This morning I walked outside and discovered a sight I have not seen for many years: a weather balloon floating over the village where I live. In days gone by (and perhaps even today) there would be people calling the police to report a UFO. I took a few photos, just for the record, but it got me thinking; is it really possible, in this day and age with the technology we have available, to create the perfect hoax which nobody can detect? Transform that weather balloon into a real UFO?
Of course, we have the Metadata stored with each photo taken by many digital cameras which would need to be altered to eliminate any reference to Photoshop or other software used in modifying the photo but, no doubt, there are ways around this. What can be programmed can be un- or reprogrammed.
Then we have the matter of detecting changes made to photos. To pass muster, these would have to be modified pixel by pixel which could be a daunting task, though in my own case it might only involve a few hundred pixels.
The matter of lighting is an important factor. Older members, such as myself, may remember the botched photo of Lee Harvey Oswald, produced by the FBI, on which the shadows are on the wrong side. Nowadays, such an amateurish effort would be laughed at.
Obviously, it would require a photo of earth-shattering importance to justify the work needed but would it be possible to produce the perfect hoax photo which would fool all the experts?
Of course, we have the Metadata stored with each photo taken by many digital cameras which would need to be altered to eliminate any reference to Photoshop or other software used in modifying the photo but, no doubt, there are ways around this. What can be programmed can be un- or reprogrammed.
Then we have the matter of detecting changes made to photos. To pass muster, these would have to be modified pixel by pixel which could be a daunting task, though in my own case it might only involve a few hundred pixels.
The matter of lighting is an important factor. Older members, such as myself, may remember the botched photo of Lee Harvey Oswald, produced by the FBI, on which the shadows are on the wrong side. Nowadays, such an amateurish effort would be laughed at.
Obviously, it would require a photo of earth-shattering importance to justify the work needed but would it be possible to produce the perfect hoax photo which would fool all the experts?
