Victorian visitation? Mystery of 'UFO photo' from 1870
A photograph showing a strange, cigar-shaped object over the top of Mount Washington showed what appeared to be an alien spacecraft - in 1870.
Debate has reignited this week over what may be among the oldest evidence of alien visitors to our world.
The picture, taken with a stereo photography camera (used at the time to create images with an illusion of depth, when viewed through a special stereoscope) is thought to be near-impossible to fake or manipulate.
Expert analysts have recently come up with new theories of the origin of the strange craft - but agree that the image is real, dated correctly and not manipulated.
The image contained tantalising clues about the otherworldly craft - some claimed it was a huge mothership, from which smaller UFOs would have descended.
Others claimed to be able to pick out a swastika emblem on the side of the craft - and UFO websites and magazines have debated the picture endlessly since it resurfaced in 2002.
When the picture went for sale on Ebay, a cinema mogul, Samuel M. Sherman the president of Independent-International Pictures Corps, won the auction - and promised to have it scientifically studied.
A UFO researcher has come up with a new theory as to what is on display in the dual image - and he claims we can rest easy in our beds, at least where time-travelling extraterrestrial Nazi spacecraft are concerned.
Ryan Mullahy the founder of the New Hampshire UFO Research website wasn't impressed with the picture, and decided to do some further research.
As UFO enthusiasts have claimed, the picture is genuinely from 1870 - and it has not been retouched or manipulated in any way.
Mullahy found that it was a heavily cropped picture of an image titled, Frost Architecture taken by Amos Clough and Howard Kimball whilst on a meteorological expedition in the winter of 1870 to 1871.
Their pictures were given wide distribution and they even wrote a book about their adventures, 'Mount Washington in Winter'. The book does not feature any sightings or encounters with UFOs or anything of a paranormal nature.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/victorian-visitation--mystery-of-ufo-photograph-from-1870-144924954.html#KVe7LPg
Great find Astro,
This is one story I had heard about, yet had not
found that picture to go along with it.
My thoughts are to the power of suggesstion.
What we "see" in our minds is very much tied
to what we are told we are seeing.
Is it wooden ruler, or a UFO with a swastika?
Very interesting indeed,
Thanks!
Very straight and boxy, even for old photography standards, definitely not natural.
Perhaps some sort of window or portal opened for the split second of exposure? :o
Deuem, any thoughts?
Quote from: burntheships on July 22, 2014, 08:27:32 PM
This is one story I had heard about, yet had not
found that picture to go along with it.
Well, I suppose you didn't look carefully, as that image has been available in Wikimedia Commons (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/The_Summit_Of_Mount_Washington_During_The_Winter_Of_1870-71_-_view_17.recto.untilted%2Bcropped.jpg) for 5 years. :)
I just came across the article and was not sure if it was something new been found or suggested...
It may already be discussed on Peggy in the UFO or Karls section..
Its interesting what some parts of the article initially suggested that it may not be possible to fake...but the articles Photo does not show very much on the image we see...
There is ref of it being discussed since early 2000...but strange that someone obtained the photo of ebay and several UFO experts have given varied opinions..
It would be good to see anyone further image analysis if they found a swastika on it...
I am not sure when the Swastika became known..I always associated it with the Nazis in the 1930/40s in WW2...
On the Article photo, the Object or UFO is shown as white..
On ArMaPs photo, its shown as Black.
When I click on the image, It does magnify it quite well...and you can see more detail....
I can see something below the image though that looks very suspicious...
in purple that looks like a move forward or backwards or stop button that you see on a video...it is only very small...and not that easy to see unless you magnify it as large as it will allow...
so was that image taken from a video ?
QuoteWell, I suppose you didn't look carefully, as that image has been available in Wikimedia Commons for 5 years. :)
Quote from: astr0144 on July 22, 2014, 09:50:19 PM
It may already be discussed on Peggy in the UFO or Karls section..
I don't think it was, at least I don't remember it.
QuoteI am not sure when the Swastika became known..I always associated it with the Nazis in the 1930/40s in WW2...
The swastika is one of the oldest symbols used by humans.
Quote from: astr0144 on July 22, 2014, 10:10:01 PM
On the Article photo, the Object or UFO is shown as white..
On ArMaPs photo, its shown as Black.
Yes, some idiot inverted the colours. All the versions I have seen have the colours like the Wikimedia Commons image.
QuoteI can see something below the image though that looks very suspicious...
in purple that looks like a move forward or backwards or stop button that you see on a video...it is only very small...and not that easy to see unless you magnify it as large as it will allow...
Can you post an image showing what you mean?
Quoteso was that image taken from a video ?
The one I linked to has all the signs of being a scanned object.
Hi ArMaP,
Im adding this sentence as an update...I note that I can only see the thing I describe on the Right hand picture..and Not the Left one...
I assume that if anyone clicks on the link and then clicks on the image that they can magnify the picture..to a similar scale..
if so you should be able to see what I describe with the purple buttons about the width of two small fingers below the image..
You can only see it when the image is magnified...
Id have to take a Part screen shot and load it upto PRC, which is something that I have not done so far !...I cannot recall how I upload it......It should be easy to just click the link and magnify it..although it would be good to have a magnified image of the UFO on this thread..
If I can work out how I will try and upload it..
You can see quite a bit of detail of the Object / UFO...and not just what looks like a white or black line...
