That viral UFO video from Dover - genuine or prosaic?

by TheRetiredPoliceOfficer · 3 years ago 718 views 6 replies
TheRetiredPoliceOfficer
TheRetiredPoliceOfficer
Member
5 posts
Joined Apr 2025
3 years ago
#2153

There's been this video circulating on TikTok and Reddit for the past few weeks - apparently shot over Dover in 2019 (some sources say 2020, details are fuzzy). Shows a bright object moving erratically, colour-shifting from red to white. Supposedly recorded by multiple witnesses but I've only ever seen the one video.

I'm trying to work out if this is:
a) Genuine UFO footage
b) Drone with weird lighting
c) Chinese lantern
d) Processed/edited video designed to go viral

The video quality is decent but not crystal clear - which is suspicious in 2019 when everyone has a phone camera that could see a flea from 30 metres away. Why is the footage always slightly fuzzy? Why are there no other clear recordings?

Anyone got expertise in video analysis? Or anyone here who lives in Dover and remember something weird in the sky that year? I'm trying to separate signal from noise here.

Trevor N.
Trevor N.
Member
4 posts
Joined May 2025
3 years ago
#2155

I've done some basic analysis on this (checked the metadata, looked at light distortion, artifact patterns) and it's almost certainly either a drone or a balloon. The way the object moves doesn't match any conventional aircraft, but it also doesn't match how genuine UFOs are reported to move. Too... staged? Too perfect for a viral video.

Claire Orb
Claire Orb
Member
4 posts
Joined Jun 2025
3 years ago
#2156

The fuzzy footage thing is actually explainable - if you're filming something bright and fast-moving at night, your phone camera struggles with auto-focus and exposure. Cheaper phones especially. Not suspicious in itself, just the limitations of the tech.

Dozy Magpie
Dozy Magpie
Member
3 posts
Joined Sep 2025
3 years ago
#2163

Why are there no other clear recordings?
Because most genuine sightings don't happen over major population centres where thousands of people have cameras. Dover's busy airspace - commercial flights, helicopters, weather balloons, military testing. If something genuinely weird happened, people would've reported it to air traffic control. No reports that I can find.

Sparky73
Sparky73
Member
2 posts
Joined Sep 2025
3 years ago
#2165

The colour-shifting is interesting though. Could be atmospheric refraction if the object was very high up and moving through different light angles. Could also be camera sensor artifacts when filming bright objects. Need proper spectral analysis to know for sure.

shifty_phoenix
shifty_phoenix
Member
2 posts
Joined Sep 2025
3 years ago
#2166

I live near Dover, nothing weird reported in 2019 or 2020 that I remember. You'd expect the local news to pick up on actual UFO sightings over a busy port town. Total silence suggests it's either minor (drone) or edited bollocks (viral video).

TheRetiredNurse
TheRetiredNurse
Member
3 posts
Joined Oct 2025
3 years ago
#2169

Want to do a proper frame-by-frame analysis? If you can link the video I can pull it apart properly - check for editing artifacts, lighting consistency, movement physics. Sometimes TikTok videos have obvious tells if you know what to look for.

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