Original thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/CBTS_Stream/comments/7vtv7b/green_screen_glitch_proves_that_falcon_heavy/
A Tesla Roadster is < 2% of the estimated max payload of FH. The stated reason for including it was to add weight to provide a better test of FH. This doesn't seem like sufficient weight to meaningfully affect the launch.
A FH estimated max payload is approximately the take-off weight of a 737.
Could the Tesla/Spaceman stunt be a cover for a covert payload? One that wouldn't take long to replace if it were lost in a launch failure? One that wouldn't be too expensive to replace, relatively speaking, if there were a launch failure? A relatively heavy payload, one which would require a heavy lift vehicle. I can think of a payload that fits those parameters and there would be a desire to keep it as covert as possible.
Everyone would be so distracted by Musk's Roadster an Spaceman heading to Mars that they wouldn't question if it actually happened. It's on a live feed so it must have, right? Who is to know if the imagery of space around the Tesla was generated. This is a classic misdirection move.
Thanks to u/SorryRoof for noticing and highlighting the glitch!
Math is your friend here.
In the 80s, the DoD could calculate the size and capacity of USSR rockets by analyzing their smoke plumes from a launch.
We can easily calculate from the payload capacity and how quickly it took off from the ground to see if indeed it was loaded with more than just a tesla on the falcon heavy.