Nice idea, but I think for THIS application the FOV is to large and the resolution (160*120?) is to low. Of course the extraterrestrial knew that and therefore allowed the integration of the lapton chip into the phone <8-)

I use a dedicated thermal camera with bit higher resolution but higher FPS. As others have written they are quite useful as you see thing (even not ET) you could have measured with an IR thermometer if you knew they were there.

> Of course the extraterrestrial knew that and therefore allowed the integration of the lapton chip into the phone <8-)

That's silly. The real reason is that the ITAR prohibits you from being able to get a higher-resolution thermal camera, which is one of several laws implementing a complex, global ban on technologies that would let regular people spot the aliens. You can thank a secret UN subcommittee for that; they've botched negotiations with aliens so badly that our governments are now forced to do the "hiding from people" work for them.

Do satellites show up on infrared cameras? Or are you talking about some sort of aircraft?

Cant say for devices with higher resolution and stronger magnification (e.g. for hunting) but i don't think so too. Definitely not for the resolution and magnification we are talking here.

not really.. low resolution and focused in short range

i dont even get a blip when looking at airplanes with my thermal camera