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Why the Image Could Not Show How Big It Was

Without scale, camera data or depth cues, the same silhouette could represent nearby debris, a spacecraft component or a distant large object.

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  • Why a single still image lacks reliable scale
  • The missing camera and field of view data
  • How distance changes apparent size

Introduction

One of the most important limitations of Gary McKinnon’s account of the alleged cigar-shaped NASA image is also one of the simplest: he said the image provided no reliable way to determine the object’s size. By his own description, he saw a partially rendered still image during a slow remote connection, without access to the original file, its metadata or the camera information. He explicitly recalled that there was “no reference to the size of the object”.[Boing Boing]boingboing.netBoing Boing Interview with "UFO Hacker" Gary Mc Kinnon: why'd he do it?Boing BoingInterview with "UFO Hacker" Gary McKinnon: why'd he do it? - Boing BoingJune 21, 2006…Published: June 21, 2006

Missing Scale illustration 1

That missing scale is not a minor detail. It means the image, even if accurately remembered, cannot distinguish between a relatively small object close to the camera, a conventional spacecraft at an intermediate distance, or a much larger object much farther away. Without independent measurements, the apparent length of a silhouette in a photograph says almost nothing about its true physical dimensions.

Why a Single Still Image Lacks Reliable Scale

A photograph records the angle that an object occupies in the camera’s field of view, not its actual size. To calculate physical dimensions, investigators normally need at least one additional piece of information, such as:

  • A known object in the same image for comparison.
  • The camera’s focal length and field of view.
  • The distance between the camera and the object.[uniquephoto.com]uniquephoto.comSource details in endnotes.
  • Multiple images from different viewpoints.
  • Stereo imagery or other depth measurements.

If none of these are available, an object’s apparent size remains fundamentally ambiguous. This is a well-known limitation in photography, remote sensing and photogrammetry—the science of extracting measurements from images. Even NASA has developed specialised tools to introduce scale into photographs because images without a reference object often cannot be measured accurately.[NASA Spinoff]spinoff.nasa.govSpinoff Sizing Up the Situation | NASA SpinoffNASA SpinoffSizing Up the Situation | NASA Spinoff…

McKinnon’s own recollection fits precisely into this limitation. He did not claim to possess any of the information needed to calculate dimensions.

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The Missing Camera and Field-of-View Data

Another obstacle is the absence of technical information about the image itself.

McKinnon never obtained the original file, so there is no surviving metadata identifying:

  • the camera or sensor,[doi.org]doi.orgSource details in endnotes. * the lens or focal length,[doi.org]doi.orgSource details in endnotes.
  • the field of view,
  • the image resolution,
  • the imaging platform,
  • the altitude of the camera, or
  • the orientation of the scene.

Instead, he viewed a remotely rendered image through a low-bandwidth connection after reducing the display to four-bit colour and a very low screen resolution to speed loading. That viewing method preserved only a visual impression rather than the information required for scientific measurement.[Boing Boing]boingboing.netBoing Boing Interview with "UFO Hacker" Gary Mc Kinnon: why'd he do it?Boing BoingInterview with "UFO Hacker" Gary McKinnon: why'd he do it? - Boing BoingJune 21, 2006…Published: June 21, 2006

Even his statement that the image appeared to show Earth beneath the object does not solve the problem. Without knowing the camera’s geometry or the object’s distance from the sensor, Earth’s visible curvature provides no dependable scale for the unidentified object itself.

Missing Scale illustration 2

How Distance Changes Apparent Size

The central geometric problem is that photographs collapse a three-dimensional scene into two dimensions.

Two very different situations can produce nearly identical images:

  • A small object located close to the camera.
  • A much larger object located proportionally farther away.

Because both occupy the same angular size in the camera’s field of view, they can appear identical in a single still photograph.

This ambiguity is familiar across astronomy, aviation and satellite imaging. Without independent distance measurements, apparent size alone cannot reveal actual dimensions. Modern computer-vision research likewise treats absolute scale as an inherently ambiguous property of a single image unless additional assumptions or reference objects are available.[arXiv]arxiv.orgarXiv Single View Metrology in the WildSingle View Metrology in the WildJuly 18, 2020…Published: July 18, 2020

In McKinnon’s case, there was no verified distance estimate and no documented reference object from which one could be derived.

Missing Scale illustration 3

Why Earth in the Background Does Not Solve the Problem

Some retellings suggest that because Earth was visible beneath the alleged object, the object’s size could be estimated. That conclusion does not follow.

The visible portion of Earth does not automatically establish:

  • how far the camera was from Earth,
  • whether the object was near the camera or near Earth,
  • whether the object lay above, below or far beyond the planet’s apparent edge,
  • whether the image had been cropped or digitally zoomed.

Perspective can make nearby objects appear dramatically larger than distant ones, while telephoto lenses can compress apparent distances and make widely separated objects appear close together. Without the original image geometry, none of these possibilities can be excluded.

Consequently, the presence of Earth in the frame does not convert the photograph into a measurable scene.

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What McKinnon’s Own Account Supports

Importantly, McKinnon himself did not claim to know the object’s dimensions. His description consistently stopped short of estimating its size, instead emphasising that there was no reference by which it could be judged.[Boing Boing]boingboing.netBoing Boing Interview with "UFO Hacker" Gary Mc Kinnon: why'd he do it?Boing BoingInterview with "UFO Hacker" Gary McKinnon: why'd he do it? - Boing BoingJune 21, 2006…Published: June 21, 2006

That restraint is significant because later retellings sometimes describe the alleged object as an enormous spacecraft. Those descriptions go beyond what McKinnon reported. Based on his account alone, the image could not establish whether the object was metres long, tens of metres long or substantially larger.

