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Arctic UFO Photographs, USS Trepang, SSN 674, March 1971

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GeorgeP

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A series of pictures were published in a french paranomal magazine called-Top Secret. Its claimed that the images were taken by the USS Trepang, somewhere between Iceland and Jan Mayan island in the Atlantic Ocean.

5-WxgnQp9.jpg


Full story and all the photographs can be found here: http://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/arctic-ufo-photographs-uss-trepang-ssn-674-march-1971/#
 
That page actually makes a fairly good effort at explaining this set of pictures. The cigar is about the same shape as some other naval balloons which were used in the First World War, and seems to be exploding just like a balloon which has been hit by artillery - so it could be a target balloon in the process of being destroyed.
 
So the other images that depict a triangular object are simply shrapnel then...
 
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I'm not (yet) convinced this is a set of actually affiliated images, much less that they represent one or more incidents observed from the Trepang in 1971. Here are some reasons why ...

The stadia lines (crosshairs, tick marks) visible in these purportedly through-the-periscope photos are notably crude, uneven, and in at least one case doubled. I dare anyone to rummage through the relatively plentiful inventory of WWII USN periscope view photos from 3 decades earlier and find any in which the stadia lines look as fuzzy and crude as in these photos. In some of the photos the lines look as if they were drawn over the image using a pencil or pen.

The second photo shown above has to be a double exposure. The vertical crosshair seems to split (as if overlain with a second impression rotated slightly clockwise). This cannot be an artifact of the periscope's rangefinder (which could split an image into two parts displayed one over the other, but not add in any such rotation).

The Trepang, as a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was equipped with quite sophisticated optics (a Kollmorgen 15D unit, to be exact). The Kollmorgen 15D had built-in mounts for a camera, and use of this integrated camera wouldn't have resulted in the sort of fuzzy shots presented here.

There's no explanation as to where the 2 color photos (scanned off a magazine page, as evidenced by the staple holes) came from. I would also note these are the only photos in the set which show no signs of stadia lines (and presumably were photographed 'top side').

Not all the 'cigar object' photos show an object of the same shape. In the clearest photo it appears to be hemispherically convex on one end and flat on the other. The color photos of an elongated object indicate both ends are bullet-shaped.

The ambient weather, sea, and lighting conditions don't correlate across all the photos.

The triangular object(s) resemble similarly triangular spots or smudges visible in other photos.

The 'big splash' photo:

Image06302015154328.jpg


... seems to indicate (via the splash pattern) the object is erupting upward rather than crashing downward.

Trepang didn't have a deck gun, nor was it equipped with anti-aircraft weaponry. If the mystery object was indeed shot out of the sky, it feel victim to either (a) small arms fire from someone atop the surfaced sub or (b) some other party's fire.

The 'big flat, vaguely triangular object on the horizon' photo:

Image07052015112953.jpg


... Looks to me like a (unrelated?) fata morgana / mirage.

Finally, some of these images appear to have been viewed while the sub was surfaced, while others could well have been viewed from periscope depth (submerged).
 
I also find it weird that the French writer / publisher claimed one or more photos were somehow ascribed to a 'SYGMA' he couldn't identify.

Sygma Photo News was a major French news photo service / bureau for decades. They were purchased by Corbis a few years ago. Any photos indicating a Sygma origin would therefore seem to have passed through a commercial journalistic photo service rather than US Navy archives.
 
EnolaGaia said:
I also find it weird that the French writer / publisher claimed one or more photos were somehow ascribed to a 'SYGMA' he couldn't identify.

Sygma Photo News was a major French news photo service / bureau for decades. They were purchased by Corbis a few years ago. Any photos indicating a Sygma origin would therefore seem to have passed through a commercial journalistic photo service rather than US Navy archives.
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I admire your knowledge and the way you investigate Enola. I too thought that the object was infact rising out of the ocean, I also assumed that the images of it airborne revealed a cooling off period. Sure, there are indeed many issues with someof the images but the case is an interesting one.

