PHOTO & ENLARGEMENT OF UFO PHOTO EDITED BY WITNESS.
Description: I attach some images of an ‘object’ that appeared in one of my photos taken in Wales last year.
Shortly after taking the shot I submitted to BUFORA pictures of something I couldn’t really explain, but at first looked very much like a circular aerial vehicle of some sort. My first thought was of a helicopter.
Here’s an extract of the letter I sent to BUFORA:
Possible Puck Shaped UFO sighting in North Wales
The accompanying photograph was taken at 12:21 on the 7th July 2012 from Conwy road bridge looking towards Conwy Castle using a SONY DSLR-A450 with programme settings: F10, 1/125 ISO 200. The weather conditions were overcast, light winds and dry with sunny conditions following on later. (One other photo is included – an enlargement.)
The object (assumed UFO) was not seen with naked eye due to it’s distance away from the observer and the colour of the sky.
The UFO was only identified on 27th July when I processed all the photographs taken that day for an album. I noticed a speck and enlarged it to clone it out, but on closer inspection decided it might be worth further investigation…
Using photo processing software I enlarged the speck and used contrast/brightness and sharpen filter (motion blur) tools to enhance the image. It shows the top of the object highlighted with the area below in darkness giving a ‘puck’ shape to object.
Please note: That a Royal Air Force Station (RAF Valley) exists on the Isle of Anglesey about 30 miles as the crows fly from Conwy. Two squadrons use the station for flight training and tactical/weapons training purposes. Also, there is a flight of Sea King Helicopters operating out of the station for search and rescue roles.
I have not ascertained whether there was helicopter activity that day, but a helicopter is the only shape that fits the description of the UFO. The direction of the UFO is towards Snowdonia, roughly on a bearing 240 degrees (true north) from my position on the bridge. My belief is that the object is a helicopter but it needs verifying.
To satisfy my curiosity I created another enlarged image of the UFO using ‘Gaussian Blur’ in the sharpen filter tool. You will see that a strange aura has appeared either side of the object giving it a ‘saucer’ shape. I have no idea what the aura could be. (Maybe it is a force field?)
What needs to be determined is whether RAF Valley were flying helicopter sorties, either search & rescue or training in the Snowdonia area and if, at 12.21, they were anywhere close to a location along 240 degrees (true north). Perhaps you have the machinations to do this.
Perhaps you could investigate further and let me know your findings? (You may keep the jpegs for your records and investigations.) – that’s the extract.
Admittedly the ‘object’ was in the distance but on enlargement it did arouse my curiosity. I subjected the enlargement to numerous adjustment/filtering processes to enhance the detail but that apart the photos are pure i.e. they have not been added to, air-brushed or physically distorted other than using tools within photo-processing software to enhance.
The reply I received from BUFORA was less than I hoped for. It was somewhat negative and claimed the object was probably a bird. Conwy is on the coast and there are plenty sea birds in the area – so I demurred to their summation.
However, on seeing the pic photographed in Herefordshire on 2nd April 2013 I’m not certain that BUFORA were correct in their estimate. The two objects in the photo (shown in Filers Files #15, 2013) are the same as the one I photographed near Conwy on 5th July 2012 at 12.21.
Perhaps you may wish to add this sighting to your collection…but how you came to be involved with the Herefordshire case is beyond me.
Not certain what expertise you can bring to bear but I would be grateful for your views on my picture – is it a helicopter or a bird or could it be something more exotic? To help I attach the original photo + four others.. have fun!
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I think one problem with many people is the tendency to take the viewpoint that UFOs do not exist and any object in the sky (like over England in 2012 and 2013) represents a helicopter or bird or airplane. Time and again a person will see an object that the first person thinks could be a UFO, but a relative or friend will try to convince them that it absolutely had to be a bird or airplane because they already knew that UFOs do not exist. This is due to preconceived opinions and beliefs of various people who didn’t see a UFO and told witnesses that UFOs don’t exist because they already believed that UFOs are not real. This trait is aptly described by Travis Walton in his 2010 book FIRE IN THE SKY: traviswalton@cableone.net. Walton was one of the seven loggers who said they saw a golden and hovering flying saucer (UFO) near Snowflake, Arizona, on November 5, 1975. When police and experts came to the Snowflake UFO scene, they told Walton and the loggers that they had not seen a UFO because UFOs didn’t exist. But none of the loggers ever recanted their story and Walton continues to give worldwide talks and publish his thick book that was written in order to explain what really happened and that the seven did see the object. Walton boarded for 5 days before being returned on November 10, 1975.