Actual UFO Photo

[The Atheist]

( Caveat: If there's a window or filter a significant distance in front of the lens, that would change things, but I'm assuming we're using fairly standard cameras without configurations that are too unusual. )

There you go - another guy who covers all the bases! Even though I use filters myself, it wouldn't have occurred to me to use that caveat. As it happens, my kid's camera is a very basic point and shoot model with no detachable bits or accessories.

It's been an interesting exercise in showing people something and see what the explanations offerred are.

When I posted the pic, I had no idea what it was. I knew it wasn't: dirt on the lens, a deliberate alteration, a defect in the photo paper, a result of the printing process, a helicopter, an aeroplane, or an alien craft. Good work by some of the posters has resulted in - to me - about 99.9% certainty as to the answer - dirt during developing of the negatives. Given that the film is in a sealed container and the camera hadn't been opened, it's the logical answer.

 

[wahrheit]

Good work by some of the posters has resulted in - to me - about 99.9% certainty as to the answer - dirt during developing of the negatives. Given that the film is in a sealed container and the camera hadn't been opened, it's the logical answer.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd say dirt during exposure (in the camera), not during development of the film.

Your kid used classic 35mm negative film, not slide, right?

Then a grain of sand on the film in the camera during exposure will give you a dark spot with rather sharp outline, exactly like in the scan you posted. Also, that grain of sand (or whatever) could have stuck to the film already coming from the manufacturer, embedded in the emulsion. If so, it could still be there, and you can feel it when you touch the negative, or it got washed away during development.

Dirt during development? If the lab had a teaspoon full of sand in their developer, you might get miniscule scratches and fine lines in the pictures (depending on what kind of machine they use), but not a definded spot like this.

Dirt during development causes smear and streaks, bad color, or a fine line scratched into the negative through half the film (grain on roller etcetera).