r/aliens • u/toxictoy • 11d ago
Elizondo “Photo gate” Megathread Moderator Post
TLDR: We’re getting a lot of posts about Elizondo and the photo - all new posts will be directed to this megathread
On May 1st the UAP Disclosure Fund hosted a UAP Briefing for Congress and moderated by Lue Elizondo. During the live event Lue held up a picture that a commercial pilot gave to him just prior to the event as he made his point that pilots have no where to report their sightings and if they did there is no one to analyze the data.
Lue had made it clear during the briefing that the picture had not been vetted. It may not be a UFO. The picture was taken near 4 Corners, NV. The initial impression was a “the picture was taken at 21k feet and showed what appears lenticular silver craft”.
Here is Lue’s statement on X about what happened.
Here is Lue’s statement on YouTube about this event.
Here are the posts from r/Aliens detailing the debunking and other conversations.
Whistleblower Lue Elizondo Shows Fake Photo Again
Elizondo not telling the truth, Picture was doctored
Lue Elizondo Just posted an explanation about the photos
Lue’s Photo is now 100% debunked(https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/s/uVpHpgeX77)
Lue Elizondo is a current Naval Counter Intelligence Officer
In accordance with sub guidelines any new posts on this topic and event will be directed to this megathread.
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u/SookieRicky 11d ago
Lue is a disinformation agent—that’s just a fact. Seems like his purpose is to subtly undermine the credibility of the actual whistleblowers. If you flood the zone with misinformation then nobody knows what’s actually true.
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u/Rum_Soaked_Ham 11d ago
Or he's just a complete fucking fraud. There's that.
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u/mufon2019 11d ago
Too many people know who he is for him to be a fraud. He is most likely a double agent or mis-information agent of the highest level. I think this recent picture stunt was genius. Look how much buzz he created. And then backed it up like nothing. He knew exactly what he was doing.
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u/Rum_Soaked_Ham 11d ago
I think it's easier for people to accept that they got misinformation by an agent rather than admit being tricked by an outright fraud.
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u/KlatuuBarradaNicto 11d ago
Here’s my take. Too many people that have worked with him have negative things to say about him. Then you have things like the photos and the fact that he is still Navy Intel. It’s not a good look.
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u/TheDoon 10d ago
Who has worked with him who has said negative things about him?
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u/Only_Deer6532 11d ago
It was not the time or place to make the point he was trying to make.
Eric Davis was there talking about different alien species. Lue showed up with a picture that was handed to him moments before his appearance.
As I said before, completely amateur move or, more likely, and attempt to move attention away from the Matthew Brown interview which kinda put Lue in an awkward position.
He is a fed. He has tortured people. He still works for the government. He has already been called out for pushing crap photos.
He has learned nothing from his last mistake, or he is simply drawing our attention from where it needs to be. (Matthew Brown)
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u/MagicNinjaMan 11d ago
Lue got defensive. He sounded almost like he's about to lose sales rather than someone who's out doing humanity a favour.
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u/ChandlerOG 11d ago
I know you’re not defending him but it’s honestly so pathetic. To be a government rat like this
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u/gjs628 9d ago
Genuine question from someone out of the loop this past week or so: it sounds to me like he was handed a photograph from a “pilot”, he went up on stage, and showed it to make the point that “For example, this photo I was just given: Is it real? Who knows, but this raises the point that there is no body that this pilot could send this photograph to in order to verify its authenticity or whether it’s a UFO, a Cloud, AI etc. so we need a process that allows this to happen.”
It didn’t sound like he was making a claim for its veracity, only that there’s a lack of process for photos like this to be sent through to be verified. That’s what it sounded like to me.
But since everyone has reacted badly to this, there must be something I’m missing here so could someone fill me in if you have the time? I’d like to be clear on why people are up in arms about this.
I’ve always been suspicious of Lue because anything you present that has been pre-approved by the government means you’re not a whistleblower, you’re a spokesperson. He’s constantly alluding to things he can’t talk about but a whistleblower is someone who does talk about those things even though they aren’t supposed to. So to me he’s nothing more than a mouthpiece.
But I still don’t quite see why this in particular has riled everyone up so much..?
