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The Calvine UFO Sighting (Scotland; August 1990)

Extreme photo-processing by a Reddit contributor has highlighted a mysterious circle in the photo, that seems quite suspicious.
circle.png


What could this be? A circular alien forcefield? That seems to rule out an American secret project.

I suspect it is an artifact of the way this photo was faked - perhaps the photographer pressed a cut-out diamond-shape onto the photo before photographing it again. We can see the imprint of the tool he used to press the cut-out into the emulsion. This would also explain why the diamond is the only thing in focus in the photo.
 
EnolaGaia said:
Although I like the reflection hypothesis in terms of explaining the image / optics, there are problems with it in terms of the alleged story and attempts to pin down the location.

I didn't see any place in the Clarke video that offered or suggested a pond in close proximity to a fence row. This and the completely obscured horizon leave me less than convinced Clarke (etc.) found the actual site where the photograph was taken.

The reflection hypothesis implies the only thing in the sky at the time was a jet circling around - conveniently positioned to be reflected in the pond (huge puddle; whatever) such that its reflection appeared to be circling a semi-submerged object. The hypothesis removes the mystery object from the sky. As such, what was it the jet was really circling?

The only basis for believing the jet was circling at all comes from hearsay, and it can never be proven without reviewing the other 5 alleged photos.

Given the one allegedly authentic photo, I have a hard time believing a jet (including a Harrier in level / forward flight mode) could circle a point or object so tightly as to remain in frame during a complete circuit. A Harrier could circle in such a tight pattern if slowed down and using its VTOL capabilities, but in that mode it wouldn't / couldn't be banked as far as indicated in the one photo we've seen.
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I agree. It is a bit Father Ted: This (object) is close but these (Harriers) are far away.... The object looks too close to the lens, or are we to be believe it was a truly massive object...?

However, the witness said to Lindsay the plane made "repeated passes" of the object which Clarke has perhaps paraphrased as "circling". For example, he keeps referring to the two young lads "chefs", yet according to Lindsay the witness told him they "were mostly washing dishes".

What I'm struggling with is that at least one Harrier made one hell of a racket at a low-level for a 5-6 minute period in the vicinity of the Struan Point landmark, close to the small village of Calvine and the A9 road and not one walker, farmer, motorist or villager saw or heard anything...?
 
eburacum said:
Extreme photo-processing by a Reddit contributor has highlighted a mysterious circle in the photo, that seems quite suspicious.View attachment 58142

What could this be? A circular alien forcefield? That seems to rule out an American secret project.

I suspect it is an artifact of the way this photo was faked - perhaps the photographer pressed a cut-out diamond-shape onto the photo before photographing it again. We can see the imprint of the tool he used to press the cut-out into the emulsion. This would also explain why the diamond is the only thing in focus in the photo.
Click to expand...
Great find.

Edit: to my eyes it isn't an even circle, there is a chunk missing at the top that has been cut with straight lines. The circle also dissects the middle of the object, causing the line that some thought was a wire
 
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eburacum said:
Excellent; up til now, all we've had to go on was a poor photocopy.

Here's the image, in case the Mail link disappears;
View attachment 57972

I note that this is the first time that I've heard that the two witnesses were 'young chefs'. That is interesting, but not really much help in identifying them.

The plane in the picture doesn't look like a Tornado; it looks a bit like a Harrier, which is what the RAF briefing said at the time.


But this version of the image is not quite good enough to be sure.

I'm also not too impressed with the image of the UFO itself; it is still relatively low in resolution, and could be a model made of cork for all we can tell. Difficult to imagine how it was faked, but the fact that there are tree branches at the top of the picture might be a clue - it looks all a bit too Billy Meier.
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You can even faintly see the circle if you zoom in on this image (I'm using a MacBook Pro with Retina screen.

Amazing how you don't see something in front of your eyes until it's pointed out to you....

There is a narrative emerging from the official documents and the poaching theory that the military were initially fooled by these images but later realised they were hoaxed either through finding flaws such as the one above or the lads confessed after they were rumbled for their illicit activities. That suggests that perhaps they were paid a hoist and had their accommodation searched. Perhaps this was a result of a tip-off, they may even had riled the local poachers who didn't much like new competition for their quarry.

