UFOs and CGI

It should go without saying, but the following videos currently being debated online by UFO researchers are hoaxes created using Computer Generated Images (CGI):

Although I have a background in film production and have taught college modules on CGI history and technique, by and large, my expertise is in the field of cinema studies, which is to say that my focus is on film theory, rather than film practice. With this in mind, I consulted recently with a few of my old friends who do indeed have considerable hands-on experience with CGI. Two of these individuals - whom I would term skilled semi-professionals - are final-year students for degrees in Film Production Technology and Digital Film and 3D Animation at Staffordshire University (a leading UK institution in these fields). The third individual is a veteran Post Production Technical Instructor at the same institution. For their analyses of the above footage, as well as its broader - and rather bizarre - back-story, check out Grant Cameron and Paul Robinson's ongoing investigation over at presidentialufo.com

In all likelihood, this footage is part of a viral marketing campaign for one of the numerous Hollywood UFO movies due for release in the next 12 months, such as Area 51 or Super 8, for example. It is also possible that the videos are part of a professional showreel for one of the hundreds of CGI companies operating today: "leak" your own CGI footage online in order to create buzz, then, in time, reveal yourself to potential clients as the creator of said footage. Finally, some have contemplated the notion that the footage may be part of a government-sponsored Psy-Op designed either to further acclimate us to UFO/ET reality (highly unlikely, in my opinion), or simply to confuse, divide and waste the time of UFO researchers (slightly more likely).

If the footage is a Hollywood viral campaign or merely self-promotion for an ambitious CGI company, then its creators will reveal themselves in due course. If, on the other hand, more sinister forces are behind these videos, then the originator's identity will likely never be known and arguably is irrelevant anyway. Indeed, if the footage is part of a government Psy-Op, then surely that's all the more reason to ignore it. Whichever of these scenarios is correct, someone, somewhere is rubbing their grubby hands together with devilish glee and having a good old laugh at our expense.

Kudos to those UFO researchers who have declared this footage as phony, and especially to those who have supported their declarations with evidence, but isn't it now time that we all got back to debating more pressing UFO-related matters?

If and when UFO Disclosure comes, it will not take the form of a grainy video "leaked" onto YouTube. If and when footage of a genuine extraterrestrial is disclosed, more than likely it will be in the form of a live, globally transmitted TV broadcast (but that's not to say that we humans will be the ones doing the disclosing). If and when we all see ET, the question of CGI will not even be raised, much less debated. There will be no doubting it. Move along, people... there's nothing to see here.