... Yes, seriously. Or so says director Barry Sonnenfeld.
Sonnenfeld - who is the director of the Men in Black franchise - is teaming up with comic book writer Grant Morrison to develop a graphic novel and movie sharing the same name: Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens.
"The graphic novel will chronicle a secret prehistoric world war battle. When an alien invasion attacks Earth in the age of the dinosaurs, the planet's only hope is the giants that roam the planet with, it turns out, a lot more intelligence than previously realized."
It should go without saying, but the following videos currently being debated online by UFO researchers are hoaxes created using Computer Generated Images (CGI):
Although I have a background in film production and have taught college modules on CGI history and technique, by and large, my expertise is in the field of cinema studies, which is to say that my focus is on film theory, rather than film practice. With this in mind, I consulted recently with a few of my old friends who do indeed have considerable hands-on experience with CGI. Two of these individuals - whom I would term skilled semi-professionals - are final-year students for degrees in Film Production Technology and Digital Film and 3D Animation at Staffordshire University (a leading UK institution in these fields). The third individual is a veteran Post Production Technical Instructor at the same institution. For their analyses of the above footage, as well as its broader - and rather bizarre - back-story, check out Grant Cameron and Paul Robinson's ongoing investigation over at presidentialufo.com
In all likelihood, this footage is part of a viral marketing campaign for one of the numerous Hollywood UFO movies due for release in the next 12 months, such as Area 51 or Super 8, for example. It is also possible that the videos are part of a professional showreel for one of the hundreds of CGI companies operating today: "leak" your own CGI footage online in order to create buzz, then, in time, reveal yourself to potential clients as the creator of said footage. Finally, some have contemplated the notion that the footage may be part of a government-sponsored Psy-Op designed either to further acclimate us to UFO/ET reality (highly unlikely, in my opinion), or simply to confuse, divide and waste the time of UFO researchers (slightly more likely).
If the footage is a Hollywood viral campaign or merely self-promotion for an ambitious CGI company, then its creators will reveal themselves in due course. If, on the other hand, more sinister forces are behind these videos, then the originator's identity will likely never be known and arguably is irrelevant anyway. Indeed, if the footage is part of a government Psy-Op, then surely that's all the more reason to ignore it. Whichever of these scenarios is correct, someone, somewhere is rubbing their grubby hands together with devilish glee and having a good old laugh at our expense.
Kudos to those UFO researchers who have declared this footage as phony, and especially to those who have supported their declarations with evidence, but isn't it now time that we all got back to debating more pressing UFO-related matters?
If and when UFO Disclosure comes, it will not take the form of a grainy video "leaked" onto YouTube. If and when footage of a genuine extraterrestrial is disclosed, more than likely it will be in the form of a live, globally transmitted TV broadcast (but that's not to say that we humans will be the ones doing the disclosing). If and when we all see ET, the question of CGI will not even be raised, much less debated. There will be no doubting it. Move along, people... there's nothing to see here.
This week was another beautiful and fairly quiet week. No extra ships, boats, or planes. We got the last seep cleaned out over on Eastern Island. The volunteers banded the last of the Black-footed albatross chicks, but there are still a few small Laysan albatross chicks to band. There are a couple of monk seal pups around. I don't have any photos of them since I don't want to bother them. It was nice on Tern Island when we had them right outside of our window. The first Laysan ducklings were also seen walking around near the houses this week. So although there is a lot going on with all the birds nesting, there isn't a whole lot to report on this week. Here are some pics.
The mud at Sunset seep is cleaned out now. The tsunami caused our freshwater to become salty enough to keep the fish that were washed into the seep alive. We got some surprising fish out of this seep including a Hawaiian lionfish, threadfin butterflyfish, barred knifejaw, Hawaiian flagtails, yellowfin goatfish and a Steindachner's moray eel. They were all returned to the ocean. If you want to see what some of those fish look like, check out Keoki Stender's website: http://www.marinelifephotography.com/ He's got great photos.
Penny and Dennis band a black-footed albatross chick.
This wandering tattler is just about to get splashed.
These are the old Marine Barracks near the airport. They haven't been used for quite a few years, but at least they aren't falling in yet.
This is an old bunker behind the Marine barracks. There are only two of this type of bunkers on the island. There is a big room on each side of the middle of this tunnel.
This green sea turtle was swimming by in the harbor.
It was a beautiful week. Nice and sunny but cool. This week we did a little extra duck work. We are trying to get a good population estimate after the tsunami and botulism outbreaks, so we are looking at a lot of duck bands that can be fairly difficult to read. We also cleaned the second of the three seeps over on Eastern Island. Only one more seep to go. The volunteers are just about done banding the albatross chicks too.
This is Rolondo seep. We pumped out the water, then scooped out the muck in the bottom.
The chicks like to sit in the road. You have to drive carefully because they won't move for vehicles.
This albatross wanted my shoe untied for some reason.
This duck has a pretty good band. It says WE. This was one of the original ducks brought from Laysan.
This is the snorkel spot we went to a week or so ago. It's called Reef Hotel. There are a couple of deep cuts in the coral nearby where a lot of big fish hang out.
It doesn't look like much from above. Reef Hotel was a spot where there was a pier with a little building. It was used to perform drilling operations to find out how deep the original rock of the island is.
This is a stripebelly puffer that was at Reef Hotel.
This boat was used for tours back when there was a major visitor program here. It hasn't been used for years and is now in our boneyard with the other out of commission equipment.
I'll try to show you more building pictures. This is the power plant. We don't use the generators that are in the building anymore. They were too big for our island population. The new ones are in the white storage containers that you see.
The full trailer for the Spielberg-produced Transformers: Dark of the Moon is now online, and the concept of a black-ops space program and even extraterrestrial Disclosure itself are central to the film's plot.
For in-depth discussion of Hollyood's utilization of Disclosure-related discourse in the UFO subgenre, see my recent article on the subject, and for an overview of Spielberg's historical fascination with UFOs, check out Spielberg's Saucer Secrets.
Does Hollywood really drive UFOlogy, as many sceptics suggest? What are the arguments for and against the idea that big screen entertainment fuels the UFO mythos? How has the Disclosure movement of the 21st Century influenced Hollywood's millennial UFO movies?
Over at Bryce Zabel and Richard Dolan's A.D. After Disclosure site, I have a new article addressing these and related questions.
I was finally able to catch up on a little work this week. No ships or major weather events. We had a group of photographers here again, but they really just like to go take pictures and don't need a lot from me. It's been nice and sunny and a bit cool. That's good for the albatross chicks because they won't dehydrate so quickly. We also got a chance to go look for nets on the reef and picked up a couple of small net peices. It was beautiful. The water is finally starting to warm up, and was nice and clear. I forgot to add a fish picture before I started typing my text, and this blog program is difficult with a slow connection, so I'll just have to put up a pic next week. Alright, I'll keep it short this week and give you some pictures.
I had a request to show the cross on the eastern end of Sand Island. I'm not sure when the last time that there were actually Easter services here. Here is what the plaque says:
I showed you a picture of 3 people cleaning the Monument Seep a couple of weeks ago and not getting done. We brought back some reinforcements and finished the job.
We pumped out all of the water and scooped out pretty much all of the muck to reduce the anaerobic conditions in which bacteria that produce avian botulism like.
A Laysan albatross feeds its chick some squid (and probably a little plastic too).
The chicks in the old parade field are doing pretty well.
The Short-tailed albatross chick is getting its adult feathers.
I saw the dolphins again today when I was coming back from Eastern Island today.
One of our canaries sits on a twig. No story, just a nice yellow bird.