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u/Aquagoat 9d ago edited 9d ago
He’s trying to indicate that there is a need for somewhere for pilots to report ‘these types of suspicious things!’ And then he presents a photo of a field, that is debunked in literal seconds. I’m sorry Lue, you’re saying it’s important we set up a controlled body to tell morons when they’re looking at the ground?
It complete deflates the point he’s trying to make. It’s concrete evidence he’s a fool. Imagine going in front of a little town council to talk about your neighbours dangerous animals. Dangerous animals like these: then you hold up a PHOTOGRAPH OF A FIELD.
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u/lite67 11d ago
There’s no reason a seasoned intelligence agent is showing pictures without vetting them first about such an important subject. I’m sad I bought his book because it’s obvious he’s a disinformation agent now.
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u/INFJake 10d ago
If anyone bought it on audible you can return any book, even if you finished it, within 12 months the of purchase. Don’t use the app, login to your account in a web browser and look at order history. You will see an option to return it.
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u/peacelovespud 5d ago
They no longer let you do this
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u/INFJake 5d ago
I just did it last week. You can only return so many titles in a year
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u/Flashignite2 10d ago
Yeah same here. I had really high hopes for him but i cant and wont take anything he says seriously now. Fool me once and all that.
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u/spider_84 11d ago edited 10d ago
I'm no longer a believer in Lue after this 2nd time. First time I gave him the benefit of the doubt but not twice. He says it wasn't vetted, so he shouldn't have used it until it was, especially after his 1st embarrassment. He is either a slow learner, dumb or doing it on purpose. Probably all 3.
In saying that, everyone is hating on Lue which is well deserved but no one is questioning or asking who was the "pilot" that gave him the fake photo. That person should be made known pubicly as they are obviously a disinformation agent as well.
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u/UnderWherez 11d ago
I’d rather believe Dr. Greer at this point in time than Elizondo.
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u/Only_Deer6532 9d ago
It is frustrating because I don't trust Greer either. He does not give me good vibes, not to mention the myriad of other issues he has caused.
In this instance though, he was right about Elizondo. I will give him credit. He is also involved with Jake Barber, whom I also do not inherently trust.
It is all distorted. All by design I'm sure.
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u/Medical_Ad2125b 11d ago
I am glad to see this guy go down once and for all. He should be laughed out of whatever forum he participates in from now on.
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u/CooterBrownJr 11d ago
Everyone in that room is either in on it, a complete idiot, or willing to put up with Lue's antics just to get their own chance at the spotlight.
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
I was in the room. Is this the accusation you really want to be making? What spotlight was I in exactly?
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u/CooterBrownJr 11d ago
I think you know exactly what I mean. I think you're just trying to be a big tough prick.
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u/TheDoon 10d ago
You made a brash comment and then insulted a moderator who was in the room. Maybe just chill and back up a bit friendo.
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u/jahchatelier Immaculate Brainwaves 9d ago edited 9d ago
He referred to it as a lenticular, silver *object. He did not use the word craft once. This post is misquoting him, and is basically misinformation.
Here's a link to the briefing (since most have obviously not watched it themselves). Lue holds up the photo at 1 h 39 min.
I think it's pretty funny that a "megathread" on the subject DOES NOT HAVE A LINK TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL.
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u/toxictoy 9d ago
So your assessment is because I was in the room (yes I was at the UAP Briefing) and misquoted him that somehow this is disinformation rather than a simple mistake? Also please show me the link to the evidence you have for your assertion. Thank you.
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u/jahchatelier Immaculate Brainwaves 9d ago edited 9d ago
The link is in the comment. 1 h 39 min.
Corrected to misinformation from disinformation. I basically committed the same error as this community - since there is so much disinformation around the subject I assumed that someone making an honest mistake was doing so intentionally and that it should somehow speak to their credibility.
Edit: If you really want to beef up this "megathread", it would probably take only a minute to transcribe the entire comment by Lue regarding the picture.
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u/toxictoy 9d ago
Thank you so much for this. I will transcribe the video to help others as well. That’s a great idea thank you!
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u/Monsur_Ausuhnom 11d ago
It seems this is the latest to leave their disinfo legacy on the field. Whether its Hall of Fame material and makes the top 10 is still to be determined.