But let us be equitable here, it could also be caused by the UFO's propulsion
 
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Paul_Exeter said:
What I'm struggling with is that at least one Harrier made one hell of a racket at a low-level for a 5-6 minute period in the vicinity of the Struan Point landmark, close to the small village of Calvine and the A9 road and not one walker, farmer, motorist or villager saw or heard anything...?
Click to expand...

I'm speculating, but perhaps familiarity bred contempt? There's an RAF bombing range at Tain, Ross-shire, 71 miles almost directly due north of Calvine (and also - coincidentally? - on the A9 road). If aircraft transiting to & from Tain (or Cape Wrath in Sutherland) were daily sights to locals, would one more sighting be memorable or remarkable?

Also, how many Calvine locals or transients were actually asked if they'd seen the circling Harrier?

From anecdotal evidence gathered from personal communications, I believe that:

1) Pilots who have launched their quota of weapons at bombing ranges, and who are aware that the next group of planes is en route to use the range, can ask the range control tower for permission to loiter in the area and conduct mock ambushes on the next "shift".

2) Pilots have been known to use ground landmarks to assist in navigation even in these days of GPS, etc. The A9 road would seem to be an ideal resource.

3) I believe that RAF ground attack aircraft like Harriers have been known to pick civilian cars on public roads, and to "target" them as ideal mock enemy vehicles for practising the initial stages of an attack.

Any of the above might account for the presence of a Harrier at Calvine.

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
I'm speculating, but perhaps familiarity bred contempt? There's an RAF bombing range at Tain, Ross-shire, 71 miles almost directly due north of Calvine (and also - coincidentally? - on the A9 road). If aircraft transiting to & from Tain (or Cape Wrath in Sutherland) were daily sights to locals, would one more sighting be memorable or remarkable?

Also, how many Calvine locals or transients were actually asked if they'd seen the circling Harrier?

From anecdotal evidence gathered from personal communications, I believe that:

1) Pilots who have launched their quota of weapons at bombing ranges, and who are aware that the next group of planes is en route to use the range, can ask the range control tower for permission to loiter in the area and conduct mock ambushes on the next "shift".

2) Pilots have been known to use ground landmarks to assist in navigation even in these days of GPS, etc. The A9 road would seem to be an ideal resource.

3) I believe that RAF ground attack aircraft like Harriers have been known to pick civilian cars on public roads, and to "target" them as ideal mock enemy vehicles for practising the initial stages of an attack.

Any of the above might account for the presence of a Harrier at Calvine.

maximus otter
Click to expand...
Good points.

Do we know if the airspace above Calvine is military or civilian? If it were civilian then no-fly notices would have to have been posted otherwise that Harrier pilot might find he has Bob and his microlight caught in his tail fins. No-fly notices were posted in Wales during that Pentyrch exercise that one woman claims was a UFO being shot down.
 
Paul_Exeter said:
You can even faintly see the circle if you zoom in on this image (I'm using a MacBook Pro with Retina screen.

Amazing how you don't see something in front of your eyes until it's pointed out to you....

There is a narrative emerging from the official documents and the poaching theory that the military were initially fooled by these images but later realised they were hoaxed either through finding flaws such as the one above or the lads confessed after they were rumbled for their illicit activities. That suggests that perhaps they were paid a hoist and had their accommodation searched. Perhaps this was a result of a tip-off, they may even had riled the local poachers who didn't much like new competition for their quarry.

But let us be equitable here, it could also be caused by the UFOs propulsion
Click to expand...

I don't know about "initially" fooled, though I know this is the line people are taking on Metabunk (because everyone likes to tell themselves a story - even 'debunkers'). The FOIA documents show that analysis was "retasked" as late as 1993, with a note on the "sensitivity" of the material, so it seems that these images were being scrutinised for a while. We don't know what happened to the analysis after that.
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Good points.

Do we know if the airspace above Calvine is military or civilian? If it were civilian then no-fly notices would have to have been posted otherwise that Harrier pilot might find he has Bob and his microlight caught in his tail fins. No-fly notices were posted in Wales during that Pentyrch exercise that one woman claims was a UFO being shot down.
Click to expand...

