The Bizarre Id of YouTube Commenters and the 'Dome of the Rock UFO video'

"Your mockery is neither kind or welcomed. Tread lightly, because you are treading on my dreams."  MrEvad65

There is something strange going on in cyberspace and it has to do with the psychology of people who leave YouTube comments.  What is it about YouTube that causes people to unleash their id in such a raw way?  I really don't get it.

On YouTube you could make a statement like say, 'The sky is blue' and, almost immediately, someone would feel compelled to post a comment to the effect "I hope you die you fucking bastard!"

Where does that come from?  What fuels it?  I cannot bring myself to get that angry about much of anything and, most especially, any particular person.  If anyone reading this post has a degree in psychology, I would love it if you could leave a comment explaining this behavior.

I suppose this is old news to most people but I am absolutely amazed at what I have experienced personally in this bizarre forum of feedback.

So, let me tell the complete story.  A few months ago someone uploaded a video of an alleged UFO to YouTube.  There is nothing particularly unique about this, people do it all of the time.  What made this particular video compelling/interesting were the reactions of the people who were in it.  Soon after this video was uploaded, another video, allegedly of the same event, was posted that showed it from a different camera angle.

What was interesting is that in the minds of YouTube viewers this was somehow supposed to be significant.  Their belief that the alleged 'event' had been recorded from multiple camera angles made this more believable in their way of thinking.

There are, however, just a few problems with this line of reasoning.  If someone wanted to create a fake UFO video and put it on the Internet, to fool a bunch of people, it would be completely natural to upload *two* (or more) fake videos to make it seem more believable.  And, let me assure you, there are plenty of people who derive immense pleasure out of creating fake UFO videos and uploading them on YouTube.

Let me put it into perspective.  Over in the United Kingdom there are large teams of pranksters who invest tremendous amounts of time and energy to create complex crop-circle formations at night.  This is a grand hobby that they derive a great deal of personal sanctification from.  The key source of their satisfaction comes from when crop circle enthusiasts go rushing out to their formation with dowsing rods, healing crystals, and ooh, ahh, and gush over how the inter-dimensional hyper-space aliens are communicating deep mystical symbols of the apocalypse.  Yes, this just tickles the crop circle makers to death.

Now, in contrast, creating a fake UFO video is a trivial exercise by comparison.  It requires nothing more than a cell phone and access to a piece of software like Adobe After Effects.

On a planet filled with billions of cellphones and hundreds of millions of bored teen-agers with access to the Internet and some modest computer software skills, you can just imagine how many fake UFO videos are uploaded to YouTube on a regular basis.

Finally, there is a little thing called 'provenance'. 

A YouTube video is generally anonymous and there is no way to actually know who filmed it, when, where, why, how, etc.  In other words, it has no provenance at all!  So, literally by definition, *all* YouTube videos of alleged UFOs should be assumed to be fake to begin with.  There is literally no way to prove otherwise.  They may be fun, and entertaining, but in terms of 'proof' they have virtually no evidential value of any kind.

So, back to our story about the UFO video that was uploaded from 'multiple camera angles'.  Well, this became quite the Internet meme and within a matter of weeks there were dozens of YouTube videos uploaded that were supposedly from the same event.  Each YouTube video more silly and ridiculous than the last.

The video which really took the cake was one which had a bunch of people supposedly speaking in the background in various accents effusing hyperbolic amazement at this supposed event.  What made this particular video even more absurd is that it didn't even match the original video which had started the entire meme!!!

I began reading the YouTube comments on these various videos and I became continually amazed at the complete and utter lack of critical thinking skills of nearly every person who was contributing to this discussion.

Finally, as a joke and to make a point about 'provenance', I had the idea to upload my very own 'Dome on the Rock' UFO video.  I decided that I would make the absolute most fakest UFO video humanly possible.  I grabbed my Iphone and in, literally, 30 seconds I had created my own fake UFO video and uploaded it to YouTube.  No editing.  No Adobe After effects.  Just point, shoot, and upload.

What ensued afterwards, to me, seemed to be one of the greatest social experiments I have ever been involved in.  A few people 'got the joke' and left positive comments on the YouTube page.

However, the vast majority of those who posted comments to my 30 second YouTube clip acted as if I had burned, raped, murdered, and eaten their grandmother.  The level of vitriol, hatred, and obscene responses to what was obviously a mild joke truly amazed me.

So that you can get the complete story.  Here is the original 'Dome of the Rock' UFO video which started the entire meme.  This is the one that many people got excited about and wanted to believe was 'real'.

Here is the second 'Dome of the Rock' UFO video 'taken from another angle'.  It has almost 3 million views!!! 

This video is simply absurd. Notice that the background is perfectly static and still. Notice that the background lights do not twinkle or move in any way. Note that there is no movement of traffic, or anything else. This is because the background is actually just a photograph projected on a computer monitor. Notice that you can hear a bunch of people speaking, in English, but you don't see them. Notice how they have extremely silly accents and say silly things. And, notice most of all, that in this obviously fake video (which millions of people apparently believe is 'real') that they didn't even remember to put the bright flashes in which were so key in the 'original' 'authentic' video!

