Background

The following case file report was written by TBV Investigations’ researcher Jim Kerr.

On October 28^th, 2018, at approx 4:23 am, Esteban Zavala posted a live video to Instagram showing what he stated to be 5 UFO’s hovering over the city of Rosarito, Baja California. It was a foggy early morning in Rosarita with multiple illuminated objects that appeared to be hovering approx 100 ft above the ground. Later that day Zavala posted the same Instagram video titled, “UFO’s Hovering in Rosarito 2018”, to his YouTube channel named Esteban Zavala, (refer to the link below under credits). Within hours, Zavala’s video footage went viral worldwide across the internet, re-posted on UFO YouTube channels, UFO Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and more.

On November 6, 2018, John Greenewald, creator of “The Black Vault,” shared with his team of UFO Investigators an article titled, “One of the best UFO sightings filmed lately” which included Zavala’s video footage. We all viewed the video and came to the unanimous conclusion that what Zavala videoed were in fact street lights.

Even though the objects in Zavala’s video had already been solved and determined as street lights, we at TBV Investigations are publishing this information not only to educate the public but for necessary archival reference material.  Our report is important documentation regarding how easy one can mistake street lights in foggy weather conditions for Flying Saucers, especially newly designed and installed circular LED street lights.

The Evidence

Witness Zavala’s written statement from his YouTube Channel.

“Today October 28, 2018, I witness 5 UFOs hovering over Rosarito, Baja California MX. At around 4:23 am I was driving back to San Diego, California with my grandmother. We were having a normal conversation when she suddenly went mute and all she could do was point at the sky. I look up and see 5 of these things hovering over homes and the beach. I pulled over and immediately went live on Instagram to avoid speculations of video editing and such. Share your thoughts.”

Investigative journalist, Ales Backman, is credited for determining these alleged Flying Saucers were new circular LED street lights recently installed for illuminating a recently constructed highway interchange along highway 1D.

Backman drove to Rosarito and videoed the location of the lights.

Backman’s video posted to YouTube Channel  concienciaradio.

Below you will find screenshots from Backman’s video showing the circular LED street lights. Note the lens flare of the light fixture in the first photo.

Conclusion

After watching Zavala’s complete unedited video on his YouTube Channel, I truly believe he and his mother believed they witnessed multiple UFO’s over the town of Rosarito, Baja California. It is important to note that they were not traveling on the main highway 1D but a side road in foggy weather conditions. Had they been driving along highway 1D, I believe they would have seen that the lights were in fact highway lights.

I find it very sad that so many so-called UFO researchers and individuals on social media capitalized and exploited this video footage claiming the objects were real Flying Saucers. The aforementioned is a real problem in Ufology today and casts s a bad light on legitimate researchers. It is our goal at TBV Investigations to inform and educate the public and to reduce the exploitation of misidentified UFO sightings.

Credits / Special Thanks

Investigative journalist, Ales Backman. Thank you for taking the time to drive to Rosarito, video the sighting location and reveal the truth.

https://concienciaradio.com/

The post “Flying Saucers” Sighted and Videoed Over Rosarito, Baja California – October 28, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post “Flying Saucers” Sighted and Videoed Over Rosarito, Baja California – October 28, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on March 17, 2018, the day of the sighting.  It was assigned to Michael Kelly for analysis.

Witness Testimony

The following testimony was submitted by the witness:

“At 0559 3/17/18 I witnessed a large object shaped similar to the space shuttle but much larger enter the atmosphere. At first I thought I was looking at a falling star. I watched and waited for it to disappear but instead it turned bright orange and grew larger and brighter. I started to see a trail of orange sparks behind it. I lost it when it went behind a house. it was still night it was going towards the coast. it lasted 20/30 seconds i was alone, on my morning walk no photos, i didn’t have time to get my phone out I don’t know what this was. I just don’t think it was a plane because I couldn’t find anything about a plane crash on the news.”

The Analysis

by Michael Kelly, TBV Investigations

The description of the object getting larger and brighter as well as shooting off sparks is consistent with an object entering the atmosphere from space. The most likely scenario of an object entering the atmosphere would be a meteor, but other possibilities are satellites or similar artificial objects.

One likely possibility is a piece of the Chinese Tiangong-1 Space Station which crashed to Earth a few weeks after the witness made the sighting. This object broke into pieces and orbited the Earth a few times before crashing down on March 28th in the Pacific Ocean.

It is possible a piece of the space station entered the atmosphere before that date.

Below is a video of the space station as it enters the atmosphere, for reference:

Additional Information:  https://www.space.com/40101-china-space-station-tiangong-1-crashes.html 

As early as January of 2018 USA Today reported that the space station and its debris would likely fall to earth beginning in March, most likely between 43 degrees North and 43 degrees South latitudes. Bakersfield, CA lies at 35.3733° N latitude, so it is not inconceivable that some of the debris from this space station could have been visible from Bakersfield.