Where and when low flying happens​

The UK is divided into 20 separate low flying areas.
Three of these areas are also known as ‘tactical training areas’. These are in:
  • central Wales
  • northern Scotland
  • the borders area of southern Scotland and northern England
Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes a monthly timetable for the low flying tactical training areas and MOD sponsored air exercises.

Air weapons ranges​

The Royal Air Force (RAF) currently uses 5 air weapons ranges. These are:
  • Donna Nook and Holbeach in Lincolnshire
  • Pembrey Sands in Carmarthenshire
  • Tain in Ross-shire
  • Cape Wrath in Sutherland
Air weapons ranges are used for:
  • low flying military aircraft
  • air to ground bombing
"MOD publishes a monthly timetable for air weapons ranges activity. Red flags or lights, signs and sentries show when you can’t go onto an air weapons range.

https://www.gov.uk/low-flying-in-your-area/where-and-when-low-flying-happens

The MOD is aware of the disturbance that can be caused to local residents by activity at the UK Air Weapons Ranges. Notification of the pre-planned extended operating hours will be published at the earliest opportunity. It should be noted that when an AWR is closed, the segregated airspace above it no longer has Danger Area status and reverts to Class G airspace, meaning that it becomes freely available to all airspace users (both civilian and military)."

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/military-low-flying-air-weapons-ranges-activity

Screen-Hunter-390-Aug-19-10-27.jpg


https://assets.publishing.service.g...ent_data/file/27454/POMLFAppendix20102011.pdf

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:

Where and when low flying happens​

The UK is divided into 20 separate low flying areas.
Three of these areas are also known as ‘tactical training areas’. These are in:
  • central Wales
  • northern Scotland
  • the borders area of southern Scotland and northern England
Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes a monthly timetable for the low flying tactical training areas and MOD sponsored air exercises.

Air weapons ranges​

The Royal Air Force (RAF) currently uses 5 air weapons ranges. These are:
  • Donna Nook and Holbeach in Lincolnshire
  • Pembrey Sands in Carmarthenshire
  • Tain in Ross-shire
  • Cape Wrath in Sutherland
Air weapons ranges are used for:
  • low flying military aircraft
  • air to ground bombing
"MOD publishes a monthly timetable for air weapons ranges activity. Red flags or lights, signs and sentries show when you can’t go onto an air weapons range.

https://www.gov.uk/low-flying-in-your-area/where-and-when-low-flying-happens

The MOD is aware of the disturbance that can be caused to local residents by activity at the UK Air Weapons Ranges. Notification of the pre-planned extended operating hours will be published at the earliest opportunity. It should be noted that when an AWR is closed, the segregated airspace above it no longer has Danger Area status and reverts to Class G airspace, meaning that it becomes freely available to all airspace users (both civilian and military)."

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/military-low-flying-air-weapons-ranges-activity

Screen-Hunter-390-Aug-19-10-27.jpg


https://assets.publishing.service.g...ent_data/file/27454/POMLFAppendix20102011.pdf

maximus otter
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So it is a low-fly zone, thanks.

But those Harriers weren't meant to be in Scotland, the RAF/MOD were clear about that, and they has to take off from somewhere and land somewhere and travel the distance in-between. Apparently low-level flying at weekends was pretty much unknown:

"Certainly, I have never seen an RAF fast jet flying at a weekend, and I grew up in the Galloway Tactical Training Area (about 150 miles SSW) during the previous 2 decades when the Cold War was quite chilly. So, either the pic was not taken at the time it is said to have been taken, or it wasn't taken where it was said to have been taken."

https://www.metabunk.org/threads/claim-original-calvine-ufo-photo.12571/page-12#post-277412

I can only speak for RAF Mildenhall but aren't there plane spotters who have their own viewing areas at military airfields? Did nobody see those out-of-place Harriers in Scotland? Because no Harriers, or at a stretch Hunters, means it was a hoax.
 
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Harriers weren’t ever based in Scotland but they certainly would deploy there on occasion……I had a memorable couple of weeks enjoying the delights of RAF Machrahanish with 1(F) Sqn Harriers back in the 90s after I had moved on from RAF Pitreavie Castle.
 
In response to the suggestion that it may be a reflection in water, I found the following interesting image...
flyingrock.png

...and reversed it to see what it really looks like...
rock.png

Of course, a true mirror image would look subtly different...
mirrorrock.png
 
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KerryDF said:
Aviation enthusiasts with long memories might recall when this rather 'out there' article appeared in Aviation Week in late 1990. Interesting if you want to go down the the 'Black Project' path. ...
Click to expand...

