'More twists and turns than a le Carre thriller'
My quest to solve the Calvine UFO mystery features in The Guardian newspaper
My investigation of the mysterious Calvine UFO photograph is the subject of a feature in The Guardian penned by author Danny Lavelle.
For his article Danny also interviewed Craig Lindsay, the former RAF press officer who kept the last surviving original print of a diamond-shaped UFO shadowed by a military jet near Pitlochry, Scotland, in August 1990
In The Guardian I describe my 25 year old quest to discover the truth about the case as having ‘more twists and turns than a John Le Carre thriller’.
The latest twist is a statement, given to Danny by the former head of the US Pentagon’s UAP task force, Sean Kirkpatrick. He claims, without evidence, the image is ‘a reflection in [a] lake and the photo has been doctored’.
Kirkpatrick also claims he believes the Pentagon and the NGA [National Geospatia-Intelligence Agency] ‘put a statement out about that a couple of years ago’.
That’s news to us - and everyone else!
As far as I am aware neither the Pentagon, or any other US Government agency, has ever said anything on the record about the Calvine photographs (unless you, dear reader, know different).
And given its current prominence as one of ‘the best photos’ it seems equally odd that no one in the UFO community has tried to discover precisely what the US intelligence community know about it.
It seems Kirkpatrick based his claims, not on any insider knowledge, but on what he has seen and read on YouTube and in the media about the photos. Numerous individuals claim to have ‘solved’ the mystery, but all offer contradictory resolutions that lack convincing evidence.
For a bit of fun over the New Year I posted a poll that asked what folks on X thought the photographs showed. Aliens were natural winner, with secret military technology not far behind. The possibility they were hoaxed is not popular. X only allows four choices but the ‘Xmas ornament’ was the least popular, with fans of a rock in pond and other hoax (e.g. mountain peak peeping out of Scots mist) ranking higher.
Meanwhile the team of researchers working on the case continue to pursue leads that might help us resolve it by tracing those who know the truth: the two witnesses, including the photographer. The Guardian story includes my appeal to the photographers:
‘It is the 35th anniversary of what has been described as the best UFO photo ever taken. Now is the time to come forward and tell us what really happened’.
The identification of the jet as a Harrier comes from the MoD briefing to the Minister in September 1990, when they expected the story to break in the Daily Record. The briefing says the images had been analysed (we know it was JARIC who carried out this initial analysis) and they had identified the jet as a Harrier...and furthermore one of the images also shows a faint second jet, also identified as a Harrier. I have also been informed they were operating from a OCU unit based at RAF Wittering but have not been able to confirm this. The MoD briefing is odd because although it says the jets have been identified as Harriers they have no record of Harriers operating at that time/date/location (it was a Saturday evening). Attempts have been made to contact Harrier squadrons and aircrew but so far with no success. Others with knowledge of RAF have suggested the jet is a Hunter and also a Tornado from Leuchars.
Hi David, this is slightly off topic but as the guy who oversaw the UK governments UFO/UAP files release do you know if they still hold files relating to 'Operation Mainbrace' in 1952 and if so is there a release date for anything still held ?