We've had HD cameras and excellent optical glass for a long time, and yet blips on poor quality video are abound. Anything high def is (in my experience) always CGI.
Every time I try to get a good picture of an eagle with my iPhone it turns out blurry and that’s in the daytime with them flying slowly overhead. It’s been a while since I tried the same with a plane but I imagine the results are similar. I don’t think the “cameras are so good now all blurry photos must be fake” argument holds water.
Basically, the prevalence of smartphones means we can record pretty much anything at anytime. Therefore, if abductions happen with any regularity, surely at least one would be captured on camera.
My understanding of that statement is that, with the advent of ubiquitous smart phones with cameras, there's not much room to believe someone's claim of alien abduction these days. If they have no picture or video to prove it then it's likely not true. Sure, some people may get abducted without their phone, but the possibility of no one ever having a phone to record such an event is statistically improbable.
So, with too few people able to suspend belief and buy into claims of alien abduction without proof from their phone, no one really makes that claim anymore.
Maybe that's not what the GP was getting at but that's how I read it...
Apparently we touched someone's nerve - why we are being downvoted is beyond my comprehension. Guess we weren't serious 'nuff for the HN crowd. As I said in a comment a few days ago, sometimes I really miss /.