Crap. My mind won't let it go. Now its yammering on about huge tidal waves.

well, i think that this meme relates to the perceptual distortion you see with near-horizon moon. you can't catch that with a camera, but it's subjectively the image that comes out of your visual cortex. so, probably, at the distance that a jupiter like planet could actually be at, could possibly be apprehended by human eyes exactly as depicted. just shrink those stupid planets down, put them near the horizon, and make them the same size as you see the moon at the horizon. then the unreality factor disappears.