NOVA Video - "A
Very Peculiar Aeroplane"
This section is rather lengthy so let's
start by stating that most of the images here have been processed using
Photoshop utilizing primarily the Focus Magic plug-in for Photoshop. I've also
used the standard functions in Photoshop along with the Quantum Mechanic and
the Neat Image plug-ins. To begin with, relevant fields of the UA175 aircraft
and WTC2 tower were extracted from the NOVA DVD 'Why The Towers Fell'.
These extracted fields of the UA175 aircraft and WTC2 tower were composited in
Photoshop allowing us to see the entire airframe in relation to the WTC2 tower.
The image below shows the result of a basic enhancement using the 'fix motion
blur' function from the Focus Magic plug-in and the 'levels' function native to
Photoshop. The motion blur correction factor was gauged using the tail section
and the starboard wing collectively:
With the motion blur removed we can now
see a much clearer and sharper airframe. The elongated marking on the front of
the fuselage that some people believe to be a missile turns out to be a circular
luminescent patch. The motion blur makes the circular luminescent patch look
longer and darker than it actually was in the uncorrected image. Please note
that the dark patches adjacent to the circular luminescent patch are a function
of a limitation in the video technology called 'ringing'. It is highly unlikely
that these black markings are actually as real as they appear to be.
With a basic level of enhancement established we can resolve the NOVA UA175
impact sequence in its entirety. In the contact sheet below motion blur was
removed across each individual image and the 'levels' were optimized across the
entire composite:
Comparative visual examination of the NOVA
UA175 aircraft reveals a shorter wing chord length and relative forward
positioning of the wings. The nose tip is more reminiscent of a torpedo than an
aircraft and the asymmetric tail section with its high sweep back angle
aerofoils look like they have more in common with the aerodynamic stabilizers
from an arrow or dart. There is the possibility that the wings are shorter than
the wings on the Boeing 767-200 although this is speculative because it is
difficult to accurately gauge the bank angle of the NOVA UA175 aircraft.
A technical analysis reveals that the fuselage trunk length of the NOVA UA175
aircraft is approximately 3.5 meters shorter than the 47.24 meter fuselage
trunk length of the Boeing 767-200. This puts the NOVA UA175 fuselage trunk
length at approximately 44 meters. The diameter of the NOVA UA175 aircrafts
fuselage is approximately 4 meters, putting it just 1 meter short of the Boeing
767-200's fuselage width of 5.03 meters.
Further examination of the NOVA UA175
aircraft in comparison to the CG Boeing 767-200 exposes a host of discrete
airframe and lighting anomalies. I've numbered theses anomalies from 1 to 9 in
the image below:
1 - Circular luminescent circular patch toward the nose of the UA175 aircraft.
2 - False wing shadow on fuselage.
3 - Excessive sweep back angle on tail fin.
4 - Small and thin starboard tail plane section.
5 - Apparent tail fin logo.
6 - Excessive sweep back angle on port tail plane.
7 - Apparent symmetrical flattening and bulging of rear fuselage underside.
8 - Possible excessive sweep back angle of port wing.
9 - Incorrect sun illumination on fuselage.
The circular luminescent patch (1) could
be a specular reflection from the fuselage:
But as you can see from the montage above,
the reflection should be elongated rather than circular. Flight Simulators
'dynamic reflectivity' function produced highlights across the entire front
section of the fuselage in a similar fashion as exhibited by the 3 United Airlines
Boeing 767-200's shown below:
The circular luminescent patch doesn't
even appear on the tapered section of fuselage. If you look closely it's on a
straight section of fuselage so the reflection would have to be elongated. The
circular luminescent patch also occurs on a point where the fuselage is in
partial shadow (9) and consequently my conclusion is that the circular
luminescent patch is not a specular reflection at all. It appears to be an independent
source of light. Please note that the shadowing on the fuselage suggests that
the sun was at a much higher position in the sky than it actually was at 9:03am
in Manhattan on 911. It is conceivable that the dark underside of the fuselage
is actually the aircrafts livery. If this is the case then the NOVA UA175
aircraft did not have a United Airlines livery. Instead it has a bland, grey
livery with no prominent markings other than a possible logo on the tail fin
(5).
