If you follow the latest happenings in the world of Ufology, you've probably noticed a new set of super-clear UFO pictures making their rounds across the 'nets. One part alien drone and two parts garden sprinkler, whatever it is pictured in these photos is, if nothing else, an odd sight to behold.

But could it be the real deal? Are they the smoking gun images we've all been waiting for?

I'm going to say no. I've spent my fair share of time studying the pictures and, while I may not be an expert when it comes to digital photography, something just doesn't seem right to me.

As far as I could find out, the pictures first appeared on Coast to Coast AM's website in the usually lifeless listener's email section. At minimum, I'm at least happy to see that the listener submitted pictures may be making a comeback to the glory days of ArtBell.com--back to when I would actually get honest to goodness scared while scrolling through them. If you haven't had the chance to study them for yourself, they can be viewed at the link below:

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page2022.html?theme=light

It didn't take long after they were posted before George Noory brought them up on his show--inviting on various guests and opening up the lines to callers to get their opinions on whether or not they thought they were authentic or the product of skilled Photoshopping. Even Linda Moulton Howe of EarthFiles.com fame got in on the action. As usual, she brought out all of the big guns, going so far as to post images supplied to her of a NASA-designed experimental engine prototype--hinting that the drone (if that's what it really is, or is even really real) may be Earthly in origin.

You know when you watch a movie that uses an abundance of CGI and, no matter how hi-tech the effects may have been at the time, you can always seem to pick out what's real and what's computer animated? Well, that's how I feel when I look at these images. Let me use The Matrix Reloaded as an example (I'm sure most people interested enough to read The K-Files has seen it), when Neo is fighting all of the Agent Smiths, it's pretty easy to spot when the real Keanu Reeves turns to CGI Reeves. Although the effects on that movie were top-notch for the time, the wonderful human eye has a knack for spotting things that are fake. The differences are small--slight color differences, unnatural movements, and the like--but when added up, they become pretty apparent.

So let's take a look at what seems out of place to me:

First off, the coloring. The craft seems to pop off the page in two of the shots. Although its highlighting and shadowing appears to fit with the light source pretty closely, it has just enough boldness to look 'placed' on the background. A well hidden one, but a copy/paste job nonetheless.

Next, the scale. This one is the most telling to me that the images are most likely a hoax. According to the email submitted along with them on the Coast to Coast AM website, photographer "Chad" describes the craft as "very large." I don't know about the rest of you, but the thing looks pretty small to me. Maybe about four to five feet long at the most, and hardly not 'large' by any means. When working with copy/paste jobs or perhaps even model work (as the last two images lead me to believe that this craft exists in some solid form, and is not computer generated), scale is a hard one to nail down. If it were just floating up in the sky it may have been harder to spot, but the way it's positioned behind a set of foreground shrubbery yet in front of a background tree-line gives it away. No longer how long I examine that photo, I can't get my brain to accept it as real.

Finally, the other big tell that this is probably a hoax is the photographer's follow up comments. It'd be one thing saying that he saw this strange craft once and was able to get a few shots of it before it flew away, but it's something entirely different when you start adding in backstory about it giving you headaches, claiming it appears semi-regularly, and claim several people have witnessed it. There's a saying about things that are too good to be true.

Speaking of which, "too good to be true" has been used to describe another set of eerily clear UFO photos. I'm speaking of course of the notorious Billy Meier 'Beamship' photographs of the 1970's. Everyone seems to demand clear UFO images for them to be entered in as evidence in the case for extraterrestrial visitation, yet it's that almost unnatural clarity that did him in. Again, as with these recent drone images, Billy Meier's pictures simply didn't feel right. No matter how long they were studied, there was always that little filling in the back of your mind telling you that it can't be real.

If you're looking for a point to this week's column, well, here we go. It's a sad state of affairs for Ufology when so much time and attention is given to a set of emailed photos that simply cannot be legit. Granted not all of the bigwigs of Ufology got involved, but the fact Linda Howe devoted as many resources to the story as she did speaks wonders. Not only to Ufology as a whole, but to her career as well.

If we don't get another Phoenix Lights soon, we'll all be doomed to an existence of judging Photoshop competency. And I, for one, don't find that all too appealing.