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[[Image:Rec-ufo-small.jpg|right|thumb|This rectangular object could be a mysterious unidentified flying object.]]
[[Image:Tusharbhattufo-enh.jpg|right|thumb|Enhanced UFO Photograph (Click for higher resolution picture)]]
[[Image:Tusharbhattufoxt-enh-x-enl.jpg|right|thumb|Enhanced UFO Photograph - Enlarged (Click for higher resolution picture)]]

== Strange Rectangular UFO Photographed Over Germany ==

by Dirk Vander Ploeg

On Saturday, May 6, 2006, Tushar Bhatt and a friend were walking through the city of Magdeburg, Saxon-Annhalt, Germany, taking photographs with her new digital camera when they accidentally took a photo of a flying rectangle!

It would be days before the photos were reviewed by Tushar and only then would he realize what they had photographed.

That Saturday all Tushar and his friend were concerned with enjoying the day together. It was a beautiful sunny day, one of the first of the new summer and the two were acting like tourists taking snapshots of historical and familiar landmarks throughout the city.

It was late in the afternoon and evening was approaching. Around 7:00 pm they were in the city center at a place called Alle Center which was near the Elbe River. There was a grassy area that slopped upwards and Tushar thought the location would make an ideal place for a photo. So he sat on the ground and his friend took his portrait.

The photo above is a closeup of the object they also captured in the photograph of Tushar. The photo below right is the original photograph.

After examining the photo Tushar described the craft as having a rectangular cubic shape and was gray in color. He estimated its size as very large.

Tusbar Bhatt has a M.S. (masters degree) in Chemical and Process Engineering from Otto-Von-Guericke Universität.


== Rectangular UFO May Be German Street Lamp ==

by Dirk Vander Ploeg

Since the publication of the photo and article concerning an alleged rectangular UFO, photographed on May 6, 2006, I have received numerous emails concerning the sighting. German newspapers are in an uproar with many making Tushar Bhatt, featured in the photo, an instant celebrity and others labeling the sighting and photograph a hoax! Click here for original story.

The photo to the left shows a German newspaper with a headline declaring 'UFO Wunder', and then goes on to suggest the object is a cable-car and actually draws in the heavy wires needed to support it. Even E.T. the Extraterrestrial from Steven Spielberg's movie of the same name makes an appearance in the story.

I received an email from Ferhat who lives in Germany and wrote, "I'm pretty sure, that this isn't an UFO but a DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) street lightning. The photo shows signs of strong overexposure, the sky is white, and the leaves of the tree have unusual shapes and suffer from purple fringing. You can't rely on anything if you have overexposure, which means: data loss.
[[Image:Streetlamp-small.jpg|right|thumb|Photo taken by newspaper photographer using the proper contrast shows the cables suspending the street lamp. (Click for higher resolution picture)]]
Ferhat did his homework and went to Google Maps and captured a photograph, which is featured directly below, of the city of Madgeburg, near the Elbe river, close to Allee Center. He draws our attention to the middle of the street and what do you see? A street lamp. At 7:00 pm, the sun is behind the object, so the mast of the lightning case disappears in the photo due to overexposure.

He added, "just wanted to inform you quickly, that the alleged UFO captured on a photo in Germany turned out to be a street lamp, a clear hoax, as expected. The suspended lamp is well known and for everyone to see, one simply had to pass the same place twice to see that."
[[Image:Compare1.jpg|right|thumb|Possible Street Lamp (Click for higher resolution picture)]]
Apparently a local newspaper did just that and discovered to their satisfaction that the UFO is a street lamp. Some wonder if the sighting and photograph were released to the media in an attempt to make money.

As a result of the controversy and the alleged hoax I contacted Mr. Bhatt and asked him directly did he alter the photograph in any way to perpetuate a hoax?

This is his answer: "Honestly, I did not fake the photograph at all. I took the 'Bildzeitung' newspaper reporter to the very spot where the photograph has been taken and he took many photographs at the same spot along with me. Today, June 6, 2006, itself a news channel reporter came to me and I also took him to the same spot and he took video of me at the same spot."

"I must admit that, there are many street lamps there on the road behind the steep hill as it's the city center. The T.V reporter took a long video at the same spot to show it to a UFO scientist in Dresden. So, the matter is open for investigation by experts. and I also want a logical explanation for that thing which I photographed", he added.

"The photo is original and I am not at all a photographic expert. So, I am also waiting for the scientific and logical explanation of the photo and whatever it is I am ready to accept it. I will inform you as soon as I get the answer after the various UFO expert analyses", stated Tushar.

When the news reporters focused their cams towards the sky and zoomed in they discovered that the object was not an UFO but a street lamp. But when they used a wide angle the object (street lamp) appeared to be hanging in mid air as if it were a floating rectangular object.

In the original photograph Tushar's friend focused on him and shot an overexposed picture. The camera was a five megapixel digital cam. When enlarged the original photo did not show a streetlamp but an object hanging or floating in the air.

Jens Lorek is a local UFO scientist from Dresden. He carefully examined the various photos and videos taken at the spot where the original photo was taken by news reporters and photographers. After studying the evidence he came to the conclusion that the UFO is a street lamp.

A few weeks ago we were presented with an unknown photograph from an unknown person who presented us with an amazing photo of what appeared to be a very strange object in the sky. The problem with photographs is that most ufologists only get to study the finished product. They are not there when the photo or video was taken. In this case we have a photo that was overexposed, making some objects too dark and some washed out completely. When photo analysts study the subject matter they can't assume what's missing from the photo they can only work with what is in the photo.

Still, we have left with the possibility that there is a 'comspiracy afoot'. Note the comparison photo to the left. Although the street lamp and rectangular UFO are similar they are not exact. The street lamp's height is much higher than the alleged UFO and its width is shorter. Is this an elaborate 'coverup' staged to conceal the sighting of an UFO that the German government doesn't want the public to be aware of? This open question is yours to speculate.

When I present a photograph or a video for the public to examine I always do so with the proviso that the viewer is the best judge of what is real and what is not. In this case we have an example of an honest mistake made by the subject of one of the photographs. This was not a hoax or a misrepresentation, but a really weird photographic result.

 


== Credits ==

Special thanks to [[UFO Digest]].

== External Links ==

* [http://www.ufodigest.com/rectangle.html Original UFO Digest Article]
* [http://www.mufon.com MUFON]
* [http://www.mufon.com/reportufo.htm Report your UFO Sighting]

[[Category:Cases_in_UFOlogy]]
[[Category:UFO_Articles]]
[[Category:UFO cases in Germany]]