Originally Posted by astrophotographer

There are still problems with such cases you give as an example. First off, the pilot may not like the answer. From what I have read about commercial and military pilots, some can be very set that they are normally correct and don't like to be shown they made an error. I guess it makes them a bit testy when "pilot error" is used to explain an incident/crash. If they have problems identifying venus rising/setting they tend to think it makes them look incompetent. This is why they will often deny with statements like, "it could not have been venus because I have seen Venus many times before". This is immediately picked up by the sensationalist TV show and UFO groups as it can not be explained and the official explanation is laughable.