The January 5, 2000 Illinois UFO Reconstruction

Many people have contacted NIDS who did not see the computer generated forensic reconstruction of the craft seen and described by four police officers on Jan 5, 2000 on the Discovery Channel program entitled "UFO over Illinois" (shown on 11/30/00 and 12/2/00). NIDS has obtained permission from the production company and from the animation company to show selected streaming video views of the craft as shown on the program.

As viewers of the Discovery Channel program know, the reconstruction was done on location with the original eyewitnesses and is deemed an accurate simulation of the flight of the UFO. The animation company routinely constructs these animations of accident scenes and other events that are then presented by prosecution or defense and are routinely admissible in a court of law. The animation company has conducted similar reconstructions in over 175 legal cases and accuracy is their business. The methodology used in the present reconstruction by the company used the same exacting standards. Thus the reconstruction is not hypothetical or imaginary, it is accurate.

There were four main phases to the reconstruction:

1. A survey crew was hired to take physical measurements of all locations from the different eyewitnesses. In this way an exact series of measurements regarding the location, direction, and distance of the flying object from the observers was possible.
2. A professional interviewer was hired who conducted face-to-face interviews with each witness at all locations. Photographs were taken of each location.
3. A 40 watt Argon laser with steering optics was used at each location with the help of each eyewitness to take the exact flight path of the object as determined from the perspective of each eyewitness. The eyewitnesses each determined the specific placement of the laser beams.
4. The reconstructed testimony was used to construct a series of 3D aerial grids for each location. Then a 3D CAD package was used to create a rough model of the object as seen by the different eyewitnesses. A second animation modeling software package was used to fine-tune the details. Each eyewitness was consulted on a regular basis to verify the accuracy of the computer modeling process. With multiple iterations, the modeling tools fine-tuned the recreation into a final animation. The computer-generated models were then merged with live footage so that the exact scale, size, and flight path of the object was precisely reconstructed to the satisfaction of each eyewitness.

The reconstruction is a further aid in dismissing NIDS hypothesis #1 that the aircraft seen by the eight eyewitnesses was a B-2 bomber. The reconstruction also helps in examining NIDS hypothesis #2, since it now gives the physical parameters for future eyewitness reports of an alleged military stealth craft.

Finally, it is of interest to compare the craft shown in this video footage to a second independent reconstruction of a separate low flying, large, wedge-shaped craft as seen by an eyewitness in Port Washington, Wisconsin in October 1998. See Port Washington, Wisconsin UFO Sighting Illustrations.

	Clip 1 (Real Video, 365K)
	Clip 1 (AVI, 2.6 MB)
	Clip 2 (Real Video, 879K)
	Clip 2 (AVI, 4.9 MB)
	Clip 3 (Real Video, 209K)
	Clip 3 (AVI, 2.9 MB)