That description includes me ... I was tracking the stories of such experimental aircraft at the time. The one illustrated is an example of the features and alleged capabilities for the purported "Aurora" hypersonic craft. One of the claims made for "Aurora" at the time was that it had been demonstrated / tested via one or more global flights during which it had occasion to visit a remote airbase in the UK.

There are 2 reasons to doubt any association of the alleged "Aurora" prototype(s) and the Calvine sighting. The first - weaker - reason is that "Aurora" was later claimed (more officially: "revealed") to have been a code name for developmental operations involving the B-2 Spirit.

The much stronger and more relevant reason is that the legendary "Aurora" was an aerial hot rod, and couldn't have been simply hovering over Calvine or anywhere else.
 
I've often thought the claims of hypersonic performance of some of these supposed 'black projects' was a red herring. Rather they are perhaps more lumbering beasts relying on secrecy, stealth and camouflage - I recall an article in either Popular Science or Popular Mechanics where they discussed them perhaps having active lighting camo including having lights on the underside to mimic stars at night. I know its not an original thought but rigid-body airships along the lines of what the Aereon Corporation were wanting to build in the 1970s could account for some sightings. If, as the AvWeek above article suggests, they are an unacknowledged 4th leg of the US nuclear 'triad' we may never know the truth in our lifetimes.

dynairship-3.jpg
 
KerryDF said:
I've often thought the claims of hypersonic performance of some of these supposed 'black projects' was a red herring. Rather they are perhaps more lumbering beasts relying on secrecy, stealth and camouflage - I recall an article in either Popular Science or Popular Mechanics where they discussed them perhaps having active lighting camo including having lights on the underside to mimic stars at night. I know its not an original thought but rigid-body airships along the lines of what the Aereon Corporation were wanting to build in the 1970s could account for some sightings. ...
Click to expand...

That's a good point ... It's no secret that the US Army (and, allegedly, the Navy) have at various times expressed interest in heavy-lifter and other airship / aerostat vehicles for missions ranging from logistics / supply to surveillance.

Night flights by hypothesized prototypes of these aircraft types have occasionally been cited as possible explanations for what appear to be unusually huge UFOs / UAPs that blot out the stars. If I recall correctly, this was suggested early on as a possible explanation for the Phoenix Lights.
 
I seem to remember vague rumours of exactly these 'lumbering' large aerial platforms, supposedly aimed at reconnaissance and tactical bombardment on the battlefields that we were going to have in Eastern Europe pre 1989. Who knows how far things got off the drawing board?
 
My hesitation as regards Aurora or another Stealth aircraft black project is that the witnesses describe the object as noiselessly "ascending vertically at high speed" until it was lost in the clouds. No technology has emerged in the 32-years since that can power an airframe noiselessly in vertical flight. It is, however, straight out of UFO lore and now we have the strange, irregular circle around the left hand side of the object which to my mind is either alien propulsion or the hallmark of a hoax.


The online chatter is now that they were engaged in taking nude photos of one or both of them. There is also evidence emerging that the film chosen, which was more expensive than standard colour film, could be processed at home with a chemical kit. However, this is now being challenged :headbang: We are to believe that the witness sent prints and not just negatives to the Daily Record, so someone must have developed them...?
 
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Anyway, this imay be relevant that over the North Sea on 5th November 1990 RAF Tornado pilots were over the North Sea when they reported being overtaken by an unknown aircraft with a "blue afterburner":

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/UK/defe-24-2041-1-1.pdf

Lots of detail there from one of the Tornado pilots. What is very interesting is the "blue afterburner" suggests a black project aircraft and yet the Tornado pilot is either playing innocent or is genuinely none the wiser, so you have a British military aircraft and an unknown airborne object just months after Calvine and yet the MoD also has no answers.
 
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Paul_Exeter said:
My hesitation as regards Aurora or another Stealth aircraft black project is that the witnesses describe the object as noiselessly "ascending vertically at high speed" until it was lost in the clouds. No technology has emerged in the 32-years since that can power an airframe noiselessly in vertical flight. It is, however, straight out of UFO lore and now we have the strange, irregular circle around the left hand side of the object which to my mind is either alien propulsion or the hallmark of a hoax.


