Case File Status: Likely Hoax (See Video, and Additional Information Below)
Background
On June 13, 2021, a photo (which led to more) was posted on the social media network called Reddit, and the /r/UFOs ‘subreddit.’
The Black Vault reached out to the ‘witness’ who posted it, and began a deep dive into the origin of where they came from, and attempted to piece together the full story.
What resulted was a bit of a rabbit hole. This now smells like a hoax after some deep digging. There were obvious signs up front, but my approach has always been to exhaust all possibilities.
NOTE: I feel I may be a bit more neutral than is warranted on this. After this video was uploaded, and the article was programmed, I made a discovery which slipped by me prior to creating this.
The key element in all this that I missed until just before publishing, is this fact: In CAM01877.jpg (raw files available at the link above), the metadata states the photo was taken at 8:26pm. The “identical” photo labeled as CAM01878.jpg which did not have the lens flares, was taken at 8:25pm, one minute earlier. Sequentially in the file naming structure vs. the time stamps; they are reversed. The camera would have named the 8:25pm photo as *1877 and the 8:26pm photo as *1878. I feel that may be the deciding factor in labeling this a hoax. However, I opted not to record the entire video again and re-edit it all, but rather, post this addendum and show you all the evidence as complete as I could make it. Plus, the journey to get there!
In addition to the above, there are too many other red flags to dismiss. When I recorded the video, I tried to stay neutral giving way to long-shot possibilities, but possibilities none-the-less. However, right before publishing everything, I made additional discoveries.
Ideally, I’d delete it all, and have a different approach. Re-edit, re-do, and re-upload. However, I want to show you all the investigative techniques to exhaust all possibilities. Sure, we can dismiss more easily. I just opt not to. What you see in the above links is why…
Sometimes, we just need to keep digging despite having the deep down feeling on what the overall outcome will be. The more evidence we collect; the better we are for the next one.
UPDATE: Shortly after I posted this investigation, the Reddit user /u/Munchizmo deleted their account after having it for 10 years. This is another highly suspect action, and more in line with what I would expect from a hoaxer.
Moral of the story: Always follow the evidence, and always keep pushing.
Additional Information
.zip File
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Photo Gallery
Note: In my video above, I felt a made an error with outline/positioning of the photographs. When making this table array, I realized I did not make a mistake, rather, the metadata is reversed.
In CAM01877.jpg, the metadata states the photo was taken at 8:26pm. The “identical” photo labeled as CAM01878.jpg which did not have the lens flares, was taken at 8:25pm, one minute earlier. Sequentially in the file naming structure vs. the time stamps; they are reversed. The camera would have named the 8:25pm photo as *1877 and the 8:26pm photo as *1878. I feel that may be the deciding factor in labeling this a hoax. However, I opted not to record the entire video again, but rather, post this addendum and show you all the evidence as complete as I could make it.
Metadata Breakdowns
Another complete red flag is the fact that the photograph dimensions for all photos was 960×720, taken by a LG LDC-F20. However, the LDC-F20 shot a resolution of 640×480. A special thanks to Mick West for notating that discrepancy.
Here is proof of the tech specs behind the LDC-F20, as taken from the Digital Camera Museum.
