Koi UFO Video 017 : UFO follows car in Australia, 2006 (Chris Kenworthy ufo wave videos)
Koi UFO Video 017 appears to show a family in a car being frightened by an approaching UFO. This is probably the most dramatic of a collection of 31 videos that were uploaded to Youtube in 2006 purportedly showing UFOs over Australia. Many of them were simply lights in the night sky or distant objects with no distinct shape.
In fact, as discussed below, the entire series of videos was a hoax (or rather an "immersive artwork" or "experimental digital video project") by director Christopher Kenworthy, funded by the Australian Film Commission. Incidentally, a statement on Christopher Kenworthy's website that "Nobody suspected it was a hoax until the end" is, um, questionable since several people (including me) had suggested it was probably composited imagery.
Sections below:
2. Stories and claims relating to this video
3. The real background to this video
4. Relevant online discussions
1. The relevant video
This video appears to show a family in a car being frightened by an approaching UFO.
Screen shots from the video are included below for ease of identification:
2. Stories and claims relating to this video
The above video is probably the most dramatic of a collection of 31 videos that were uploaded to Youtube in 2006 purportedly showing UFOs over Australia. Many of them were simply lights in the night sky or distant objects with no distinct shape.
3. The real background to this video
The entire series of 31 videos that were uploaded to Youtube in 2006 purportedly showing UFOs over Australia, including the above video of a UFO approaching a family in a car, were a hoax (or rather an "immersive artwork") by Christopher Kenworthy funded by the Australian Film Commission.
The real background to the 2006 Australian "ufo wave" videos was detailed on the Australian UFO Wave website, which is now defunct - but an archived copy of that website still be found via the Wayback Machine's Internet Archive.
That website gave the following background to the Australian UFO wave series of videos "In April 2006, the Australian Film Commission funded an experimental digital video project by director Christopher Kenworthy. Between June and mid-August 2006 thirty-one clips of UFOs were created. The UFO videos were distributed over the internet via websites and video podcasts. Writers crafted background stories for the sightings, and answered thousands of e-mails using a fictional persona. The process, reactions and responses were recorded for a forthcoming documentary. The project was hugely successful, being viewed by many millions of people. Very few people suspected that the clips were manufactured. Gradually, the level of plausibility was reduced, but only when the last two clips were uploaded did a large number of people get suspicious. It's also worth noting that two of the UFO clips we distributed were quite genuine - and no researcher was able to pick which two they were."
In a statement on that website, director Christopher Kenworthy stated that "With this project I wanted to give people a taste of the drama and excitement of a UFO Close Encounter, creating a genuine sense of wonder". That website includes details of the techniques used in the hoaxes (and proof that they were indeed made by Christopher Kenworthy). The "Techniques" page explains that "The clips were edited in Final Cut Pro, and the effects work was carried out with After Effects Pro 7.0 ... Some of the UFOs (such as the spheres) were computer generated (in Vue Infinite and Cinema 4D), but most were created by shooting real-world light sources, such as streetlights and car headlights.".
That website included all 31 videos in the "Australian UFO wave" series. Christopher Kenworthy has made those clips available as the following single video on Youtube, accompanied by text stating "The 2006 Australian UFO Wave - a large scale hoax carried out by www.christopherkenworthy.com".
Quite a few people initially fell for this hoax, as can be seen from the titles of relevant discussion threads on the Internet - which often referred to "good" or "amazing" footage...
Of course, quite a few people did conclude the footage was composited using software such as Abode After Effects.
Incidentally, a statement on Christopher Kenworthy's website that "Nobody suspected it was a hoax until the end" is, um, questionable since several people (including me) had suggested it was probably composited imagery - as can be seen from the discussions at the links in Section 4 below. Indeed, one of the earliest discussions of the videos had the following title : "CGI killing real UFO sightings. Take a look at this Australia video". Moreover, several researchers also expressly referred to some of the actual techniques which the hoaxers (sorry, "artists") later admitted they used (e.g. compositing of several layers of footage, including a layer of a real environment/witness on top of a layer which has a light/ufo moving about).
Christopher Kenworthy had previously written a book entitled "Digital Video Production Cookbook" which includes details of compositing techniques. I found that book very interesting, but would have welcomed a longer section about the creation of UFO videos.
Christopher Kenworthy was subsequently stated the following in an interview by the ufowatchdog website : “Some have suggested that I could have simply offered fake clips up to researchers, to demonstrate the fakery, without any deception. But the moment you tell people it's a fake, they say, 'Oh yes, it's obviously a fake, I'd never be convinced by that.' Lots of websites are rewriting their opinion of my clips now that we've revealed the truth. Some are even pretending that haven't seen the revelation, and that they worked this out by themselves. Because people want to look like experts who could never be fooled, nobody will admit that forged footage looks convincing. The only way to make them see the power of a fake, is to present it as real.
Chris Kenworthy was also interviewed by The Daily Grail website. In that interview he stated : “… in a couple of books and articles I showed how to fake a UFO as a means to demonstrating various FX techniques" and “One of the points I wanted to make is that there are lots of ways to spot fakes, and that people should have seen them. Although people spotted the clues at the end, nobody wrote to tell me they'd seen the clues or mistakes that run throughout the earlier clips. People need to be more vigilant. Secondly, I wanted to underline that a clip should not be trusted (or shared on websites), until a reputable researcher has spoken to witnesses and had the original tape analysed. A couple of researchers did ask for more info and witness contact, but when we stalled they posted the clips on their sites anyway. Faking short clips is one thing, but faking an entire event (with actors acting as witnesses after the fact, and a full camera tape) - that would cost ten times our budget, just for one clip. So if researchers do their job properly, faking clips would be impossible for all but the highest budgets". He also discussed the budget for the UFO wave : “The total budget was $15,000, and out of that comes insurance, legals, writers, actors, producers fees - and so on, so this project was for love more than money. Every project I work on as a writer or director is for personal gain, but it's never solely for personal gain. I want to create worthwhile art. As for publicity, it remains to be seen whether this project will enhance my career or not. Of course, I hope that every project I work on will publicise my name around the globe, but that's an afterthought, and never a motivation.
When I posted about the admission of a hoax (sorry, "artwork") in 2006 I made the following comments (which largely fell on deaf years and therefore remain true today) : "I think this episode shows that the ufological community (including this Forum) _really_ needs to make more of an effort to get to grips with the basic principles of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). A discussion is needed which steps back from _individual_ sightings and talks about the _basic_ methods of producing hoaxed footage using software such as Adobe After Effects".
4. Relevant online discussions
Relevant discussions on the AboveTopSecret.com forum include the following:
2006 (July) discussion entitled "CGI killing real UFO sightings. Take a look at this Australia video"
2006 (August) discussion entitled "Australian UFO videos hoaxed "immersive artwork"
2006 (September) discussion entitled "Australian fakes cost $15000 to make"
2007 (February) discussion entitled "'UFO' seen in HUD of Australian fighter!"
2007 (August) discussion entitled "Australian UFO"
Discussed on the Aliens-UFOs.com forum at:
http://www.alien-ufos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17948