Conclusion

Without more information, this object is difficult to identify exactly, but it is almost certainly a meteor or man-made satellite of some kind. It was undoubtedly an object entering Earth’s atmosphere from space, so the possibilities for what the object could be have to exclude anything incapable of being in space like an airplane or hot air balloon.

My best guess is that the object witnessed by the observer was a piece of the Tiangong-1 Space Station.

The post UFO seen over Bakersfield, California – March 17, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO seen over Bakersfield, California – March 17, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted by Geoffrey Heyman on January 26, 2018, the day of his sighting. It was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Monica Salazar for analysis.

Witness Testimony

The following was submitted by Mr. Heyman about his sighting:

“3 orb like lights seem like they were in a bubble Separating and seemed like they were going in an out of each other. No sound just brilliant light illumination. This was at 5:38 am on January 26th 2018 in the skies over Manchester, Maryland.”

The Analysis

by Monica Salazar, TBV Investigations

I emailed the witness a few times, however I seldom received a response. I was finally able to speak to the witness via phone call. He was able to describe to me a little better what he saw that night and of course his idea of what it could have been. 

Geoffrey Heyman recalls seeing lights in the sky traveling about southeast to southwest at a relatively slow speed, and about 300ft to 400ft low to the ground, he describes it as “a plane about to land” kind of height and speed. Mr. Heyman also mentioned that an ex colleague of his saw a similar object from his home hovering just above a valley. 

Mr. Heyman describes the object as three orbs moving in and out of each other, he states he has never seen anything like this before. He remembers the objects having an orange and yellow sort of glow, however he remembers it was day break so the way he describes the objects as “almost transparent but you could see the outline, as if they were taking the color of the sky as the sun was coming up like camouflage”

There is no actual physical evidence for this sighting however Mr. Heyman did state he rushed inside his home to grab his phone and possibly take a picture of the object however when he returned the glowing lights were gone. 

Conclusion

I found the witness to be a very credible witness with knowledge of typical and familiar commercial aircraft. I am positive you could tell if the object could have been a plane or not. Objects like these have been seen in the areas of Maryland quite often. I was able to visit the “National UFO Reporting Center State Report Index for MD” http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/ndxlMD.html 

In this site there have been several similar “Lights” reported in the area. In fact just a day prior to Mr. Haymans report, just one hour southwest in Frederick MD there was a very similar report of “… a bright orange light reflecting off the windows.”

Now I can’t really say this was definitely a UFO however with other people in the general area reporting the same mysterious lights hovering it makes you wonder if in fact there is something of interest in Maryland. 

For the sake of this report and because of lack of physical evidence I would conclude this as undetermined due to lack of sufficient evidence.

The post UFO Over Manchester, Maryland – January 26, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Over Manchester, Maryland – January 26, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigation on January 25, 2018, the day after the sighting occurred. The case was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Michael Andrew McLimans for analysis. 

Witness Testimony

“I was on my way to work, I was traveling east on rt 5 just entering Scotia, I saw at least 3 red lights atop one another in the sky, i thought maybe a satellite, but i thought it was too close, I pulled over to try to get it on my cell phone, because it was moving away and dark my phone didn’t really capture the image. I got back in my car and about 20 seconds further down the road I saw something light up in the sky. It looked like a big scoreboard all lit up and moving towards me. I pulled over and started to get a video. The size was big and lights all over, the shape was something I’ve never seen before. It glided right past me!!!! No noise from the craft at all. The design of it has me at a loss for words and I’m anxious to know what the hell was it! No military or airplane that is for sure! I reviewed my video and I believe because of the lights it doesn’t show what I exactly saw but I do have video. I’m trying to draw what I saw. I really need to speak to someone who can help me get a grip on this and go further into detail about this ship that I saw. I know it was below radar because it was that close! When I watch the video I hear strange sounds that I don’t know what made them. The only sound made was a few cars passing by and at time of sighting i did not hear anything at all.”

The Evidence

The Analysis

by Michael Andrew McLimans, TBV Investigations

I spoke with the witness multiple times via phone, text, and email. I’ve analyzed the video at slower speeds and frame by frame. There are 4 objects visible in the video. The moon, an aircraft identifiable by its flashing/blinking navigation/collision lights, a tree in the right side of the video, and what I suspect to be lights from a home, or building in the distance of bottom of video.

This was later confirmed after receiving a daytime photo of the sighting location. The noise in the video not audible to the witness while shooting is most likely interference from the high voltage power lines seen in the daytime photo producing EMFs, Electro-magnetic frequencies.

The object in her sketch doesn’t resemble anything I’m familiar with, nor any typically reported object I’m aware of.

