High altitude aerial photographs.

This is my first post on this site.

I read hundreds upon hundreds of posts to get up to speed on this site and the Flat Earth Theory before posting.

What follows are two high altitude photos of Earth. This first one was taken from a record-breaking balloon flight:



The whole story on the flight, done by students, is here:

Engineering Students Launch Record-breaking Balloon
ScienceDaily (June 18, 2008) ? Early-career engineers at Lockheed Martin who are also earning engineering degrees at Cornell broke the world amateur high-altitude balloon record in a recent near-space flight that exceeded 125,000 feet.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617120433.htm

The second was taken by airplane over the oceans around Alaska:






They both appear, to me, to show Earth's curvature.

Does anyone here have any high altitude photos that show Earth being flat?

I have flown from Los Angeles to Hawaii and back six times and noted the curvature on one of those trips. In fact, my girlfriend and I discussed how amazing it was that the ocean would stay on a round planet and marveled at the power of gravity to accomplish such a feat. Now, here, I'm urged to believe my own eyes lied to me at the same time her own eyes were lying to her?

These photos obviously display the curvature of our Earth. (Non-FE here). A FE believer will probably come in here blabbering about how those photos are "photoshopped" and that the stories were just "fabricated" to try and "add to the conspiracy". And they will also try and say that you were not at a high enough altitude to see the Earth's curvature.
Oh well. I guess we just have to realize that this website is completely made up of trolls.

The photos are probably not photo shopped.  Lens distortion on the other hand....more than likely.

You cannot see the "curvature" of the earth from any current commercial airliner.  If you do some research most will say that 65,000 ft is the lowest that it is discernible.   

What those photos may show is the spotlight of the sun shining down on the flat earth, which would appear to have round edges. 

The photos are probably not photo shopped.  Lens distortion on the other hand....more than likely.

You cannot see the "curvature" of the earth from any current commercial airliner.  If you do some research most will say that 65,000 ft is the lowest that it is discernible.

What those photos may show is the spotlight of the sun shining down on the flat earth, which would appear to have round edges. 

So in other words, yes, my eyes and my girlfriend's eyes were just lying to us at 40,000 feet even though we both had perfect vision at the time such that we both noticed it independently and struck up such a noteworthy conversation I recall it very clearly years later. Okay.

I did some research as you suggested and find more than a few people reporting noticing a slight curvature -- like that shown in the second picture I posted above -- from the window seat of a commercial airliner. Not just me on that one.

Must've been the lenses in our eyes distorting.   

When I shine a spotlight down on some flat object, the edges do not look curved to me. I just did it.

BTW, I've sailed in open seas, and I noticed that I could not see very far. I've sailed toward, and away from, various land marks and have watched them slowly disappear until only the top was visible. Was that the lenses of my eyes tricking me, too? If so, it's the same tricky lens birth defect sailors have had since back when most people thought the Earth was flat and they'd sail off the edge of it (guarded ice wall notwithstanding).

I am trying to have a serious conversation here. But it's tough to do if you tell me the lenses of millions of human eyes spanning several hundred years of recorded history were all lying to them, tricking them, distoring them, between the time the image hits the eyes and the interpretation occurs in the brain. We're all... what... blind? Do you really truly believe that without any science to back it up, or have I missed the science on all this?

No not the lenses in your eyes, the lense of the camera.  And what you saw out the airplane window was distortion from the window itself.  Considering it is installed into a curved fuselage.  Trust me you don't want to go to bat with me about airplane issues.  As for the sailor stuff.  There are many theories.  You can do a search for bendy light.  It is not my forte so I will leave that one for the others to discuss with you.

You cannot, absolutely cannot see the supposed "curvature" of the earth below about 65,000 ft.  Sorry its a fact.

So when we take a picture of a flat object it looks like a flat object, unless it's the flat Earth which though it is flat actually just looks round -- even though all other flat objects, when photographed, appear just as flat as they actually are?

