"For
the honest, clear and objective investigation"
( NON-PROFIT
) ESPAÑOL We
are very glad to present here all the evidences and the material that was
very hard to get
in some part and we hope you can understand all the examples, charts and
graphics.
If
you have any comments or questions including critics we appreciate your
interest Please
don't hesitate writing to us at any time and we will be glad to answer
your posts Cap. Alejandro Franz
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
Researcher
director@alcione.org
Mexican
Air Force FLIR's video lights are not UFO's.
They
are now confirmed to be oil well gas flames.
The
AN/APS 143 Radar video is unavailable and the
targets
detected could be vehicles on the Yucatan's
peninsula
highways as it is explained ahead
Burning gas flares at NOHOCH-A
oil platform
located in the CANTARELL
OIL COMPLEX
Video
caption from FLIR STAR SAFIRE II video lights
CAMERA
WAS AIMING TOWARD CANTARELL OIL COMPLEX
Some
of many Oil Wells located at Cantarell's Oil Field and a FLIR's image caption
ALCIONE
did a recreation flight on january 13 2006
You
can see for yourself that the Oil Wells are real
and
located in front of Ciudad del Carmen City here:
(When
on page use mouse scroll button to Zoom in & out)
MapMachine
THIS
IS A VERIFIABLE INFORMATION AND PROOF ABOUT THE MYSTERY
AROUND
THE MEXICAN MILITARY AUTHORITIES WHO COULDN'T SOLVE
THIS
MYSTERY THAT DOESN'T NEED ANY HIGH SKILL TO BE SOLVED
THIS
IMAGE BELOW FROM GOOGLE EARTH (2006)
SHOWS
THE CANTARELL OIL RIGS NAMED NEPTUNO
AKAL-J,
AKAL-C AND NOHOCH-A
A COMMON
SENSE GRAPHIC EXPLANATION IS ENOUGH
TO
DETERMINE A DIFFERENCE AND A SIMILITUDE
THIS
COMPOSITE IMAGE BELOW SHOWS THE SIMILARITY
OF
THE FLIR LIGHTS AND OIL WELLS LIGHTS IN A ROTATED
GOOGLE
MAP CAPTURE FOR BETTER COMPREHENSION
GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES OF AKAL-J
AND AKAL-C FLARES
AKAL-J W 92 deg, 4 min, 44.06 sec and
N 19 deg, 25 min, 27.3 sec W 92 deg, 4 min, 42.4 sec and
N 19 deg, 25 min, 44.9 sec W 92 deg, 4 min, 44.51 sec and N 19
deg, 25 min, 34.2 sec W 92 deg, 4 min, 44.2
sec and N 19 deg, 25 min, 31.26 sec
AKAL-C W 92 deg, 2 min, 34.68 sec and
N 19 deg, 23 min, 46.29 sec W 92 deg, 2 min, 34.41 sec and
N 19 deg, 23 min, 50.22 sec W 92 deg, 2 min, 34.15 sec and
N 19 deg, 23 min, 53.2 sec W 92 deg, 2 min, 30.43 sec and
N 19 deg, 24 min, 2.95 sec
AMPLIFIED IMAGE
OF THE BLACK AND WHITE IMAGE ABOVE
Mexican Air Force
specialists were incapable to discover that the FLIR lights source was the Cantarell
oil well flames that burn off on daily basis in the Gulf of México
RECENT INFORMATION
CONFIRMS THAT CAPT. FRANZ'S OPINION ON MAY 2004 WAS CORRECT ABOUT
THE MEXICAN AIR FORCE TO BE IN A VERY BAD SHAPE
CAPT. FRANZ WAS
DEFAMED BY THE UFO BELIEVER JAIME MAUSSAN AND WAS EXPOSED IN NATIONAL
AND WORLD WIDE TELEVISION AND RADIO SHOWS AS TO BE A CITIZEN
NOT LOYAL TO HIS COUNTRY FOR TELLING THE TRUTH IN UFOUPDATES LIST
ABOUT THE MEXICAN AIR FORCE HAVING LACK OF TRAINING AND THAT HIS
PILOTS WERE FLYING NO MORE THAN 10 HOURS A MONTH RESULTING IN
LOW EXPERIENCE AND RECOGNITION OF THE OIL WELL AREA _______________________________________________________________________
Mexico:
Defense department equipment and armament outdated January
3, 2009 M3
Report El
Universal (Mexico City) 1/2/09 RIGHT
SIDE NEWS
The
Chief of Staff of Mexico's Department of Defense (Sedena) estimates that
the military would
only be able to carry out continuous combat, externally or internally for
12 days with the
armament presently available. The armored units, it is estimated,
would use up their firepower
in nine days and the air branch, in five days. The department advised
that the 594 night
vision devices and 3,095 GPS units used by Special Forces in combat against
drug cartels "have
already completed their period of service," being between five and 13 years
old.
The
shortage and fatigue of personnel in the ranks of both the Army and Air
Force are evident
and reaching "unimaginable levels" in practically all areas of operations. As
a final note, the department revealed that only 45 air-to-air missiles
are available, amounting
to one day's combat. Source:
http://m3report.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/mexico-defense-department-equipment-and-armament-outdated/ _______________________________________________________________________
Capt. Franz's
Oil Well Theory was uploaded to ALCIONE's web page since may 14 2004 and posted
at UfoUpdates
in may 26 of 2004 where nobody believed him and ignored his more
than 35 years of experience as pilot and Air Traffic Controller also as researcher
since 1963 by his results in other UFO cases he researched and proved many hoaxes
not as a "debunker" but as a humble 'demystifier'.
Nevertheless Capt.Franz
posted
to UfoUpdates in 2003 that he had a close encounter on october 1974
and he had no memories of what hapened in 5 or 6 hours he lost that day.
He was called
to be a ¨Debunker" and a "Pelicanist" when he proposed his theory with enough information,
data and documents and making a question not a definitive conclusion.
UFOs
Or Simply Oil Well Flames?
From: Capt. Alejandro Franz <alfafox.nul> Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 22:07:12
-0600 Fwd Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 08:49:28
-0400 Subject: UFOs Or Simply Oil
Well Flames?
"The
lights (UFO's) shown in the video of march 05, 2004 provided by
the Mexican Air Force could be the heat source produced by the
flames of the oil wells located in the Oil field Cantarell between
50 km to 90 km in the Gulf of Mexico, very close to the shores
of Ciudad del Carmen city in the Campeche's State and within
the range of the C26A FLIR camera at the moment of the strange
sighting."
"The
objects (lights) are in a fixed position with a dark background
(the sea) while the camera on board is following the lights
that are showing in the screen as a very brilliant source of
light. There is a great distortion as there is no sign of an object
but only light. Take your time and repeat the video. Try to
focus as if the lights are STEADY and the camera movements shows
when turning in his axis that the clouds move sometimes rapidly
and then suddenly they stop moving while the lights (UFO's)
never changed their formation neither their speed." MORE....
From: Brad Sparks <RB47x.nul> Date: Mon, 31 May 2004
17:16:42 EDT Fwd Date: Tue, 01 Jun
2004 00:37:43 -0400 Subject: Radar Targets
May be Trucks On Yucatan Highway
Mexico: Some Radar Targets
May be Trucks On Yucatan Highway 186
Radar Analysis Followup
- Mexican AF Case March 5, 2004
Thanks to a new map plotted
by Dr. Bruce Maccabee I can follow up on my suggestion yesterday
that some but not all of the radar targets that were tracked
may have been trucks or vehicles traveling 60 mph (52
knots) down Yucatan roads...........MORE
IMAGE SHOWS HOW
THE AN/APS 143B(V) RADAR IS CAPABLE TO DETECT MOVING VEHICLES THIS MEANS THE
RADAR IS CAPABLE TO DETECT TARGETS AT LOW SPEEDS -10 TO 25KTS- BECAUSE IT IS
A MARITIME RADAR
THE AN/APS 143B(V)
RADAR DOES NOT PROVIDE ALTITUDES OF MOVING TARGETS SO THEY COULD HAVE BEEN
MISTAKEN AS FLYING OBJECTS WHILE DETECTED AT GROUND LEVEL
Maritime surveillance radar experiences
serious limitations imposed on their performance by
unwanted sea clutter. Sea clutter limits
the performance of the radar, so it is vital to understand the
characteristics of sea clutter to improve
the performance in detecting small targets. The amplitude
video voltage of collected digitized raw
video consisting of targets and clutter of each radar sweep
must be measured and analyzed.
The histogram from the collected
samples of echo returns must be plotted, a comparison of the
amplitude histograms with Gaussian and
Rayleigh distributions should be done. The analysis of
the recorded amplitude histogram could
demonstrate for high resolution with low grazing angle
using horizontal polarization if the data
distribution fits the log normal distribution. The study must
conclude the statistics of sea clutter
vary with polarization, resolution cell size, sea state and
wind conditions. Of course México
doesn't have the technology to perform such tests.
