2572: Alien Observers - Revision history

FaviFake at 09:18, 25 August 2023

2023-08-25T09:18:57Z

ConscriptGuide: Strange use of "the"

2023-08-09T19:18:41Z

Strange use of "the"

FaviFake: Fixed broken link (was a redirect)

2023-05-22T12:30:30Z

Fixed broken link (was a redirect)

FaviFake: In the previous edit I moved the "This was the Nth comic after countdown in header text" notice into the more appropriate Trivia section

2023-05-10T15:31:54Z

In the previous edit I moved the "This was the Nth comic after countdown in header text" notice into the more appropriate Trivia section

FaviFake at 15:31, 10 May 2023

2023-05-10T15:31:14Z

Kynde: /* Explanation */

2022-09-18T07:33:32Z

‎Explanation

Theusaf: Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

2022-05-26T20:02:34Z

Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

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Donald Trump: Reverted edit by anti-crap user

2022-05-26T18:52:00Z

Reverted edit by anti-crap user

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CRLF: Undo revision 280600 by CRLF (talk)

2022-05-26T18:08:20Z

Undo revision 280600 by CRLF (talk)

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CRLF: Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

2022-05-26T18:03:11Z

Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

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@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This strip depicts a group of aliens observing earth, and discussing their "restricted flight zone", which they appear to change each time a human acquires a more powerful camera.
+This depicts a group of aliens observing earth, and discussing their "restricted flight zone", which they appear to change each time a human acquires a more powerful camera. This comic was followed directly by [[2573: Alien Mission]], where aliens use similar looking flying-saucer type spacecrafts to observe Earth. It is not specifically stated that these two form a series, but the next comic could be seen as a direct follow up to this one, indicating that the aliens are the same in the two comics. Just 7 comics later [[2579: Tractor Beam]] also used similar spacecraft.
 Both strips are based on {{w|UFO conspiracy theories}}, which are common in the US and a number of other countries.  It is often claimed that {{w|Unidentified Flying Objects}} seen in the sky are, in fact, extraterrestrial space craft, visiting earth for various reasons. Reports of such sightings have existed for a long time, and ever since cameras became widely available, photographs (and later videos) have been produced which are claimed to show such flying vessels. Almost invariably, these images are sufficiently distant, blurry, or otherwise obscured as to make any kind of detailed identification impossible - they could not be ''Unidentified'' Flying Objects if it were possible to identify them!
@@ Line 16: / Line 14: @@
 This strip lampoons such ideas by positing that aliens are real, but deliberately maintain a distance such that no clear photographs can be taken. While this concept might seem initially plausible, it doesn't stand up to examination.  Over the past several decades, cameras have become far more common, with most of the population of many countries [[1235:_Settled|carrying cameras every waking moment]] (and even sleeping with those same cameras within reach). At the same time, cameras available to the average consumer have dramatically increased in resolution and zooming capabilities. The same shot that resulted in blurry and vague photographs in early digital photography could result in much more detailed images today, and also overcome many of the pitfalls associated with 'analogue' photography without sufficient skill and/or bulky equipment. What's more, the cameras owned by individual consumers have a wide range of resolutions and other capabilities, meaning that an image that would show little detail from one person's camera could result in highly detailed photograph if someone else took a picture. The fact that improving camera technology has not resulted in improved images of these supposed vessels is an impossibly weak point in these conspiracy theories.
-The humorous premise of the strip is that these aliens are real, and are monitoring earth, but are taking deliberate actions to keep evidence of their presence ambiguous.  To do this, they would need to not only monitor what camera technology exists on earth, but the exact type of camera each individual owns, and maintain their flights right at the outer visual limit of those cameras.  Such information would need to be implausibly detailed, and constantly updated, because technology is constantly improving and people are constantly getting new phones with new cameras.  Part of the joke is that the aliens would have to know the visual range of our cameras, but instead of remaining safely outside of it (so that no pictures of their vessels could be taken at all), they stay close enough to be seen, but never close enough for detailed images.
+The humorous premise of the strip is that these aliens are real, and are monitoring earth, but are taking deliberate actions to keep evidence of their presence ambiguous. To do this, they would need to not only monitor what camera technology exists on earth, but the exact type of camera each individual owns, and maintain their flights right at the outer visual limit of those cameras. Such information would need to be implausibly detailed, and constantly updated, because technology is constantly improving, and people are constantly getting new phones with new cameras. Part of the joke is that the aliens would have to know the visual range of our cameras, but instead of remaining safely outside of it (so that no pictures of their vessels could be taken at all), they stay close enough to be seen, but never close enough for detailed images.
 In a broader sense, this strip addresses the same issue as previous strips, such as [[718: The Flake Equation]] and [[1235: Settled]], in which the phenomenon of UFO sightings/reports is still left not resolved (either way) despite what modern technology should suggest is possible. The suggestion is that this trend either means that {{tvtropes|SufficientlyAdvancedAlien|sufficiently advanced aliens}} are deliberately leaving ambiguous evidence of their presence, or that no such alien visitors are here, and the purported evidence is either faked, or misinterpretations of other phenomena. It's pretty clear which explanation [[Randall]] favors.
 In the title text, the aliens note that one particular human now has a YouTube account, meaning they are likely to record video instead of attempting to capture still images. This means that the alien craft used to create the sighting must behave as erratically as possible, in order to avoid being identified. This relates to the often wildly oscillating (as well as blurry) films and videos of 'UFOs' that have been taken by the impromptu human observer beyond the limit of their ability to hold their fully-zoomed camera steady. Here it is explained as the flying saucers ''actually'' moving in an improbably jerky manner to prevent detailed recording of their craft. Further briefings of the sort depicted would doubtless accompany upgrades in optical/digital-stability features or the purchase of a camera tripod.
 ==Transcript==
@@ Line 34: / Line 32: @@
 ==Trivia==
-*The aliens depicted here appear to be the same lifeforms as seen in the bottom row of [[2359: Evidence of Alien Life]].
+This was the seventh comic to come out after the [[Countdown in header text]] started.
 {{comic discussion}}