One thing that I am unsure about, that the photo refers to it being taken at the summit of Mount Washington...But the background looks like Cloud, not the Mountain itself....or is it cloud covering the Mountain ?
QuoteCan you post an image showing what you mean?
Quote from: astr0144 on July 23, 2014, 12:03:34 AM
Im adding this sentence as an update...I note that I can only see the thing I describe on the Right hand picture..and Not the Left one...
OK, I know what you're talking about, it's this, right?
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/Mount_Washington.jpg)
I think it may be a problem in the original photo, but I think it's a little strange, as that's not a colour photo, so it shouldn't show chemical defects looking like that, but maybe that was some less common method that used different chemicals (my sister "resurrected" an old photography method that uses ammonium dichromate) and that could have different ways of creating defects.
Or I'm completely wrong. ;D
QuoteOne thing that I am unsure about, that the photo refers to it being taken at the summit of Mount Washington...But the background looks like Cloud, not the Mountain itself....or is it cloud covering the Mountain ?
Most people say that those look like clouds, but I never thought that they look like clouds, as clouds do not look as dense and opaque as that, and don't have edges as "sharp" as those. I have seen some people say that that's ice or snow covering something, but as I have never seen snow I don't have any way to compare it with snow.
Thanks for uploading the image and for your Comments ArMaP.
At least you have a possibly theory to try and explain the purple thing on the photo...But as the Left photo does not show anything, I assume the right one is nothing to be concerned about and would not be on the original image..
Without any sense of scale its hard to judge what the background may be....
Initially with it being Mount Washington, I had assumed it was the mountain.... then after I thought more about it, I considered that it may be cloud....BUT now you mention Snow....that is also a possibility...
Overall the background does seem rather a bit weird.. the more I think about it the less certain I am...
I still think that the image of the object/ UFO certainly has some interesting things about it to consider...
Somethings at the ends look strange....
I wonder what Deuem, Sanders , Paulie or any other image expert may make of it..it would be good if it could be magnified further..
It looks like a long rectangular Cuboid shape with ends that may have something that may help it fly....
is it flying left to right or right to left ?
if L to R then the rear end may be some sort of rudder..or aerleon...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/The_Summit_Of_Mount_Washington_During_The_Winter_Of_1870-71_-_view_17.recto.untilted%2Bcropped.jpg)
Armap, there is a purple dot in the left hand photo also when it is magnified: it is directly to the left of the object at approximately 3 times the length of the object; looks like something was on the plate or a chemical residue...
or someone touched a purple sharpie/ink pen to the photo... 8)
seeker
I feel that the 'cloud/mountain' we are looking at is a small frost/snow covered object zoomed in and reading the website it states it's a crop image.
There is also a mention of a folding ruler used for scale as a possible reason for the object which I feel is correct due to staggered (lighter) black shadow being
cast behind the object if that is the correct angle a shadow would be cast?
Just what I think as that doesn't look like any cloud I've seen and the image is labelled 'Frost Architecture'.
I did notice the purple dot on the left photo....
Flux, yes It does say its a heavily cropped photo...and it may be something that suggests that something is Frosty about the photo ... :-\
Once again without a sense of scale that we are aware about its hard to say just how close the background may be in the photo....and if its cloud, snow or frost !
If it is a UFO... I would assume its reasonably large (at least say 20 to 100 feet long) and therefore the background to be rather a large area.. that would show the mountain background and sky above....
QuoteJust what I think as that doesn't look like any cloud I've seen and the image is labelled 'Frost Architecture'.
On ArMaPs photo, I am not sure that I can see any obvious black shadow..
was they suggesting that the object was the folding ruler ?
If it is a ruler.. again without knowing the scale of the background and how far away the rule appears... I am not sure that I can really understand how it may help judge the scale of what we see...
QuoteThere is also a mention of a folding ruler used for scale as a possible reason for the object which I feel is correct due to staggered (lighter) black shadow being
cast behind the object if that is the correct angle a shadow would be cast
Google 'summit mount washington' and look at the images.
You can see how the front/snow forms as well as how clear the sky looks which would explain the clear and plain back ground.
Also there is a very large shadow in the back ground so whatever it is to the right of the 'cloud/UFO' is very large?
I could not see much in general on the google pictures on the summit, other than what looked like a general snow topped peak..for the winter photos....there were a few images that did show what looked like ice or frost like structures that were formed..
Most of the comments made in the article refer to cloud and snow background..
I cannot see any shadow that stands out to me in the images...
In the comments below, one says this :
"Except that back in 1870 the exposure time would have been huge so capturing a moving image would have been almost impossible"
That may be a valid point...as they did not have instant cameras that could take quick enough photos for any moving objects as far as I know...
If the object is a folding ruler....I am not sure if its supposed to be placed on the snow or summit if that's what we see.. (They cannot place it in the cloud)
so do they somehow add it in the image later somehow...can they have something in the camera or on the photo paper that shows something as a ruler....if the rule is not set somewhere that it can be positioned to be photographed..
Its difficult to say without really knowing more details as to what they may have done and how they claimed to set a ruler in place...
Quote from: astr0144 on July 23, 2014, 04:52:19 AM
"Except that back in 1870 the exposure time would have been huge so capturing a moving image would have been almost impossible"
Yes, I saw that, and whoever wrote it is right, film was not as sensitive as more recent versions (I think that at the time it was not even film, they used glass plates covered with the chemicals) and the cameras did not have zoom lens, so they could not zoom in on far away objects.
At least as far as I know. :)