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Analysis of a UFO Photograph

RICHARD F. HAINES
325 Langton Avenue, Los Altos, CA 94022

Abstract--This report reviews various investigative activities and analyses surrounding a photograph of a purported unidentified flying object (UFO) taken on October 8, 1981, at about 11:00 a.m. local time on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The evidence consisted of a single frame of 35 mm color film which showed a sharply focused disc-like object against a clear blue sky with wooded mountain peak nearby. Analyses of the original negative included micro-densitometry, computer enhancements, and other measurements intent upon showing a support thread, atmospheric disturbance, or other evidences of a hoax. These analyses suggest that the disc was a three dimensional object located at a distance of at least 30 feet from the camera; the object's surface albedo was diffuse and of lower luminance than a sunlit cloud. Extensive interviews with the photographer (who never saw the aerial object), her husband and daughter and site survey tended to support the entire narrative account. The identity of the disc object remains unidentified.

Introduction

Contrary to common belief there are many photographs of alleged UFOs. Of course the problem lies not so much with the details of the photograph and its negative as with the photographer and the equipment used. It is for this reason that one must be careful to fully document seemingly unimportant details concerning the person taking the photograph, the social situation which surrounded the photograph(s), the camera-lens-film data, the developing printing-enlarging activities and the manner in which the photograph came to the attention of the investigator. Since such a photograph image is only as credible as the photographer who took it, one must exercise "due diligence" in each of the above areas. Many older UFO photographs remain useless artifacts of the UFO enigma because the investigator did not or could not obtain all of the relevant background information. As will be made clear, the author attempted to consider all of the above factors. Length restrictions of this paper impose certain practical limits upon the depth to which these facts can be documented, however.

The remainder of this report will cover the following topics: (a) the photograph and negative, (b) the camera and lens, (c) the film and its processing, (d) the results of image analysis, (e) the site visit results, (f) credibility of the photographer, and (g) a brief review of Frisbee characteristics.

The Photograph and Negative

The author received a color negative strip of two frames. The higher numbered frame showed a small child standing in front of a fireplace inside a

 

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