Is this your own idea, or one to which all Flat Earth Theorists adhere or upon which there is wide agreement?

You cannot, absolutely cannot see the supposed "curvature" of the earth below about 65,000 ft.  Sorry its a fact.

Your field of view has a lot to do with determining at what altitude curvature would become detectable.

Quote from: WardoggKC130FE on April 08, 2009, 04:42:10 PM

You cannot, absolutely cannot see the supposed "curvature" of the earth below about 65,000 ft.  Sorry its a fact.

Your field of view has a lot to do with determining at what altitude curvature would become detectable.

You mean at what altitude you can see the edge of the spotlight, amirite?

Quote from: markjo on April 08, 2009, 07:08:16 PM

Quote from: WardoggKC130FE on April 08, 2009, 04:42:10 PM

You cannot, absolutely cannot see the supposed "curvature" of the earth below about 65,000 ft.  Sorry its a fact.

Your field of view has a lot to do with determining at what altitude curvature would become detectable.

You mean at what altitude you can see the edge of the spotlight, amirite?

I don't know.  Are you?

No not the lenses in your eyes, the lense of the camera.  And what you saw out the airplane window was distortion from the window itself.  Considering it is installed into a curved fuselage.  Trust me you don't want to go to bat with me about airplane issues.  As for the sailor stuff.  There are many theories.  You can do a search for bendy light.  It is not my forte so I will leave that one for the others to discuss with you.

You cannot, absolutely cannot see the supposed "curvature" of the earth below about 65,000 ft.  Sorry its a fact.

Not correct. What you are describing is a curvature human eyes/brains can discern. You can take pics at ~30000 ft, which is plane heights, then take them into a paint program, then draw a straight line across the horizon, and it wont line up cause its a curve.

You cannot, absolutely cannot see the supposed "curvature" of the earth below about 65,000 ft.  Sorry its a fact.

If it is a fact, then surely you can prove it. Please do so.

I must admit: I find your certainty puzzling. You claim you do not believe the earth is round, yet you categorically claim to know an absolute height, for certain, at which the Earth's supposed curvature can be seen. How can you know the Earth is flat but also know a certain height at which Earth's curvature can supposedly be seen? Those two ideas clash harshly. Care to explain your reasoning? If not, does any other Flat Earth Spokesman care to explain?

The photos are probably not photo shopped.  Lens distortion on the other hand....more than likely.

You cannot see the "curvature" of the earth from any current commercial airliner.

Try Concorde.

(Yes I know concorde doesn't fly anymore, but when it did people saw the curvature)

What those photos may show is the spotlight of the sun shining down on the flat earth, which would appear to have round edges. 

Your previous argument was that there is no perceptable curvature. Now you're saying there is curvature, and that is is the "spotlight" (huh?)

Make your mind up please.

And what you saw out the airplane window was distortion from the window itself.  Considering it is installed into a curved fuselage.  Trust me you don't want to go to bat with me about airplane issues. 

The glass installed in most commercial airliner windows is flat, not curved. 

And besides, curvature alone in glass does not cause objects viewed through the glass to appeared curved.  Is the windshield in your car flat? 

Nice try, though.

Quote from: WardoggKC130FE on April 08, 2009, 04:42:10 PM

And what you saw out the airplane window was distortion from the window itself.  Considering it is installed into a curved fuselage.  Trust me you don't want to go to bat with me about airplane issues. 

The glass installed in most commercial airliner windows is flat, not curved. 

And besides, curvature alone in glass does not cause objects viewed through the glass to appeared curved.  Is the windshield in your car flat? 

Nice try, though.

The curved windshield in my car does distort my view.  Nice try, though.

Quote from: equinox on April 09, 2009, 12:38:34 PM

Quote from: WardoggKC130FE on April 08, 2009, 04:42:10 PM

And what you saw out the airplane window was distortion from the window itself.  Considering it is installed into a curved fuselage.  Trust me you don't want to go to bat with me about airplane issues. 

