". . .John was very excited early on. . .but like me, not an expert (that I know of) at photogrammetric analysis in the least. None-the-less, I eventually came to see the faint signs of shadowing and contour of multiple rocks that make up the 'gear' image with the squiggly, and realized also that scale was an issue (I am mystified as to why scale is constantly dismissed as unimportant - that is an absolute non-starter). That was on my own - no one 'made' me see it that way.
. . .It is like this. . .being in a technical field I'm not about to go on public record stating absolutes about stuff that cannot for now [rise] above speculation. Tim, I know you disagree with that as you've made clear here and in your suit. But as a guy who has worked the technical side of aviation from A&P through a senior engineering position, I know that it is a 'show me' world. John knew that too, I believe - but it is easy to get caught up here and allow what we 'feel' to be stated as 'fact' because it is 'only a forum', kind of a blog on steroids, I guess."
Dear AE Forum colleagues,
I'm writing in response to the several recent posts discussing my participation in the "Still from ROV Video" thread. I am extremely disheartened to learn that my amateur observations may have been part of the decision-making calculus for legal proceedings. I'd like to share my recollection of events, as well as a couple thoughts and feelings. I apologize in advance for a lengthy post.
As Jeff Neville mentioned, I am employed in aerospace. I am participating in TIGHAR as a private individual with no relation to my employment. I joined TIGHAR in 2012 after the Niku VII expedition was announced, and I followed the run-up for Niku VII with great interest and anticipation.
No one has ever directed the content of my posts. My first posts were in the "Still from ROV video" thread during the weekend of 30 June - 1 July 2012. I remember this well - an extended business trip kept me on the road, and I was looking forward to getting home for the July 4th holiday. On Saturday morning 30 June I was drinking coffee and perusing the forum. I was intrigued by the 2010 ROV video thread started by J.V. Hayden, and the 90+ pages of interesting observations by Jeff Victor, Richie and others that followed. Then I found the reference to the "Wire and Rope" ROV video out on YouTube. After looking at the video several times, like Jeff Victor, Richie and others I began to see what I believed were man-made, aircraft-related items as well. I was transfixed. In my excitement and enthusiasm I spent most of that weekend, staying up well into the wee hours on Sunday 1 July, annotating screen shots with circles, lines, arrows and text, and posting my observations to the thread. (Warning - amateur image interpretation can be addictive. . .
)
I "came to my senses" as a result of two events - first, Dr. Malcolm McKay's posts, which made me realize one could actually be derided for one’s speculations, and second, Jeff Neville's post, which quite rightly cautioned not to state so firmly about what was observed. Those two things caused me to go overboard in the other direction - I deleted all of my posts of the previous two days, and in fact posted nothing further under that forum account (neither my initial excitement or my withdrawal was an appropriately measured approach, I readily admit). After I returned home, during the 4 July holiday weekend, I signed up for the forum again. From that point I have endeavored to be more measured, skeptical, scientific, . . . .reasonable . . about my participation in the forum.
Do I believe that there are objects visible in the 2010 ROV video that are worthy of further analysis? Yes. Am I an authority on this subject? Absolutely not.
First, my technical knowledge of digital imaging is minimal. I couldn't begin to compare and contrast the different digital formats - "jpeg", "tiff", "bitmap", etc. or explain how the multiple attributes of an individual digital pixel are determined or saved. Second, I have only the most cursory photogrammetric analytical skills (i.e. how to measure objects in relation to on another). Finally, I don't know anything about the imaging system used to capture the 2010 ROV video. Aperture, focal length, distortion, etc.
In my amateur "arm chair" opinion (which, because of my lack of knowledge in image interpretation, is no more valid than any other amateur's opinion on this forum) there is "Electra" down there on that reef slope. I will not be surprised if, when the sonar anomaly that Richie identified is investigated, the supposed debris in the 2010 video and the sonar anomaly are one and the same. If we compare
TIGHAR's sense of where the 2010 ROV video was taken and
the location of the sonar anomaly, the two fall within the same area of probability. If the musings on the 2010 ROV are correct, they will be self-evident then.
In any case, the AE mystery will never be solved without further investigation. Ric and TIGHAR's 25+ years of tenacious and disciplined effort, including important advocacy and sponsorship by TIGHAR's benefactors, have brought us to this point. There cannot possibly be anyone better qualified than Ric and TIGHAR to bring this quest to successful conclusion for posterity. I cannot conscience how a legal proceeding furthers this effort or brings about anything positive.
Very respectfully, John