Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on 06/11/2018 at 9:32 pm. It was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Jim Kerr for investigation and analysis.

Witness Testimony

The witness submitted the following testimony, which is unedited and appears how it was submitted:

“I became interested in orbs after one showed up in a picture I took of my daughter on her 5th birthday. I began taking video at night (after kids in bed ) in our woods & saw a lot of activity. One night I was drawn to the river, so I sat down, began a video & saw this small light about 20 ft in front of me above the water.. as I went to stand up and began walking, it was suddenly right in front of me! It was tiny & the only way I can describe it, is ‘other dimensional’ it was almost like you couldn’t quite focus in on it & it was amazing. It was very playful, almost felt familiar? I was able to record it so I know i’m not crazy! I saw the same thing on several occasions. Probably 3-4xs each year for 2 years. Always in the late summer & fall I believe. I’ll attach a few videos. You can see it change colors & I put my hand around it to make sure it isn’t a cobweb reflecting the light from the camera. Whatever it was, it was definitelt INTELLIGENT as it was trying to communicate / interact with me in a playful manner. I came across Damien’s story on Australian Lights & thought ‘finally – this is pretty similar to what I’ve seen’… only his ars in the clouds and not so close like mine. I’ve never met or discovered anyone that had had this same experience & have been seeking information for a very long time now. Damien suggested I connect you all for an opinion, so here I am. i’m hopeful for some answers or at least some input from a professional. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you & many blessings, Jen”

The Evidence

The video below is also posted on the witnesses YouTube channel titled, “Friendly orb/ energy encounter.”

Note. The video below that was submitted to TBV is a edited version of the original video posted to the witnesses YouTube channel. The footage is cropped and enlarged and missing key information that led to my conclusions. The correct title to this video according to the witnesses YouTube channel is, “Friendly orb visiting I can actually SEE with my eyes.” 

The Analysis by Jim Kerr, TBV Investigations

I have a background in amateur astronomy, using a number of different types of telescopes and astronomical cameras. Since 1965 I have have had a passion for film photography, 8mm and 16mm motion picture film continuing to present day with professional DSLR cameras, lenses, and camcorders both consumer and pro engineering. I am experienced with lighting and the causes of lens flares that occur with different focal length and types of lenses. 

Since 2011 I have had an interest in the paranormal relating to orb sightings. In 2015, I assisted a MUFON investigator in New Jersey on several orb related cases he was working on. I provided him photos relating to strange blue orbs that had dots inside the orb. In reality the blue orbs were lens flares common to certain brands of cell phone cameras. 

While I have not spoken directly to the witness due to missed telephone calls and no response to questions from my last email, there is enough data in the witness videos and photos to resolve this case. 

The witness lives in the town of Alto, Michigan. Alto is an unincorporated community in Bowne Township, Kent County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The terrain has forest areas, (wooded areas), sparsely located within the borders of Alto. The elevation is approx 1,072 feet above sea level. From any location within Alto it would be a short walk to any wooded area.

Source: https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/mi/grand-rapids/KGRR/date/2017-11-15

Celestial Objects Rendering a Significant Light Source

Searching Stallerium, (a planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars), I was able to go back in the archives to view the night sky over Alto, MI on 11/15/2017 @ 1:00 am. There were no extremely bright celestial objects in the sky. The moon was a waning crescent that rose in the sky at 5:29 am and set at 5:18 pm.

Analysis of Video Footage

I downloaded both videos to my Sony Vegas video editing software for a detailed analysis of the footage. I was able to view sections of the video frame by frame, adjust lighting and contrast to bring out details in an effort to reveal the possible origin of the orbs.

In the video titled “Friendly Orb”, it is obvious in my analyzed video that the orb in reality is a reflective object attached to a spider web, a balled up clump of spider web or light reflection off the web itself. Other webs are also observed in the footage. The video was filmed in or near a wooded area with vegetation and home to spiders. The object was being illuminated by the video recording device light or flashlight. Reflective areas on a web is a common mistake made by individuals hunting for orbs. As the camera moves it will cause the reflective area to move as well making it appear as though there is a object / orb moving or floating in thin air. With the naked eye one may or may not see anything attached to the web.

