an interpolated UFO closeup has many more pixels, typically 160,000 (400 X 400). Interpolation enhances the closeup and helps us see general shapes and features. While not perfect, an interpolated closeup shows more than it did prior to interpolation.

Creating a slideshow of interpolated UFO closeups

Creating a slideshow of sequential, integrated closeups can help you analyze UFO actions over time. You can use any slideshow or presentation software. For example, by uploading sequential interpolated closeups to Google Slides, I've created all my UFO-analysis slideshows associated with this blog.