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

[ .zip file of ALL photographs released by the witness – metadata attached ]

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

CAM01876.jpg

CAM01877.jpg

CAM01878.jpg

The post NEW 1997 Phoenix Lights Surface? The Investigation. first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post NEW 1997 Phoenix Lights Surface? The Investigation. appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Case File Status: Likely Explainable

Background

Report by Christopher Connelly, TBV Investigations

On 12/1/17, I came across a post on Reddit that that caught my eye.  The author of the post (Machinegamer), wrote the following describing what we are looking at:

“Was having a drink with my boss in his office today. I’m a conspiracy theorist and he picks at me from time to time regarding some of the stuff I share with him. So he goes “did I ever tell you my ufo story?”

I was like hahahahaha ok thanks for making fun of me, his face got serious and he goes “listen to this story…”

So he said “20 or so years ago I was driving in northern Michigan near glen harbor (sic) at 2:30am in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden my entire car lit up”.

He described this insane light and shrieking noise that hurt his ears… and he’s going on and on and im waiting for him to laugh and be all like gotcha!!

He had been taking pictures of northern Michigan cuz photography is his hobby, so he had a camera on the passenger seat of his car.

He said he got out and this craft was hovering over him for what seemed like a very long time, he was afraid. Then he remembers he had his camera, so he took it out and said he took pictures.

Still I’m waiting for him to laugh. I gave him a “ya ok” look…then he rolled his chair over to his file cabinet and started rustling around folders…

See the photos attached to this post…the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and my arms. My jaw dropped.”

The original pictures appear to come from an older model camera and the film was developed to what you see here. The only images available for investigation, was a photograph of the photographs, which is not ideal for analysis.

The pictures appear to have been taken at night, and there appears to be snow on the ground, leaning towards a low temperature.

It’s almost impossible to tell if there is any cloud coverage or any other meteorological formations. The ground is heavily illuminated, creating an almost complete coverage of the area. Light formations resembling pillars are seen rising from the middle of the illuminated area. The light has an almost blue color to it. It appears there are no other vehicles, personnel or animals in the picture.

There appears to be a sign to the lower right hand side of the photo, on the opposite side of the road, which may mean that these is a side road leading to this area or near it. The light appears behind the treeline but I cannot judge its distance from the witness. 

When I encountered these photographs, they were posted by an anonymous user of the website Reddit. This user was the coworker of the actual witness, so all details are coming from him/her. The actual encounter took place 20 years ago, date unknown. 

Per the co-worker: Witness was located outside of Glen Arbor, which is located in Northern Michigan. This area is known to be rural and a well known area that is the victim of hydraulic fracturing. The approx. time was 0230 when the witness was traveling down a snow covered road when his surroundings and his car began to light up. The witness then got out of his car to see a craft overhead. The witness described the craft as making no movement but sounding like a “Banshee.” No further information has been given.

The Analysis

There is no craft visible in the picture, but I can tell that there is a valley where the lights are coming from and upon further inspection, the lights do appear to be hitting some sort of low lying fog or small cloud formation. I believe that this may be a city, construction site or a fracking site. The lights resemble the amount of light that a small town or site would have.

The pillars may be explained by ice crystals, or “light pillars” which are defined as the following:

“A light pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon in the form of a vertical band of light which appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is created by the reflection of light from numerous tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere or clouds. The light can come from the Sun (usually when it is near or even below the horizon) in which case the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. It can also come from the Moon or from terrestrial sources such as streetlights.”

Based on the assumed temperature, forming in the air and the light reflecting off of such, this could be a viable explanation. With the witness being near the lake, I’d say that the temperature could easily be in the 20’s.

This “light pillar” phenomena is quite common in colder climates, such as Canada and Michigan where these photographs were taken.  

I have attempted many times to contact the witness, but have received no response. 

Due to this fact, it is difficult to put the story together, as it lacks many details and due to it being 20 years ago, human memory tends to fill in a lot of the gaps.

The Photographs

The post Strange Light Phenomenon, Northern Michigan, Circa 1997 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Strange Light Phenomenon, Northern Michigan, Circa 1997 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.