The Evidential Consequence

The inability to estimate size substantially limits what can be inferred from the alleged image.

Without scale, camera metadata or independent corroborating imagery, the silhouette cannot reliably distinguish between several possibilities, including nearby debris, a conventional spacecraft component, a satellite, an image artefact or a much larger distant object. Size therefore cannot be used as evidence either for or against an extraordinary interpretation.

For that reason, the missing scale is not merely an inconvenient omission—it is one of the principal reasons the alleged NASA image remains technically unverifiable. Even if McKinnon’s recollection of what he saw was entirely sincere, the surviving description lacks the geometric information required to determine how large the object actually was.

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Endnotes

1. Source: spinoff.nasa.gov
Title: Spinoff Sizing Up the Situation | NASA Spinoff
Link:https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2004/p_8.html

Source snippet

NASA SpinoffSizing Up the Situation | NASA Spinoff...

2. Source: ntrs.nasa.gov
Title: Technical Reports Server Sizing Up the Situation
Link:https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20050031190

Source snippet

NASA Technical Reports ServerSizing Up the Situation - NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)...

3. Source: arxiv.org
Title: arXiv Single View Metrology in the Wild
Link:https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.09529

Source snippet

Single View Metrology in the WildJuly 18, 2020...

Published: July 18, 2020

4. Source: arxiv.org
Link:https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.15649

5. Source: science.nasa.gov
Title: how to measure the size of an asteroid
Link:https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/how-to-measure-the-size-of-an-asteroid/

Source snippet

to Measure the Size of an Asteroid - NASA ScienceSeptember 23, 2025 — Photojournal Navigation 2 Min Read HOW TO MEASURE THE SIZE OF AN AS...

Published: September 23, 2025

6. Source: imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov
Link:https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/resolution1.html

7. Source: nasa.gov
Title: How to Measure the Size of an Asteroid
Link:https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/how-measure-size-of-an-asteroid/

8. Source: jpl.nasa.gov
Title: pia18454 how to measure the size of an asteroid
Link:https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia18454-how-to-measure-the-size-of-an-asteroid/

9. Source: science.nasa.gov
Title: how to interpret a satellite image
Link:https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/how-to-interpret-a-satellite-image/

10. Source: science.nasa.gov
Title: how to tell the size of an asteroid
Link:https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/how-to-tell-the-size-of-an-asteroid/

11. Source: jpl.nasa.gov
Title: pia14733 how to tell the size of an asteroid
Link:https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia14733-how-to-tell-the-size-of-an-asteroid/

12. Source: science.nasa.gov
Title: remote sensing
Link:https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/remote-sensing/

13. Source: esrs.jsc.nasa.gov
Link:https://esrs.jsc.nasa.gov/FAQ/

14. Source: eol.jsc.nasa.gov
Link:https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/FAQ/

15. Source: boingboing.net
Title: Boing Boing Interview with “UFO Hacker” Gary Mc Kinnon: why’d he do it?
Link:https://boingboing.net/2006/06/21/interview-with-ufo-h.html

Source snippet

Boing BoingInterview with "UFO Hacker" Gary McKinnon: why'd he do it? - Boing BoingJune 21, 2006...

Published: June 21, 2006

16. Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/photogrammetry

Additional References

17. Source: thelifehacker.org
Title: This Man Hacked NASA And Describes What He Found in Interview
Link:https://thelifehacker.org/2022/12/19/this-man-hacked-nasa-and-describes-what-he-found-in-interview/

Source snippet

Gary is a resident of the UK who got access to almost 100 NASA and Department of Defense computers, including the US Air Force Space comm...

18. Source: ni.com
Title: If you set up your syste
Link:https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/06/ni-vision-image-acquisition-system-concepts.html

Source snippet

NI Vision Image Acquisition System Concepts - NIOctober 28, 2025 — NI VISION IMAGE ACQUISITION SYSTEM CONCEPTS Updated Oct 28, 2025 * * #...

Published: October 28, 2025

19. Source: richardmedhurst.com
Title: Richard Medhurst EXCLUSIVE: GARY MCKINNON INTERVIEW
Link:https://www.richardmedhurst.com/gary-mckinnon-interview/

Source snippet

Richard MedhurstEXCLUSIVE: GARY MCKINNON INTERVIEW - Richard Medhurst...

20. Source: biodives.com
Title: Object Size From Photo
Link:https://biodives.com/uwphotography/ObjectSizeFromPhoto

Source snippet

This work is licensed under a CC BY NC SA 4.0 license. * * * Index The problem How big is that thing in my pict...

21. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Man Who Hacked the U.S. Government
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND0zQX1rGdg

Source snippet

Hacking for UFOs and fighting for his life. Who is Gary McKinnon? | NordVPN...

22. Source: inquisitr.com
Link:https://www.inquisitr.com/hacker-gary-mckinnon-may-have-found-evidence-nasa-edits-out-alien-ufos-from-space-images-video/

23. Source: uniquephoto.com
Link:https://www.uniquephoto.com/community/qa/how-can-i-estimate-an-objects-size-in-pixels-from-its-real-size-distance-and-camera-settings

24. Source: projectcamelot.org
Link:https://projectcamelot.org/lang/en/gary_mckinnon_interview_transcript_en.html

25. Source: doi.org
Link:https://doi.org/10.1145/3508393

26. Source: youtube.com
Title: Ancient Aliens: Hacking NASA Secrets (Season 12, Episode 9) | History
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20rWFDfh68Y

Source snippet

The Man Who Hacked the U.S. Government...