Radar Performance Parameters
Radar Performance parameters
define what a radar does. Characteristics
describe how a radar achieves
its performance. Features are desirable
characteristics. This tech
note discusses the nature of the parameters
that define radar performance.
Maximum Detection Range
False alarm detection
plays a significant role in the effectiveness of a radar and its maximum detection range.
A false alarm is an event that erroneously signals the presence of a radar target
when there is no legitimate target.
The maximum detection range
of a radar is the longest distance from the radar to
a target at which the radar
can reliably declare that the return signal from the target
has exceeded a set threshold.
The return signal is usually very low in amplitude and
must be detected above the
thermal noise level in the radar electronics. In well
designed radars, the thermal
noise is quite low and small signal returns can be
detected reliably. This
threshold is set based primarily on reducing false positives
(false alarms) that would
occur on noise energy generated internally to the radar.
This noise is present in
all radars and is called thermal noise because its amplitude
is a function of the radar
temperature – higher temperature causes more noise.
Many factors influence the
ability of a radar to detect a target. The radar design itself,
the type of target (person,
vehicle), what characteristics of the target determine its
measurability (size, speed),
the distance from the radar to the target, the size of the
target (radar cross section),
the environment between the radar and the target (rain, fog)
and the environment in the
immediate vicinity of the target called clutter, like trees,
grass, building – they all
compete with the target.
Since the target must be
detected in a background of noise and/or clutter, the likelihood
of detecting a target
on any given opportunity (look) is statistical, that is, it varies from
look to look. That is because
the noise amplitude varies in a random manner from look
to look, either adding
to the target signal or subtracting from it. The statistical nature
of the target creates even
more uncertainty. The Probability of Detection on any given
look is a measure of the
likelihood of detecting the target, or of having the signal from
the target cross the previously
mentioned detection threshold.
The nature of the statistics
of the noise, the target and the clutter are all different,
but can be described mathematically
by complex equations which predict detection
range for various false
alarm conditions, which are selected by the radar designer.
All of the above factors
affect the maximum detection range of a radar for a particular
target, and any testing
for determining detection range, must account for the statistical
nature of the process by
doing many trials to establish this parameter.
False Alarm Rate
From the foregoing description,
it seems that the detection range could be increased by
lowering the detection threshold
to "see" lower signal levels. While this is true, the noise
environment described means
that, on any given look, there is a finite probability that a
noise spike could cross
the threshold, causing a false alarm. Thus exists the classical
battle between sensitivity
and false alarms; that is, the desire to increase the Probability
of Detection is offset by
the resulting increase in the Probability of False Alarms. The latter
is generally quantified
in time by using the parameter False Alarm Rate (FAR), which
expresses the false alarm
probability as a function of time. Thus, all comprehensive radar
specifications contain a
FAR requirement, say 2 or 3 per day, so that a radar operator is
not unduly distracted attending
to an alarm that doesn’t really exist. This becomes very
important in security systems
which combine many radars for perimeter or border protection
over long distances, because
higher false alarm rates require more responders to chase
down the cause of an alarm.
Revisit Time
Radar revisit time is the
time it takes for the radar to complete its search for targets and
return to begin another
search interval. For example, in a radar that goes around 360
degrees, it is the time
for one revolution to be completed. Since the target detection
process is statistical,
it follows that the more time the radar “looks” at an area where
there is a target, the sooner
that target will be detected. Of course, the longer the
detection range, the longer
period of time can be allocated to the detection process.
Also, the slower target speeds
can be allocated more detection time. For example,
a crawling person may need
many looks to establish detection, due to the very small
target size – but the crawler
doesn’t travel very far during the process, so a relatively
long detection time is acceptable.
A fast moving, vehicle should be detected quickly
or it will travel a long
distance prior to detection.
A short revisit time improves
the detection process and also improves target tracking
after detection. Since target
speed and direction are not controllable, more looks in a
given time will result in
more accurate tracking of the target.
Radar Resolution
The ability of a radar to
detect and track a target is affected by the radar’s resolution,
that is, how small of a
"space" does the radar look at. Radar space is defined in four
dimensions – range, azimuth
angle, elevation angle and speed.
Not all radars measure in
all these dimensions. For example, a police radar uses the
angle and speed dimensions,
and doesn’t measure range to the vehicle. Generally,
a maritime navigation radar
uses the angle and range dimensions, and doesn’t measure
speed because most returns
from this radar are not moving.
Almost all radars limit the
area they look at in angle, because they use an antenna to
focus the energy on a suspected
targeted area. This angle is two dimensional, horizontal
(azimuth) and vertical (elevation),
generally expressed in degrees. A “pencil” beam is
symmetrical in both planes,
but many radars will have a very narrow azimuth beam width,
depending on the radar’s
function. For example, a maritime navigation radar will have a
very narrow azimuth beam
width to very accurately trace a shoreline, but will have a very
wide elevation beam so the
boat can pitch and roll in the waves but the land will still be
within the beam.
Resolution in range is important
to accurately determine the range to a target and to
eliminate clutter behind
and in front of the target. Some radars measure the radial speed
of the target directly using
the Doppler principle, which states that the speed of a moving
object will affect the frequency
of the return signed. This “speed resolution” feature is useful
to discriminate moving vs.
stationary target. However, because wind-blown vegetation and
rain can appear to be moving,
much care must be taken not to generate false alarms for
ground radars susceptible
to windblown clutter motion.
Radars which have small resolution
cells are called high resolution. High resolution radars
provide more clutter background
rejection, which radars discriminate better against
competing returns from the
ground, grass, trees, and rainfall. The drawback of high
resolution is that it takes
longer to search for a target because more resolution cells
must be looked at to find
the target.
Search Volume
Typically the more "space"
a radar can search for targets, the more utility the radar
provides to a surveillance
system. A 360 degree radar may be more useful than one
that merely scans a sector,
unless it is known with certainty where potential targets
exist. However, there is
a trade off between available search volume and resolution.
It takes longer to search
a given volume with a high resolution radar than a radar with
less resolution. Therefore,
there is a constant battle between revisit time, resolution
and search volume.
Summary
This technical note has presented
the major performance parameters which describe how
well a radar performs. The
design of a radar is primarily one of performance tradeoffs,
involving range resolution,
search volume, clutter rejection, false alarm rate and revisit time.
These issues must be balanced
against target types, frequency allocation regulations,
size, weight, cost, power
and environmental considerations, such as rain, snow, operating
temperatures, vibration
and shock. A well designed radar represents a delicate balance
of many seemingly incompatible
factors.
MEXICO CITY - Mexican Air
Force pilots filmed 11 unidentified flying objects in the skies over southern
Campeche state, a Defense Department spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
A videotape made widely available
to the news media on Tuesday shows the bright objects, some sharp
points of light and others
like large headlights, moving rapidly in what appears to be a late-evening
sky.
The lights were filmed on
March 5 (2004) by pilots using infrared equipment. They appeared to be
flying
at an altitude of about
3,500 meters (11,480 feet), and allegedly surrounded the Air Force jet
as it conducted
routine anti-drug trafficking
vigilance in Campeche. Only three of the objects showed up on the plane's
radar.
'Was I afraid? Yes. A little
afraid because we were facing something that had never happened before,'
said radar operator Lt.
German Marin in a taped interview made public Tuesday.
'I couldn't say what it was
...
but I think they're completely real,' added Lt. Mario Adrian Vazquez,
the infrared equipment operator.
Vazquez insisted that there was no way to alter the recorded images.
The plane's captain, Maj.
Magdaleno Castanon, said the military jets chased the lights 'and I believe
they
could feel we were pursuing
them.'
When the jets stopped following
the objects, they disappeared, he said.
A Defense Department spokesman
confirmed Tuesday that the videotape was filmed by members of the Mexican
Air Force. The spokesman declined to comment further and spoke on customary
condition of anonymity.
The video was first aired
on national television Monday night then again at a news conference Tuesday
by
Jaime Maussan, a Mexican
investigator who has dedicated the past 10 years to studying UFOs.
'This is historic news,'
Maussan told reporters. 'Hundreds of videos (of UFOs) exist, but none had
the
backing of the armed forces
of any country. ... The armed forces don't perpetuate frauds.'
Maussan said Secretary of
Defense Gen. Ricardo Vega Garcia gave him the video on April 22. --
The
C26A that was flying East and the camera pointing toward
the
oil rigs as it is shown below.