The second video sent to TBV Investigations designated, (received_10155980884127518), is a edited shortened version of a video posted on the witnesses YouTube channel titled, (Friendly orb visiting I can actually SEE with my eyes). In my investigation I visited the witnesses YouTube channel to make sure TBV Investigations was receiving the complete unedited video of these events. With the video we received, important footage was missing that led me to identifying the source of this alleged orb. With out any doubt, in reality, the orb is a lens flare caused by a outdoor floodlight mounted on the eve of the building or house to the left of the video recording device. This can clearly be seen at time stamp 1:32 in the video posted to the witnesses YouTube channel. I downloaded the full video but there is no reason to analyze the footage in Sony Vegas. Also the YouTube download has tracking information on the screen for copyright purposes. Additionally, there is no way the witness could have seen this lens flare with the naked eye.

Video still removed from witnesses YouTube unedited video titled, “Friendly orb visiting I can actually SEE with my eyes.”

Conclusion

My intention in this investigation is not to upset the witness or anyone who hunts for orbs. I believe the witness is sincere and not attempting any deception. My conclusions are based on the video evidence along with years of experience operating cameras in various lighting conditions. Also observing lens flares and anomalies in my own videos, photographs and other peoples work. My hope is for those who view this investigation take the time to educate themselves on camera operation, what causes lens flares and other anomalies and the effects of lighting in a given situation. There is much information on this topic available on the internet.

In the first video the alleged orb is either a reflective object stuck on a spider web, a balled up clump of spider web or a reflection off the web itself caused by the light from the witnesses video recording device. The spider web can clearly be seen in my video analysis and the witnesses original footage. The second video the witness provided TBV Investigations is a edited version of her video, cropped and shortened in length. Upon further investigation I found the complete unedited version of the video on her YouTube channel. This unedited video showed the light source that caused the lens flare in both versions of the videos. It was the light source, (floodlight) that caused the lens flare.

Additionally, the witness reported the date of these sightings as 11/15/2017 1:00 am however, both her videos on her YouTube channel are dated 12/09/2016 and 10/19/2017 respectively. This fact would make the weather conditions in this investigation void. This fact does not affect the analysis or conclusions of this investigation as the video evidence speaks for itself. 

Based on the video evidence this investigation is solved.

The post Witness Describes “Friendly Orb” in Alto, Michigan first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

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Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault on February 18, 2018. The case was assigned to TBV Investigations team member Jeremy Enfinger for investigation.

Witness Testimony

According to the witness:

“Sighting occurred while filming my cat while my now ex girlfriend and I were temporarily living at her grandmother’s house while she was in a nursing home.

We were having a stupid conversation about cats and how awful it sounds when they have sex. lol. While we were filming and talking a bright blue object shoots across the screen from right to left.

It appears that the cat sees the object out of frame and then follows the object as it crosses though the frame. I have had people on reddit who believe that this is the reflection from the cats eye. This is not a possibility for one, because in the frame by frame breakdown of the object, there is a visible timing difference between them.

Also there is a visible figure of something inside of the object.

The highest visibility being in 2-3 of the frames.”

The Evidence

The Video

The anomaly occurs at 1:25 into the video, towards the end.

Frame by Frame Breakdown

Filtering and Cropping

Introduction

by Jeremy Enfinger, TBV Investigations

A video was submitted by a witness depicting an indoor video of the witness’s cat sitting on a bed when a blue object enters the frame and moves right to left rapidly across the screen.

According to the witness, the cat “follows the object as it crosses through the frame”. Two individuals were in the room (including the witness) at the time of the occurrence and did not report visibly seeing the object in front of the camera. A female notices the object when viewing the video screen and comments accordingly.

This sighting occurred 12/2/2011 around 1:30 a.m. in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

The Analysis

The witness claims to have a very clean home with no bugs or excessive dust, and a normal temperature at the time the video was taken. Also submitted with the video were frame-by-frame still shots of the object, as well as images with a negative filter and an x-ray filter.

Further discussion with the witness revealed there was a wall behind the camera with no windows or light sources.

Screen right (where the object enters the view) contains the kitchen area of the home and a television is on and can be seen on some frames of the video screen left.