The glass installed in most commercial airliner windows is flat, not curved. 

And besides, curvature alone in glass does not cause objects viewed through the glass to appeared curved.  Is the windshield in your car flat? 

Nice try, though.

The curved windshield in my car does distort my view.  Nice try, though.

Really, it makes everything that is straight appear curved?  Try looking straight through your windshield at a known flat edge, such as the roofline on a house.  Hold up a ruler.

I am now guilty of that which I said I would not do on this site, which is get involved in the petty, while overlooking the point.  Shame on me.

Quote from: equinox on April 09, 2009, 12:38:34 PM

Quote from: WardoggKC130FE on April 08, 2009, 04:42:10 PM

And what you saw out the airplane window was distortion from the window itself.  Considering it is installed into a curved fuselage.  Trust me you don't want to go to bat with me about airplane issues. 

The glass installed in most commercial airliner windows is flat, not curved. 

And besides, curvature alone in glass does not cause objects viewed through the glass to appeared curved.  Is the windshield in your car flat? 

Nice try, though.

The curved windshield in my car does distort my view.  Nice try, though.

The curved windshield in my car does not distort my view.  Nice try, though.

Quote from: WardoggKC130FE on April 08, 2009, 03:34:09 PM

The photos are probably not photo shopped.  Lens distortion on the other hand....more than likely.

You cannot see the "curvature" of the earth from any current commercial airliner.

Your previous argument was that there is no perceptable curvature. Now you're saying there is curvature, and that is is the "spotlight" (huh?)

Make your mind up please.

Notice the quotation marks around the word curvature?  What did you think those were for exactly?

Let's drop the curvature point, as from both sides it's simply a side effect of the model, making neither weaker.

one point I would like to bring up, however, is show by images taken from a balloon launch here, specifically this image:

http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cuspaceflight/images/nova8selected/IMG_0843.JPG

As you can see, there is the Earth, with a shape similar to a section of a circle, with the Sun above it. In both models, this represents a image close to dawn or dusk, looking at the Sun. What I would like to point out is the Sun's reflection on the Earth. If this were a shot of a FE, then the reflection would be close to, or off of the bottom of, the image. Yet the reflection is up close to the most distant edge of the spotlight, where it should be dimmest. I can't see how this fits with the FE model.

Let's drop the curvature point, as from both sides it's simply a side effect of the model, making neither weaker.

one point I would like to bring up, however, is show by images taken from a balloon launch here, specifically this image:

http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cuspaceflight/images/nova8selected/IMG_0843.JPG

As you can see, there is the Earth, with a shape similar to a section of a circle, with the Sun above it. In both models, this represents a image close to dawn or dusk, looking at the Sun. What I would like to point out is the Sun's reflection on the Earth. If this were a shot of a FE, then the reflection would be close to, or off of the bottom of, the image. Yet the reflection is up close to the most distant edge of the spotlight, where it should be dimmest. I can't see how this fits with the FE model.

The only "cogent" reply you are going to receive is that the image is faked by the Ice Wall Guards and their evil minions. (Oh, wait. Are the Ice Wall Guards the evil minions of Conspiracy Ringleaders, or is it the other way around?) If the image is real, it's another in a sea of pictures disproving FE, so of course it must be debunked and written off as fake. That's how this all works, because this site is not about the earth actually being flat and nobody here actually believes in the theory.

Have you by chance read the thread where numerous "leaders" of this brigade quote their favorite off topic statements: http://theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=26117.0


Great image, by the way. Thank you for sharing it.

Quote from: equinox on April 09, 2009, 12:38:34 PM

Quote from: WardoggKC130FE on April 08, 2009, 04:42:10 PM

And what you saw out the airplane window was distortion from the window itself.  Considering it is installed into a curved fuselage.  Trust me you don't want to go to bat with me about airplane issues. 

The glass installed in most commercial airliner windows is flat, not curved. 