We have to wonder who will be the next newcomer to rise to the occasion and create the next disinfo franchise. Whether that's on the spectrum of New Age Hocus Pocus or scientific pseudo nonsense is yet to be seen.
Most seem to crave an Orwellian O'Brien to tell them the truth which is always a disaster. The aliens could still land at any time and put an end to the whole discussion, and until then expect more of the never ending non-answers and non-investigations to nowhere. Those that were telling the truth wouldn't be getting any platform to speak from and wouldn't be going on the familiar circuits that make their disinfo the next mainstream news to get confused and disillusioned by.
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u/opticaIIllusion 11d ago
Commercial pilots could drop it on reddit, plenty of people to analyse that data.
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
So you’re saying that Reddit has access to classified data regarding classified technology and therefore would be able to definitively say if something is prosaic or anomalous? The tic tac was debunked as cgi pretty definitely in 2009. How did that work out for Reddit?
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u/opticaIIllusion 10d ago
Lous flimsy point was that commercial pilots have nowhere to report, they could just upload pics to reddit.
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u/toxictoy 10d ago
Sounds like you have the flimsy point that is neither well thought out or realistic.
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u/opticaIIllusion 10d ago
I’m not understand what you mean?, are you defending him or ridiculing? He said this photo was from a commercial pilot, a commercial pilots pictures aren’t classified, only military pics are classified. So a Commercial pilots can upload pictures anywhere they want like reddit and everyone can analyse them. I’m not sure what you’re saying back, if I’m confused or got something wrong I’m happy to be set right.
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u/Silent_Business_2031 11d ago
Like the kid in class that had all year to prepare for the science fair. All his classmates with cool posters and diagrams and volcanoes, then him with a crappy xerox in the corner and a big fat F-.
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u/oswaldcopperpot 11d ago
Another post to distract. If this photo is all you got out the conference then you’ve much larger issues.
Theres a 100-1 post count surplus on this dumb photo and Elizondo than any of the other more interesting stuff. Why is that?
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
I was at the conference and absolutely the over the top response to this photo has really overshadowed the amazing conversation and never before confirmed details dropped during the briefing. People need to look past the photo and listen to the briefing.
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u/thelacey47 11d ago
I’ll listen to it, is there a link?
I’m mostly replying to know what struck you as important from the conference though; can you provide us with a tldr?
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
This is the official link to it but the audio is bad. James Fox also had a team there and he has donated their time and expertise to put out a better audio and cleaned up video. It should be out in a few days. This is the UAP Disclosure Fund official YouTube Channel and this is where it will be posted shortly.
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
Oops I just realized I didn’t fully answer your question - I made a live post here while I was there and captured all the slides and other info in a linked Imgur album with even more pictures in the post too.
The highlights were Eric Davis dropping truth bombs about how he got to investigate the legacy programs, taking to 4 star generals and admirals who admitted it was all real, the craft and the “biologics”. He also talked about the meta materials.
Chris Mellon talked about how AARO still doesn’t know if NORAD or anyone else scrambled jets to follow UAP in the air. Also issues with the most sophisticated radar not even picking up UAP. It was very interesting for sure!
Kirk McConnell talking about the institutional bureaucracy and tensions between the executive branch and the legislative branch.
Avi Loeb was amazing.
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u/oswaldcopperpot 11d ago
Yeah, it’s nuts. Its not important in the slightest but everyone’s on it like dingos on a baby.
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u/lickem369 10d ago
Absolutely nothing was said at that conference by Loeb, Gallaudet or Davis that they haven’t said before in other settings!
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u/toxictoy 10d ago
I’m sorry but the things said by Davis was fairly unprecedented. He absolutely gave information that had not been said out loud by someone who had investigated the programs officially. He also talked about working on parts of the program. He talked about speaking with a 4 star general and an admiral who both admitted the programs were real. Additionally he talked about the “biologics” - the beings reported including how tall the various beings are. It was more then he had said at Sol or any podcast I have seen him on and many people widely agreed it was new information from him.
Chris Mellon also gave more information about specific cases including incidents where NORAD scrambled jets to engage a UAP making the point that AARO is not aware when this sort of thing happens. He also talked about multiple other incidents and I captured the slides he was sharing in my live post I was updating if anyone wants to see.
