Saturday 7 April 2012

Still no news on UFOTOG

UPDATE 10 September 2012

See Douglas Trumbull's response to my email to him about UFOTOG here

In June 2010, Douglas Trumbull, the visual effects expert famous for his work on Hollywood blockbusters like 2001 A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of The Third Kind made his UFOTOG project public via his website.

In his video Mr Trumbull explains that he is, of course, very well qualified to spot bogus or fake UFO video or photo footage given that he's been a leader in the business of visual - including digital video - effects for many years.  He then demonstrates how easy it is to fake reasonably convincing UFO footage using just cooking utensils as an example.

What really interested me was his project - presumably at considerable personal expense - to fit his own personal Humvee with state-of-the-art telescopic video cameras complete with night sight, infra-red and ultraviolet spectroscopic functions (amongst others) and computer tracking, identification and recording software. The vehicle which he dubs 'UFOTOG' could deploy in areas of reportedly high UFO activity and track the sky for anything unusual, whilst being able to filter out 'noise' in the form of all the usual man-made or natural activity.

I really liked the idea of this project potentially being able to triangulate, monitor and record UFO activity. I thought that - at last - we might be looking at a comprehensive field study of the phenomenon from individuals with extensive and industry-standard filming and video expertise (and with considerable financial backing too it seems). The hope for many would be that solid, reliable data could be gathered that could withstand rigorous scientific scrutiny which would then be the subject of a documentary or film. This would make a welcome change from the vast mass of poor amateur - and mostly fake - footage clogging up the net and lacking any serious analysis.

So I waited with baited breath to see what the coming months after the introductory video's posting would reveal.

Now I can understand that Mr Trumbull is likely to be a very busy man and may not have had much time to devote to this particular project, although I'm assuming he has various friends or colleagues supporting him in the gathering of footage and data. In addition, the project will take time to bear fruit when considering that UFOTOG has to go to various locations, film over a period of hours/days with the resultant footage having to then be analysed, filtered and catalogued.

However, so far there hasn't been a single update on this project. Not even anything saying whether UFOTOG has gone on any field visits at all. Given that 21 months have passed since the intro video's posting this seems a little odd, especially as a lot of time and effort already appears to have been invested in this project.

I've used a couple of search engines to see if there is any more news elsewhere on this but so far there is nothing.

If anyone has seen anything that suggests what is going on with this project (if anything) I would be interested to hear from you.

19 comments:

  1. Have you tried emailing him? douglashtrumbull@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. also .... dht@trumbullventuresllc.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Super Yikes and Ghostrider. Thanks for posting on my blog. I had considered this but thought either Mr Trumbull might be too busy, or my enquiry might be diverted straight to the bin/trash. But I'll give it a whirl. Before I do - have either of you ever emailed him and had a response?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmmm. As it happens, if you view my post of 26 June, you will see I have sent Mr Trumbull an email. He has already briefly responded seeking more info re: my request. So let's wait and see what he has to say.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Don. Thanks for your post. No update since his brief response of 2 July (which I can do a screen capture of in case anyone requires proof).

    I will send him a gentle reminder as it's been nearly 2 months since his email.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi. Could you send that reminder? I'm also curious as to what they have to say.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi András. Sorry I was a bit late responding. Have been taking a break from blogging for a couple of weeks. I plan to send a reminder email to Doug Trumbull in the next 24 hours. Doubt that it will illicit another response but let's see...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jonathan,
    Did he respond? I, like you, really thought that "ufotog" would finally give something solid after all these months... but sadly I must agree with one of the other posters in that the gov most likely suppressed his research or stole his very costly equipment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there,

      Indeed he did. At the top of the page, if you click on the word "here" after "See Douglas Trumbull's response to my email to him about UFOTOG", it will take you to this post
      http://ufoscrutiny.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/douglas-trumbulls-response-on-ufotog.html I'm afraid neither supposition about his project not moving forward is correct. He simply couldn't find financial backing for it.

