These are the images many a UFO believer has been waiting to see – ‘leaked’ photos from Area 51, showing the inner workings of dissected aliens.
One shows what appears to be a huge spinal cord, perhaps two metres in length, with hundreds of nerves and blood vessels fanning out from either side.
Another, flanked by researchers, is a mass of glistening, off-white fibres that appear divided into two parallel systems, one for each side of the ‘body’.
A third shows off the finest of details, nerves splitting off again and again until they are like tiny twigs on a tree. Surrounded by various fruits and vegetables.
As you may have guessed, the images are not real – but rogue groceries aside, they do look incredibly realistic.
Each image is the work of Midjourney, one of the leading generative artificial intelligence (AI) programs and originator of many an internet hoax – from Donald Trump resisting arrest to the Pope striding out in a brilliant white puffer jacket.
In a year with at least 64 elections across the world, concerns over AI’s ability to manipulate images is rightly focused on how it could derail democracy.
For those more concerned with what governments might be hiding, however, rather than who is in them, AI looks set to make believing the unbelievable even harder.
And aliens may just be the perfect subject.
For a long time, AI image generators had a real issue with fingers, toes and teeth. Remember those creepy house party photos with super toothy grins and eight-fingered guests? Although they have significantly improved, they can still stumble and leave telltale giveaways.
What is Area 51?
Area 51 is the common name given to a (formerly) secret US airbase in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Designated as a flight testing facility, the US government only officially acknowledged its existence in 2013.
It has become synonymous with UFO conspiracy theories following numerous sightings around the base – some believe it is used to test recovered crashed alien spacecraft, such as that at the centre of the Roswell incident.
But who’s to say how many fingers aliens have? A rogue limb here or missing eye there won’t help those in search of answers distinguish a ‘real’ image from a fake one.
In this case, the photos were posted on Reddit in the r/Midjourney subreddit by user shaner4042, which is a bit of a giveaway – although plenty of users still did a double-take.
Nevertheless, the ease with which fantastic – and fantastical – images can now be created by anyone with the internet will not only be a problem for discerning UFO enthusiasts in the future.
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