IMAGE SHOWING A PANORAMIC
VIEW OF THE CANTARELL OIL COMPLEX AREA SCENARIO OF THE VIDEO EXPERIMENT CONDITIONS AND THE COINCIDENCES
BETWEEN THE C-26A FLIR LIGHTS RECORDED ON MARCH 05 2004 AT AN ALTITUDE
OF 11,500 FT ON A HEADING
OF 081º AND CAPT. FRANZ'S VIDEO RECORDING ON MAY 2005 AT 35,000 FT
ON A HEADING OF 252º
YOU CAN SEE THE SIMILARITY
OF THE LIGHTS AND THE SCREEN CAPTURES IN THIS COMPOSED IMAGE
SHOWING AKAL- J AND AKAL- C OIL RIGS WITH GOOGLE
EARTH'S SATELLITE PICTURES FROM 2006. GOOGLE OIL RIGS COORDINATES AND PICTURES
ARE NOT AVAILABLE ANYMORE DUE TO INTERNATIONAL
LAWS AGAINST TERRORISM BECAUSE THEIR POSITION WAS VERY ACCURATE AND MAY
BE A THREAT
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION REGARDING
THE MEXICO'S UFO SIGHTING IS PART OF AN ARTICLE
WRITEN BY JAMES SMITH
WE CONSIDER JAMES C. SMITH AS THE MOST
IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTOR TO SOLVE THIS FAMOUS CASE BECAUSE OF
HIS KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS THAT PROVIDED US OF VITAL DATA AND INFORMATION
IN THIS CONTROVERSIAL THEORY THAT DEMONSTRATED TO BE THE MOST CLOSE
TO THE TRUE ORIGIN OF INFRARED LIGHTS RECORDED BY THE MEXICAN AIR
FORCE ON MARCH 05- 2004
Aliens,
Ball Lightning, or Flares? by James C. Smith,
an aerospace engineer in
Fairfax, Virginia
Data used to generate the
figure is available from U.S. Geological Survey,
EROS Data Center, Sioux
Falls, SD.
Source for this dataset
was the Global Land Cover Facility
http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu.)
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/04-07-24images/mexfig2.jpg Figure 2. A Landstat
image of the three oil platforms in the Campeche area off the coast
of Mexico(Akal-C with 4 flares, Akal-J with 4 flares and Nohoch-A with
2 flares).
The white lines indicate the narrow camera field during the video segment
The best match of existing
flares to UFO images occurred with the
most complicated light grouping
referred to as the “ten UFO” segment.
These lights match the flares
on three oil platforms
(Akal-C with 4 flares, Akal-J
with 4 flares and Nohoch-A with 2 flares).
The 3D model required an
assumed altitude for each flare (which is very important for the very
narrow fields of view that
they were videoed in). Both sea level and 100 foot flares were examined
and were used to produce
diagrams (A) and (B) in Figure 3. Diagram (C) shows the resulting best
fits of high and low flares
to the UFO images.
The video frame for the time
(D) is printed below the flare diagrams for comparison.
FIG - 3 by James Smith
This 3D image from top to
bottom: (A) Flares as they would appear at sea level.
(B) Additional flares as
they would appear if located on 100 foot towers.
(C) Choosing the best match
from the above two options
(D) A frame from the video
image taken at 17:06:53 for comparison.
There
is still a controversy about how and why the FLIR's
video
lights recorded by Mexican Air Force C26A crew on
march
05, 2004 seem to be at the same altitude of 11,500ft
WE
HOPE THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE COULD HELP YOU TO GET A CLEAR IDEA OF HOW DISTANT
OBJECTS OR LIGHTS ARE SEEN AT THE SAME LEVEL OVER THE EARTH'S HORIZON FROM
AN AIRPLANE'S COCKPIT AT ANY ALTITUDE OR ANY GIVEN FLIGHT LEVEL SEE
THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE
1 Real non edited picture
where the
horizon is seen at the same
flight level
2 We draw 11 points or lights
at the horizon
trying to simulate the FLIR
recorded image
3 We simulated that there
is less day light and the
lights are still showing
in the horizon with no
change in their position
but letting the clouds
and part of the pilot's
note board in the cockpit
4 We added some "infrared
filter" (that really
should be in gray color
and not green).
Later we are going to change
it to gray
trying to get a better match
of the pictures
5 We simulated less daylight
letting the distant
lights in sight as much
as posible.
6 We simulated that the daylight
is almost gone and
let the distant lights still
in sight over the horizon
7 We attached the FLIR's screen
images to make
a comparison of the image's
similarity
Objects
located over the earth's surface at a great
distance
and closer to the horizon are seen from
the
cockpit or windows at the same height or
altitude
in a leveled flight
8 We used contrast and changed
the picture to a
gray scale color to see
the similarity or match.
The lights or objects are
seen at the same
level or altitude from the
natural horizon from
the
airplane's cockpit or windows
Objects
located over the earth's surface at a great distance
and
closer to the horizon are seen from the airplane's cockpit
or
windows at the same height or altitude in a leveled flight.
Here
is the evidence.
Examples
The
Horizon seems to be at the same level
The Horizon seems to be at the same level
The Horizon seems to be at the same level
The Horizon seems to be at the same level
The
Horizon seems to be at the same level
The Horizon seems to be at the same level
The
Horizon seems to be at the same level
WE
HOPE THAT THE ABOVE EXAMPLE COULD HELP YOU TO GET A CLEAR IDEA OF HOW DISTANT
OBJECTS OR LIGHTS ARE SEEN AT THE SAME LEVEL OVER THE EARTH'S HORIZON FROM
AN AIRPLANE'S COCKPIT OR WINDOWS AT ANY ALTITUDE OR FLIGHT LEVEL
THE MOON THAT
DAY AT SAME TIME WAS 1° 44.526'
ABOVE THE HORIZON
STARRY NIGHT
PROGRAM SCREEN CAPTURE WITH MOON'S POSITION DATA THE
MOON RISED THAT DAY AT 05:02PM (17:02) SO AT 17:19PM WAS AT 1° 44.526'
ABOVE THE HORIZON
WITH
THIS INDICATION THE MOON SHOULD HAVE BEEN BELOW THE HORIZON
LANDSAT-7
SATELLITE COMPOSITE PHOTO OF
THE OIL WELLS AT CANTARELL AND THE SCREEN
CAPTION OF THE C26A FLIR VIDEO
LANDSAT-7 SATELLITE
PHOTO OF THE OIL WELLS AT CANTARELL HERE
ARE THREE FLIR'S SCREEN CAPTIONS AND WE CAN SEE THEY MATCH CORRECTLY
Any
information hereby given, is the opinion of Tim
Wescott, and
not necessarily that of FLIR Systems Inc. Because, although
he worked for FLIR Systems for nearly 10 years, he
now runs his own company. See: http://www.wescottdesign.com
Tim
Wescott was system architect and software lead for FLIR's next generation
of thermal
imaging
equipment. This effort included selecting the DSP chip used on 12 boards
in the
system,
designing and coding the data acquisition and control algorithms for lens
controllers,
gyros,
optical dither stages and focus/field of view mechanisms, working with
the mechanical
engineering
team to insure the mechanisms will meet the control system goals, and designing
the
image processing architecture.
Tim
Wescott was control system architect and software lead for the Star SAFIRE
II product,
which
features enhanced line-of- sight stability over its predecessor. This effort
included
overall
control algorithms for the gimbal as well as designing software and critical
analog
components
of a DSP-based gyroscope control board that allowed for significantly improved
noise
and DC offset performance.
Tim
Wescott worked on the control algorithms concerning the gyroscopes, the
lenses and the
optical
dither stages as well as the FOV/focus mechanism.
If
anyone knows all there is to know about the SAFIRE-II is Tim Wescott.
Information
regarding the Mexican Air Force FLIR video from march 05, 2004:
Tim
Wescott estimates, that the oil flares in question (AKAL-J, AKAL-C and
NOHOCH-A)
is
detectable by the SAFIRE II on the given distance, due to the size
of the flares if the weather
conditions
is good. He adds; that the conditions in
the FLIR video appeared to be good.
Another
thing which is equally interesting is that of theFLIR
elevation problems.
Gyroscopes
are stabilized with respect to the inertial frame of reference.
In
this case, we can assume that it is fixed to the Earth.
However
the SAFIRE II has two modes:
One
is a hybrid mode where the camera is stabilized against image vibration
by the gyros,
but
more or less fixed to the aircraft attitude for lower-speed motion. That
this is the mode
which
is active while these images is shot, is documented in the top-center of
the images
where
you can see it says "INRPT", this 'hybrid mode'.
The
second mode is denoted as "HDHLD", and this denotes inertially stabilized
position
servo
mode. In the video, the images in question are shot with respect to the
aircraft's
attitude
since it is in hybrid mode, but the camera is still stabilized against
image vibration
by
the gyros.
So
the assumptions concerning that the camera must have been relative to
the mounting point on the fuselage, is hereby documented to be correct.
It
is common practice for pilots to crank a few degrees of flap so they can
cruise a little
slower
while keeping the airplane leveled.
DISCLAIMER Dr.
Julio Herrera posted on sept 28, 2004.
From: Dr. Julio Herrera -herrera@nuclecu.unam.mx-
Date: September 28, 2004 9:05
am
To: Cap. Alejandro Franz -director@alcione.org-
Dear Cap. Franz,
I saw your page on the "oil flare
hypothesis". I'm thankful that you gave me the
credit on the basis of something
that was published at some web page, where
indeed it looks like it's my idea.