Color analysis was performed on the original video file.

Results included similar color schemes coming from the television screen left and in the reflecting light on the curtains behind the cat.

This hue from the television screen is not an exact match, but very close to the color of the object passing through the frame.

However, there is a tissue box in the upper right-hand corner of the screen that softly reflex the same color as the object passing through.

In addition, the cat’s eyes are reflecting the same color as well.

The object itself was magnified and sharpened in analysis. Considering the object’s path (right to left) and speed, one would expect considerable motion blur in the direction of travel with less motion blur on the top and bottom of the object, but this was not observed. All edges of the object were considerably blurry.

There are few reflective surfaces in the video frame, so spatial confirmation of an object between the camera lens and the cat could not be verified.

Some basic internet research was performed into the visual acuity of cats, under the witness’s assumption that the cat’s eyes were following the object in the video (link provided to the witness: http://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-of-how-cats-see-the-world-2013-10). Cats have some advantages and disadvantages compared to human vision. For example, they see far better in low-light conditions, but they can only clearly see about 20 feet in front of them regardless of the lighting conditions.

In addition, multiple YouTube videos were viewed showing eye shine from cats at night as well to identify some similarities and differences when comparing with the submitted video.

Possible Explanations

Bug or Dust Particle

After the initial analysis, the fact that the object was blurred on all edges indicated it could be a very small object which is out of focus. A bug or a dust particle close to the lens could explain its blurry appearance, as well as the blue hue being emitted from reflected light. Since the witness(es) were not able to see the object with their own eyes at the time of the filming, we must conclude that the object was either too small to be seen or the anomaly is some form of artifact. The visual spectrum of the human eye is typically better than a camera’s unless you have modified it for IR or full-spectrum viewing.

Given the fact that the cat’s head moves at the same time the object passes through the frame, it would be more likely that the object is a dust particle. Cat behavior typically involves giving chase to bugs, or at least undivided attention if a bug is nearby and detected. Once the object passes by the screen, the cat does not appear to continue watching a “flight path”, but instead turns its head toward the television seeming uninterested. If this is a dust particle, we must consider whether or not the timing of the cat’s head turning could be coincidental in relationship to the object passing through the frame.

Cat Eye Reflection

Another possibility considered was a visual artifact. A secondary source was consulted by Nicole Shuck, who has many years of experience in paranormal investigation, as well as photo and video review, specifically of wildlife and hunting footage, as well as cryptozoological investigations. It was her opinion that the artifact was most likely produced by a lens flare from the cat’s eyes reflecting the light from the television. The hue of the TV closely matches the hue of the eye shine, as well as the shades seen on the curtains and the tissue box. Eye shine can be seen from various angles, and if this is a lens flare caused by the eye shine, it would explain the appearance of the cat following an object when really, the cat is causing the anomaly by moving its head, sending a reflection toward the camera lens.

YouTube video search results show a variety of lens flares produced by cats’ eyes in low-light conditions. While some vary in appearance to the submitted video, there are a few which appear similar. Lighting conditions would need to be reproduced exactly to reproduce this effect, and it was suggested that the witness attempt to re-create the scenario with similar conditions to see if the anomaly happens again.

Conclusion

While this clip was definitely interesting, it can be explained best by the lens flare theory. Given that the cat moves his head at the same time the object passes through the frame, it could easily cause this effect on a camera. No paranormal activity was reported, and this appears to be an isolated event.

The next best theory would be a dust particle causing the anomaly, but this would need to include a coincidental movement of the cat’s head to align with the object as it passes through the frame.

While there’s no way to be 100% certain about this conclusion, repeat testing was recommended to re-create the anomaly.

One thing is for certain though; cats’ eyes are stunning to look at in low light!

The post Unknown Orb / Object Appears in Video While Taking Video of Cat first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Unknown Orb / Object Appears in Video While Taking Video of Cat appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

On December 6, 2017, the witness submitting the following information to The Black Vault:

Hello John

About myself:

I am sound mind and body. I am 63, and just retired. Moved to Las Vegas in February of 2016. Goal was to go to Area 51, photograph mountains, and UFOs. Yea right!

