UFO Image Revealed After Decades Of Secrecy

Calvine is an area more known for its spectacular views of the Scottish countryside than for government cover-ups and extraterrestrial visitors. On August 4th, 1990 however, it was the site of one of the most fascinating events in British UFO history. The sighting was marked by the clarity of the craft witnessed as well as the presence of mind of the observers who made a series of unusually high-quality photos of the phenomenon.So why has virtually no one ever heard of the Calvine UFO sighting of 1990? The answer is simple, the Ministery of Defense (MoD) wanted it that way. 
 
The famed photos, however, were allegedly spirited away by government officials and became the subject of speculation, internet podcasts, YouTube channels, and hushed radio show call-ins. Until this week, if you had heard about Calvine and believed the photos existed, you were in a tiny minority. If you chose to reveal your knowledge, you risked being labeled with any one of a litany of clichéd pejoratives. 

What happened?

In 1990 two local men working in the nearby town of Pitlochry clocked off work in a local hotel around 9 pm. They decided to unwind by taking a drive to a local beauty spot in the Cairngorms where they could do some hiking. The spot they chose was about 13 miles away from the town and being a Northern hemisphere late summer evening the sky was still bright and clear. They walked only for a few minutes before they spotted a larger diamond-shaped UFO floating noiselessly in the sky. They guessed the object to be about 100ft long. The sight unnerved them so much that they immediately ran for cover and hid in some nearby bushes to continue watching the object unseen.

Daily Record and the MoD

The two men knew they had captured evidence of something special on film and had no hesitation in contacting a respected local newspaper, the Daily Record. The story editors requested the negatives as well as the photos to back up the story and the witnesses complied. Their story, however, was never made public. Instead of carrying out their duty to the public, the Daily Record passed on all evidence to the MoD and the photograph vanished from public view forever. That is, until last week.

Nick Pope’s wall photo

If the images vanished and no story was ever published, then how do we know any of it happened? The first mention of an incident at Calvine involving documentary evidence came in 1996 from Nick Pope, former MoD employee, and prominent ufologist. In his book, Open Skies Closed Minds of that year he describes a series of photos taken in Scotland as being the very best he had ever seen. 

During his time as a government investigator, he was so taken with the photo, which he claims to have had access to, that he made a copy and had it blown up, framed, and hung on the wall behind his desk. There it stayed until his boss, noticing the unusual art one day, found out what it was and had it removed. Nick never saw the photo again but had an artist's impression created that became the fodder of much speculation in UFO circles. 

Years of silence

After decades of silence, however, a journalistic investigator and Associate Professor of Media Arts and Communication at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, finally managed to track down an original copy of the photo. Dr. Clarke has been researching the topic for nearly three decades and became fascinated with the Calvine photo when he read Mr. Pope's book in the 1990s. Refusing to leave the subject be, he continued digging and researching, and at last, his diligence was rewarded earlier this year.

Craig Lindsay, now retired, was an RAF Press Officer at the time of the Calvine incident and had held on to an original print of the legendary photograph. According to Clarke a 'lucky break' led him to Mr. Lindsay and on first examination, the photo in his possession matched the reproduction created by Nick Pope. Further forensic examination of the print gave no reason to doubt its authenticity leading the UFO world to believe that this is indeed the famed photo and that Mr. Pope was telling the truth all along.

Why reveal the photo now?

You can see the original photo on Dr. Clarke’s blog and we think you will agree that it is remarkably clear compared to the usual standard of image touted on UFO sites. But why would the image, which had been such a closely guarded secret, be so easily revealed now?

There are many theories in the UFO community as to why the presence of UFOs is currently being confirmed by so many official sources. Could there be something larger and more coordinated at play? For now, we can only speculate, but at least one small mystery in the annals of Ufology has been resolved.