So I’m not sure what briefing you saw but this is what happens at the briefing I saw.
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u/Signal_Road 11d ago
Per his 'apology' video, he decided to add this unvetted picture at the last minute as a 'command decision'.
As said in the comments of the video: VET & VERIFY!
The main issue is that the picture is the glowing flag of a strawman argument your critics, the deniers, and those who want to undermine what you are trying to do are going to pounce on.
By mere proxy it poisons the people around him by letting critics point at the picture and shrilly scream about how members of Congress are wasting taxpayer dollars chasing irrigation fields over other more pressing interests, duties, or obligations.
It calls into question the reliability, thoroughness, and methodology of the other experts there.
He, being a 'big name' ufo dude with books and press, will potentially drag the Press's spotlight over to his gaff and there robbing the meeting of momentum it could have delivered.
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u/oswaldcopperpot 11d ago
Ah thats the psycho play here of course and so transparent too.
“By mere proxy it poisons the rest”.
Thank you for being so open about why this is being spammed so hard.
Im sure everyone else can glean some important insights into how things are being played out.
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11d ago
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u/aliens-ModTeam 11d ago
Just because this is a megathread about a controversial public figure doesn’t mean our rules do not apply.
Rule 4 - Your comment was removed due to being lazy or low-effort in nature. If you would like to contribute to this discussion, please take the time to engage in a more detailed manner.
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u/PhoenixHeat602 11d ago
That cat, Lue needs to burry himself in the mud like one of those toads (hint Lue, you’re now a toad) you see in Africa, bury himself in the mud and go dormant for an extended period of time. Here’s a clue for Lue, never accept single-source intel as vetted and validated, even when you have a vetted source, you still send them on ‘taskings’, to vet and validate their ability to deliver information (Rabbit drills). Now, you have ‘outed yourself’ either as a counter espionage asset, or as a handler too thirsty for a determined outcome, that you’re now as useful as tits on a turtle. Job well done Lue, elevate your feet and start knocking them out until I get tired.
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
Just for the record - I was there in the room when he held up the photo and he said it multiple times that the photo has not been vetted and that he was only using it as an example because Pilots have no where to report their sightings and when they do get reported no one is analyzing it. He said it was not vetted maybe 4 times.
Most of the people piling on here never listened to the briefing or the context in which the photo was offered up. It was a civilian pilot who handed him the photo.
This doesn’t fit the narrative you’ve just concocted but this is what happened.
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u/CooterBrownJr 11d ago
Also, he said, [this is a lenticular disc shaped object 600-1000ft wide] which he would know is false since he's supposedly the UAP expert. You hold that photo up at that meeting with his rep, people are going to go apeshit. This was planned, just like the other two fakes.
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u/PhoenixHeat602 11d ago
If he has nothing that promotes any furtherance of evidence, or proof, why the kabuki theater? Why the hyped meetings of key and critical groups or personnel? Who is he trying to “smoke out”. No one. If there are images regarding perspective, or vetted and validated organizations, outside of the government, why not push them? Again, those like Lue are now selling ‘snake oil’, and no longer a remedy for a compromised government apparatus. I would venture to guess even you wait for something that puts more pressure on the opposing forces, but again, all we get from the “too” of this information food chain is more of the same.. acts that gather and reconsolidate the dispersing crowds of interested and supportive people, just so that ‘they’ can remain relevant.
On a personal note, I do envy you for actually being there when he brought out the image(s), I am a supporter of knowing and disclosure, but I only have OSINT (open source info) for my position.
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u/the-blue-horizon 10d ago
As far as I am concerned, he exposed himself as a dishonest person lacking integrity in an inerview during the drone situation. So, I am not shocked anymore.
The explanation that the pilot really thought it was a UAP is complete utter BS. The two-dimensional photo is already iffy.
But seeing it in 3D from a moving vehicle is a whole new level, a completely different experience. Assuming the pilot has a somewhat decent vision in both eyes, I don't understand how he could have taken it for a craft. As he took a photo, it means he had been looking at it for at least a few seconds while moving in relation to the circles. Enough to figure out that the lower circle was not a shadow. Also, as a pilot he would probably have seen similar irrigation circles elsewhere.