For some reason the starboard wing of the NOVA UA175 aircraft seems to be
casting an impossible square shadow (2) on the fuselage:
From this viewing angle the shadow should
be triangular in appearance, starting at the rear of the wing root and making
its way back to the top of the fuselage and then terminating at a point
equidistant from the tail fin to the middle of the fuselage:
I could find no match for the sharp sweep
back angle on tail fin (3) in other Boeing and Airbus models. This high sweep
back angle is not a characteristic of the Boeing 767-200 at the same viewing
angle and attitude of the aircraft seen in the video.
The starboard horizontal stabilizer (4) appears to be unusually thin in
comparison to the port horizontal stabilizer (6) and has a different sweep back
angle. The horizontal and vertical aerofoils at the rear of the NOVA UA175
aircraft (3, 4 and 6) bear no resemblance to the horizontal and vertical
aerofoils of a Boeing 767-200.
The port horizontal stabilizer exhibits greater sweep back angle than the port
horizontal stabilizer on the Boeing 767-200 and the port wing exhibits some
sign of 'port wing anomaly' (8).
There is only one apparent similarity between the NOVA UA175 aircraft and a
real Boeing 767-200 with a United Airlines livery and that is what appears to
be a logo on the tail fin (5). Technically this should be impossible because
the CG Boeing 767-200 indicates that the starboard elevator is obscuring the
tail fin logo.
On the rear underside of the fuselage of the NOVA UA 175 aircraft we can see
what seems to be symmetrical horizontal bloating and flattening of the fuselage
(7). This
is not a characteristic of the Boeing 767-200.
Having compared the composited NOVA UA175
aircraft to other Boeing and Airbus models I can conclude that this aircraft
does not match models from either manufacturer, although the airframe bears a
vague proportional resemblance to the Boeing 767-300 with its 53.67 meter
fuselage trunk length. The NOVA UA175 aircraft is not any Boeing 737, the
longest model being the Boeing 737-900 with an overall length of 42.11 meters.
In general the NOVA UA175 aircrafts asymmetric airframe is shorter than a
Boeing 767-200, appears to have a different wing span to a Boeing 767-200, has
a smaller fuselage diameter than a Boeing 767-200 and has different aerofoil
positions on the fuselage to a Boeing 767-200. In other words the NOVA UA175
aircraft is not a Boeing 767-200 or any distinguishable aircraft thus making it
a very peculiar aeroplane indeed.
No analysis of the NOVA video would be complete without the 'flash' frame. Due
to difficulties enhancing the area around the flash I opted for nominal visual
enhancement:
It is not possible to determine where the
flash emanates from, but it does appear to be in close proximity to the
circular luminescent patch and inside the shadow wedge being cast by the WTC2
tower over the aircrafts impact area. It is conceivable that the circular
luminescent patch and the flash are related in some way.
The flash appears in other UA175 aircraft videos although most of these videos
seem to be fake and the shape of the flash in them is different to the shape of
the flash in the NOVA video. At the present time the cause of the flash remains
is open to speculation.
The set up of the NOVA camera shot is quite different from other UA175 impact
videos. The grey deformed UA175 aircraft only just makes it into frame and the
video camera angle suggests that WTC1 was the focus of the subject. The
recording of the UA175 aircraft in the NOVA video looks genuinely fortuitous
while showing no obvious signs of forgery or manipulation:
If the NOVA video is fake then why did the
forgers insert the wrong aeroplane into the video, especially one that doesn't
look like any kind of aircraft at all. Other fake UA175 videos show a more
convincing aircraft than this, like the Park Foreman video as a good example.
Whatever the NOVA UA175 aircraft is, it is not the same aircraft we see in the
Live Video, the Robert Clark Photograph or the CNN Best Angle Video. In fact,
the NOVA UA175 aircraft is quite unique and stands out from all the other
supposed UA175 aircraft videos or photographs.