- One of the most believable UFO images of the century has been remastered in high resolution. With the refresh of the image, known as the best UFO footage ever released, the controversy seems to have flared up again.
The photograph, known as the Lake Cote image, was taken on the morning of September 4, 1971 by a team from the National Geographic Institute of Costa Rica from an airplane examining the potential impact of a planned hydroelectric project around Arenal Volcano. Unbeknownst to the photographers at the time, an image of an unusual metallic disk-shaped object was captured in the corner of one of the photos. The nature of the unusual object has been fiercely debated for years: some say it’s a hoax, some say it’s an optical illusion, and of course others say it’s a flying saucer.
A group of researchers studied photography over the years, publishing reports on the photograph in 1989 and 1990. The reports concluded that the photo “contains no evidence to support optical defects, deliberate deception or other mundane explanations”. However, these reports were not enough to convince everyone.
The story now comes alive again, with the UAPMedia UK team recently arriving at a high-resolution, drum scanned version of the image.
Esteban Carranza of Costa Rico was given a copy of the original negative found in the National Archives of Costa Rica when her uncle passed away last year. After discussing the image with Sergio Loaiza, the technician who took the picture, Carranza sent the painting to a photo lab in Kansas, resulting in a high-resolution version of the iconic image.
Commenting on the restored Lake Cote image, commentators said they still haven’t fully resolved the debate over what really gets photographed on the Costa Rican volcano. However, they hope it may spark discussion about other images or videos of unidentified weather events.