I would like to share some information that will help people discern what they are seeing as they analyze imagery while researching or documenting DEW "events".  Digital sensors create various anomalies. Each artifact depends on the type of sensor  (CCD or CMOS). Some will make line-like flares called a “smear” or “horizontal blooming”, there is also “vertical blooming”. Some systems were designed to put black dots in the center when overloaded as a means of protection. Here is a short example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICSRTeyOSNU Pink is the artifact. Variations in this artifact also depend on aperture and shutter speed. The blooming effect is worse on cameras with electronic shutter than manual shutters. Sensor artifacts are different from lens flares. There are other artifacts to deal with digital cameras that make them rather dubious in terms of evidence documentation. Film cameras did not do this, although they had their own set of issues…  Here ar