Man Takes Photo of Mysterious Orb  Near Area 51 - July of 1995 -

Above Photo Shows Orb in Upper Left

Subsequent Photo Taken After Above Photo

Above Map Shows Location Where Orb Photographed

Date of Sighting: July, 1995 (Exact Date Unknown)
Time of Sighting: 4 to 5 PM PDT
Date Reported: February 26, 2005
Weather: Clear
Location: At Location Where U.S. 93 Splits Into Highway 318 and Highway 375 (Extraterrestrial Highway)
Latitude: 37.54257 Degrees N
Longitude: 115.24383 Degrees W

Description: While on a trip to the desert southwest two men stopped for a break while driving from Las Vegas to Rachel, Nevada. They stopped by the junction of highway 318 and highway 375 (extraterrestrial highway).  (See above map.) Rachel is the closest town to the U.S. Military base referred to as Area 51.  One man took a photo of the other by the extraterrestrial highway sign.  (The witness is the person standing by the road sign.) Neither man saw anything unusual at the time.  The strange looking orb was noticed only after the film was developed in the camera.  The photo was taken towards the Northwest.  It is not known how far the orb was from the camera.  The arrow on the above map shows the direction that the camera was pointed.

Investigator's Notes: I personally know the person in the above photo.  He is honest and credible.  I have no reason to believe that he hoaxed the above photo.  I have obtained the original negatives from which the above print was produced.  I have had prints produced from these negatives (see photos above).  The witness thought that the above photo was taken with a 35 mm Fuji disposable camera.  However, the camera shop that produced prints from the negatives said that the camera was not a 35 mm and thought that the photos were taken with a 110 camera.  Preliminary results of photo analysis follows.

Analysis of Photos: Prints were extracted from the original negatives and the orb shows up (see top photo above).  This eliminates any "digital doctoring" of the photos by the witness.  The entire roll was checked and no anomalies were noted on the other prints with the exception of one (see second photo from top above).  This photo has significantly lower lighting.  The lower lighting in the second photo was likely caused by a slight change in direction of the cameraman. The witness was further interviewed.  Through this follow-up interview I learned that the camera was a disposable camera (Fuji brand) and contained 110 film.  The witness also stated that the film was developed right away after  all photos were taken on the roll.  An analysis of background terrain (mountains) shows no major roads.  The witness stated that some dirt roads run along side of the mountains in the background.  However, any lights from cars were likely not visible because the cars would be traveling at right angles to the direction where the camera was pointed.   I took several photos with a disposable camera under similar lighting conditions while focused on a sign at around the same time (4 to 5 pm).  I had the film developed and noticed some sun glare, but noted no anomalies similar to the orb.  Therefore I doubt if glare from the sun or background traffic caused the orb in the above photo.  Other possibilities are that the orb could be due to moisture on the film or if the film was in the camera too long before being developed.  Both of these possibilities are highly unlikely because the temperature was quite hot in the Nevada desert with low relative humidity and the witness said that the film was immediately developed.

Bottom Line:  Based on analysis of the photos I believe that the photographer took a photo of a real orb.  Perhaps the orb was only visible in the "near infrared" which could be the reason that it was not noticed by the witness or the photographer.  Other anomalies could be possible, but are not obvious.