Was just watching Spock dock up with the Enterprise in ST:TMP so that I could get a good feel for the blink rates of the strobing lights near the bridge, under the secondary hull, and on the ends of the warp nacelles. As the shuttle approaches the ship the blink rate is quick--definitely a strobe. But then, when they change angles, these same lights are blinking much more slowly--like the navigation lights. Then, in the next angle, the lights on the nacelles aren't blinking at all!
I'm going to go with the distance shots as they seem to match better with other shots in the movie.
I'm going to go with the distance shots as they seem to match better with other shots in the movie.