Jerusalem UFO Likely A Hoax Says Israeli TV Report
Videos of an alleged UFO in the skies above Jerusalem that took the Internet by storm in January appear to be a hoax, according to an Israeli television station.
The viral videos, filmed from different viewpoints in the city, purportedly depict a glowing, unidentified object that slowly descends from the sky and hovers directly above the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, at the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem in the early morning of Jan. 28.
In a sudden explosion of light, the object shoots straight up in the sky and several reddish objects appear.
WATCH THREE JERUSALEM UFO VIDEOS:
What first excited UFO believers and investigators around the world was that the UFO appeared to have been videotaped from separate locations near the sacred shrine -- potentially corroborating the sighting.
The first video, shot by Eligael Gadliovich, was followed by a second one reportedly posted on the Internet by teenagers.
"Supposedly, there is no connection between the people that shot those footages," said Israeli Channel 10 investigator Nitay Elboim. "We also had some doubts because it seems there is a rare and authentic documentation [of the UFO], but then ... we began receiving very interesting details."
According to the Channel 10 report, Gadliovich was "not an accidental photographer, but a movie man with a film company."
WATCH THE CHANNEL 10 UFO NEWS REPORT:
Gadliovich, also described as an "ex-actor," played a part in a film with actor Golan Ardiv. According to the news station, Ardiv is the film teacher at the school where the teenagers who posted the second UFO video study.
When asked by Channel 10 if he had any prior connection with Ardiv or if it was a coincidence, Gadliovich offered this cryptic response:
"There is no such thing as coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences," he said. "I don't know. The unknown is greater than the known -- that's all I can tell you."
Ardiv reportedly declined knowing the teens -- but Channel 10 remained skeptical, reporting that the footage does not appear to be "authentic."
IN THE FOLLOWING VIDEO, THE 'UFO' SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY THING MOVING:
It's still not known what photographic techniques may have been used to create the UFO videos, but with so many photo and video editing programs available, the clips could have been made any number of ways.
In fact, a big criticism of one of the Jerusalem UFO videos is that it appears to be merely a still photograph onto which a UFO was digitally placed. Upon close inspection, it's apparent that nothing else in the video shows any movement -- traffic, people, street lights, trees -- except for the UFO.
Part of the problem today is that there are so many clever people who know how to manipulate a computer keyboard that it's very easy to fake an incredible UFO video or still photograph. Even Google Earth left people scratching their heads a couple of months ago when what appeared to be a stunning UFO unexpectedly popped up in an image of South Africa.
In that case, photo expert Marc Dantonio revealed to The Huffington Post how his trained eye easily saw evidence that someone had "stitched together an image" using "an iPhone app that lets you put a fake UFO into a photo."
And then there's The Faking Hoaxer, who creates amazing videos of subjects like UFOs and extraterrestrial exploration.
Now, more than ever, seeing is not always believing.
WATCH THE FAKING HOAXER'S UFO DEMO REEL:
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First Posted: 09/25/11 10:51 AM ET Updated: 11/23/11 05:12 AM ET