If an actual UFO event did occur at that location way back in 1971 would it not also suggest the possible location for an underwater base?
 
GeorgeP said:
I admire your knowledge and the way you investigate Enola. I too thought that the object was infact rising out of the ocean, I also assumed that the images of it airborne revealed a cooling off period. Sure, there are indeed many issues with some of the images but the case is an interesting one.
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Thanks ...

... And yes - it's an interesting case. If only we could reach some level of certainty that the purported evidence all comes from a specific incident, and that incident really had something to do with the Trepang's maiden voyage.

There are possible scenarios that would make (at least one or more of ...) these images connected to that voyage.

On the one hand, service records indicate the Trepang spent that voyage beneath the Arctic ice cap, running tests and gathering data for and about its weapon systems. This would be entirely consistent with its role as an attack submarine (which would spend much time beneath Arctic ice). This naturally begs the question of why none among these photos clearly indicates a location in Arctic waters.

On the other hand ... The same service records indicate that on that voyage the Trepang performed some experiments relating to mapping or tracking the ice cap and its movements. This opens the possibility that one or more of the photos may well portray something to do with those experiments (e.g., launching balloons). It would be easy to claim the seemingly triangular objects are polygonal balloons designed to be readily track-able on radar. The problem is that I can't find any confirmation that such polygonally-shaped tracking balloons were in use as of 1971.

While I'm on the subject ... I can't locate any clear evidence there were gunnery / missile target balloons in 1971 matching the shapes in the photos.

Another possibility is that one or more of the images shows something launched from the submarine as a test. The Trepang was armed with SUBROC submarine-launched anti-ship / anti-sub missiles. There were problems that had to be worked out to get the missiles to launch from underwater, but these had apparently been worked out by the mid to late 1960's.

Once operational cruise missiles were deployed (almost a decade later), the Trepang was capable of carrying those as well. I found some references stating there'd been problems developing a workable submarine-launched cruise missile, and that some sort of balloon-based launch procedure had been explored as an option (but eventually abandoned). 1971 might not have been too early to have a new attack sub try out this approach.


GeorgeP said:
If an actual UFO event did occur at that location way back in 1971 would it not also suggest the possible location for an underwater base?
Click to expand...

Yes - provided one presumes the airborne objects aren't human artifacts.
 
A new development ...

As of yesterday (13 July) someone sent the Black Vault editor the original image scans, and these have been posted on the site (same URL cited above). The earlier-posted images (which turn out to be scans from their magazine publication ...) are still available as well.
 
I forgot to mention another clue suggesting the cylindrical 'cigar' object may have surfaced from the sea. If you look at the photo of it placidly floating above the ocean surface:

Original-scan-photos-of-submarine-USS-trepang-1.jpg


... it appears there's a substantial amount of water dripping / draining off one end.
 
I was having a look at the triangular object photos and noticed that the sea in the distance is out of focus. That suggests to me that the object was fairly close to the camera. It's hard to judge the distance in the image or the size of the object but one thing that I thought of was that it could be scale model of some sort of re-entry vehicle or a lifting body type of aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body
Original-scan-photos-of-submarine-USS-trepang-5-1.jpg
 
Bigphoot2 said:
I was having a look at the triangular object photos and noticed that the sea in the distance is out of focus. That suggests to me that the object was fairly close to the camera. It's hard to judge the distance in the image or the size of the object but one thing that I thought of was that it could be scale model of some sort of re-entry vehicle or a lifting body type of aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body
Click to expand...

I agree about the problem of determining distance and / or scale for any of the objects in the photos. They could be small and close or huge and distant.

I'd also point out that the most recently posted images make it even more obvious the set of photos was not taken through the same periscope / camera / whatever. Some photos show horizontally and vertically arrayed stadia lines, while others don't.

One strange notion that crossed my mind was whether the 'triangular' objects might be the 'cigar / balloon' object in a deformed (e.g., partially inflated) state and viewed from one or the other end.

