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Iran Unveils Flying Saucer Using Old B-Movie Stock Photo 174

Posted by samzenpus from the death-star-in-the-desert dept.
ChronoFish writes "The FARS news agency and a host of others are reporting on Iran claiming to have created a flying saucer-like drone. There is one small problem however. The press release photos from the state-run news service are from a movie."
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Iran Unveils Flying Saucer Using Old B-Movie Stock Photo More

Iran Unveils Flying Saucer Using Old B-Movie Stock Photo

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  • Stupid slashdot editors (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @10:58AM (#35573026)

    TFA said it looks like a b-movie photo not that it IS from a movie.

    Its just an experimental UAV.

    • Re:Stupid slashdot editors (Score:5, Interesting)

      by BLAG-blast ( 302533 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:48AM (#35573878)
      I notice other subtle attempts to discredit Iranian domestically produced equipment in the US/western press. When ever an "allied" power makes a press release or claim to have produced it's own version of something (a submarine, rocket, satellite, etc.), the press refers to it as "domestically produced". When Iran makes a press release or claim to have made the same thing, the press calls it "home made", which seems to imply it was name in somebodies garage at home (and it's comparable to things like the home made Chinese oil drum submarine).

      • Re:Stupid slashdot editors (Score:4, Informative)

        by Ohrion ( 814105 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @12:10PM (#35574228) Journal
        The Fars article ITSELF refers to it as being home-made. Article linked from the summary: http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8912250816 [farsnews.com].

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mangu ( 126918 )

        I notice other subtle attempts to discredit Iranian domestically produced equipment in the US/western press

        And I note totally non-subtle attempts to glorify Iran coming from many segments of US/Western press.

        The reasoning seems to go like this: "I hate the US government, Iran hates the US government, therefore Iran can do nothing wrong"

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jon3k ( 691256 )
        I think it's just a problem with the translation. I think "homemade" in this sense refers to being made in their "homeland". Not at some individual's home.

  • Did I miss something? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @10:58AM (#35573030)

    I actually read the articles (yes, I know it's a sin) and I didn't see any reference to the picture they released ACTUALLY coming from a movie. The headlines *joke* that it *looks* like something from a B-movie, but the summary seems to take that seriously.

    The picture may be a mock-up, and the claimed craft may be a bunch of bullshit (with some of the crazy claims coming from Iran lately, who knows), but I don't see any news sources saying they actually stole the picture from a specific movie. I will say though, that, for a country completely devoid of homosexuals, they sure do have an unusual bent for the theatrical.

    • Actual Picture (Score:5, Informative)

      by prakslash ( 681585 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:08AM (#35573182)
      The news agency used a stock photo. The actual photo (clickable) is here [www.isna.ir].

      • +5 Informative.

        Damn, I haven't had mod points since the update.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ildon ( 413912 )

          I haven't had mod points in like 3 years. :(

          • I've been getting 15 almost every 3 days

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by ildon ( 413912 )

              I used to get mod points about twice a month, back when you could only get 5 points. Then suddenly nothing. It's annoying that the system is so opaque. I suppose I should try making a new account and seeing if that one gets points.

              • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

                by SethThresher ( 1958152 )
                To save you the trouble, I can tell you that I haven't gotten any mod points yet. I registered just after the update, and my Karma's positive right now.

                It's no big deal for me though at the moment, I don't feel like I've been here long enough to give it a proper job yet. I do have some friends that have started getting mod points like crazy though. Seriously, I know a guy who got mod four or five days in a row. He was tired of it by the end.

              • So, 15 points was an introduction with the new system? I thought it was some weird type of bug.

                • I've been granted multiple bunches of 15 mod points for over a year now and occasionally a bunch of 5
                  I metamoderate and post not very often, but when I do post, my posts generally are modded up and I think THAT's the key.

                • I emailed Taco about that, he said that the 15 points are given to the top percentage of moderators whose mods are generally "accurate", I guess meaning that other mods typically agree with them.

              • As rwa2 says - something of a chore. There have been times when I had to choose between moderating or commenting. I used up 15 points just Saturday, and here it is Tuesday, with 5 more points waiting to be used. They show up frequently, and sometimes I just let them go unused. Don't ask me how to get mod points! Mostly, I just blather away with my personal opinion, and rarely back it up with any kind of reference or citation. Phht.

