DEFIN

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE DEFINITION
AND DIGITAL IMAGING EVIDENCE

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE CONSISTS OF OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTAL
RESULTS THAT SERVE TO SUPPORT, REFUTE, OR MODIFY A SCIENTIFIC
HYPOTHESIS OR THEORY, WHEN COLLECTED AND INTERPRETED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

         1. Observation of an event or theory
         2. Hypothesis, description of the event being predicted
         3. Hypothesis used to make prediction
         4. Test the predictions by experiment
         5. Repeat the predictions and experiments to support observation and predictions

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ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE

   USUALLY VERY WEAK 'POSITIVE' EVIDENCE
   DESCRIPTION OF ONE, OR SMALL NUMBER OF SPECIFIC INSTANCES, PRESUMABLY OF THE SAME TYPE,
   GENERAL NATURE, OR STRUCTURE. BETTER USED AS 'NEGATIVE' EVIDENCE: AS COUNTEREXAMPLES

TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE

MODERATELY STRONG OR SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE
REFERENCE TO AN EXTABLISHED OR TRUSTWORTHY AUTHORITY

STATISTICAL EVIDENCE

MODERATELY STRONG OR SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE
REFERENCE TO EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS, OR TO THE RESULTS OF METHODICAL OR SCIENTIFIC
EXPERIMENTS OR INVESTIGATIONS

ANALOGICAL EVIDENCE

FAIRLY STRONG OR SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE
EXPLANATORY 'MODELING OF THE TARGET PHENOMENON BY MEANS OF COMPARISON WITH AN
ALREADY UNDERSTOOD OR MORE EASILY UNDERSTOOD, PHENOMENON

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Photographs as Evidence

The principal requirements to admit a photograph (digital or film-based) into evidence are relevance and authentication. Unless the photograph is admitted by the stipulation of both parties, the party attempting to admit the photograph into evidence must be prepared to offer testimony that the photograph is an accurate representation of the scene. This usually means someone must testify that the photograph accurately portrays the scene as viewed by that witness.

Guidelines for Ensuring Your Digital Photographs Are Admissible

Develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Department Policy, or General Order on the use of digital imaging. The SOP should include when digital imaging is used, chain of custody, image security, image enhancement, and release and availability of digital images. The SOP should not apply just to digital, but should also include film-based and video applications as well.
Most importantly, preserve the original digital image. This can be done a variety of ways including saving the image file to a hard drive or recording the image file to a CD. Some agencies elect to use image security software.
Digital images should be preserved in their original file formats. The saving of a file in some file formats subject the image to lossy compression. If lossy compression is used critical image information may be lost and artifacts introduced as a result of the compression process.
If images are stored on a computer workstation or server, and several individuals would have access to the image files, make the files read-only for all but your evidence or photo lab staff. As an example, detectives could view any image files but they would not have rights to delete or overwrite those files.
If an image is to be analyzed or enhanced the new image files created should be saved as new file names. The original file must not be replaced (overwritten) with a new file.

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HOW THE EVIDENCE PERTAINS TO MARS HUNTING IMAGES
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AUTHENTIC IMAGES POSTED BY JPL ARE POSTED FROM RAW DATA ELECTRONICALLY
TRANSMITTED FROM ROVERS TO MARS SATELLITE TO EARTH SATELLITE TO JPL LABS FOR
ANALYZING. JPL ANALYZES THE RAW IMAGES AND POSTS TO THEIR WEB SITE A FEW OF THE ACTUAL
IMAGES FOR PUBLIC REVIEW. THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUIRES THE IMAGES BE
SHARED TO THE PUBLIC, HOWEVER NATIONAL SECURITY CAN NOT BE COMPROMISED. ANY OBVIOUS
IMAGES SHOWING, VEHICLES, ELECTRONICS, BUILDINGS, HUMAN INHABITANCE, SIGNS, LETTERING,
OR ORGANIC REMAINS WILL NOT BE RELEASED. ONLY A SMALL PROPORTION OF THE RAW IMAGES
ARE SEEN BY THE PUBLIC. SOME OF THE ONES THAT ARE PUBLISHED HAVE OBJECTS THAT SLIP THROUGH THE SCREENING PROCESS AND ARE CONSIDERED TO BE AUTHENTIC EVIDENCE
OF A SEEN ON THE MARTIAN SURFACE. THE POSTED IMAGES ARE CONSIDERED TO BE AUTHENTIC EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IMAGES TAKEN BY ROVERS ON MARS. OTHER IMAGES COME DIRECTLY FROM SATELLITES MAPPING THE MARTIAN SURFACE AND CAN SEEN AND DOWN LOADED FROM NASA DIRECTLY OR FROM GOOGLE EARTH'S WEB SITE, WHICH INCLUDES MARS, EARTH, MOON AND NIGHT SKY.

EACH IMAGE HAS A URL (LINK), TO COMPARE, THE NASA IMAGE TO ANY ENHANCED IMAGES. ALL OF THE
POSTED IMAGES ARE POOR QUALITY AND APPEAR TO BE BLURRY, AND HAVE A BROWNISH FILM
FILTER OVER EACH IMAGE. ENHANCEMENT OF THE IMAGES BY HIGHLIGHTING THE SHADOWS,
INCREASING THE COMPRESSION AND RESOLUTION, ZOOMING, UPGRADING THE FOCUS, CORRECTING
EXPOSURE, CORRECTING CONTRAST, AND ADJUSTING COLOR TO REMOVE FILTERED INTERFERENCE
MAINTAINS THE ORIGINAL PIXELS TO HIGHLIGHT ANY QUESTIONABLE OBJECTS.

ANYONE PROFICIENT IN DIGITAL SOFTWARE CAN DOWN LOAD THE ORIGINAL IMAGES AND ENHANCE
THE IMAGES WITHOUT ADDING CONTENT. ADDING OBJECT CONTENT WOULD COMPROMISE THE ORIGINAL IMAGE AND DECEIVE THE VIEWER. THOUSANDS OF DECEPTIONS ARE POSTED DAILY
TO THE WEB, IT'S LIKE HACKING YOUR MIND. THE DECEPTION IS CONFUSING AND ACTS AS COUNTER
MEASURE TO MAKE THE TASK OF INTERRUPTING THE REAL IMAGES MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE PUBLIC
TO BE INFORMED.

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