CAM01875.jpg
| File | |
|---|---|
| File Type | JPEG |
| File Type Extension | jpg |
| MIME Type | image/jpeg |
| Exif Byte Order | Big-endian (Motorola, MM) |
| Image Width | 720 |
| Image Height | 960 |
| Encoding Process | Baseline DCT, Huffman coding |
| Bits Per Sample | 8 |
| Color Components | 3 |
| Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling | YCbCr4:4:4 (1 1) |
| JFIF | |
| JFIF Version | 1.02 |
| APP14 | |
| DCT Encode Version | 100 |
| APP14 Flags 0 | (none) |
| APP14 Flags 1 | (none) |
| Color Transform | YCbCr |
| EXIF | |
| Make | LG Electronics |
| Camera Model Name | LDC-F20 |
| Orientation | Horizontal (normal) |
| X Resolution | 72 |
| Y Resolution | 72 |
| Resolution Unit | inches |
| Modify Date | 1997:03:13 20:23:43 |
| Y Cb Cr Positioning | Centered |
| Exposure Time | 1/20 |
| F Number | 2.8 |
| Exposure Program | Not Defined |
| Exif Version | .. |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:23:43 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:23:43 |
| Components Configuration | Y, Cb, Cr, – |
| Compressed Bits Per Pixel | 0 |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/32 |
| Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Brightness Value | 0 |
| Exposure Compensation | 0 |
| Max Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Subject Distance | 0 m |
| Metering Mode | Average |
| Light Source | Flash |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
| Sub Sec Time Original | 00 |
| Sub Sec Time Digitized | 00 |
| Flashpix Version | |
| Color Space | sRGB |
| Exif Image Width | 720 |
| Exif Image Height | 960 |
| Flash Energy | 1000 |
| Exposure Index | undef |
| Scene Type | Directly photographed |
| Custom Rendered | Custom |
| Exposure Mode | Auto |
| White Balance | Auto |
| Digital Zoom Ratio | 1.000015259 |
| Scene Capture Type | Standard |
| Gain Control | Unknown (256) |
| Contrast | Normal |
| Saturation | Normal |
| Sharpness | Normal |
| Subject Distance Range | Unknown |
| Padding | (Binary data 2048 bytes) |
| Compression | JPEG (old-style) |
| Thumbnail Offset | 5114 |
| Thumbnail Length | 4433 |
| Thumbnail Image | (Binary data 4433 bytes) |
| Photoshop | |
| IPTC Digest | 00000000000000000000000000000000 |
| Displayed Units X | inches |
| Displayed Units Y | inches |
| Print Style | Centered |
| Print Position | 0 0 |
| Print Scale | 1 |
| Global Angle | 30 |
| Global Altitude | 30 |
| Copyright Flag | False |
| URL List | |
| Slices Group Name | CAM01875 |
| Num Slices | 1 |
| Pixel Aspect Ratio | 1 |
| Photoshop Thumbnail | (Binary data 4228 bytes) |
| Has Real Merged Data | Yes |
| Writer Name | Adobe Photoshop |
| Reader Name | Adobe Photoshop CS2 |
| Photoshop Quality | 12 |
| Photoshop Format | Progressive |
| Progressive Scans | 3 Scans |
| XMP | |
| XMP Toolkit | 3.1.1-111 |
| Native Digest | 256,257,258,259,262,274,277,284,530,531,282,283,296,301,318,319,529,532,306,270,271,272,305,315,33432;3DB5EE629C63E163FBCAC5E96DF6C593 |
| Flash Fired | True |
| Flash Return | No return detection |
| Flash Mode | On |
| Flash Function | False |
| Flash Red Eye Mode | False |
| Document ID | uuid:E4336F9C4BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Instance ID | uuid:E5336F9C4BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Instance ID | uuid:9F7A1D804BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Document ID | uuid:9F7A1D804BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Metadata Date | 2021:06:14 13:06:04-07:00 |
| Format | image/jpeg |
| Color Mode | RGB |
| ICC Profile Name | sRGB IEC61966-2.1 |
| History | |
| ICC_Profile | |
| Profile CMM Type | Linotronic |
| Profile Version | 2.1.0 |
| Profile Class | Display Device Profile |
| Color Space Data | RGB |
| Profile Connection Space | XYZ |
| Profile Date Time | 1998:02:09 06:49:00 |