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 This strip depicts a group of aliens observing earth, and discussing their "restricted flight zone", which they appear to change each time a human acquires a more powerful camera.
-This comic was followed directly by [[2573: Alien Mission]], where aliens use similar looking flying-saucer type spacecrafts to observe Earth. It is not specifically stated that these two form a series, but the next comic could be seen as a direct follow up to the this one, indicating that the aliens are the same in the two comics. Just 7 comics later [[2579: Tractor Beam]] also used similar spacecraft.
+This comic was followed directly by [[2573: Alien Mission]], where aliens use similar looking flying-saucer type spacecrafts to observe Earth. It is not specifically stated that these two form a series, but the next comic could be seen as a direct follow up to this one, indicating that the aliens are the same in the two comics. Just 7 comics later [[2579: Tractor Beam]] also used similar spacecraft.
 Both strips are based on {{w|UFO conspiracy theories}}, which are common in the US and a number of other countries.  It is often claimed that {{w|Unidentified Flying Objects}} seen in the sky are, in fact, extraterrestrial space craft, visiting earth for various reasons. Reports of such sightings have existed for a long time, and ever since cameras became widely available, photographs (and later videos) have been produced which are claimed to show such flying vessels. Almost invariably, these images are sufficiently distant, blurry, or otherwise obscured as to make any kind of detailed identification impossible - they could not be ''Unidentified'' Flying Objects if it were possible to identify them!

