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The Calvine UFO Sighting (Scotland; August 1990)

BS3 said:
'16 year old with an interest in photography / a decent camera' seems to me to very much fit the profile of a hoaxer.
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I had a friend that managed some amazingly good pictures with an old Practica SLR with an M42 screw lens that he bought for almost next to nothing.
 
If it was someone being creative were they inspired by the Cash- Landrum diamond-shaped UFO, with Harriers substituted for the helicopters?
 
Erinaceus said:
If it was someone being creative were they inspired by the Cash- Landrum diamond-shaped UFO, with Harriers substituted for the helicopters?
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My guess would be if anything was an 'influence' it would be the Belgian triangle wave (including a supposed 'jet pursuit') starting only the year before, along with the 1988 unveiling of the F-117. (Edit to note the jet incident was in fact in March 1990, only a few months before Calvine).

This supposes the hoax was planned, rather than simply carried out on the spur of the moment using something that was to hand.
 
The case being discussed on a military aircraft forum:

https://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=215423

Lots of speculation about the F117 Stealth aircraft but perhaps the most interesting response is that the Harrier is not designed as an interceptor and lacks the necessary radar and any intercept would have been carried out by a Phantom or Tornado
 
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I've come into this fairly late but I'm interested in the discussion about the fighter aircraft a few posts above. What if the plane isn't intercepting, but escorting?

Sorry if this has been mentioned before.
 
DrPaulLee said:
I've come into this fairly late but I'm interested in the discussion about the fighter aircraft a few posts above. What if the plane isn't intercepting, but escorting?
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Yes. I think it's not moving that fast. A Harrier can fly as slowly as is required.
Maybe moving that thing from one base to another, or doing a test flight.
 
Nick Pope was on the radio this morning supposedly talking about these photos & had very little to say about them. He seemed more interested in plugging his involvement in a new ‘Ancient Aliens Live’ show with Georgio Tsoukalos & others, which will be touring the US.

https://www.ancientalienslivetour.com
 
I worked as a lowly SAC at RAF Pitreavie Castle around 1990 and one of the Flight Lieutenant Op’s Officers in the Rescue Coordination Centre actually showed me this photo…. I couldn’t tell you if it was an original or a photocopy. Unfortunately being a lowly SAC, I was rushed off my feet (more than likely assisting in the coordination of the rescue of a hill/mountain climber or Spanish fisherman….that seemed to be most of our rescues) and didn’t have much time to scrutinise the picture all that closely.…. I really wish I had. I have to say though that I don’t even recall the Harrier aircraft being in the shot….just the diamond shaped object which I probably just described as “weird”.
 
DrPaulLee said:
I've come into this fairly late but I'm interested in the discussion about the fighter aircraft a few posts above. What if the plane isn't intercepting, but escorting? ...
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Yes - escorting makes more sense if the "UFO" was actually a military aircraft. For example, if the "UFO" had been an F-117 as of 1990 it would reasonably have been deployed and escorted by affiliated unit A-7s (Corsairs), which have a swept-wing configuration consistent with the low-quality photos at the time.

The conclusion the additional aircraft was a Harrier is (IMHO) an artifact of the mock-up photos disseminated in the press. A subsonic Harrier wouldn't be anyone's first choice for interception of an anonymous intruder unless it was the only airframe available.
 
If (and it may well be a big if) the Harrier was subsequently added to the image, then maybe I was shown an original unedited photograph when down the pit at Pitreavie Castle…….as I said earlier, I don’t even recall seeing an aircraft alongside the diamond shaped object.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Another idea that is possible is that it's a custom-made balloon, made for the purpose of being a radar reflector (i.e. for testing purposes). ...
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Yep - the same thing occurred to me. If the large "diamond-shaped" object is really in the scene it resembles a possible radar target. If it's a passive target the other aircraft might well be a Harrier on a test or check flight.

I'm still not convinced the diamond object was in the original scene.
 
Sgt Girth said:
If (and it may well be a big if) the Harrier was subsequently added to the image, then maybe I was shown an original unedited photograph when down the pit at Pitreavie Castle…….as I said earlier, I don’t even recall seeing an aircraft alongside the diamond shaped object.
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Well the suggestion is that there were five photos in the series, one of which apparently shows two accompanying aircraft. Could it be that you saw one of the earlier shots in the series from before the Harrier came into the firld of view?
 
EnolaGaia said:
The conclusion the additional aircraft was a Harrier is (IMHO) an artifact of the mock-up photos disseminated in the press. A subsonic Harrier wouldn't be anyone's first choice for interception of an anonymous intruder unless it was the only airframe available.
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The most likely aircraft to intercept it would be a Tornado from RAF Leuchars only 50 miles away. Leuchars always had a couple of jets ready to intercept any intruders into UK airspace.
 