| Profile File Signature | acsp |
| Primary Platform | Microsoft Corporation |
| CMM Flags | Not Embedded, Independent |
| Device Manufacturer | Hewlett-Packard |
| Device Model | sRGB |
| Device Attributes | Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color |
| Rendering Intent | Perceptual |
| Connection Space Illuminant | 0.9642 1 0.82491 |
| Profile Creator | Hewlett-Packard |
| Profile ID | 0 |
| Profile Copyright | Copyright (c) 1998 Hewlett-Packard Company |
| Profile Description | sRGB IEC61966-2.1 |
| Media White Point | 0.95045 1 1.08905 |
| Media Black Point | 0 0 0 |
| Red Matrix Column | 0.43607 0.22249 0.01392 |
| Green Matrix Column | 0.38515 0.71687 0.09708 |
| Blue Matrix Column | 0.14307 0.06061 0.7141 |
| Device Mfg Desc | IEC http://www.iec.ch |
| Device Model Desc | IEC 61966-2.1 Default RGB colour space – sRGB |
| Viewing Cond Desc | Reference Viewing Condition in IEC61966-2.1 |
| Viewing Cond Illuminant | 19.6445 20.3718 16.8089 |
| Viewing Cond Surround | 3.92889 4.07439 3.36179 |
| Viewing Cond Illuminant Type | D50 |
| Luminance | 76.03647 80 87.12462 |
| Measurement Observer | CIE 1931 |
| Measurement Backing | 0 0 0 |
| Measurement Geometry | Unknown |
| Measurement Flare | 0.999% |
| Measurement Illuminant | D65 |
| Technology | Cathode Ray Tube Display |
| Red Tone Reproduction Curve | (Binary data 2060 bytes) |
| Green Tone Reproduction Curve | (Binary data 2060 bytes) |
| Blue Tone Reproduction Curve | (Binary data 2060 bytes) |
| Composite | |
| Aperture | 2.8 |
| Shutter Speed | 1/20 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:23:43.00 |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:23:43.00 |
| Flash | On, Fired |
| Image Size | 720×960 |
| Megapixels | 0.691 |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
CAM01876.jpg
| File | |
|---|---|
| File Type | JPEG |
| File Type Extension | jpg |
| MIME Type | image/jpeg |
| Exif Byte Order | Big-endian (Motorola, MM) |
| Image Width | 960 |
| Image Height | 720 |
| Encoding Process | Baseline DCT, Huffman coding |
| Bits Per Sample | 8 |
| Color Components | 3 |
| Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling | YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2) |
| JFIF | |
| JFIF Version | 1.01 |
| EXIF | |
| Make | LG Electronics |
| Camera Model Name | LDC-F20 |
| Orientation | Horizontal (normal) |
| X Resolution | 72 |
| Y Resolution | 72 |
| Resolution Unit | inches |
| Modify Date | 1997:03:13 20:24:30 |
| Y Cb Cr Positioning | Centered |
| Exposure Time | 1/20 |
| F Number | 2.8 |
| Exposure Program | Not Defined |
| Exif Version | .. |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:24:30 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:24:30 |
| Components Configuration | Y, Cb, Cr, – |
| Compressed Bits Per Pixel | 0 |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/32 |
| Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Brightness Value | 0 |
| Exposure Compensation | 0 |
| Max Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Subject Distance | 0 m |
| Metering Mode | Average |
| Light Source | Flash |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
| Sub Sec Time Original | 00 |
| Sub Sec Time Digitized | 00 |
| Flashpix Version | |
| Color Space | sRGB |
| Exif Image Width | 960 |
| Exif Image Height | 720 |
| Flash Energy | 1000 |
| Exposure Index | undef |
| Scene Type | Directly photographed |
| Custom Rendered | Custom |
| Exposure Mode | Auto |
| White Balance | Auto |
| Digital Zoom Ratio | 1.000015259 |
| Scene Capture Type | Standard |
| Gain Control | Unknown (256) |
| Contrast | Normal |
| Saturation | Normal |
| Sharpness | Normal |
| Subject Distance Range | Unknown |
| Padding | (Binary data 2056 bytes) |
| Compression | JPEG (old-style) |