However, I must clarify that's a misunderstanding
induced by the reporter who wrote
the note. I can't tell where the idea originated.
In any case, I recognize this hypothesis
may explain many things. What matters by
the end is to find out the true
about this affair.
Best regards,
Julio Herrera
P.S.: I'm writing this in English
so you may quote me if you wish.
Dr. Julio Herrera
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares,
UNAM
A.P. 70-543, Ciudad Universitaria
Del. Coyoacán, 04511 México,
D.F. MEXICO
tel.: +52-55-56224672; FAX: +52-55-56162233
e-mail: herrera@nuclecu.unam.mx
COMPELLING
AND VERIFIABLE EVIDENCE ABOUT THE STRANGE SIGHTING OF THE
MEXICAN AIR FORCE FLIR VIDEO TAKEN IN A DRUG SMUGGLING CAMPAIGN ABOARD
A C26A ON MARCH 05, 2004 IN THE STATE OF CAMPECHE, MEXICO.
Click on image
to view full size OFFICIAL DATA GATHERED FROM
DIFFERENT U.S. GOVERNMENT SOURCES AND
BY THE HARD WORK RESULTS
OF OPEN MINDED INVESTIGATORS WHO KINDLY
SUPPORTED MY THEORY CLEARLY
DEMONSTRATES THAT THE OIL FLARES FROM
THE CANTARELL OIL WELL FIELD
MATCH THE LIGHTS OF THE FLIR VIDEO AND THE
GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES
FROM THE THE "SONDA DE CAMPECHE" LOCATED
IN THE GULF OF MEXICO IN
FRONT OF CIUDAD DEL CARMEN CITY.
VIDEO
RECORDED BY CAPT.FRANZ AT 34,000 ft HEADING 252°
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO BELIEVED
IN ME AS I BELIEVE THAT IN THE
VAST UNIVERSE INTELLIGENT
EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE COULD EXIST
SADLY THERE IS A MAJORITY
OF UFO PSEUDO INVESTIGATORS WHO
ARE MAKING BUSINESS AND
A CIRCUS WITH NO RESPECT TO HUMANITY
Stable lights have DN values from
0-63.
These numbers are the average DN values
for the year.
Stable lights are the human settlements
and gas flares combined.
DN value of 63 = saturated lights
DN value of 0 = no lights.
PROGRAM USED TO VIEW AND LOCATE
WORLD'S STABLE LIGHTS
Geomatica FreeView
9 is a flexible data viewing tool supporting over 100
raster and vector
formats for loading, viewing, selection, and enhancement.
FreeView is useful
for any geospatial data viewing
application, and
it is freely distributable.
FreeView includes
a modern interface with many useful display tools,
including fast roam
and zoom, image enhancements, numeric values
display, and attribute
table display.
To download de installation
program archive (25 MB) click here http://www.pcigeomatics.com/freeware/FreeViewV91.exe Freeview 9.1 Screen showing
the intense light radiation at Cantarell ( CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
)
IMAGE CREATED BY JAMES
SMITH WHO KINDLY PROVIDED TO ME AND HELPED DEFINITELY
TO COMPLETE THIS INVESTIGATION
Chart showing the trajectory
followed by Merlin C-26A (black line) since the moment of the first
detection of a radar target
(16:42:20) and the end of the observations from the FLIR infra-red data
(17:28:06). The geographical
road (in degrees) and the ground speed average (in knots) are given
for the principal segments.
The vectors indicate the direction of aiming of infra-red camera FLIR.
(given GPS by Bruce Maccabee)
Graph of Laurent Léger (sic) -Gildas Bourdais-
Source: Une observation
remarquable au Mexique Par Gildas Bourdais, 1er juin 2004 http://www.ufocom.org/pages/v_fr/m_articles/video_mexique/Mexique_GB.htm
FREEVIEW 9.0
SCREEN SHOWING CANTARELL LIGHT SIZE COMPARED TO MERIDA
CITY WITH A 4 MILLION POPULATION
This graphic shows the Mexican
Air Force C26A trajectory from 16:42:20 to 17:28:06 LOCAL TIME
The composite image was
created by myself over imposing three images to make this overlay and it
shows:
a.-) Primarily (background)
the image provided by James Smith.
b.-) The image from Laurent Léger
(red vectors) and
c.-) Two of the FLIR's video images
vectors that match almost exactly pointing
to Cantarell Oil Field flares and Campeche City.
Because of an involuntary
mistake, I omitted the image below from
Laurent Léger received on May 28, 2004
who wrote to me supporting the Cantarell Oil Well theory
and providing some interesting
information that I lost because an inappropriate use
of my Netscape email box.
Alejandro Franz
Image from Laurent Léger -Cantarell2.JPG - May 28,
2004.
Indexed
message received on june 16, 2004 from Laurent Leger
----- Original Message -----
From: "Laurent Leger" <leger-l@wanadoo.fr>
To: "Gildas Bourdais" <gbourdais@wanadoo.fr>;
"Bruce Maccabee" <brumac@compuserve.com>;
"Santiago Yturria"<syturria@intercable.net>;
<alfafox@prodigy.net.mx>
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004
8:35 PM
Subject: Cantarell ?
Not so bad match, except
the misinterpretation of the Az number
(flir azimuth relative to
longitudinal plane axis instead of QDR from
Cantarell, why would they
have input this waypoint ?)
El(evation) figures biased
by plane incidence or bad calibration ?
It doesn't explain radar
blips, nor the lights seen around -90° later
(full left of plane).
LL
Subject:
Re: UFOs Or Simply Oil Well Flames?
Date:
Mon, 14 Jun 2004 13:16:42 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From:
j smith <zeus001002@earthlink.net>
To: "Cap. Alejandro Franz" <alfafox@prodigy.net.mx>
Hello,
I am sending you my latest
work. I thought I would tinker with generating
a 3D image of at least one
of the more interesting parts of the video.
I extracted the circa 1997
locations of the oil rigs -from your chart image-
(I would guess more were
added between then and now).
I then placed them in the
3D modeller with the aircraft location at 17:07:00.
I adjusted the azimuth and
elevation until something came into view.
It turns out to be about
-140 deg azimuth and -2 deg elevation (down)
(the video says -139.1 deg
and +2 deg elevation (up)).
My modeller doesn't have
fine enough resolution to give any better angles.
I then adjusted the FOV of
the camera from the aircraft location to match
the three main values of
the FLIR.
According to Bruce Maccabee,
the values are .4 by .3 degree (which he
says this particular frame
was at), .8 by .6 degree and 3.4 by 2.6 degree.
The match for the oil rigs
at 92 by 19.37 degrees, 92.04 by 19.4 deg,
92.07 by 19.425 deg and
92.19 by 19.51 deg is pretty good.
One has to wonder how well
the FOV adjustment is calibrated.
Also, it is clear that this
is a pretty extreme zoom mode.
I also wonder whether they
usually use it in their normal operations.
NOTE:
COORDINATES SHOWN BELOW ARE FROM NDB'S (NAVAIDS)
LOCATED AT MOST OF THE OIL
WELLS WHICH ARE INSTALLED TO GUIDE HELICOPTERS AND ANY SHIP WHEN APPROACHING
ANY PARTICULAR OIL RIG.
COORDINATES FROM
(NDB 'Navaids') LOCATED AT EACH OIL WELL:
DISTANCE BETWEEN
MAIN GAS BURNERS IN NOHOCH-A COMPLEX IMAGE GATHERED
FROM GOOGLE EARTH
IN 2006 ( NOW IN 2009 IT IS AVAILABLE HERE)
AKAL-J,
AKAL-C AND NOHOCH-A OIL WELLS IMAGE SHOWING ACTUAL COORDINATES GEOGRAPHICAL
COORDINATES FROM AKAL-C AND NOHOCH-A GAS BURNERS OF CANTARELL
OIL COMPLEX IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. IMAGE WAS GATHERED FROM GOOGLE
EARTH IN 2006 ( AVAILABLE NOW HERE)
NDB'S
(NON DIRECTIONAL BEACONS) AT CANTARELL OIL FIELD IMAGE
FROM 1998 NAVIGATION CHART ONC
J-25 SCALE 1:1,000,000
CHART ONC J-25 SCALE 1:1,000,000 DATED 1998 NDB'S
AT CANTARELL OIL FIELD CHART FROM 1997 ONC J-25 SCALE 1:1,000,000
Page 4 has a nice diagram of all the platforms
in the area.
I guess they did a lot of work gathering
location data for all
platforms and flare types.
Diagram
Page
6 has the following:
"The
three types of offshore flaring operations used either elevated,boom or
ground level flares. Each
of the seven major oil and gas producing platform complexes mentioned above
may have one
or more elevated flares.
Some vertically
pointing flares operate at either high flow (4.2x10^6 m^3/day) or low flow (9.1 to 24x10^5
m^3/ day).
