I didn't put this in the debate section because I thought it was a fairly cut and dry issue. Fine, I'll explain the evidence as clearly as possible:
The Claim:
He claimed to be able to see Lighthouse State Beach in Santa Cruz from Lovers Point Beach, 33 miles away (23 miles, in actuality).
The Facts:
1. Lovers Point Beach does not have a view of Lighthouse Beach. It is facing the wrong direction. The beach that can be seen across the water from Lover's Point Beach is roughly 4 miles away.
2. To support his claim, he links to a picture he found on the internet. This picture is indeed taken from Lover's Point Beach, and shows the beach that is 4 miles away.
Given these two facts, do you honestly think it is likely he was looking at the correct beach? If he had actually seen the Santa Cruz beach, don't you think he would have noticed that the picture was of the wrong beach? I understand that people make mistakes, but it seems completely unreasonable to think that he would confuse a beach that is only 4 miles away for a beach that he had seen from 23 miles away. That is a huge difference in distance.
Now, combine this with the other issues with the experiment:
1. He provides no pictures (other than the picture of the wrong beach) or witnesses to back up his claim. All we have to go on is his word.
2. He does not say what telescope he uses, despite numerous requests. Several people have called into question whether it is even physically possible to see that much detail through the ground-level atmosphere with any telescope.
3. The "typo".
Now, considering all of the above issues, can you honestly say that this is a reliable experiment?