Two recent scientific studies have proposed the idea that UFOs may have been captured in photographs from the 1950s.
Astronomer Beatriz Villarroel from the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics suggests that “transients”—briefly appearing star-like objects—found in old photographic records of the night sky could potentially be visitors from other worlds.
“We speculate that some of these transients could be linked to unidentified aerial phenomena,” Villarroel mentioned in a paper published in the journal Nature. If, you know, one of these objects were to descend into the Earth’s atmosphere while in orbit, it might cause, well, some stir.
In her paper released on October 20, she noted a “small positive correlation” between UAP sightings and these transient events, stating that it surpasses mere chance.
The research team examined around 2,000 photographic plates collected from 1949 to 1958 at California’s Palomar Observatory as part of the initial Palomar Sky Survey.
Significantly, these images were taken before the era of satellites and spacecraft orbiting Earth, as highlighted in a paper from October 17.
The plates, which are about the size of vinyl records, were central to capturing astronomical images back then and continue to be utilized by NASA.
Using machine learning and image processing techniques, Villarroel and her team identified approximately 107,000 ephemeral lights resembling stars, but which are not actually stars.
According to her findings, while some transients could be classified as errors or anomalies, many remain unexplained and align with notable UFO sightings or nuclear tests.
One notable instance occurred on July 19 and 27, 1952, which coincided with the famous Washington DC UFO incident where numerous reports of flying saucers were documented over a series of weeks. These sightings remain unresolved.
The research also indicated that transients frequently appeared around the dates of nuclear tests, with occurrences being 45% more likely within a 24-hour window of such events.
The last transient observed in connection with a nuclear test in their dataset was on March 17, 1956, just after the Joe-21 nuclear test in Russia.
Another intriguing finding involved multiple transients aligning in a straight line across a photographic plate, a configuration that Villarroel speculated is unlikely to be a result of known natural phenomena.
Overall, the studies implied a noteworthy connection between UAP sightings and the era of nuclear weapons testing, suggesting that “transients exhibit some degree of association with both nuclear tests and UAP reports,” according to the concluding remarks of the study.