                It's often been said that the mod system is broken. I can't argue that

            • Didn't know they gave out 15. I've been getting 5 about twice a week. I usually don't use all of them (3 left right now).

            • I have modpoints avaliable roughly 50% of the time..

              But I almost never use them (Only if I see something very good with low rating), and I never meta-moderate.

              Since I still use the old comment layout still, its kinda pain in the ass, since you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to click on the "Moderate" button (and if I don't do it rightaway, I forget it)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Tim C ( 15259 )

            I haven't had mod points in 7 or 8 years. No idea what my crime was, but I wasn't even able to meta-mod for a few years.

            Maybe if I did now I'd get mod points again, but frankly I don't feel like it.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Exitar ( 809068 )

            Me too. No points for weeks (months?).

        • Re:Actual Picture (Score:5, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:18AM (#35573376)

          The actual photo is of a DraganFlyer X6 built by DraganFly in Saskatoon, Canada. I imagine the folks at DraganFly are busy answering questions this morning.

        • "Damn, I haven't had mod points since the update."

          Ditto!!!

      • Well, that's boring. And that picture doesn't look like a saucer at all!

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
        It looks like they strapped a couple blades to a charcoal grill.

        I guess the definition of a 'flying saucer' has been watered down a bit...

        • Re:Actual Picture (Score:4, Insightful)

          by ColdWetDog ( 752185 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:41AM (#35573746) Homepage

          It looks like they strapped a couple blades to a charcoal grill.

          I'm wondering if this isn't a translation error - the real reference calls is a "cuadrotour" - not speaking whatever language it's supposed to be in (? Farsi) it's hard to interpret but it sure looks like "quad rotor" which is a much better description of the picture than 'flying saucer'.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        That's a UK police drone reported by BBC years ago: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/6676809.stm

      • The actual picture looks nothing like a flying saucer. It looks like a helicopter body with two struts with engine pods for the rotors. So why is it called a "flying saucer?"

      • I'm pretty sure that picture is of a draganflyer X6 [draganfly.com].

        Not impossible they've installed custom additions (custom autopilot, radio links, etc)

        Perhaps the "flying saucer" is a mis-translation on FARS' part..

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by brs336 ( 903049 )
        That picture is of a commercially available UAV. http://www.draganfly.com/images/overview/DF-X6/Draganflyer-X6.jpg [draganfly.com]

      • Re:Actual Picture (Score:5, Funny)

        by headhot ( 137860 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:54AM (#35574000) Homepage

        Oh no! The Iranians have discovered RC helicopter technology!

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Geminii ( 954348 )
          Lock up your wimmin! Sit on the front porch with your shotgun! Make loud statements about foreigners! :)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Syberz ( 1170343 )

        What the deuce?

        Not only does it look nothing like at B-Movie spacecraft, but it's not even a saucer! It's a freaking remote controlled helicopter!

        Is FARS the Fox News equivalent in Iran?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by EdIII ( 1114411 )

        LOL. You mean how Slashdot editors use stock photos for their articles? The irony.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Nikker ( 749551 )
      I found it humorous that an interstellar space craft is equipped with GPS though.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Onuma ( 947856 )
      Devoid of "open" homosexuality. The middle east has plenty of gays, they just hide behind their culture and keep it on the low...else they may be flogged/honor killed/imprisoned.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ohrion ( 814105 )
      It comes pretty much straight off the cover of "Invasion: UFO Encounters and Alien Beings".

    • A more "real" link has a photo of a more helicopter looking thing, rather than that UFO deal.

      I do like the fact "Fars News Agency" is registered out of Vancouver, Washington.. maybe another government shill office?!

  • /. News Network (Score:4, Funny)

    by Even on Slashdot FOE ( 1870208 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:00AM (#35573062)

    Our contributors never sully themselves with reading the article they are writing about, news at 11.

  • Had they actually completed such a task, they'd be able to gain the allegiance of a few American cities, wholesale.

  • Iran used to be called Persia... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:04AM (#35573116)

    ...so can we consider this an update of a 'flying carpet'?

    • ...so can we consider this an update of a 'flying carpet'?

      holy crap! it just struck me that the so called flying carpet was some advanced alien technology and that the conspiracy theorists are right about alien contact in ancient times!