      Delete
  9. Mr trumbull states "UFOTOG is not a priority project with me right now"
    but how can this type of project not be a priority!
    Dr steven greer and steve bassett have already outlined how making contact with E.T beings could help solve all the serious global problems we have which are only getting worse. i think people like Mr trumbull have to decide what is more important in life and for the planet, making money or trying to find E.T.visitors who may help us change the world for the better.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is an awesome response from Mr. Trumbull and I understand exactly where he is coming from. I have created counter ied systems but cannot get any of the needed money to create and live fire test my ideas.
    The recurrent theme seems to be "lets just stay stupid." Until and unless some companies or people of means step up, we'll remain stupid, ignorant and losing not only people (soldiers) but the ability to further our intelligence and move into the future. (*See Moore's Law.) Best, David

    ReplyDelete
  11. maybe team up with Dr. leir, either he is also real or the best faker around :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Why dont he just team up with doc greer ?? or better still give him (greer) that awesome bit of kit and let someone make use of it !! im sure doc will be over the moon with that rig , and in time it will pay for its self maybe then we can have some proper footage which we are all still waiting for!! how many more years is it going to be before we see a f****r close up !! something has got to give soon FFS. gibbsy WALES UK.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The CE5 initiative groups run by doc greer are PERFECT FKIN PERFECT!! can someone email "DOUG" and "DOC" and suggest this, loan the group that HMV they have had contact of some sort on every expedition, lets get this thing rolling, the amount of fantastic gear that mobile HMV got is just the ticket for getting some real ball bustin FOOTAGE !!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear All - Thanks for your comments - and sorry I have been late responding due to broadband problems. I suggest that you all directly email Doug Trumbull with your ideas/comments (but leave out the expletives if you can please). It may be that the more he is aware of the support out there, the more inclined he might be to pursue the project through something such as 'Kickstarter' for example.
    For my part I'll be suggesting at some point that he hooks up with his old chum Ridley Scott to see if he's at all interested...

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think that asking the question "what is the government covering up?" or anything similar is the wrong question. Or at least the wrong point of view. Let's suppose that there are life forms visiting this planet. You can even suppose that our and other governments are aware. I think the better and more important question to ask is why are those life forms keeping it a secret? I find it hard to believe that they would do so for our own benefit and then allow the accidental viewing on occasion. I think the truth is so horrific that it is not hard to hide from the human point of view. I think disclosure is perhaps the last thing we want to happen. I fear that if disclosure does happen and is accepted by humanity, the alien life forms no longer have a reason to hide and then we really have problems.
    I used to try to learn as much as I could about this phenomenon. What are they hiding? Why are they hiding it? One day it occurred to me to research why we would not want to know and that search has been a lot more terrifying.
    If you are interested in this other view point, start with Dr. David M. Jacobs. I think you will want to leave well enough alone once you delve into this question.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Suggesting that Doug Trumbull associate himself in any way with Greer is the height of stupidity. You might as well stand in Yankee Stadium and publicly blow yourself up because that's what you'd be doing to your reputation and credibility. I can understand if he has to put UFOTOG on a back burner when there's no financial help on the horizon to get it going in any form that he would accept. His video has shown he has the conviction and willingness to put his name behind it, which took a lot of courage in its own right, so if he would rather put it aside until he can do it the right way, which is the only way worth doing, then I'm with him all the way. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right...and saddling himself with anyone of the likes of Greer, Bassett, or any of that ilk, would be a huge mistake. Read his letter, it's obvious he has thought this out far more clearly than most.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear All,

    Been away from blogging for a while so sorry if this is delayed. Chris Lambright makes a valid point. Doug Trumbull wants to come at the UFOTOG project from an objective (and dare I say scientific) standpoint. To associate himself with individuals who publicly endorse the ET hypothesis for most or all extreme UFO/UAP sightings would defeat the object of the whole project he envisaged. Any truly objective study of this phenomenon has to at least be seen to supply evidence without bias. The likes of Greer and Bassett (however genuine or not their motivations) are heavily baised so it would be inappropriate for Doug Trumbull (let alone career suicide) to seek their support for this project. Moreover, Doug is not a 'believer' and, like many millions out there, is still undecided on the whole issue, which to me is a perfectly reasonable and rational stance to take. As Chris also says, Mr Trumbull has been quite bold already for publicly putting his name 'out there' in connection with this subject.

    Cheers,

    Jonathan

    ReplyDelete