A day after requesting comment and publishing a video analysis submitted by a ufowatchdog.com reader, the website originally posting often too dramatic UFO footage has come forward claiming it all to be an experimental digital video project funded by the Australian government. A person identifying himself as Christopher Kenworthy has taken credit for producing the video clips that appeared on the Australian UFO Wave 2006 website.
Kenworthy claims to have received funding from the Australian Film Commission for his project, which he originally proposed as "the art of illusion" by manufacturing fake UFO footage "not to trick people with visual effects, but to create emotions and sensations that would be impossible without digital technology. It is a genuine art event, rather than a simple deception."
A statement on the website adds that the videos were created to "give people a taste of the drama and excitement of a UFO Close Encounter," to supposedly "improve research into videos of genuine UFOs," and to "show skeptics that they often rely on faith rather than evidence."
Kenworthy claims that very few people suspected the clips were manufactured, but ufowatchdog.com observed there were numerous researchers in the core of serious UFOlogy who were laughing and shaking their heads at many of the clips, and not taking the website at all seriously. Most noteably, the video clips of a supposed alien, a UFO "attacking a car, a box formation of UFO lights, and a video supposedly shot from a plane's in-camera system were regarded as bogus just by their appearance alone.
While the original analysis posted here at ufowatchdog.com from an anonymous source was incorrect as to what the object was (the source said a jet liner, but it was a fighter jet), the source was correct in the aspect that the UFO created in a certain clip was achieved with CG compositing. ufowatchdog.com initially thought the object in the film clip was a fighter jet with retractable wings after observing the sun hitting what appeared to be a cockpit on the object (see news section links 2006 Australia Daylight UFO Video - UFO or Jet? and UFO Filmed From Aircraft...?).
ufowatchdog.com attempted to reach Kenworthy for comment, but only received the following e-mail:
From : <wearenotalone@mac.com>
Sent : Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:48 PM
To : ufowatchdog@msn.com
Subject : Re: UFO WebsiteThanks for getting in touch. Please note that email regarding www.australianufowave.com is no longer being read. If your email is about something else it will be passed on to me, and I'll be in touch soon.
In the end, Kenworthy's claims of wanting to improve upon UFO research having any merit are suspect and perhaps have been added to enhance his claims in an attempt to also appeal to those with an interest in UFOs and skeptics alike - after all, Kenworthy still is producing a documentary on his UFO website's fake footage. Kenworthy's admission also is rather convenient in light of it coming a day after ufowatchdog.com posted its original story.
ufowatchdog.com has again attempted to contact Kenworthy for comment, but has received no reply as of this story. Reader comments are welcomed.