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ==Trivia==
 *The aliens depicted here appear to be the same lifeforms as seen in the bottom row of [[2359: Evidence of Alien Life]].
-*They also have similarities to the illustration in the [[what if]] ''{{what if|20|Diamond}}''.
+*They also have similarities to the illustration in the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|20|Diamond}}''.
 *This was the seventh comic to come out after the [[Countdown in header text]] started.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Both strips are based on {{w|UFO conspiracy theories}}, which are common in the US and a number of other countries.  It is often claimed that {{w|Unidentified Flying Objects}} seen in the sky are, in fact, extraterrestrial space craft, visiting earth for various reasons. Reports of such sightings have existed for a long time, and ever since cameras became widely available, photographs (and later videos) have been produced which are claimed to show such flying vessels. Almost invariably, these images are sufficiently distant, blurry, or otherwise obscured as to make any kind of detailed identification impossible - they could not be ''Unidentified'' Flying Objects if it were possible to identify them!
-This strip lampoons such ideas by positing that aliens are real, but deliberately maintain a distance such that no clear photographs can be taken. While this concept might seem initially plausible, it doesn't stand up to examination.  Over the past several decades, cameras have become far more common, with most of the population of many countries [[1235:_Settled|carrying cameras every waking moment]] (and even sleeping with those same cameras within reach). At the same time, cameras available to the average consumer have dramatically increased in resolution and zooming capabilities.  The same shot that resulted in blurry and vague photographs in early digital photography could result in much more detailed images today, and also overcome many of the pitfalls associated with 'analogue' photography without sufficient skill and/or bulky equipment.  What's more, the cameras owned by individual consumers have a wide range of resolutions and other capabilities, meaning that an image that would show little detail from one person's camera could result in highly detailed photograph if someone else took a picture.  The fact that improving camera technology has not resulted in improved images of these supposed vessels is an impossibly weak point in these conspiracy theories.
+This strip lampoons such ideas by positing that aliens are real, but deliberately maintain a distance such that no clear photographs can be taken. While this concept might seem initially plausible, it doesn't stand up to examination.  Over the past several decades, cameras have become far more common, with most of the population of many countries [[1235:_Settled|carrying cameras every waking moment]] (and even sleeping with those same cameras within reach). At the same time, cameras available to the average consumer have dramatically increased in resolution and zooming capabilities. The same shot that resulted in blurry and vague photographs in early digital photography could result in much more detailed images today, and also overcome many of the pitfalls associated with 'analogue' photography without sufficient skill and/or bulky equipment. What's more, the cameras owned by individual consumers have a wide range of resolutions and other capabilities, meaning that an image that would show little detail from one person's camera could result in highly detailed photograph if someone else took a picture. The fact that improving camera technology has not resulted in improved images of these supposed vessels is an impossibly weak point in these conspiracy theories.
 The humorous premise of the strip is that these aliens are real, and are monitoring earth, but are taking deliberate actions to keep evidence of their presence ambiguous.  To do this, they would need to not only monitor what camera technology exists on earth, but the exact type of camera each individual owns, and maintain their flights right at the outer visual limit of those cameras.  Such information would need to be implausibly detailed, and constantly updated, because technology is constantly improving and people are constantly getting new phones with new cameras.  Part of the joke is that the aliens would have to know the visual range of our cameras, but instead of remaining safely outside of it (so that no pictures of their vessels could be taken at all), they stay close enough to be seen, but never close enough for detailed images.

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 | titletext = ALERT: Human 910-25J-1Q38 has created a Youtube channel. Increase erratic jerkiness of flying by 30% until safely out of range.
 }}
 ==Explanation==
@@ Line 35: / Line 34: @@
 ==Trivia==
-* The aliens depicted here appear to be the same lifeforms as seen in the bottom row of [[2359: Evidence of Alien Life]].
+*The aliens depicted here appear to be the same lifeforms as seen in the bottom row of [[2359: Evidence of Alien Life]].
-* They also have similarities to the illustration in the [[what if]] ''{{what if|20|Diamond}}''.
+*They also have similarities to the illustration in the [[what if]] ''{{what if|20|Diamond}}''.
 {{comic discussion}}

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 In the title text, the aliens note that one particular human now has a YouTube account, meaning they are likely to record video instead of attempting to capture still images. This means that the alien craft used to create the sighting must behave as erratically as possible, in order to avoid being identified. This relates to the often wildly oscillating (as well as blurry) films and videos of 'UFOs' that have been taken by the impromptu human observer beyond the limit of their ability to hold their fully-zoomed camera steady. Here it is explained as the flying saucers ''actually'' moving in an improbably jerky manner to prevent detailed recording of their craft. Further briefings of the sort depicted would doubtless accompany upgrades in optical/digital-stability features or the purchase of a camera tripod.
-The identifier for the one buying the phone begins with "Human 38XT11". This seems likely to be a reference to {{w|THX 1138}} as this was the title of {{w|George Lucas}}'s first film, which is also {{w|THX_1138#Etymology_and_references|referenced}} in the original {{w|Star Wars (film)|Star Wars}} film. The name contains the number in reverse, as well as the letters, if "human" could be written as H.
+The identifier for the one buying the phone begins with "Human 38XT11". This seems likely to be a reference to {{w|THX 1138}} as this was the title of {{w|George Lucas}}'s first film, which is also {{w|THX_1138#Etymology_and_references|referenced}} in the original {{w|Star Wars (film)|Star Wars}} film. The name contains the number in reverse, as well as the letters, if "human" could be written as H. Forty comics earlier, in [[2532: Censored Vaccine Card]], the number 1138 is also used along with another number referencing Star Wars.
 ==Transcript==