Calvine Photograph Mystery Solved?

This is the infamous Calvine UFO photograph ...

 .... it was part of a set of six taken in 1990, presumed 'lost' in the black hole that is the UK postal system.

But this black and white Daily Record version was 'rediscovered' in 2020 by researcher Dr. David Clarke of Hallam University, in the possession of former RAF press officer Craig Lindsay (pictured with the photograph), but the actual negatives were actually on colour film.

It is often touted as the best ever evidence of a 'UFO' (alien space craft), and was taken over Calvine, Perthshire, Scotland, by two hikers (the two men were allegedly working as chefs in a hotel in Pitlochry, in the Scottish Highlands), on the 4th August 1990. The six colour negatives were originally handed over to Scotland's Daily Record newspaper, who developed one black and white version before they sent it to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) press officer Mr Lindsay for verification. 

He passed it up the command structure and was then asked to get the negatives .... he asked the Daily Record for them, and amazingly the newspaper complied (not even getting a copy of the negatives made!!) .... but Mr Lindsay retained the Daily Record original b/w photo, even after he retired.

According to the original eyewitness accounts given by the two hikers, the UFO hovered in the air for a duration of around ten minutes, and was apparently being observed or accompanied by two military aircraft, before shooting silently upwards and disappearing. The craft was estimated to be around 100 feet (30m) in length.

A Colourised Mock Up Of The Incident

 

“Sadly, I do not think that mysterious aircraft arrived from another galaxy,” Clarke wrote in a piece for the Daily Mail newspaper. “I believe it was man-made somewhere in a secret hangar — and whatever it was remains on the secret list and highly sensitive. The other option is that the whole thing is a practical joke, a prank that got out of hand," Clarke told the Newsweek website.

One theory is that the flying saucer was an experimental US aircraft supposedly called the Aurora, captured during a test flight, but the U.S. government has consistently denied its existence, but many researchers aren't convinced by the denials, and reports of its existence continue. The UK governments 30-year security rule meant the file was meant to be declassified in January 2021, but the Ministry of Defence has now blocked its release for another 50 years, actually until 2076 according to the national archives website.

The National Archives website states that 'the full contents of DEFE 24/1940 are closed until 01 January 2076. A redacted version of the file is open and available to download from our catalogue here [broken link]. There are three folios within this file that relate to the incident in question (pages 35-37 of part 2). There are no photographs contained in the file. The file itself states that the original negatives were returned to the Scottish Daily Record.'

The Scottish Daily Record deny the return of the negatives, but can't say why they never printed the original story .... so make of all this what you will.