Look at these two pictures of the moon. Has the moon
actually come closer in the second? Answer: no, it's an effect caused by use of a telephoto lens.
https://www.terragalleria.com/pictur....sagu1233.html
https://www.terragalleria.com/pictur....sagu1228.html
The aircraft are both A340s. Look at the distance between contrails of the Lufthansa aircraft - it's apparent that it is significantly further away (i.e. at least 1000' above) the Air France one.
The frequency with which aircraft 'seem' (to the uninitiated) to get close is vastly greater than the frequency with which they actually do (fortunately)!