Koi UFO Video 089 : Drone UFO video (Kris Avery)
[DEBUNKED]Koi UFO Video 089 appears to show an unidentified flying object very similar to photographs circulated online in 2007 by "Chad" and others.
It's rare that I'd describe a UFO video as a thing of beauty, but I think this one qualifies.
As discussed below, this video was created in 2007 by Kris Avery, a British computer animation professional. He created a series of "drone" animations, including a music video featuring the voice of ufologist Linda Moulton Howe. (Personally, I think the artist merit of Kris Avery's videos far exceeds those of almost all other UFO videos).
Kris Avery's videos caused some confusion among "drone" researchers. Some researchers (including Linda Moulton Howe) appear to have believed that at least some of Kris Avery's drone videos were real. On the other hand, some skeptics have viewed the videos as evidence that all the drone photographs were hoaxed by Kris Avery. In fact, Kris Avery stated that he created his video based on the photographs which were circulating online. He has denied that he created those photographs and I am not aware of any evidence which contradicts that denial.
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
The video appears to show an unidentified flying object very similar to photographs circulated online in 2007 by "Chad" and others.
Screen shots from the video are included below for ease of identification:
2. Stories and claims relating to this video
The relevant series of videos caused some confusion among "drone" researchers. Some researchers (including Linda Moulton Howe) appear to have believed that at least some of Kris Avery's drone videos were real. On the other hand, some skeptics have viewed the videos as evidence that all the drone photographs were hoaxed by Kris Avery.
3. The real background to this video
In fact, this video was created in 2007 by Kris Avery, a British computer animation professional. He created a series of extremely good "drone" animations. (Personally, I think the artist merit of Kris Avery's videos far exceeds those of almost all other UFO videos).
Kris Avery's Youtube video account, which has the username of "saladfingers123456", includes Koi UFO Video 089 with a title clearly indicating that it was an computer graphics animation ("UFO Big Basin CG recreation"). (Kris Avery has also posted on various UFO discussion forums using his saladfingers12345 username, including on the AboveTopSecret.com discussion forum).
The other videos he has posted on his Youtube video account include a music video featuring the voice of ufologist Linda Moulton:
Kris Avery’s website includes details of his animation company, "Avery Animation":
Kris Avery’s website includes some of his "drone" artwork within a gallery showcasing his (considerable) talents:
Kris Avery has posted on various website explaining that he created his videos based on the photographs which were circulating online. He has denied that he created those photographs and I am not aware of any evidence which contradicts that denial.
His posts online include a comment on the Daily Grail website in which he objected to being named as a potential hoaxer of the drone photographs that circulated online in 2007. He expressly stated that "If the drone case was hoaxed.. if (because it has yet to be proven) it was not me". He also objected to his videos being used as evidence that it would have been easy for a CGI professional to create the drone photographs, since his video had not been easy to create, stating the following:
"I will also reply to the comment about how easy it was to create this video. It wasn't! It took a fair amount of time, and was not a walk in the park".
He also made the following comments:
I'm very glad that the video has been enjoyed, and I am extremely flattered by some of the wonderful feedback! I never expected such a resounding response. But it was not created to debunk, and the wide majority of people who have seen it don't think so either. It is a dedication to some of the extremely talented and intelligent people who have put many many hours of study into this case. It is also a result of the artistic inspiration I have drawn from the unique imagery in the drones and the CARET documents. Ultimately, it was created to breathe life into objects we have only ever seen as flat 2D images, while bringing some entertainment and enjoyment along the way!
...
I have at times thrown my hands up in the air and said that this has got to be CG! But I haven't proved that. Has anyone? But it hasn't been proved to be real either. It is the unanswered questions that drive us mad, which is why it is so easy to throw the towel in and resign ourselves to our feelings. I am still wide open to this case being real, so please don't think I say it is a hoax, full stop, the end.
Similar comments by Kris Avery are also included in an article on the Io9 website. That article quotes Kris Avery as stating:"
"The videos I created, which eventually culminated into the music video for 'Drone' the musician are all inspired by the original photos. I myself am totally unsure as to the origin of the images beyond what I already known.. i.e. anonymous witnesses . . ."
"Since then, I have been accused of being the originator of the whole drone saga, and the photos were in fact just a viral campaign to promote the eventual video. This is definitely NOT the truth. In a way, I wish it had been, because that would make me some kind of viral genius, and I'd be in completely the wrong job lol."
While Kris Avery does not appear to have been very active on UFO forums in most of the period from 2007 to 2015, he has recently posted comments on the AboveTopSecret.com in which he commented that since he created his Drone videos "things in 3d have got so much more realistic". He also said:
"I often mused back then (after being attacked for bursting peoples bubble) that I could set up such an awesome hoax and fool millions of people, and then reveal how easily they were duped... to prove a point. But I never did, because I'm not sure it would help anything except make me feel better (and thus be an arsehole). These days, I don't think anyone would fall for it. That to me is progress and a good thing".
He also stated that the following:
"despite all of the fakes out there, I know there is something in our skies because I've seen several genuine UFOs in my life, and they are so real. Wish I could have shared those moments with the whole world. When I say UFOs, I mean flying ball/disks, and extremely fast craft. Mind blowing. I'm of the opinion that anyone can see one, so long as they spend enough time looking up. Out of the many thousands of hours spent looking up, I have had about 20-30 seconds worth of sightings. 4 distinct events".
