Totally normal: planes floating in mid-air
(youtu.be)
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Nahhh most were heavy's on approach, with low airspeed on. Matched with the vehicles moving it will appear extremely slow. I stopped at the small Cessna towing a banner, he was probably only just above stall speed with what sounded like a strong headwind before he powered up.
In all honesty, it seems to be an optical illusion. Watch a A380 taking off, it appears it's only doing 30mph or so!
im thinking an optical illusion too
I see this all the time where I live (close to airport and Air Force base), but ONLY when driving. It really is bizarre to see it in person tho
Please get some video. And the more you clips you can compile on different days the better. The perspective just doesn't make sense. They should be moving faster and yet it seems they hover over the same spot.
If you can make the time to do a synchronized video with one person standing while the other is driving, that would go a long way to help others like me see it and understand it as well as provide consideration. I have never seen this anywhere in my area so I don't have any way to do it myself.
That sounds great and all to do a scientific study on it, but honestly, it’s hit and miss. I normally see it on the bridge over the river heading north (or south) on my way home from work, but I don’t follow flight traffic or have any intention to do so. I will say that I’ve seen large military aircraft (C-17’s) as well as passenger 737’s both appear to “halt” mid-air. I’ve lived here for almost 10 years, and I’ve seen about 20 circumstances like this. I over exaggerated with the frequencies in my previous post, but I guess it’s not the rare occurrence it once was, and I was all wild about it when I first saw it too. Honestly, I think it has to do with trajectory and velocity of both vehicles in motion. I can’t prove it, but I believe this to be true
Have a look at this video, it's a great explanation of the effect you are seeing.
That is a good explanation... But why doesn't it effect the perspective of the other moving vehicles, especially the ones on the opposite side of the road?
At this point, I'm just fleshing out all explanations and possibilities. I appreciate everyone's patience and insight with me. Hopefully it benefits others who are just as confused.
Here's the clip that has me in a tizzy.
https://youtu.be/3qCfTBgalFE?t=600
This is a great example of why the effect only works when the car is moving. You can see the plane begins to move and the illusion is broken once the car comes to a stop. Also compare the size of the apartment building to the size of the plane. A passenger jet should be much bigger if it were the same distance from the camera as the building, in fact it probably wouldn't even fit on the roof.
It just feels off still. Like it should be moving as the car starts slowing down, yet it doesn't seem to do it. It's almost like it doesn't start moving until the car is almost completely stopped.
I guess we need stationary cameras to determine like with some of those bird videos. I remain skeptical for the simple fact that I could see this being accepted and then when planes do start stopping in mid air, people won't question it.
Of course, I will reserve freak outs for until someone has stationary footage.
2:42 is a dead give-away. If it was moving forward, it wouldn't appear to move away from the trees...
This is a great response. Except that the planes sit over the same area. Watch the trees beneath them.