IMCAT Case Directory
  Category 08, Photographic / Video Images 
 
  Preliminary
Rating: 5  
                                 
     

Photo of Aerial Disc Above Lake Surface
Sept. 4, 1971
Lago de Cote, Costa Rica


Fran Ridge:
Sept. 4, 1971; Lago de Cote, Costa Rica
This is a very interesting photograph taken in Costa Rica of an object as it seems to enter or exit the water. A high resolution camera was mounted on the plane pointing downwards, and programmed to take photographs of the terrain below every 17 seconds. It shows in extraordinary detail all features of the landscape (water, shoreline, trees, etc.) and it was determined that the object (about 600+ ft. or 200 meters in diameter was coming into the water from right to left at an angle of approximately 30° in relation to the surface of the water. The area covered is approximately 7 miles across.  Researchers Richard Haines and Jacques Valle: "In summary, our analyses have suggested that an unidentified, opaque, aerial object was captured on film at a maximum distance of 10,000 feet. There are no visible means of lift or propulsion and no surface markings other than dark regions that appear to be nonrandom... There is no indication that the image is the product of a double exposure or a deliberate fabrication."

Richard Hall:
Very high reliability, unquestionably an authentic photograph. The lack of a visual sighting or any observed or recorded extraordinary performances reduces the "strangeness" level. Yet, the evidentiary data is strong and the investigation thorough, resulting in a well-documented and well-investigated anomaly.

Richard Haines:
In our image analysis we looked carefully for any indications of waves or wavelets in the water surrounding the disc's image and could find none. Since neither the preceding or following photo frame of this same area of the lake did not show the disc's image it must have moved within the 17 second inter-frame interval... but did not affect the water's surface as far as we could determine. We did not say the disc was entering or leaving the water specifically but simply left the matter open.

Detailed reports and documents
Photo Analysis - JSE article  [pdf] (Haines/Vallee) [Archived copy on NICAP site]
Photo Analysis - New Evidence - JSE Article [pdf] (Haines/Vallee) [Archived copy on NICAP site]
Costa Rica Photo - Photo Full Version
Photo Cropped Blow-Up
Blue Book UFO Reports At Sea By Ships (Rullan)
Deep Sea UFOs [USO's] (UFO Files/You Tube)
reports/710904costarica_carpenter.htm (Joel Carpenter)
reports/710904costarica_references.htm (Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos)


NICAP Home Page