Calvine UFO photograph
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 12 August 2022 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | David Clarke |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 208 |
| Year | 2022 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2022 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 7 |
The Calvine UFO photograph shows a large, diamond-shaped object apparently hovering over the moors near Calvine in the Scottish Highlands on 4 August 1990, with what looks like a military jet nearby. Long known only from accounts of it, a surviving print was published by historian David Clarke in August 2022 and drew worldwide attention.[1][2]
The sighting
According to accounts, two men walking on the moors above Calvine, Perthshire, saw a silent, diamond-shaped object hover for about ten minutes, while one took six photographs, before it rose vertically and vanished; an RAF Harrier was said to have made several low passes. The men gave their prints and negatives to the Glasgow newspaper the Daily Record, which never published the story. The material was passed to the Ministry of Defence and then disappeared.[1]
The Ministry of Defence
Nick Pope, a former MoD desk officer, wrote in 1996 that MoD analysts judged the photographs genuine and the object a solid craft at least the size of a Harrier, and that the case was closed as "object unexplained". Released MoD papers include a September 1990 briefing and copies of the images analysed by the Defence Intelligence Staff's DI55 and an RAF photographic agency.[1]
The surviving print
Craig Lindsay, an RAF press officer in 1990 who had phoned one of the witnesses and faxed a report to the MoD, kept a first-generation print for about 32 years. In June 2022 he donated it to Sheffield Hallam University's special collections, and Clarke published it, with the Daily Mail running the image on 13 August 2022.[1][2]
The photographer
The back of the print carries the credit "Kevin Russell c/o the Daily Record". The newspaper said no one of that name had worked for it, and Clarke's team contacted more than 400 people called Kevin Russell; a man publicised as the photographer in 2023 denied any knowledge of it when traced in 2024. The photographer has not been confirmed.[1]
Explanations
Explanations range from a secret U.S. or British aircraft, such as the rumoured Aurora, to a hoax. Former AARO head Sean Kirkpatrick reportedly argued it showed a reflection in a lake, noting that the top and bottom of the object mirror each other; others suggested a decoration hung from a branch. A photographic specialist concluded it is a genuine photograph of a scene in front of the camera, without ruling out staging. The case features in James Fox's 2024 documentary The Program.[1][3][4]
People and topics
- David Clarke — British historian of the UK Ministry of Defence UFO files.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- UK Ministry of Defence — The British defence department, which ran a UFO desk until 2009.
On the Timeline
- Garry Nolan on crash materials and contractors (3 August 2022) — Stanford's Garry Nolan discusses claims that crash materials went to aerospace companies.
- NRO underwater objects claim (Forgotten Languages) (23 August 2022) — An anonymous website posts claims about the NRO and underwater objects.
See every 2022 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Calvine UFO photograph — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- David Clarke, "The Calvine UFO revealed" (Aug 2022) · drdavidclarke.co.uk · archived copy
- "The Calvine UFO photo: skeptics and believers seek to explain the 30-year-old images", The Skeptic (Sep 2022) · skeptic.org.uk · archived copy
- "Claim: original Calvine UFO photo", Metabunk · metabunk.org · archived copy
- Highland Light: the Calvine UFO and its controversial photograph — Discovery UK · discoveryuk.com · archived copy
- The 'Calvine document' was to stay secret until 2076 — Blick (German) · blick.ch · archived copy
- uapmedia.uk · uapmedia.uk · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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