And here is the video spoof I made making fun of the previous video. The UFO video that took me an entire 30 seconds to make. Now, mine only has 20,000 views, but those 20,000 people who watched it are certainly some very angry people. Does this 30 second video warrant this kind of over the top response? I'm not sure it does.

While a small percentage of the respondents to my video left comments such as 'Hah hah, very funny', they were in the minority.  Meanwhile, here is a sampling of some of the less enthusiastic comments I received; including death threats.  Needless to say, I have correct no spelling or grammatical errors; nor have I removed the profanity.

"I hope an alien rapes you both now that would be funny real funny haha! dumb bitches." KAMINOUNO 7 hours ago

"bus wanker", zoolook1000 15 hours ago

"so your narrow minded and an asshole besides you didn't disprove shit you only made yourself look like a dickwad with your stupid cackle WOWwwwwwwwwww" Slick1G3 5 days ago

"full retard" BER2ERKER 5 days ago

"fucking dickhead! " HELLBURNZZ 6 days ago

"U have no fucking life -_-" lilimiami 6 days ago

"you're doing a disservice to humanity by creating fake videos....good luck in the near future :)" Barnes466 1 week ago

"Thanks for wasting five seconds of my life. Go read a book moron."

bacso76 1 week ago

"just fuck you for wasting my time!!!!"

bgmkaak 1 week ago

"stupid white people"

noelmaster1 1 week ago

"you dumb fucks go choke on the hairiest ballsack in the worlds your video is the worlds greatest waste of time! damn you"

wwcs2012 1 week ago

"why don't you shove that flash light up your ass and then say wooooaaaa!!!!dick head! don't reply me or i fuck u up ignorant!"

kannabee 1 month ago

"I think the reason why people get angry and upset is because the U.S. government has always referred to people who have reported a sighting as being crazy and unstable individuals. So when somebody makes a "joke" about something they feel intensely about its very upsetting. It would be like if you had a child abducted and when you reported their kidnapping nobody believed you and then to make matters worse they laughed at you and called you crazy even though you had a video of the kidnapping."

b0ilerboy 2 months ago

"fuckin idiots!"

ruffraul 2 months ago

"Dome Of The Rock printed -> 1/2 dollar

Surprised friend shouts -> a beer

make me waste my time -> no have price ¬¬"

pablitorrincos 3 months ago

"fuck u bitch"

thedarkmaster1101 3 months ago

"TIME-WASTING IMBECILE!"

sjm636636 4 months ago

"Yo everytime people make a fake video u waste everyones time and credibility."

jharv607 4 months ago

"let me guess... you are from america? RETARDS"

newdawnhungary 5 months ago

"you fucking assholes this shit is not funny,now go fuck yourselves!!!!!"

scientististheshit 5 months ago

"FUCKING RETARD!!!!"

davenuts22 5 months ago

"they see everything we do on our planet, everything is monitored for centurys. maybe they hire you"

voerendaal1 5 months ago

"two frickin ass holes maybe you will shit in your pant's if all of this turn's out to be true"

dgtbp 5 months ago

"dont be so nieve have a look at all the legitamit ufo evidence there is. not saying aliens are here but this kind of technology definately is and its being kept from us while we destroy ourselves. Meanwhile losers with nothing better to do make fake youtube videos to try to fool people, wow so smart. wake up to the truth sheep read a book, educate yourself."

infoassassin84 5 months ago

"Fucking Idiot you waste my time and you just do disinformation!!! with morons like you, the government don't have to pay anymore."

pinonoir302 6 months ago

"@jratcliff63367 People like you fuck it up for everyone. Self-involved, self-important cyphers who think they know the "truth". You are just an asshole, a cypher, a punk, a nobody. So you think the other videos are a hoax. Big fucking deal, who cares? Go fuck yourself."

gary7vn 4 months ago

"Haha, not listening to the message god has shown me mint be your undoing, but don't take my word for it, you seen like you have it all figured out."

tylerdurden666able 6 months ago

"Sadly, it is because of a%%h*(^@ like these, that people don't take the UFO phenomenom seriously and the Goverments of the world keep a tight lip about what they know. Instead of making fun of something you obviously know little about. You should be using your skills to do some serious research and find the TRUTH. Unless you are too chicket to find the truth. Go out there and shoot a real UFO. You will never be the same."

ricoalagoproductions 6 months ago

"U R A MENTAL MIDGET"

1500swinger 6 months ago

"your a wanker"

theJason299 6 months ago

"yeah... only retards fake ufo sightings... more so if they are so bad even for comedy"

: D

osiris6669 6 months ago

"this is rly scared ppl of the truth that just wants to silly this thing as mush as they can becouse they cant handel the truth ^^ see what they do fucked up things like this... well anyways This is comming ,. easyer to just accept it :P PEace"

zliezer 6 months ago

"Your mockery is neither kind or welcomed. Tread lightly, because you are treading on my dreams."

MrEvad65 6 months ago

"The fact that you took the time to upload this says a lot about your intelligence level."

juelz99z 6 months ago

"complete idiots get a life not even funny"

bryanguy1 6 months ago