Several platforms
have "boom" flares rated at 2.3x10^5 m^3/day. The designed flows to boom flaring
are generally much higher than the average flows (0.85 to 25x10^5 m^3/day)."
OIL WELL AKAL-C FLARES
AT CANTARELL, CAMPECHE.
IMAGE
SHOWING THE LIGHT (HEAT) INTENSITY OF CANTARELL OIL FIELD AREA
CALCULATION
CHART
INPUT
data in the following chart:
in
the "Height of the light above Sea Level" WINDOW INPUT 200
ft (average elevation of oil rigs booms)
in
the "Height above the eye of the observer above sea level" WINDOW
INPUT 11500 ft ( C26A Merlin altitude)
IMAGE
COMPOSITE BY L.D.G KURT FRANZ RUÍZ PICTURE
SHOWING THE FLIR DIRECTION VECTORS THAT MATCH EXACTLY TO THE CANTARELL
OIL FIELD (CLICK
ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE )
With
the aid of advanced imaging sensors, pilots of both rotor craft and fixed
wing aircraft
can
now conduct missions that were not possible just a few years ago. In general,
these
sensors
can be viewed as extensions to a pilot's own visual system. They allow
the pilot
to
safely fly and complete missions at times when environmental conditions
(e.g., darkness,
dust,
smoke) would preclude flight or mission completion with unaided vision.
One class of
imaging
sensors that has been used extensively by pilots for targeting, navigation,
and flight
control
purposes are thermal imaging (infrared imagery) systems. In general, thermal
imaging
sensors
are sensitive to thermal radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic
spectrum
(3-5
microns or 8-14 microns). (Visible light, to which the human eye is sensitive,
is in the
range
of 0.4 to 0.7 microns.)
A thermal
sensor creates a visual scene on a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that can be mounted
either
on
the cockpit panel or the pilot's helmet. The visual scene provided by the
sensor is monochrome
and
appears to be similar to black and white television (TV) or reversed-video
(i.e., phase inverted)
black
and white TV. However, despite the overall appearance of similarity to
TV images, there are
important
differences. An important qualitative difference between thermal imagery
(TI) and TV or
unaided
vision occurs as a direct result of the image's source: The distribution
of gray shades in
TI
represents relative temperature differences, rather than brightness and
reflectance differences.
Compared
to TV images or directly-viewed visual scenes, TI
has the following properties:
(1)
Heat-emitting objects generally have higher contrast with the background;
(2)
Shadowing/shading information may be absent;
(3)
Sensor polarity settings (i.e., the assignment of white or black to hot)
may
lead to perceptual errors; and
(4)
A given object may appear quite different when viewed under different
environmental conditions (e.g., time of day, yearly season, humidity,
ambient
temperature).
These
characteristics of thermal imagery directly impact flight control
and navigation, particularly at very low altitudes:
(1)
Pilot workload is generally higher (Hart & Brickner, 1989);
(2)
Object distances may be inaccurately estimated (Hart & Brickner, 1989),
(Hale & Piccione, 1989);
(3)
The horizon line may be indistinct (Bohm, 1985); and
(4)
Specific objects in the environment may change luminance levels
drastically as a function of time of day (Berry, Dyer, Park, Sellers &
Telton, 1984).
A thermal image is black
and white. On a relative scale, it shows hot items as white and
cold items as black. Temperatures
between
the two extremes are shown as gradients of gray.
Some thermal imagers have
color images. The color is artificially generated by the camera’s
video enhancement electronics,
based upon the thermal attributes seen by the camera.
What is a pixel?
A pixel is the smallest single
individual image element of detection on the thermal imaging sensor.
What is a focal plane array (FPA)?
A focal plane array is a
group of pixels organized into a rectangular grid. The size of the array
is
measured by multiplying
the horizontal number of pixels by the vertical number of pixels. Most
fire
service thermal imaging
cameras on the market today contain 160 x 120 or 320 x 240 FPAs.
What frequency range does the thermal
imaging sensor detect?
Thermal imaging sensors are
designed to detect long-wave infrared radiation between 8 to 14 microns.
This energy, unlike visible
light, can pass through smoke and is undetected by the naked eye.
What is a BST detector?
BST stands for "barium
strontium titanate," and this type of detector was developed
by Raytheon Corporation.
Ceramic-like thermal-energy-sensing
material is used to make BST focal plane arrays,
which measure heat by storing
it as a fixed value (similar to a capacitor) at each pixel.
When the grid of pixels,
or focal plane array, is monitored simultaneously, a thermal
image is generated.
Because of their fixed-image
properties, BST pixels must be refreshed regularly in order
to maintain the perception
of real-time imaging.
The device used to refresh
the image is called a "chopper." The "blade" of the chopper
wheel passes in front of
the detector to effectively change the scene temperatures "sensed"
with each pass. The speed
of the chopper determines the "refresh rate" (see definition)
and is typically 30 Hz.
What is a microbolometer?
A microbolometer is the latest
type of thermal imaging FPA, which consists of materials that measure
heat by changing resistance
at each pixel. The most common microbolometer material is vanadium oxide
(VOx). Amorphous
silicon is another relatively new microbolometer material.
Although microbolometers
do not require a chopper to refresh the image, they must occasionally be
recalibrated for the pixels
to provide a consistent output and to avoid oversaturation. The device
that
occasionally (every 30 seconds
to 5 minutes) and automatically recalibrates the FPA is called a
"shutter" (see definition).
What does ferroelectric mean?
A TIC’s detectors that are
ferroelectric in nature detect heat by storing it as a value on each individual
pixel. BST and pyroelectric
vidicon tubes are examples of ferroelectric detectors.
What does thermoelectric mean?
TIC’s detectors that are
thermoelectric in nature detect heat by changing each pixel’s resistance.
Microbolometers are examples
of thermoelectric detectors.
What is MRTD?
MRTD stands for Minimum
Resolvable Termal Difference. This is a relatively inaccurate
measurement of the smallest
temperature difference that a thermal imaging camera can detect.
What is NETD?
NETD stands for Noise-Equivalent
Temperature Difference. This is a measurement of the smallest
temperature difference that
a thermal imaging camera can detect in the presence of electronic
circuit noise for a particular
lens f-number.
What is dynamic range?
Dynamic range is the range
of temperature variance that a TIC can see without saturating.
A microbolometer has a much
larger dynamic range (e.g., 360º F or 200º C) when compared to
a
BST which has a much
smaller dynamic range (e.g., 45º F or 25º C). This allows the
microbolometer
to demonstrate gradients
of gray in environments (generally at higher temperatures) where BST sensors become saturated
and appear as a black and white image.
To further enhance the image,
the Evolution 4000 microbolometer automatically extends the dynamic
range even farther to 1080º
F (600º C) in high temperatures (indicated by the ‘EI' indicator on
display).
What is meant by field of view (FOV)?
The field of view describes
the area visible by the thermal imaging camera. FOV is measured
in
degrees and can be specified
in horizontal, vertical, or diagonal measurement. The lens and its
position generally determine
the camera’s FOV.
What is standby mode?
The standby mode turns all
major components in a TIC off except for the sensor core. This feature
allows the camera to be
in ready mode so that the camera can power up without the standard
15 - to 30-second sensor
core warm-up time.
What is the purpose of an iris?
Generally used on ferroelectric
(pyroelectric vidicon tubes and BST) sensors, the iris is a mechanical
aperture that operates much
like the iris of the human eye. It opens and closes to control the amount
of infrared energy that
enters the camera and strikes the sensor.
The iris also manages the
"dynamic range" (see definition) of ferroelectric sensors. The iris can
be
either manual or automatic
and may also be called a "throttle" or "gain adjust." All MSA TICs
have
an automatic iris so that
operation is completely seamless to the user and requires no manual
intervention.
What thermal imaging cameras
currently available on the market are rated as intrinsically safe?
To date, no TICs available
on the market have an intrinsic safety rating. Products that are rated
as
intrinsically safe do not
generate enough heat or spark which could serve as the ignition source
for
an explosion.
TICs require too much
power and produce too much energy to qualify as intrinsically safe products.
Technology is rapidly evolving
to provide lower power components for TICs, so an intrinsically
safe
camera is not far away.
What is a shutter?
A shutter is a mechanical
device, generally shaped like a flag, which closes in front of the detector
to activate the calibration
for a uniform temperature (or black body).
This automatic, periodic
calibration is necessary because pixels in microbolometers drift and
cause image degradation.
What is "refresh rate"?
Refresh rate (or frame update
rate) is the number of times per second that a new image is "created"
by the sensor. The refresh
rate is determined by mechanical attributes (e.g., chopper wheel),
where applicable, and the
speed of the electronics.
What is white-out or oversaturation?
White-out or oversaturation
occurs when a thermal imaging detector is subjected to too much
thermal energy, and the
image, which appears as a white cloud, no longer identifies fine details
in the scene.
Most thermal imaging cameras
have an automatic iris or appropriate software to adjust system
controls to avoid white-out
immediately after intense thermal energy hits the detector.