| Thumbnail Offset | 5082 |
| Thumbnail Length | 2752 |
| Thumbnail Image | (Binary data 2752 bytes) |
| XMP | |
| XMP Toolkit | 3.1.1-111 |
| Native Digest | 256,257,258,259,262,274,277,284,530,531,282,283,296,301,318,319,529,532,306,270,271,272,305,315,33432;C12DFDB2109EBBB690662B0273D2594D |
| Flash Fired | True |
| Flash Return | No return detection |
| Flash Mode | On |
| Flash Function | False |
| Flash Red Eye Mode | False |
| Document ID | uuid:460161334CCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Instance ID | uuid:470161334CCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Instance ID | uuid:A07A1D804BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Document ID | uuid:A07A1D804BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Metadata Date | 2021:06:14 13:08:23-07:00 |
| Format | image/jpeg |
| Color Mode | RGB |
| ICC Profile Name | sRGB IEC61966-2.1 |
| History | |
| Composite | |
| Aperture | 2.8 |
| Shutter Speed | 1/20 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:24:30.00 |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:24:30.00 |
| Flash | On, Fired |
| Image Size | 960×720 |
| Megapixels | 0.691 |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
CAM01877.jpg
| File | |
|---|---|
| File Type | JPEG |
| File Type Extension | jpg |
| MIME Type | image/jpeg |
| Exif Byte Order | Big-endian (Motorola, MM) |
| Image Width | 960 |
| Image Height | 720 |
| Encoding Process | Baseline DCT, Huffman coding |
| Bits Per Sample | 8 |
| Color Components | 3 |
| Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling | YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2) |
| JFIF | |
| JFIF Version | 1.01 |
| EXIF | |
| Make | LG Electronics |
| Camera Model Name | LDC-F20 |
| Orientation | Horizontal (normal) |
| X Resolution | 72 |
| Y Resolution | 72 |
| Resolution Unit | inches |
| Modify Date | 1997:03:13 20:26:43 |
| Y Cb Cr Positioning | Centered |
| Exposure Time | 1/32 |
| F Number | 2.8 |
| Exposure Program | Not Defined |
| Exif Version | .. |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:26:43 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:26:43 |
| Components Configuration | Y, Cb, Cr, – |
| Compressed Bits Per Pixel | 0 |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/64 |
| Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Brightness Value | 0 |
| Exposure Compensation | 0 |
| Max Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Subject Distance | 0 m |
| Metering Mode | Average |
| Light Source | Flash |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
| Sub Sec Time Original | 00 |
| Sub Sec Time Digitized | 00 |
| Flashpix Version | |
| Color Space | sRGB |
| Exif Image Width | 960 |
| Exif Image Height | 720 |
| Flash Energy | 1000 |
| Exposure Index | undef |
| Scene Type | Directly photographed |
| Custom Rendered | Custom |
| Exposure Mode | Auto |
| White Balance | Auto |
| Digital Zoom Ratio | 1.000015259 |
| Scene Capture Type | Standard |
| Gain Control | Unknown (256) |
| Contrast | Normal |
| Saturation | Normal |
| Sharpness | Normal |
| Subject Distance Range | Unknown |
| Padding | (Binary data 2072 bytes) |
| Compression | JPEG (old-style) |
| Thumbnail Offset | 5098 |
| Thumbnail Length | 2788 |
| Thumbnail Image | (Binary data 2788 bytes) |
| XMP | |
| XMP Toolkit | 3.1.1-111 |
| Native Digest | 256,257,258,259,262,274,277,284,530,531,282,283,296,301,318,319,529,532,306,270,271,272,305,315,33432;9D1D3EB1113013E09241F92AE553DF0C |
| Flash Fired | True |
| Flash Return | No return detection |
| Flash Mode | On |
| Flash Function | False |
| Flash Red Eye Mode | False |