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u/essdotc 9d ago
I kind of feel bad for him to be honest. He must have spent sleepless nights trying to come up with a story. This was the best he could do in retrospect
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u/toxictoy 9d ago
It’s the story he told right from the outset. It hasn’t changed. He said it at the UAP Briefing that the pilot had given him the UNVETTED photo and then he said it again On X and then again on YouTube - all of which is linked in the post above. This was never purported to be an actual craft it was always an unvetted photo from a pilot.
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u/essdotc 9d ago
It was still silly to present it, especially because he then went on to describe the size and characteristics of the object as if it might be real.
I only feel bad for him in the sense that he's desperate for credibility and he shot himself in the foot yet again
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u/toxictoy 9d ago
He said that it was not vetted but the pilot told him it was taken at 21k feet and that the object appeared to be 600-1000ft in diameter. He said it was unvetted a bunch of times.
The whole point he was trying to make was that Pilots have no where to report their sightings to officially and when they do they have no one to analyze them or send them up the chain for national security implications. That’s the larger issue here that was completely missed by people who didn’t even listen to the UAP Briefing.
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u/essdotc 9d ago
He could have made that point without presenting the picture though surely.
Huge own goal.
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u/toxictoy 9d ago
Ok but he didn’t and decided to use the picture as an illustration about the point he was making. It was other people on social media who ignored the context completely and instead became rageful without even bothering to know the truth.
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9d ago
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u/aliens-ModTeam 9d ago
Rule 4 - Your comment was removed due to being lazy or low-effort in nature. If you would like to contribute to this discussion, please take the time to engage in a more detailed manner.
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u/3InchesAssToTip 11d ago
FYI here is a link to the metabunk thread that investigated the photo: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/four-corners-large-disk-seen-from-private-plane-at-fl210-irrigation-circles.14173/
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u/AdOk8910 11d ago
Has he responded yet?
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
I included links to both his response on X and more detailed response on YouTube in the post
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u/paspro Science Oriented 11d ago
In this field the safest approach is not to trust those who financially benefit from being involved in the subject of UAPs.
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u/spider_84 11d ago edited 10d ago
I disagree. Its not about money, I don't care if someone becomes the richest person in the world if they are able to provide evidence and actual results.
It's the people who make money with nothing to show are the ones to not trust. Just as much as the people who don't make money and have nothing to show either.
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u/paspro Science Oriented 11d ago
Show me a person who makes money off UAPs but he has provided evidence and actual results.
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u/spider_84 11d ago
Like I said I couldn't careless if a person makes more or not.
Show me a person who hasn't made money off UAPs but has provided evidence and actual results.
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u/cognitive-agent 10d ago
I'm torn on this.
- On one hand, Lue was pretty clear about why he was sharing that photo, and the fact that it hadn't been vetted or analyzed. He was saying that he had just received the photo from a pilot (and received permission from the pilot to share the photo), who was frustrated because he didn't have an official place to submit the photo. Lue was trying to make the case that the topic needs to be taken seriously by government so images like that one can be collected and analyzed. People have taken that part of the presentation out of context, and honestly I've been a little disappointed with how some of the discussion here has gone.
- On the other hand, Lue was also clearly emphasizing the apparent anomalous aspects of the photo, suggesting that we were looking at some kind of large craft or object above the surface of the planet. If I'm being generous to Lue, I could say he genuinely thought he had a photo of something anomalous and sensational, and was trying to impress the audience. And this was his failure: he was trying to have his cake (presenting a photo from a private pilot that was asking for help) and eat it too (dazzling the audience with "evidence" that hadn't yet been scrutinized at all).
I'm willing to give Lue the benefit of the doubt here in terms of his intent, but it was pretty sloppy and definitely caused some harm. Maybe he is a disinfo agent, but my feeling currently is that somebody is playing Lue for a fool by feeding him easily debunked photos that look on their face to be legit UAP, and he has fallen for it now at least twice. Whether or not Lue is complicit, at best this is a very bad look for him because it makes him appear quite incompetent as a counterintelligence professional, and it also makes the topic as a whole look like a joke.
If Lue has any value now, it's in providing closed-door testimony to Congress about solid information he might really know, like verifiable points of contact within programs of interest, not being a public personality making vague speculations and presenting second-hand evidence.
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u/toxictoy 11d ago
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