Will Mandis posts video of a Delta Air Lines plane appear to pause in mid-air, and it’s striking. Some are calling the phenomenon a “glitch in the matrix.” The video is not altered.
watched a plane pause in the air today and y’all still think physics is real pic.twitter.com/ZHS4yrmvAN
— Will Manidis (@WillManidis) October 13, 2023
A glitch in the matrix? Maybe we know how airplanes fly but then again maybe we don’t.
However, when a video is taken from a moving vehicle of an aircraft moving in a different direction, our tendency to move the camera (or our eyes) to follow the object will compensate for these differences. The motion of your vehicle in one direction, and your vision following the aircraft in another, can create the illusion of stillness on the part of a moving aircraft. A more detailed explanation is here.
Several years ago a Bangkok Airways pilot filmed passengers streamed off a jet bridge late one night in Phuket, Thailand. He was sitting in the cockpit of his aircraft and noticed that they were walking on the jet bridge but there was no plane anywhere in sight they could be getting off of.
As Fox Mulder learned from Dana Scully, there’s always a scientific explanation for the paranormal — no matter how implausible, In that case the jet bridge you see passengers walking along is actually empty and it’s a reflection from inside the airport.
A beautiful airline-related optical illusion. Thanks for sharing, Gary!
Very clever, as optical illusions are fun. But regrettably too many people are into magical thinking or have very low levels of scientific knowledge. Then they often go for the “ghosts, devils, angels, time travelers, aliens, etc.” explanations. It’s the usual denying (or failure to find) facts in favor of belief. That’s harmless unless it leads to fear, inertia and then very bad decisions.
In a simulator, the sensations/G-forces are very realistic. If you watch from outside the simulator it’s interesting to see how pitch and motion are combined to make it seem real.
The video is from speed differential and video angle. Also interesting is that when pilots see other traffic it can look like they will collide or pass above when they are actually passing below. Our eyes and brains often lie to us.
Relative motion and changing viewing angle. Formula from high school physics.
It’s not an “optical illusion” nor is it “The Matrix”; it’s two object moving in the same speed and at the same direction, so their relative position to each other is unchanging.
It’s posts like this that really make me despair the human condition and think that 99% of my fellow humans are moronic asstards.
Whoever posted that on X should be castrated.
“Relative motion and changing viewing angle.” correct.
“two object(s) moving … and at the same direction” incorrect. Clearly the plane from which the video is shot is TURNING whereas the plane IN the video is not turning (at least not as much) thus not moving in the same direction. If both planes were moving in the same direction their relative position would not change but their position(s) over the ground would definitely change and it would be obvious that the plane IN the video is moving over the ground.
This alleged “glitch in the matrix” is ENTIRELY due to one plane turning while the other is not (as much).