Ed Grimsley believes that with the latest generation of night vision goggles anyone can observe on-going battles between different alien factions in the night sky over Earth. Or, they might be military aircraft engaged in training exercises, or possibly military aircraft in actual combat using secret technology. Who's the good guy? Who's the enemy? Is it real? For about twenty thousand dollars you can watch and form your own opinion.

ATN PhantomIR Thermal
Vision Binocular

Only the latest generation of night vision technology offers the resolution needed for observation of small but very distant objects. Night vision isn't simple amplification of light -- the technology it places in between the human eye and the outside world creates new problems and new opportunities for misinterpretation. What you actually see when looking into a night vision device is an LCD screen a few inches from your eyes. Stereo systems use two screens and mono systems use one. You're not looking into outer space with one of these things -- you're watching an electronic representation of something the machine itself detects. That opens the door to amazing new information and amazing new distortions of perception. We don't really understand all the things that can go wrong, so keep an open mind and be critical.

The high resolution of new night vision systems makes detail observable at much greater distances than before, but what we see when we look at the night sky through these devices needs criticism. Are those UFO's, or are they bugs? It's really hard for us to tell except by interpretation of behavior.

If a formation of lights seen only through night vision goggles moves across the sky and keep the same general orientation -- like a flight of military aircraft -- that's a good sign you're watching something unusual. If the movements seem individual and random, you might be watching insects at closer range. Perception of distance is the real problem here. You're looking at a very small stereo screen, not at the night sky. Objects close up and tiny could look the same as objects far away and large.

The new night vision systems do seem to reveal new information. You don't get this from older versions of the same technology which had less resolution. But exactly what's up there? No one knows as yet. It's worth watching, but it could turn out to be totally explainable in ways that aren't nearly as interesting as interstellar alien combat.