US must reveal secrets of ‘best ever’ UFO photo showing 100ft craft over Scotland after ‘UK cover up’, says investigator
AN INFAMOUS "lost" UFO photo should be released by the US when intelligence agencies officials publish a much-anticipated report on the strange encounters, an investigator has said.
Nick Pope, one of the world’s leading experts on UFOs, who probed the phenomena for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), has urged the Pentagon to published the so-called "Calvine Photo".
Mr Pope told The Sun Online the photo is one of the "most compelling" pieces of UFO evidence he has ever seen - and he saw the image firsthand while working for the MoD.
The photo - which was taken in 1990 and allegedly shows a 100ft object hovering over Calvine in the Scottish Highlands - once hung on the wall of the UFO investigations unit in Whitehall.
However, this photo was removed without a trace after a diplomatic row sprung up when UFO investigators at the MoD questioned the Americans about whether they were testing any secret prototype aircraft in the area.
And since then the stunning image, which is said to be unlike any other UFO photo - being crystal clear, taken in broad daylight and meticulously authenticated by defence officials - has remained under wraps.
Mr Pope told The Sun Online he would hope to see the image finally released to the public as the US becomes increasingly open in talking about UFOs.
And we are now just weeks away from a report being released by the US's top intelligence body on the issue, with a 180-day deadline set in motion in December due to expire in June.
The photos are pretty much as good as its gets. They were assessed by defence intelligence staff as real
Nick Pope
It was hoped the British government may have released the photo as it is now well within the "30 year rule" for declassification - but a the UK dossier on the incident has reportedly been .
So it may be on the Americans to take the initiative and release the photo - with Mr Pope certain they have a copy in their archives.
"I hope we get the Calvine photo back, I hope we find the US government had a copy - I am sure they do - and I hope they publish it in the report as the MoD say its either lost or under lock and key for another few decades," he told The Sun Online.
Story of the Calvine Photograph
TWO men hiking near Calvine in Scotland are claimed to have taken six of the most extraordinary UFO photos ever captured - but they have never been released to the public.
Mock ups based on testimony from those who have seen the infamous image show a huge diamond shaped aircraft with an RAF fighter plane flying alongside.
The two hikers - who remain anonymous to this day - allegedly spotted the massive, silent and motionless UFO in August 1990.
The object then accelerated away from them vertically up into the sky - leaving the witnesses shell-shocked by the encounter.
Photos were sent to a Scottish newspaper - who then contacted the MoD for a comment as is standard practice.
The images were never published - and the MoD took ownership of the photos.
Nick Pope, who worked to investigate UFOs for the MoD in the 90s and worked in Whitehall until 2004, claims defence officials verified the photo as genuine.
While he cannot give anymore details due to them being classified, he describes the photos as "sensational".
He told The Sun: "They showed a structured craft of unknown origin, unlike any conventional aircraft.
"There was no fuselage, no wings, no tail, no engines and no markings of any sort.
"Because the photos had been taken in daylight with the surrounding countryside visible, MoD boffins could make some calculations about the mystery object’s size.
"It turned out to be nearly 100 feet in diameter."
For some time the photo hung on the wall of the UFO office at the MoD - until a diplomatic row with the Americans had it removed and hidden.
Mr Pope claims the UK asked the US if the photo showed their prototype "Aurora" hypersonic spy plane - with secretary of the US Air Force Donald Rice becoming "incensed" by the questions.
And in the aftermath of the dispute, the photograph was taken away and never seen again.
When the investigator returned to the MoD in 2008 to help publicise the declassification and release of the MoD’s UFO files, he found the photo was not among them.
Mr Pope said US officials involved with the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) - the US's previous UFO investigation unit before the current UAP Task Force - were aware of the incident at Calvine.
"The photos are pretty much as good as its gets. They were assessed by defence intelligence staff as real - they were clearly visible, sharp focused, broad daylight with the Scottish countryside in the background," he said.
And the notorious missing image is said to be just one from a whole set of photos from the same incident in August, 1990.
Mr Pope added the US investigators at AATIP also were familiar with other infamous UK UFO sightings, such as Rendlesham Forest and the sighting at RAF Cosford.
And this gives him hope US disclosure could shine a spotlight on these unexplained occurrences in the UK.
The MoD claims it terminated all UFO investigations in 2009 - but Mr Pope believes there continues to be work behind closed doors alongside the US.
However, despite his hopes of the Calvine photo being released next month by the US Director of National Intelligence - he admits "more realistically" skywatchers may have to manage their expectations.
"I hope that at the very least we well get an acknowledgement that whatever its true nature, that the phenomenon is real and there is more going on that just misidentifications, hoaxes and delusions," Mr Pope told The Sun Online.
"There is a core phenomenon that currently defies explanation.
"If the official position is 'we don't know', there will be a best current assessment, and all the theories should be assessed in this review and placed in an order of probability - a league table.
"Even though its highly classified and deeply compartmentalized, one hopes the people doing the report will have the security clearances and access to get answers to the questions."
Next month the US's new UFO report is due to be released after investigations by a task force looking into a string of unexplained encounters with US warships and fighter planes.
Pentagon officials have taken the unprecedented step of confirming videos and pictures of UFOs are real and admitting they don’t know what they really are.
UFOs are now more commonly known amongst the intelligence community as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) – a move seen by some as an attempt to shake of the “little green men” stigma associated with the term.
Mr Pope says the term UAP was actually borrowed from British investigators who started using it in the 90s as a way to break down doors in government to discuss the issue.
It is a remarkable change in policy after the US officially dismissed reports of UFOs at the conclusion of Project Blue Book in 1969.
Competing theories on the strange videos continue to rage – with some grounded on Earth claiming the videos capture never-before-seen military aircraft or drones, while others claim it shows otherworldly craft possibly piloted by aliens.
Others however are more skeptical and sometimes even dismissive, claiming the bizarre videos may just be camera tricks, natural phenomena or even outright hoaxes.
Most read in News
In 2019, the Pentagon admitted it has launched investigations into UFO sightings and it still analyses reports of unexplained objects.
The Department of Defence went as far as to reveal they will “continue” to probe such reports in a bid to keep the nation safe.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
he Sun Online previously spoke to Luis Elizondo, who headed up the secretive Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, and he said that .
And we previously revealed a clip which a group of scientists and engineers believe to be the “most compelling” footage ever taken of a UFO.