A video of a plane seemingly going nowhere while mid-air has left people completely baffled
The clip, which was shared to Reddit by user Silent-Lobster7854, amassed a lot of attention.
However, it turns out there actually is a scientific reason behind the spooky sight.
The Parallax effect is a phenomenon that Merriam-Webster defines as: “The apparent displacement or the difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points not on a straight line with the object.”
This makes it sound fairly complicated, but in reality it’s not.
The Parallax effect in the sense of this video means that the plane does not look like it’s moving because it is being filmed from another jet.
Thus, the parallax means that it looks like it’s not moving at all, when in fact both the plane in the video and the place from which it is being filmed are moving incredibly quickly.
Parallax Effect
byu/Silent-Lobster7854 inDamnthatsinteresting
“The change in observers angle coupled with different speeds of both planes is deceiving depth perception,” one Redditor explained.
“This is the same reason when trees further away don’t move as far as those closer to the train when looking out the window.”
Despite science having an explanation, Redditors naturally still took the chance to poke fun at the funny clip.
“The pilot had to pause his game,” one person joked.
Another put: “Fake. I can see the string it’s hanging from.”
“Someone unpause him,” a third wrote.
While a fourth put it down to a “glitch in the Matrix.”