Pointing the TIC
directly at superheated sources, such as the sun, is not recommended
and may damage the detector.
What
makes a quality high-resolution thermal imaging picture?
Thermal
imaging picture quality is determined by a number of factors:
1. The quality of the lens
that focuses the thermal image onto the FPA. One measurement of
lens
speed is the f-number. The smaller the f-number, the wider the lens, and
the better the
image
quality. Generally, the main constraints to lens quality include weight
and size
(the
better the lens, the bigger and heavier it will be).
2. The number of pixels on
the FPA. With all other thermal system components being equal,
the more
pixels on the FPA, the finer the image details that can be resolved.
3. Whether it’s microbolometer
or BST. BST pixels are mechanically interconnected, whereas
microbolometer
pixels are mechanically isolated. The thermal energy seen by an individual
BST
pixel can therefore "bleed" onto nearby pixels, but isolated microbolometer
pixels sense
independently
and provide clearer, crisper image lines.
4. The electronic signal
processing (video enhancement electronics). Most fire service thermal
imaging
cameras are controlled by microprocessors, which not only monitor the system
but
also
"enhance" the thermal image. For example, some cameras are able to generate
near
320 x
240 FPA performance by using a 160 x 120 array and "averaging" to
generate the
remaining
image points. Others are able to determine if a pixel is not functioning
properly
and approximate
its correct output using surrounding pixels to generate a smoothed image.
5. The MRTD. ( Minimum
Resolvable Termal Difference )
6. The NETD. ( Noise
Equivalent Temperature Difference )
7. The Dynamic Range.
In a transmission system, the ratio of the overload level
( the
maximum signal power that the system can tolerate without distortion of
the signal )
8. The amount of system signal
noise. Signal processing and components may add noise
(or "snow")
to the image. The cleaner the system, the better the image (difficult to
measure
but easy to see).
9. The display used to interface
with the user. The better quality display provides a better image.
Mexico's FLIR video screen
shot showing two lights with a lower anomaly.
It looks like a
LOOMING
MIRAGE
A second effect, called refraction,
also affects the path the electromagnetic energy will take
as it propagates through
the atmosphere. Normally, because the atmosphere's density
decreases rapidly with height,
the radar beam will be deflected downward, much like light
passing through a glass
prism. In extreme cases, where temperature increases with height
and dry air overlays warm
air, (a condition often found along coastlines), the beam can bend
down dramatically and even
strike the ground. Meteorologists call this effect "anomalous propagation". Both
the curvature of the earth and normal atmospheric refraction must be
accounted for when determining
the position of a target.
The bending of light as it passes from
one medium to another is called refraction.
The angle and wavelength
at which the light enters a substance and the density of that
substance determine how
much the light is refracted. The refraction of light by atmospheric
particles can result in
a number of beautiful optical effects like halos, which are produced
when sunlight (or moonlight)
is refracted by the pencil shaped ice crystals of cirrostratus clouds.
A mirage is an optical phenomenon
which often occurs naturally. The kind most commonly
seen is produced by the
refraction of light when it passes into a layer of warm air lying close
to a heated ground surface.
( Like the sea waters in the Gulf of Mexico before dawn )
A mirage effect produced
by greater-than-normal refraction in the lower atmosphere,
thus permitting objects
to be seen that are usually below the horizon. This occurs when
the air density decreases
more rapidly with height than in the normal atmosphere.
If the rate of decrease
of density with height is greater in the region followed by the ray
from the top of the object
than for the ray from the bottom of the object, the image will
be stretched vertically.
This stretching is often called looming but is more properly
termed towering. The antonym
of looming is sinking and that of towering is stooping.
1. Looming - appearance
of objects usually hidden below the horizon. Normally occur over
water
surfaces when normal rate of air thickness decreases and altitude is heightened.
2. Sinking - reverse
effect of the above phenomenon. Occurs when the opposite conditions
at sea
take place. In sinking, the vessels, boats and shorelines which are seen
on the
horizon,
seem to sink below and become invisible.
3. Towering - occurs
due to irregular refraction. Light rays curve downward, with the top
of the object curving more than the lower ones. The observer will see objects
which seem
to be lifted up more then they need to be and will be enlarged in the vertical
direction.
4. Stooping - when
the light rays of the distant object curve downward less than the rays
at
the bottom.
This vertical contraction gives it this name. It results in objects on
the horizon
being
observed with the rising or setting of the sun and the moon. One may often
see a
distortion
caused by irregular layer effects of the lower atmosphere strata. One of
the most
famous
of these occurs between Calabria and Sicily and is known as Fata Morgana.
Normal atmospheric conditions
Usually, within the lower
atmosphere (the troposphere) the air near the surface of the Earth
is warmer than the air above
it, largely because the atmosphere is heated from below by
solar radiation absorbed
at the surface.
Hot air, however, rises.
This is convection in which the warmer air rises up, to be replaced
with cooler air which is
then heated. It is this process that leads to cloud building, thermals,
and other convection related
atmospheric behavior.
Inversion
layer
How inversions occur
Sometimes the gradient is
inverted, so that the air gets colder nearer the surface of the Earth:
this is a temperature inversion.
It can be created by the
movement of air masses of different temperature moving over each
other. A warm air mass moving
over a colder one can "shut off" the convection effects,
keeping the cooler air mass
trapped below.
It commonly occurs at night:
when solar heating ceases, the surface cools by radiation,
and cools the immediately
overlying atmosphere. Over most of Antarctica there is a near
permanent inversion.
Consequences of an Inversion
With the disruption of normal
convection, a number of phenomena are associated
with a temperature inversion.
One common effect is the general "stillness" of the air,
as is dirty or foggy air
which can no longer be pulled away from the surface.
The Index Refraction of air
decreases as the air temperature increases, a side effect
of hotter air being less
dense. Normally this results in distant objects being shortened
vertically, an effect that
is easy to see at sunset (where the sun is "squished" into an orb).
In an inversion the normal
pattern is reversed, and distant objects are instead stretched
out or appear to be above
the horizon. This leads to the interesting optical effects of
Fata Morgana or mirage.
Inferior mirage
What is a mirage? A mirage
is a misleading appearance. Most mirages occur on
the seas or in the deserts.
What will cause a mirage? A reflection. What causes
reflection? Light. We seldom
consider light as anything magical or wonderful,
but light allows us the
ability to see many good things and, often, many bad things.
Mirages, also called illusions,
are caused by a reflection of some distance object
which allows you to think
that it is close by. In physics, it is known as an optical
illusion. The more common
type of mirage is called inferior mirage. It happens
when a refraction of light
passes through the atmosphere layers with varying
qualities. Distance objects
may seem to be raised above or below their normal
locality. These objects
may be seen as irregular and fantastic shapes.
In warmer climates, such
as deserts and sandy plains, mirages frequently occur.
It normally comes in the
appearance of the desert resembling a sheet of water,
especially if you are somewhat
higher than the mirage you experience. If you've
been driving down the interstate
in the heat of summer, you probably have
noticed this same effect.
With this case, the image is really of the sky.
How does it occur? If you
are below eye level of this surface, all objects will
appear inverted, or upside-down.
Over a hot surface, air will stand in layers
that are of a different
element or part. The layers below or near the ground
are the hottest. These air
layers cause a distortion of wave fronts, due to the
speed of light varying as
the element or parts change.
Superior mirages are spectacular
events, but much less common than the
inferior mirage. These occur
mainly over the horizon of the sea when distant
objects are sketched, or
drawn, upside down in the sky. Sometimes there is
an erect image of the same
object which will be above the upside-down image.
This is characteristic of
cold areas and conditions with a strong change of
temperature where the warmer
layers of air rise above the cooler layers.
This involves a complicated
action of wave fronts of light as the pass through
the layers. Within the polar
regions, these shapes may take the form of horrible
and unusual images. If you
see the mirage on land, the trees and other landscape
objects will be turned upside
down and these images are always clearly defined.
A lateral mirage can be seen
when 2 layers of air are separated by a vertical
(straight up and down) plane.
This type of mirage takes place at a south facing
wall, within the Northern
hemisphere, which has absorbed considerable heat.
A mirage is an optical phenomenon
which often occurs naturally. The kind most
commonly seen (known as
inferior mirage, because the inverted image lies below
the erect one) is produced
by the refraction of light when it passes into a layer of
warm air lying close to
a heated ground surface.
Thermal energy is transmitted
in the infrared wavelength ( 1 micron to 100 microns ).
Thermal energy is closely
related to visible light in that it travels in a wave.
The human eye can only see
the narrow middle band of visible light that encompasses
all the colors of light
in the rainbow. Thermal infrared imagers translate the energy
transmitted in the infrared
wavelength into data that can be processed into a visible
light spectrum video display.
Visible light is dependent
on a light source ( the sun or artificial ) reflecting off an
object to be received by
our eyes. Remember, all objects above 0 degrees Kelvin
emit thermal infrared energy
so thermal imagers can passively see all objects
regardless of ambient light.
