“As a professional photographer with 40 years’ experience, there is something so wrong with that photo of the ‘aircraft carrier’ UFO from Oz.”

So wrote Malcolm Brenner of Florida in response to the exclusive photo article in UFO Digest (November 13, 2008 http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1108/flying-aircraft-carrier.html).

But he went even further: “ It looks like a string of cheap beads held up at both ends and photographed out-of-focus against the sky. Unless, of course, you have cropped it...

“But how could you hang anything on such a bad photo? Especially a reputation? I sure wouldn't.”

There’s no doubt that Mr. Brenner ….www.photosbymalcolm.com is not alone in his comments and criticisms.

However, having been a photo-journalist, TV news cameraman and documentary maker/director since 1960, I’m inclined to trust my own judgment in such matters.

This was my reply: "the pic was taken by a subscriber (to my Earth Change Report newsletter) in Australia and personally I have no doubt at all that the photograph was not staged in any way.

“The thought that it might be beads shot out of focus is however understandable. Since it was shot through the windscreen of a vehicle, the possibility of light refraction was also considered before publication.

“Nevertheless the original (too large to print here) clearly shows cloud obscuring at least some of the object...as can be seen in this zoomed and cropped image...which in my judgment rules out both beads and refraction.”

Which elicited the following response: “Your photo on the web was virtually useless for anything involving photo-interpretation, from my POV, but of course I have not seen the original.

“Nor do I believe you mentioned the fact that it was shot through a windshield in the accompanying article, although it might have slipped my mind.

“Virtually anything shot through glass, especially a light source, is subject to secondary reflections. And windshields have all kinds of junk on them..”

That’s all true. But there are a couple of important observations to make here.

One is that I have no “reputation” hanging on the photograph or the story. Unlike many mainstream reporters and various authors, I actually believe readers should be given information which they can evaluate for themselves and come to their own conclusions, just as Mr. Brenner has.

I prefer having faith in people’s ability to think for themselves over the idea that anyone (me included) should be seen as an “authority” or “expert” with a reputation that needs defending.

Perhaps it’s the fact that there are so many opinions circulating about UFOs that has actually delayed wider public acceptance of their reality – and the likelihood of a mass encounter sometime in the near future.

Doubt has its place of course, especially if one is looking for facts and truth.

Nevertheless, it can also act like a set of blinders – of the sort that blind one to possibilities outside the so-called ‘normal.’

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