I am ex Navy 15 years, and ex Military Police for 3 years of those 15. I have been shooting photography my entire life. I used a Sony A350. It’s 14 years old or so, but in good working condition. I just bought a Nikon D750 2 days ago. Lord knows how that thing works.

This report was shot with the Sony A350 a first generation DSLR. 

I am a good photographer, who likes to take pictures of weather and jets. So as you can guess I am always looking in the air. But not every day, to much of one thing is never good.

I was shooting a electrical lightning storm. 

I didnt see the ship until I got home. I wear glasses and the ship appeared to be a triangle shape vessel. I saw it only in one frame, as the lightning lit it up.

It only appeared to be a ultra violet spot in the clouds. As I cleaned my file up, wow impossible, it was a ship, or the luckiest lens flare as some people are calling it.

I can see a lens flare in bright sunny day,, but how do you project that into a black night into the clouds. It might be the TR3B that people have speculated. Who knows..   

The case was assigned to TBV Investigations team member Christopher Connelly.

The Analysis

by Christopher Connelly, TBV Investigations

It is extremely easy to spot the visual disturbance as soon as you open the picture.

It appears to resemble light refraction or something of a triangular shape. The triangular body has a blue color to it but as it leads on into the nose of the object, we see a almost color scale. There is nothing else in the pictures that is out of the ordinary.

The witness stated that on the 6SEP17 around 2242, he was taking pictures of a thunderstorm out in the Cornerstone Park, located in Henderson, Nevada. Witness was facing south as the storm was approaching, as he began to take his pictures. It wasn’t until later that he discovered the object seen in the pictures. He states that he did not see it while he was out there and that the only reason he was able to capture it was due to the ultraviolet light that the lightning was giving off.

Conclusion

Whenever we have a massive amount of light such as a lightning storm, we should expect over-exposure, lens flares and other light caused issues with cameras.

I put this photograph through a few contrast relievers and did a few tweaks on the coloring to see if I could pull anything out of it, but to no avail.

The object does appear in an odd shape, but I do believe it to be of natural origins, due to the situation, weather, lighting and of course, being taken by a camera lens.

Photo Gallery

The post UFO During Lightning Storm, Cornerstone Park, Henderson, Nevada – September 8, 2017 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO During Lightning Storm, Cornerstone Park, Henderson, Nevada – September 8, 2017 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.

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by Lindsey Adams, ABC 23

Several neighbors living off Alderpointe Street near Panama and Gosford in southwest Bakersfield  say they first witnessed a mysterious blue light in the sky back in February, and again in March. Both times they saw it on the 14th.

“I was taking the recycling out to the trash can, and I saw this blue light in the sky, and I thought, that’s kinda bright to be a star, I’ve never seen a blue star be that bright,” said Kelly Castruita.

“Watched it for about 10 minutes, just doing weird stuff, it would turn on and off and it would disappear,” added Kelly’s husband Jeff.

Neighbors said the blue light was about the size of a dime, and started off just above the skyline, and then migrated northwest.

“It pretty much flew, stopped, then started doing some upward motion and downward motion, so I’ve never seen anything like it,” said neighbor Randy Gabriel.

“We’ll see the police helicopters once in a while, or an airplane go by, but nothing like this,” said Ricardo Pantoja, who has been living in the neighborhood for 23 years.

23ABC’s Lindsey Adams took the videos to Senior Deputy Victor Keesey with the Kern County Sheriff’s Department, whose office works closely in conjunction with neighboring Meadows Field Airport.

“I’m not aware of any calls that we’ve received regarding any blue lights, or strange lights in that area. Very seldom, if ever, have I seen anything like it. However, we are in the age of drones now, obviously we have military drones, but we have civilian drones now and drones for purchase, so that is a possibility,” said Senior Deputy Victor Keesey.

“It looked way too high up in the sky to be a drone,” mentioned witness Kelly Castruita.

“It wasn’t a regular airplane or a drone, it was much bigger than what a drone would be, especially at that distance,” added neighbor Ricardo Pantoja.

23ABC got in touch with public affairs at Edwards Air Force Base, and we were told they have not received any calls about the light, but officials mentioned it could be a possible aurora in the sky, or possible testing from Vandenberg.

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