During March 2015, Kris Avery was kind enough to respond to an invitation from me to comment on this webpage. His comments explained his motivation for creating his videos (stating that his original intention was "to show that CG had reached a point that it was now (or then) impossible to conclusively believe any image you see") as well as his basic views looking back on the drone saga ("I could never prove the drones were real or fake") and also some information about his personal UFO sightings mentioned above (which have led him to have "no doubts that there is something up there"). Since Kris kindly stated that I should feel free to use any of his email, I'll include the text of that email below.
"Hi Isaac,
Many thanks for the email, and thank you for your flattering comments about my work. Crazy to think it has been 7 years since that whole thing.
Anyway, I have looked at your site, and what a great job you have done there, very thorough! It can be a bit weird seeing a report on yourself though as I am sure you can imagine.
I'm an animator, so I'm sure you can understand that I am a bit reclusive (perhaps a little less these days). So it was a massive thing for me at the time to reveal my identity. For the initial stages of my involvement in the study I went by the name saladfingers12345, which was both my username on the Open Minds Forum, ATS, UFOcasebook as well as my Youtube channel name (I set up the channel specifically to share my Drone creations based upon the photos that came out).
However, as time went on (and this whole thing went on for nearly a year, maybe more?) the accusations started flying, and on UFO casebook I was being called a shill, hoaxer, government agent... all sorts of things. I tried being as open as possible and honest, but trust within UFO circles is a rare thing. So I thought the best thing to do was to just say "Hello... this is who I am! I am just an average Joe!", which is what I was and remain so to this day. I've never had any interest in money, because it doesn't bring much in the way of happiness. I've only ever really had an interest in understanding our reality and seeking truth, inspired primarily by my Christian upbringing (and the questioning thereof) and a UFO book that I found in my Dads bookshelf at about the age of 6.
So anyway, by opening up and not hiding behind anonymity it did help in perhaps putting a bit of weight to my voice, and honesty to my character as a person, but I'd still have preferred to remain anonymous really due to the hermit animator mentality mentioned above. But what is done is done I suppose.
To be honest, my opinions haven't really changed much regarding the drone images. My original intention was to show that CG had reached a point that it was now (or then) impossible to conclusively believe any image you see. I guess I was at the forefront of understanding this at the time and I wanted people to question everything, because the images were both compelling and very convincing. But as became apparent, it is the human accounts and validity that defined the trustworthy nature of the case (and hopefully future cases). The images and documents had everyone split down the middle, but the lack of credible witnesses brought a heavy cloud of doubt. From a psychology point of view (and many alluded to it being a psyop to see what people would believe, which perhaps it was) it was a very good case in point of how different people operate.
To me personally it was an incredible lesson on how paranoid some people can be, knowing exactly who and what I am... but then seeing what others thought I was. I even had people investigating my background, previous businesses, who I've worked for etc... very strange thing to go through.
One particular person reached a level of hate for me so much that I received a very disturbing email. I was accused of bursting her bubble, which quite honestly should be a good thing. There is a real split within UFO/Alien circles between those that have a kind of "faith", almost religious belief in those from elsewhere that blinds them to truth (accepting everything), and those that are skeptical to the point of disbelief without hard proof, and a few fence sitters in between. The ones of faith hated me, but I didn't hate them... or at least I tried not to despite the attacks. I'm a pretty loving kind of person and found it upsetting. But I am also rather stubborn. I wasn't out to hurt peoples feelings. To me, the pursuit of truth means not deciding what is truth until there is something obvious that sways it one way or the other, and even then I keep an open mind. But I did feel bad that I was upsetting the Drone faithfuls, but they couldn't look at the subject objectively.
To be fair, I have come to understand many of the different points of view regarding the subject in recent years and see the deeper complexity in the subject, but as you point out in your article I haven't really been involved in UFO circles much since. Quite frankly there hasn't been anything quite like the drones either prior or since. I think I had my fill of the whole thing, as it really drained my energy and I started a new job, so I just drifted away from the subject. That isn't to say I don't keep my eyes open. Following the Drone case I had the most amazing UFO experience with my other half where we witnessed 2 Spherical craft travel right over us side by side at a low altitude, so I have no doubts that there is something up there. Quite what the nature of them is I am unsure, but there is something... and I feel it is nice to have that personal confirmation of a reality that I always believed to be true. I'd had other experiences prior to that, but never anything quite like the one described. To have it confirmed by someone else, to share the experience was also to prove that I'm not mad :)
So in summary, I could never prove the drones were real or fake, or the Isaac material for that matter (speaking of Isaac, it wasn't your doing was it?? if so, bravo) but I think others that continued the investigation after I stepped away found many anomalies that pointed to things being a fabrication, which comes down to what I have said previously about the validity of the witnesses. So that makes me believe that it was likely fake. Likely is as close as I'd get to a conclusion. But from an image based point of view, I'm unsure you can draw many conclusions other than "you can't trust images anymore". That line of thought has only become more prevalent in recent years with nearly every image we see put through photoshop. Question reality has always been my message, but never have a closed mind because in my experience reality is far stranger than fiction and we are in an amazing period of time.
Please feel free to use any of this. It might be a bigger response than you were perhaps anticipating, but it is rare that I think about it these days, so it has been nice reviewing my own thoughts in retrospect and being able to share them with someone who has an interest in the psychological aspect to the phenomenon.
On a side note, if I was to offer one insight regarding your site... the logo seems a little menacing with the evil looking blue eyes, but beyond that, a fascinating collection of work. I'm sure I'll delve into it and dig a bit deeper.
Thanks for the contact, keep well and good luck!
Kindest regards,
Kris"
4. Relevant online discussions
Relevant discussions on the AboveTopSecret.com forum include the following:
2007 (July) discussion entitled "Chad drone makes it's video debut"