| Document ID | uuid:4C0161334CCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Instance ID | uuid:4D0161334CCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Instance ID | uuid:DC336F9C4BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Document ID | uuid:DC336F9C4BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Metadata Date | 2021:06:14 13:09:51-07:00 |
| Format | image/jpeg |
| Color Mode | RGB |
| ICC Profile Name | sRGB IEC61966-2.1 |
| History | |
| Composite | |
| Aperture | 2.8 |
| Shutter Speed | 1/32 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:26:43.00 |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:26:43.00 |
| Flash | On, Fired |
| Image Size | 960×720 |
| Megapixels | 0.691 |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
CAM01878.jpg
| File | |
|---|---|
| File Type | JPEG |
| File Type Extension | jpg |
| MIME Type | image/jpeg |
| Exif Byte Order | Big-endian (Motorola, MM) |
| Image Width | 960 |
| Image Height | 720 |
| Encoding Process | Baseline DCT, Huffman coding |
| Bits Per Sample | 8 |
| Color Components | 3 |
| Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling | YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2) |
| JFIF | |
| JFIF Version | 1.01 |
| EXIF | |
| Make | LG Electronics |
| Camera Model Name | LDC-F20 |
| Orientation | Horizontal (normal) |
| X Resolution | 72 |
| Y Resolution | 72 |
| Resolution Unit | inches |
| Modify Date | 1997:03:13 20:25:15 |
| Y Cb Cr Positioning | Centered |
| Exposure Time | 1/20 |
| F Number | 2.8 |
| Exposure Program | Not Defined |
| Exif Version | .. |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:25:15 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:25:15 |
| Components Configuration | Y, Cb, Cr, – |
| Compressed Bits Per Pixel | 0 |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/32 |
| Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Brightness Value | 0 |
| Exposure Compensation | 0 |
| Max Aperture Value | 2.8 |
| Subject Distance | 0 m |
| Metering Mode | Average |
| Light Source | Flash |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
| Sub Sec Time Original | 00 |
| Sub Sec Time Digitized | 00 |
| Flashpix Version | |
| Color Space | sRGB |
| Exif Image Width | 960 |
| Exif Image Height | 720 |
| Flash Energy | 1000 |
| Exposure Index | undef |
| Scene Type | Directly photographed |
| Custom Rendered | Custom |
| Exposure Mode | Auto |
| White Balance | Auto |
| Digital Zoom Ratio | 1.000015259 |
| Scene Capture Type | Standard |
| Gain Control | Unknown (256) |
| Contrast | Normal |
| Saturation | Normal |
| Sharpness | Normal |
| Subject Distance Range | Unknown |
| Padding | (Binary data 2048 bytes) |
| Compression | JPEG (old-style) |
| Thumbnail Offset | 5098 |
| Thumbnail Length | 2799 |
| Thumbnail Image | (Binary data 2799 bytes) |
| XMP | |
| XMP Toolkit | 3.1.1-111 |
| Native Digest | 256,257,258,259,262,274,277,284,530,531,282,283,296,301,318,319,529,532,306,270,271,272,305,315,33432;2DCD019664FEAD367320B3A423F0DA31 |
| Flash Fired | True |
| Flash Return | No return detection |
| Flash Mode | On |
| Flash Function | False |
| Flash Red Eye Mode | False |
| Document ID | uuid:4A6E4E884CCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Instance ID | uuid:4B6E4E884CCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Instance ID | uuid:DD336F9C4BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Derived From Document ID | uuid:DD336F9C4BCDEB11B24FDA7ACF8C29C8 |
| Metadata Date | 2021:06:14 13:10:58-07:00 |
| Format | image/jpeg |
| Color Mode | RGB |
| ICC Profile Name | sRGB IEC61966-2.1 |
| History | |
| Composite | |
| Aperture | 2.8 |
| Shutter Speed | 1/20 |
| Create Date | 1997:03:13 20:25:15.00 |
| Date/Time Original | 1997:03:13 20:25:15.00 |
| Flash | On, Fired |
| Image Size | 960×720 |
| Megapixels | 0.691 |
| Focal Length | 4.6 mm |
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This post was published on June 15, 2021