Last week Lindy posted a message about the upcoming announcement of proof of the existence of alien spacecraft in our solar system, as captured on imagery from SOHO.

The announcement apparently went off as scheduled. The SOHO team has published their rebuttal, called How to Make Your Own UFO. The intro:

Ever since launch, there's been a number of people who've projected their fantasies onto the SOHO images, seeing flying saucers and other esoteric objects. Mostly, we're just amused by the unfounded claims, but in recent days, we've been receiving so many questions and claims that we'd like to set the record straight: We've never seen anything that even suggests that there are UFOs "out there". That is, to our (trained) eyes.



While we don't expect to convince a single dedicated UFOlogist (give them an explanation, and it's a cover-up, give them no comment, and it's "clamming up"), we hope that this page (and links herein) can provide some information for the curious who want to investigate the claims on their own.



I've been down this road with people creating alien artifacts from technical artifacts in Mars imagery. It's rarely a deliberate hoax; rather it's a matter of people abusing image processing software subconsciously guided by what they wish to find.

Those of us who wear glasses have experienced something analogous when we get a new prescription. The optometrist tries a lens and asks "better? or worse?", and adjusts the strength up or down accordingly, eventually zeroing in on the right prescription. People doing this with image processing software apply an adjustment or enhancement, and decide whether it's right based on whether or not the results more closely resemble an alien artifact. After dozens of iterations, they're guaranteed to get what they're looking for.

The SOHO image diddlers have produced some beautiful images, but unfortunately, they're not alien spacecraft. Maybe next time....

--Robert

PS: Before you go off on Lindy, remember that she only posted a link to the announcement. She didn't endorse it, and I seem to recall somewhere she expressed neutrality and an open mind. Don't make the mistake the image diddlers make, and project your prejudices on to her.