Thermal infrared imaging performs in a wider range
of environments than other
night vision technologies.
Image
Interpretation
Most thermal imagers produce
a video output in which white indicates areas of maximum
radiated energy whilst black
indicates areas of lower radiation. Most cameras have the
facility to invert this
video so that black relates to maximum radiation and vice versa.
This video output is recorded
onto high quality, broadcast standard video tape on site.
The resultant tape can then
be analyzed by DHR Consultancy Service's image processing
computer systems. The image
is also available for viewing whilst filming is taking place.
In this way, a Client Engineer
can often plan remedial action at the scene.
The original black/white
signal contains the maximum amount of information, certainly more
than the eye can distinguish.
However, in order to ease general interpretation and facilitate
subsequent presentation,
the thermal image can be artificially colorized. This is achieved
by allocating desired colors
to blocks of gray levels to produce the familiar colorized images.
This enables easier image
interpretation to the untrained observer. Additionally, by choice of
the correct colorization
palette, the image may be enhanced to show particular energy levels
in detail. For example,
the operator can choose a palette to highlight cryogenic temperatures
or by selecting another
palette, objects at high temperatures.
As mentioned above, the amount
of infra-red radiation emitted from a surface depends
partly upon the emissivity
of that surface. For this reason, extreme care is needed if using
an infra-red imager to give
accurate temperature measurements within an image.
By far and away, the main
benefit of thermal imaging is obtained from qualitative rather
than quantitative use. Infra-red
non contact thermometers do exist but they all require
accurate assessment of surface
emissivities if the result is to be meaningful.
When interpreting infra-red
images, remember that the image is comprised purely of
radiated thermal energy.
The effects of the sun, shadows, moisture and subsurface detail
must all be taken into account
as described below.
Often with infra-red building
surveys, the item looked for, or the problem to be diagnosed,
is not immediately apparent.
Bear in mind that the imager is looking at the radiation emitted
from the surface. The imager
does not have the ability to see below the surface as such;
however, the radiation from
the surface is often influenced by subsurface detail such as
buried conduit, cracks,
wall ties etc. which all effect the thermal characteristics of the
adjoining material. When
conducting aerial surveys, sub-surface detail becomes even
more apparent with buried
pipe work (hot or cold) being clearly visible because of their
effect on the surface temperature
and emissivity.
In the same way, air flow
can often be detected by its cooling or heating effects as it enters
or leaves the building structure.
Moisture can often be seen as a result of cooling of the
surface material by evaporation.
If a wall is subject to dampness, the resulting image will
show an uneven response
due to the varying degrees of evaporation. It is sometimes
possible to follow the path
of water ingress through the building structure in this way.
This does however, mean
that surveys should not be carried out in the rain or whilst
the building structure is
wet as misleading results will result.
The following factors should also be
borne in mind:
The effect of solar gain
on the thermal structure of a building can lead to confusion.
In general, infra-red surveys
are carried out sometime after sunset so that all such
effects have dissipated
from the structure. However, this is not always possible and
the position of the sun
relative to the building should be considered. In this case,
shadows falling on the building
or shadows that have been on the building, can also
have an appreciable effect
on the thermal radiation viewed.
When looking at a large area,
the emissivity of various surfaces must be considered.
Most materials found on
the surface of buildings will have a relatively high emissivity
(~ 0.95) but there will
still be noticeable differences in the perceived image due to a
change in surface material.
This can be overcome by a detailed knowledge of the
building under investigation.
When imaging surfaces such
as metal or glass, special care must be taken.
Polished metal surfaces
tend to reflect infra-red radiation in the same way that they
do visible light. Hence,
an apparent 'hot spot' may be a reflection of a hot object
some distance away from
the area under investigation. Such anomalies can be
detected by moving the imager
around so that the reflective angles change.
Glass is predominantly opaque
to infra-red radiation (particularly so at 8 - 14µm)
and in most cases, the image
will be dominated by reflection. Hence, in ground floor
windows, a reflected image
of the survey team will often be noted and in upper floor
windows the reflection of
the cold sky temperature will be apparent. Glass is a
selective radiator with
an emissivity which fluctuates markedly with wavelength.
These examples serve to
emphasize that the radiation properties of the target
materials being surveyed
need to be known.
Survey Techniques
The primary considerations
for all survey activity are the environmental conditions.
If looking at buildings,
as per the majority of ground surveys, a temperature differential
must exist between the inside
and outside of the building. In this case, in the event of
an insulation defect, warmth
will be seen leaving the building structure if viewed from
the outside. If the survey
is being conducted from the inside, conduction from the
external cold air in the
vicinity of a defect will be noticed.
To achieve this differential,
surveys are most often conducted in the winter months
when the outside air temperature
is at a minimum and the buildings are heated.
The exceptions to this are
refrigerated buildings which may be surveyed during
summertime to achieve maximum
differential.
As mentioned previously,
areas of dampness will give an uneven thermal response.
This may be confused with
defective areas of insulation so care should be taken to
avoid surveying when walls
may be damp. (Unless of course, the object of the survey
is to identify areas of
dampness).
Wet ground, snow or frost
will give rise to misleading survey images so care must be
taken if conducting surveys
during such periods.
Very much the same conditions
apply to aerial surveying. Additionally, the cloud base
must not extend below the
survey height since the water vapor in the clouds makes
them opaque to infra-red.
Care must be taken to ensure that survey flights are not
made in excessively windy
conditions. If the wind is too high, the effects of wind chill
will be seen around the
edges of buildings and the image quality may be poor if the
aircraft has difficulty
remaining on a stable track heading. The exact threshold speed
will depend upon aircraft
type and the nature of the images required, but would be
generally around 15 knots.
For aerial surveying, the
imager may be mounted in a camera hatch of any suitable
modified observation aircraft.
A typical DHR Consultancy Services survey would be
flown at 610 meters altitude
above ground level. This gives a field of view swathe
420 meters wide. The survey
area is then divided up into parallel tracks 300 meters apart.
This gives a degree of overlap
to allow for wind gusts, aircraft roll or positional error.
The resultant video output
from the camera is fed to a time/date generator which
superimposes a time/date
stamp on the video signal. This can then be used to
cross reference the images
with the tracks plotted on a map.
Used correctly, infra-red
thermal imaging is a valuable tool for evaluating the conditions
of buildings, plant &
machinery. They are of use in diagnostic, quality control and work
prioritization roles to
name but a few.
Emissivity
may alter with angle of observation.
Although in practice, many
factors influence the detected signal intensity.
We can see that there are
two major factors which must be taken into
account when considering
thermal imaging of an object.
The absolute temperature
of the object which defines the wavelength
at which maximum (but not
all) radiation occurs, in addition to influencing
the amount of total radiation.
The emissivity of the object
which defines how much radiation will be
emitted from the object.
The emissivity of an object can also cause other
complications which will
be looked at later.
Infrared lies past the red
end of the visible light spectrum and for imaging
purposes can be regarded
as the wavelengths covered between
1µm and 20µm.
(micron = µm = 1 x 10-6 meters).
Infrared in the 1µm
region is generally used for non imaging applications
such as short range remote
controls or basic intruder detection systems.
There are several areas across
the infrared wavelength spectrum in which the
absorption of radiation
by the atmosphere renders these wavelengths unusable
for imaging applications.
This extreme atmospheric absorption is caused mainly
by carbon dioxide and water
vapor present in the atmosphere.
This leaves us with two bands
of Infra-red radiation that are transmitted through
the atmosphere well enough
to enable imaging to take place. These are the
3 - 5 µm and 8 - 14µm
bands.
By examining black body (Planck)
curves, we can see that a radiator at ambient
temperature would radiate
most effectively in the 8 - 14µm band whereas a hotter
object such as a furnace
would emit the greater amount of its radiation in the
3 - 5 µm band. When
considering thermal imaging equipment, the anticipated
temperature of the object
under examination should be used to give an indication
of the most suitable band
to use. It should however, be remembered that most
radiators will be emitting
radiation in both bands so that images may be produced
in either band.
Equipment
Types
In both of the imaging bands
considered, there are two types of detector that
may be used to convert the
incoming infra-red thermal radiation to an electrical
signal suitable for processing
into a pictorial output; Thermal Detectors and
Quantum Detectors.
Thermal detectors rely on
a change in material characteristic caused by absorption
of infrared energy. The
most common type of thermal detector uses the pyro-electric
effect in which the temperature
change of the element causes a change in the charge
present on the device electrodes.
These are the types of detector element used in fire
and intruder detection systems.
They have the advantage of not requiring cooling and
are also used as part of
PEV imaging systems.
More sophisticated imaging
systems tend to use quantum detectors, these are
semiconductor devices in
which incident radiation excites excess carriers, proportional
to the radiation intensity.
The most common semiconductor
used as a quantum detector is Cadmium Mercury
Telluride (CMT), this has
the advantage that its composition can be adjusted to give
maximum sensitivity at either
3 - 5 µm or 8 - 14µm.
