Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Some people have been confused by flat earthers who will provide a video where an apparently empty horizon will have a ship appear in the camera's view when the camera zooms in. The flat earther will claim that this footage shows that zooming in brings ships back from over the horizon. However, these videos always reveal a ship that is in front of the horizon. We can mimic this result as shown here where zooming in on an apparently empty pillow reveals a needle sticking out. Like the ship-on-the horizon videos, this video shows how an object that is not resolved by the camera can suddenly appear in frame as the camera zooms. This does not mean the object has been brought back from over the horizon. The object was never over the horizon. It was just not resolved by the camera until zooming in.
Some people have been confused by flat earthers who will provide a video where an apparently empty horizon will have a ship appear in the camera's view when the camera zooms in. The flat earther will claim that this footage shows that zooming in brings ships back from over the horizon. However, these videos always reveal a ship that is in front of the horizon. We can mimic this result as shown here where zooming in on an apparently empty pillow reveals a needle sticking out. Like the ship-on-the horizon videos, this video shows how an object that is not resolved by the camera can suddenly appear in frame as the camera zooms. This does not mean the object has been brought back from over the horizon. The object was never over the horizon. It was just not resolved by the camera until zooming in.