DrPaulLee said:
I've come into this fairly late but I'm interested in the discussion about the fighter aircraft a few posts above. What if the plane isn't intercepting, but escorting?

Sorry if this has been mentioned before.
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Mythopoeika said:
Another idea that is possible is that it's a custom-made balloon, made for the purpose of being a radar reflector (i.e. for testing purposes).
Google images shows what I mean by a radar reflector:
https://www.google.com/search?q=alu...0ApoQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1536&bih=760&dpr=1.25
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I think a radar reflector makes perfect sense and the Harrier was probably inspecting it, maybe to identify a fault. But then why the silence and denial from the MoD over some pretty harmless material that wouldn't have been exactly top secret as most small boats have one. By denying the Harriers were there runs the risk of some active or retired pilot or whoever coming forward to say "well, actually I positively identified those aircraft that evening" and then the MoD are caught fibbing.

The incident took place close to the A9 road and the village of Calvine during the tourist season, so perhaps we ought to be asking why no-one else saw this object...?
 
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Carse said:
Well the suggestion is that there were five photos in the series, one of which apparently shows two accompanying aircraft. Could it be that you saw one of the earlier shots in the series from before the Harrier came into the firld of view?
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Could be……Interestingly (to me at least…lol) I moved on from the RCC at Pitreavie to 1(F) Sqn Harriers…..and many years later to RAF Leuchars, home of the Northern Quick Reaction Alert Tornado F3 aircraft. There weren’t ever any Harriers based in Scotland so the chances of them being launched to intercept or accompany anything in the skies around Pitlochry would be exceedingly remote. Harriers were known to deploy and operate from RAF Machrahanish on occasion but that’s not exactly nearby to the reported siting.
 
Sgt Girth said:
Could be……Interestingly (to me at least…lol) I moved on from the RCC at Pitreavie to 1(F) Sqn Harriers…..and many years later to RAF Leuchars, home of the Northern Quick Reaction Alert Tornado F3 aircraft. There weren’t ever any Harriers based in Scotland so the chances of them being launched to intercept or accompany anything in the skies around Pitlochry would be exceedingly remote. Harriers were known to deploy and operate from RAF Machrahanish on occasion but that’s not exactly nearby to the reported siting.
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Do you think its a Harrier...? Both a Warthog and Corsair have been suggested
 
Paul_Exeter said:
I think that ex- RAF chap is genuine. If it were Nick Pope I might agree with you but Dr David Clarke has too much integrity in my book.
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eburacum said:
Absolutely.
Craig Lindsay interviewed these chaps (or at least one of them) and also had contact with the Daily Record. If the witnesses were lying they were lying to both Lindsay and the Record.
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So who are the chefs and where are they now?

No chefs = no sighting.
 
Coal said:
So who are the chefs and where are they now?

No chefs = no sighting.
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Fair point, hopefully at least one of them will feel confident to come forward now or we will hear from someone who knew them
 
Sgt Girth said:
There weren’t ever any Harriers based in Scotland so the chances of them being launched to intercept or accompany anything in the skies around Pitlochry would be exceedingly remote.
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What about USAF Harriers?
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Do you think its a Harrier...? Both a Warthog and Corsair have been suggested
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I don’t ever recall any A7 Corsair aircraft ever operating in UK airspace whereas the A10 Warthog was quite a regular visitor. To my mind, the aircraft in the picture is undoubtedly a Harrier GR5 though. But as I said, the likelihood of a Harrier being called upon to intercept or escort some airborne device in the skies of Scotland is extremely remote….IMHO.
 
Mythopoeika said:
What about USAF Harriers?
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Don't know if they were based here, the only US jets I'm aware of were F15s and A10s. The only other fast jets based in Scotland at the time would have been Buccaneers at Lossiemouth. And the plane in the picture was flying way too high for a Buccaneer :)
 
Sgt Girth said:
I don’t ever recall any A7 Corsair aircraft ever operating in UK airspace whereas the A10 Warthog was quite a regular visitor. To my mind, the aircraft in the picture is undoubtedly a Harrier GR5 though. But as I said, the likelihood of a Harrier being called upon to intercept or escort some airborne device in the skies of Scotland is extremely remote….IMHO.
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Thanks

There is precious little background detail in the photo, in fact nothing that would prove it was taken where they claimed.

They claimed the/one Harrier circled the object:

"The jet came back and circled the 'thing' before heading off on its original course, as if the pilot had seen the object too and had come back for a closer look." [mailonline].

But the object looks too close to the camera and surely we would have had very clear shot of the plane just a hundred feet from the chefs...? Or it was massive and ought too have been seen by more people....
 
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