The signal output of a quantum
detector is so small that it would be swamped by noise
generated internally to
the device at room temperatures.
Since noise within a semiconductor
is partly proportional to temperature, quantum
detectors must be operated
at low temperatures. CMT detectors should be operated
at -80°C when operating
in 3 - 5µm modes and to -193°C when operating in the
8 - 14µm band.
This cooling requirement
is a significant disadvantage in the use of quantum detectors.
However, their superior
electronic performance still makes them the detector of choice
for the bulk of thermal
imaging applications.
There are several different
ways of cooling the detector to the required temperature.
Bulk liquid. In the
early days of thermal imaging, liquid nitrogen was poured into
imagers to cool the detector.
Although satisfactory, the logistical and safety implications
led to developments into
HPPG and thermal transfer technology.
HPPG. High Pressure
Pure Gas can be used to cool a detector to the required
temperatures. The Joule
Thomson effect is the reduction in temperature of a gas when
it rapidly expands from
a high to low pressure. The gas is passed via a pipe coil to an
orifice (typically <100µm
in diameter), the gas rapidly expands and undergoes a rapid
loss in temperature. The
waste gas passing upwards past the incoming coil cools the
incoming gas further until
the cooler has provided a rapid cool down to design temperature.
Suitable gases are Nitrogen,
Oxygen, Air and Argon. In general use, Pure air is the most
common gas used due to the
relative simplicity and low cost of producing suitable volumes
of gas. Particular care
must be taken regarding the purity of the gas used in a Joule
Thomson cooler. Since the
orifice is so small, any particulate contamination will block
the cooler, as will the
formation of ice if there is any water vapor in the gas.
Therefore, suitable filtration
must be provided at all stages. A typical thermal imaging
facility will clean and
dry the air during the charging of bottles and the air will also be
passed via a filter assembly
when being subsequently fed to the detector.
Mechanical cooling systems
are also in use. These have the logistical advantages of
freeing the imager from
the requirements of carrying high pressure gases or liquid nitrogen.
They do however, have a
number of disadvantages when compared to a Joule Thomson
system such as higher noise
level, electrical interference, longer reaction time, increased
power requirements, additional
control circuitry and they have, in the past, gained a poor
reputation for reliability.
Modern split cycle Starling coolers have overcome (or reduced
to acceptable levels) these
disadvantages and are now coming into widespread use in
commercially available imagers.
See How Imagers Work
There are a number of different
ways in which imagers operate, these can be roughly
classified into PEV, Staring
Array and Scanning systems.
A Pyro-Electric Vidicon (PEV)
is a variation of a conventional vidicon camera tube.
A plate of pyroelectric
material is placed at the front of a vidicon tube, this effectively
forms a variable capacitance
with its characteristics varying according to the incident
infra-red radiation. The
plate matrix is scanned by an electron beam and the resultant
impulses amplified and processed
into a video signal. These are uncooled devices and
although in service for
basic applications are no substitute for cooled quantum detector
based systems. Since the
pyroelectric effect depends upon a change in incident radiation,
they have to be constantly
moved to produce an output. In practice, this is achieved by
using a mechanical optical
'chopper' to interrupt the thermal radiation scene.
They have limited spatial
resolution due to thermal spreading (conduction) within the
cell matrix on the front
plate of the vidicon.
Staring Arrays, as the name
implies, consist of a matrix of detector elements.
These elements are often
manufactured from Cadmium Mercury Telluride or Platinum
Sillicide. The entire scene
is focused on this array, each element cell then provides an
output dependent upon the
infra-red radiation falling upon it. These types of imagers
have the advantages of not
requiring delicate thermionic devices (such as the vidicon)
or sophisticated scanning
optics. However, at the moment, although a number of
commercial imagers do use
this technology, there are practical limitations in producing
an array with a large enough
number of elements to match the resolution achieved by
scanning systems. This is
an area of imaging where significant development is currently
taking place, particularly
for midrange commercial applications.
The bulk of high resolution
(military grade) thermal imagers use scanned optical techniques.
They use a cooled CMT detector
which is scanned across the image in a number of formats.
In the simplest form, a single
element could be scanned along each line in the frame (serial
scanning). In practice,
this would require impossibly high scan speeds so a series of elements
may be used. These may be
scanned as a block, along each line. This cuts down the scan
speed from having just a
single detector but the scan speed and channel bandwidth
requirements are still high.
It does however, give a good degree of uniformity. The frame
movement can be provided
by frame scanning optics or in the case of line scan type imagers,
by the movement of the imager
itself. This type of imager is often used in aerial applications
where the detector element(s)
are scanned along the same line, whilst the forward movement
of the aircraft provides
the relative frame movement. These imagers often provide a digital
or photographic output rather
than a CCIR video signal. Problems of non-linearity may be
introduced by lateral movement
of the aircraft.
Another method is to use
a number of elements scanning in parallel (parallel scanning).
These have one element per
line but scan several lines simultaneously, this can give rise
to poor uniformity. However,
frame scan speeds are lower.
A frequently used compromise
is to use a serial/parallel matrix. This provides acceptable
uniformity in conjunction
with realizable bandwidths and scanning speeds.
Each of the above methods
has its advantages and disadvantages. They are all in use in
modern thermal imagers.
Another type of CMT based
detector is the SPRITE. This again is a cooled detector
which requires scanning
optics. SPRITE (Signal Processing In The Element) takes the
place of several serial
elements. The processing that would have been done external to
those elements now takes
place due to semiconductor biasing & doping within the
SPRITE element itself..
This has the advantage of reduced encapsulation lead-outs, less
signal processing circuitry
and an improved signal to noise ratio. Several SPRITEs may
be used in a parallel scan
to further improve efficiency. Most of the modern top quality
imagers now available, including
some of those used by Proviso Systems Ltd, use SPRITE
technology. Multi-element
SPRITE systems may still be regarded as restricted military technology.
When considering the optical
requirements for thermal imagers, it is important to consider
the optical material used.
At infra-red imaging wavelengths, glass becomes a complex
radiator and cannot be used
to transmit radiation. There are many materials with suitable
infra-red properties but
these are often of restricted use due to physical limitations.
Germanium has become the
most popular material as it is now readily available in large
sizes with good optical
characteristics. A wide range of protective coatings exist and it is
in almost universal use
for standard imaging applications. Its only major drawback is that
it becomes opaque above
100°C, making it unsuitable for high speed aerial applications.
Zinc sulfide, zinc selenide,
sapphire and magnesium fluoride are also used in certain
applications.
The amount of infrared radiation
emitted from a surface depends partly upon the emissivity
of that surface. For this
reason, extreme care is needed if using an infra-red imager to give
accurate temperature measurements
within an image. By far and away, the main benefit of
thermal imaging is obtained
from qualitative rather than quantitative use. Infrared non-contact
thermometers do exist but
they all require accurate assessment of surface emissivities if the
result is to be meaningful.
When interpreting infra-red
images, remember that the image is comprised purely of radiated
thermal energy. The effects
of the sun, shadows, moisture and subsurface detail must all be
taken into account as described
below.
Often with infra-red building
surveys, the item looked for, or the problem to be diagnosed,
is not immediately apparent.
Bear in mind that the imager is looking at the radiation emitted
from the surface. The imager
does not have the ability to see below the surface as such;
however, the radiation from
the surface is often influenced by subsurface detail such as buried
conduit, cracks, wall ties
etc. which all effect the thermal characteristics of the adjoining material.
When conducting aerial surveys,
sub-surface detail becomes even more apparent with buried
pipe work (hot or cold)
being clearly visible because of their effect on the surface temperature
and emissivity.
In the same way, air flow
can often be detected by its cooling or heating effects as it enters or
leaves the building structure.
Moisture can often be seen as a result of cooling of the surface
material by evaporation.
If a wall is subject to dampness, the resulting image will show an
uneven response due to the
varying degrees of evaporation. It is sometimes possible to follow
the path of water ingress
through the building structure in this way.
NARCAP
"National
Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena"
It is the opinion
of NARCAP, based upon the evidence available, that the most likely source
of this alleged UAP observation
was the oil flares from the Cantrell oil fields in the Gulf of Campeche
. While we have not posted our findings
yet, we are in general agreement with the findings of Captain Alejandro
Franz Navarrete whose documentation
can be found at: http://www.alcione.org/FAM/FLIR_CONCLUSION.html
NARCAP applauds
Captain Franz for his attention to detail as well as his objectivity.
This case has received
a great deal of attention in the media including many premature and
unfounded claims
and speculations arising from the so-called ?UFO Community?.
Dr. Richard Haines is
Chief Scientist of NARCAP Ex-NASA
scientist who was in charge of the mental and physical condition
of the astronauts of Gemini program, Apollo and Skylab
Dr. Richard Haines at NASA
Is
it Real?: UFO's Capt. Alejandro
Franz's theory is aired on National Geographic Channel tm
tm