The lifting body suggestion is an interesting one, but ... All the US lifting body tests were done on the west coast, by the end of the 1960's all lifting body prototypes had clearly visible stabilizer fins, and most lifting body prototypes had either been crashed or retired by 1971.
 
EnolaGaia said:
I agree about the problem of determining distance and / or scale for any of the objects in the photos. They could be small and close or huge and distant.

I'd also point out that the most recently posted images make it even more obvious the set of photos was not taken through the same periscope / camera / whatever. Some photos show horizontally and vertically arrayed stadia lines, while others don't.

One strange notion that crossed my mind was whether the 'triangular' objects might be the 'cigar / balloon' object in a deformed (e.g., partially inflated) state and viewed from one or the other end.

The lifting body suggestion is an interesting one, but ... All the US lifting body tests were done on the west coast, by the end of the 1960's all lifting body prototypes had clearly visible stabilizer fins, and most lifting body prototypes had either been crashed or retired by 1971.
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That's what they want us to think :)
 
dejanmikic said:
Is that a propeller on the other end?
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I don't think so. There are multiple vertical lines on or around the 'cigar' object in the photo in post #11. At a glance, a couple along the top edge first struck me as possibly representing small protrusions (like an antenna). The larger one on the left end originally struck me as maybe being a mast or spar.

Closer inspection of the photo at max size seems to indicate they're scratches or linear smudges on the print itself.
 
EnolaGaia said:
I don't think so. There are multiple vertical lines on or around the 'cigar' object in the photo in post #11. At a glance, a couple along the top edge first struck me as possibly representing small protrusions (like an antenna). The larger one on the left end originally struck me as maybe being a mast or spar.

Closer inspection of the photo at max size seems to indicate they're scratches or linear smudges on the print itself.
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Thanks!
 
I only just heard of the Trepang's UFO photos due to the following YouTube video which features it as one of the stories:


Very interesting, I'm surprised that the photos haven't had more attention over the years - a Google search reveals stories in the tabloids a few years ago but not much else relatively speaking.
 
The triangular object looks like some kind of kytoon, a balloon-kite hybrid that is sometimes used in military contexts. The most familiar kind of kytoon is the 'barrage balloon' from WWII, but there are other designs, many triangular.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kytoon
 
EnolaGaia said:
I forgot to mention another clue suggesting the cylindrical 'cigar' object may have surfaced from the sea. If you look at the photo of it placidly floating above the ocean surface:

Original-scan-photos-of-submarine-USS-trepang-1.jpg


... it appears there's a substantial amount of water dripping / draining off one end.
Click to expand...
Love to know about that picture.
 
Bigphoot2 said:
I was having a look at the triangular object photos and noticed that the sea in the distance is out of focus. That suggests to me that the object was fairly close to the camera. It's hard to judge the distance in the image or the size of the object but one thing that I thought of was that it could be scale model of some sort of re-entry vehicle or a lifting body type of aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body
Original-scan-photos-of-submarine-USS-trepang-5-1.jpg
Click to expand...
Or... someone tossing a cheese & tomato sandwich over the side perhaps?
 
Sid said:
O.K. erm... well, it could have been a cheese & pickle sandwich then, I suppose. "Better?"
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I actually washed my mouth out yesterday as getting rid of the Red Wine hangover at 12 onwards and was drinking a Powerade type drink nd put it down and then picked it up again and was sucking the Wilko Fairy liquid bottle YAK.
i'm forever blowing bubbles.
 
I was just reading a book that had something to do with Operation Highjump, essentially what was a massive invasion fleet just after Word War 2, went to the Antarctic masquerading as a scientific fleet, the photos are actually from that and film analysis puts the photos to that time, there is even one of a flash of artillery hitting the one shown here that crashed into the sea, a Sub, with a deck mounted artillery gun scored the hit, the name of the ship was changed in official records, a pain in the arse thing the Navy did a lot, there was also loss of life and the destruction of a torpedo boat
 
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