The online chatter is now that they were engaged in taking nude photos of one or both of them. There is also evidence emerging that the film chosen, which was more expensive than standard colour film, could be processed at home with a chemical kit. However, this is now being challenged :headbang: We are to believe that the witness sent prints and not just negatives to the Daily Record, so someone must have developed them...?
Click to expand...

You can do C-41 (colour) at home (or indeed E6 for slide film!) but generally most people still doing home developing were doing traditional B&W, where there's a long tradition of home developing and printing. The logic of choosing a B&W film to be developed in C-41 is that it would be the process run by any high street commercial lab so was easily accessible and quick.

I find the poaching thing more believable than the 'nude pictures' thing to be honest. I see that the photo analysis gets ever more convoluted, with it now being suggested that the plane is in fact a man and dog in a boat.
 
Paul_Exeter said:
...over the North Sea on 5th November 1990 RAF Tornado pilots were over the North Sea when they reported being overtaken by an unknown aircraft with a "blue afterburner":
https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/UK/defe-24-2041-1-1.pdf
Lots of detail there from one of the Tornado pilots. What is very interesting is the "blue afterburner" suggests a black project aircraft and yet the Tornado pilot is either playing innocent or is genuinely none the wiser, so you have a British military aircraft and an unknown airborne object just months after Calvine and yet the MoD also has no answers.
Click to expand...
A very annoying read, because at least one of the people writing those documents does not realise that the word 'phenomena' is plural, and the correct term should be 'phenomenon'. Bah!

David Clarke investigated this case, and found that it was a Soviet re-entry.
It later emerged that the RAF Tornado pilots had actually seen burning debris from a Soviet rocket body, used to launch a satellite into orbit, that fell back to earth, re-entering the atmosphere in a spectacular light show over central Europe.
Click to expand...
https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/national-archives-ufo-files-7/national-archives-ufo-files-3/
See also my post in this forum from 2008, which includes much more detail
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/cnn-ufo-coverage.31355/#post-763082
 
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I've started dreaming about this bl**dy photo now :roll:

The poaching hypothesis is now under attack because Clarke's intelligence source stated they were taking photos of their quarry when they noticed the object, however commentators are now pointing out the timings don't fit and there wasn't enough time for them to have caught their prey (unless the hapless deer/pheasant/rabbit was sitting by the car park).

That said, they may have gone to meet a poacher to collect the carcass and hand over payment from the chef (or whoever).
 
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Paul_Exeter said:
An updated response from Gordon to address feedback:

Click to expand...

Comes back to the same thing as always. JARIC had 6 photos to look at; we have one, onto which we project our hopes and anxieties (seeing spacecraft, Harriers, men in boats, rocks etc). Everyone looking at that photo is becoming in their own way a "witness".

We need those other photos, JARIC's notes, or the witnesses (whose story has holes in it - the main indicator of a hoax to me rather than the image as such).

Seeing the way everyone (including the most sceptical) seems to be keen to project their own 'acceptable' story onto this image actually enthuses me a little about the phenomenon again, as it gives some small insight into the processes going on in the mind of someone who actually sees something apparently anomalous.
 
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THE CALVINE UFO PHOTOGRAPH – REVEALED​


When I last published an update on this story I concluded it must be a hoax. But now I am convinced the Calvine UFO photograph shows one of these US classified ‘Black Project’ programs.

There is evidence that the Americans, and possibly also the British government, have found it useful to ‘keep the UFOs flying’ because they provide a useful cover for their own covert military activities.

View from Struan Point near Calvine, Perthshire, showing the wire fence and overhanging trees.
This is the location where we believe the photograph was taken in 1990 (Image Copyright Giles Stevens 2022).
But in this case their cover was blown by two young men who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Ministry of Defence must now explain to the public why, if there are no such things as UFOs, how they can justify keeping their identities secret for a further 54 years.

And MoD also should explain what happened to the negatives and their file on this case – otherwise they are simply adding further grist to the mill of the conspiracy theorists who believe the authorities are hiding ‘the truth’ about visits to Earth by aliens.

https://aliennews.co.uk/2022/08/20/the-calvine-ufo-photograph-revealed/
 
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