  • Does this mean we are going to be abducted by iranians tractor beams? The thought scares me. I like my cows... If they have flying saucer technology, then they *should* have tractor beam technology right? (beam me up, scotty)

    • Well, in Islam, animals must be slaughtered according to halal standards, which requires the animal to be drained of blood through the carotid and jugular (similar to kosher laws).

      I think this explains all the dead cows drained of blood we saw on the X-Files.

      • According to christian laws it is the same! We only allow the animal (or force it by law) to hit unconscious before it is slaughtered.
        angel'o'sphere

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      The problem with tractor beams is when they are used from too great a distance. They have a tendency to merely pull up the skirts of women revealing...gasp...ankles. No self-respecting Ayatollah would want to see them.

  • Richard Dreyfuss (Score:3)

    by DnemoniX ( 31461 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @11:11AM (#35573238)

    Well the blog author makes a tongue-in-cheek shout out to Richard Dreyfuss, so I'm pretty sure he is making a reference to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The picture is not from that movie. It certainly appears to be from something crappy, perhaps just the now legendary Iranian Photoshop Labs.

  • Nice to see FARS News is taking some cues from the highest form of American journalism. I always knew that deep down they were jealous and wanted to be just like us. Kudos to you FARS News!
  • slashdot is getting like Ding mixed with Fox News.

  • This smells of propoganda. (Score:4, Informative)

    by CherniyVolk ( 513591 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @12:39PM (#35574724)

    Iran has scientists and engineers. They can build nuclear power plants, and other advanced technologies. The US would have you believe they are trying to build a nuclear bomb. Iran engineers and manufactures their own long range missiles, so they have the proverbial "rocket scientists" and apparently "competent" ones too.

    What's the point of all this?

    If you think, Iran, or any other country is unable to design and make their own "UAV", you have GOT to be drinking some serious kool-aid. They aren't stupid and they aren't dumb. Whoever from Iran reporting this story probably isn't allowed access to real photos, so they grab something from their little scrapbook and publish the story. Here in the US, we are so stupid to think that Iran scientists and government have nothing better to do than sit around a table and come up with stories to tell the world; for no purpose or goal at all?

    Stop acting retarded people. You want stupid stuff printed in American stories, look at Popular Mechanics. "Oh, but those are artists renditions..." what's the difference!?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by halivar ( 535827 )

      Here in the US, we are so stupid to think that Iran scientists and government have nothing better to do than sit around a table and come up with stories to tell the world; for no purpose or goal at all?

      *snicker* Ok. I'll bite. How's that cure for AIDS [farsnews.com] coming along?

  • A a killer robot sentry [wikimedia.org].

  • The MPAA has announced a full scale invasion of Iran for copyright infringement.
  • "cough, cough" Bullsh*t "cough, cough"

  • Reminds me of (Score:3)

    by arielCo ( 995647 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2011 @01:24PM (#35575588)
    Iran Claims Two New Supercomputers [slashdot.org]:
    The pictures show half-filled racks of old commodity servers + storage. Quoting myself: [mehrnews.com]

    I just checked out the pictures, and it looks really, really fishy. All you can see is several angles of the same 4 cabinets with 16 1U servers each and one big-ass storage array: 12 disks/cage x 8 cages/cabinet x 8 cabinets = 768 disks; at 135 GB each TOPS with 1+1 mirroring, that'd be ~ 72 TB.

    Either they have a notoriously incompetent photographer, or it's the grownup version of a hastily put together science-fair mockup.

    So, they're no strangers to silly attempts at faking news, or they're really bad at illustrating real ones. Either way these journalists suck at whatever they're doing.

  • COS (Score:2)

    by sorak ( 246725 )

    The unmanned flying saucer, named "Zohal", was unveiled in a ceremony attended by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

    They stole this from L. Ron Hubbard, didn't they?

  • This is what they "built:"
    http://www.draganfly.com/uav-helicopter/draganflyer-x6/ [draganfly.com]

    "Iranian aerospace scientists have built an unmanned flying saucer..." Or just copied a picture from a website from a company that actually does.

  • Anyone know how to say "like," in Arabic?

  • This is like when the Chinese military used Top Gun footage [slashdot.org], except that really happened, and this didn't.

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