And besides, curvature alone in glass does not cause objects viewed through the glass to appeared curved.  Is the windshield in your car flat? 

Nice try, though.

The curved windshield in my car does distort my view.  Nice try, though.

Right.

And when you drive through the downtown area, the curvature of your car's windshield makes the flat buildings look like spheres. The only reason that doesn't happen in the automotive experience of Round Earth Suckers is that The Conspiracy saw to it that our curved windshields had special, NASA-funded dampeners to prevent this effect. Those bastards thought of everything.

No, car windshields aren't curved. They distort ones view very subtly .

Isn't it amazing how conditioning can make people deny what is right in front of their faces?

No, car windshields aren't curved. They distort ones view very subtly .

In what way?

Don't forget that gravity and the atmosphere itself bend light, not to mention our eyes are less than perfect instruments. The Earth, like most other planets, isn't spherical, even though it may appear to be from a distance.

Don't forget that gravity and the atmosphere itself bend light, not to mention our eyes are less than perfect instruments. The Earth, like most other planets, isn't spherical, even though it may appear to be from a distance.

You sir are fucking retarded.

Quote from: BBBS on May 07, 2009, 05:49:25 AM

Don't forget that gravity and the atmosphere itself bend light, not to mention our eyes are less than perfect instruments. The Earth, like most other planets, isn't spherical, even though it may appear to be from a distance.

You sir are fucking retarded.

I am simply able to evaluate the evidence and see things how they are. Being able to perceive a slight curve from the window - the lens - of an airliner with another lens, your eye, does not imply that Earth is a sphere anymore than it does that it's a cylinder.

Quote from: pewpinyourmouth on May 07, 2009, 05:51:57 AM

Quote from: BBBS on May 07, 2009, 05:49:25 AM

Don't forget that gravity and the atmosphere itself bend light, not to mention our eyes are less than perfect instruments. The Earth, like most other planets, isn't spherical, even though it may appear to be from a distance.

You sir are fucking retarded.

I am simply able to evaluate the evidence and see things how they are. Being able to perceive a slight curve from the window - the lens - of an airliner with another lens, your eye, does not imply that Earth is a sphere anymore than it does that it's a cylinder.

It implies that you are idiotic for thinking that all scientists are wrong and that internet fags are right.

Look at it this way: with a compound lens, such as an SLR camera, the image displayed in the viewfinder isn't affected by the angle you view it from. Besides, the multiple layers of material in an airliner window aren't the main issue; dark energy, atmosphere and gravity have somewhat of an effect, but it's mainly an illusion caused by the way people perceive distance.

We should probably forget most pictures, as they're not accurate enough to use as proof.

Quote from: BBBS on May 07, 2009, 06:13:01 AM

Quote from: pewpinyourmouth on May 07, 2009, 05:51:57 AM

Quote from: BBBS on May 07, 2009, 05:49:25 AM

Don't forget that gravity and the atmosphere itself bend light, not to mention our eyes are less than perfect instruments. The Earth, like most other planets, isn't spherical, even though it may appear to be from a distance.

You sir are fucking retarded.

I am simply able to evaluate the evidence and see things how they are. Being able to perceive a slight curve from the window - the lens - of an airliner with another lens, your eye, does not imply that Earth is a sphere anymore than it does that it's a cylinder.

It implies that you are idiotic for thinking that all scientists are wrong and that internet fags are right.

Most scientists can only know for certain what they've researched themselves, the rest they learn like anybody else. Any experiments that are supposed to prove the Earth is flat will be easy enough to criticize.

It wouldn't take more than a few hundred people to hide the truth. And most believe this to be a conspiracy to keep power and wealth than another more sinister motive. Keep it simple: if people continue to think the world is round, NASA and defense agencies can profit wildly from their programs, it confuses developing nations and keeps the balance of power within the technologically developed nations.

Knowledge is power. Power is a thing the conspirators want to keep.