Conclusion

I found the witness to be a very credible witness with knowledge of typical civilian and military aircraft.  When only taking the video into consideration, it is very likely the object is an aircraft, or a drone, as the blinking lights, and the colors of them (seemingly alternating white and red) are indicative of an aircraft or drone.  However, her testimony and firsthand account of the object’s description, coupled with her knowledge about civilian and military aircraft, adds a different element to the case. 

Although her video does not contain evidence of the object she describes or sketches, I believe that she saw something she couldn’t identify.

Therefore, I feel I will label this case unexplained, with the caveat that it does lack sufficient evidence (a stabilized video with more detail) to properly identify the object, or to confirm it is truly an “unknown.” 

The witness stated additional, uncompressed videos, are being sent. To date, they have not been received.

The post UFO over Scotia, New York – January 24, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Scotia, New York – January 24, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on April 4, 2018. It was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Michael Glenn for analysis.

Witness Testimony

The following is the original witness testimony submitted to The Black Vault by the witness (unedited):

“I was flying from Finland to Japan (Tokyo) and everybody was sleeping in airplane, lights was off. I took fast picture from airplane window, because of beautiful sunrise. Later I was checking out pictures which I have took and I saw these four blue dots and I don’t have any idea what those are. There wasn’t any lights like this inside of the airplane, so I don’t think those are any reflections from window. To me those “dots” UFO’S(?) looks they are far away, flying near atmosphere.

Maybe you guys can tell me what these are?”

The Evidence

The Analysis

by Michael Glenn, TBV Investigations

The image is taken from inside a lit aircraft, traveling at sunset. There are reflections in the window in the same general area as the objects of interest. After looking over aircraft window schematics, the likely reason for the lights in the sky is a double reflection from the dual pane windows. The lights are likely overhead lights from the airplane interior.

When zooming in the four dots are actually only two, repeated in the second pane of acrylic. The angle is consistent with lights that would be above the witness’ head. 

Conclusion

While other explanations are possible, the reflectivity of the windows is the most likely culprit in this situation.  It is noted that the witness believed no other lights were on in the cabin, but since they did not notice the lights when taking the photograph, they may have just as easily missed reading lights on from across the aisle. It should also be noted, depending on the direction of the camera, the lights in relation to the witness’ seat, etc., the lights could be on in a dark aircraft at a distance not noticeable to the witness, but were reflected in the window and captured on camera.

The following also illustrates where other likely reflection from inside the cabin reside.

The post UFO Seen From Airplane During Flight From Finland to Tokyo, Japan first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Seen From Airplane During Flight From Finland to Tokyo, Japan appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following UFO report was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on December 19, 2017.  It was assigned to Jeremy Enfinger, TBV Investigations. 

Witness Testimony

The following was the original report submitted by the witness:

“On estimated date of Aug 5, 2008, at 4:05 AM, I walked onto the front porch to get some fresh air. Sitting at the East bannister and looking directly over my porch portico at about a 60 degree angle-from-horizontal to the West, I observed a circle of light grow from a pinpoint to about the size of a quarter held at arms length in the span of around three seconds.

The light was bright but did not hurt my eyes. I glanced quickly to my right and saw shadows from bushes barely visible on the ground from the bright light. It was still dark and no moon was visible from my position. The bright ring of light blinked out and I could see a pinpoint of light in the center of what-had-been the circle of light that appeared to be as bright as a magnitude three star.

It was stationary for approximately 5-8 seconds, then began moving in a South-Westerly direction, gaining speed until it shot out of sight faster than the eye could follow. From start to finish the sighting seemed to last about three-to-four minutes.

Note: the date and time is only an estimation, with the time being more accurate; I did not write the date and time down after the observation.”

The Analysis

Additional dialogue with the witness indicated the exact date and time were not remembered. The morning light was not yet visible at the time of the sighting, and no moon reflection was appreciated. The object was witnessed WNW of Oak Hill, West Virginia.

Since the sighting was reported to be on or around August 5, 2008. the National UFO Reporting Center was referenced for reports near that time. Although no exact matches were identified, the following three reports possessed similar appearances, though the exact times/locations were subject to some inconsistencies:

• “UFO or some sort of object flying over Oak Hill, WV” – reported 9/23/08 at 0830
• “Unidentified object appeared to be following contrail of jet airplane” – reported 9/18/08 at 1840 (doesn’t match the time of day, and location is North of you, but witness does not specify direction seen)
• “UFO vanishes within seconds after observing for 10 minutes upon aircraft approach!” – reported 8/13/08 at 0040 (reported about 30 miles from you in Summersville, but they do not specify direction seen)

Two airports in the Northwest direction from the witness’s location during the sighting exist. Island airport is the closest near the direction the object was visualized, followed by Yeager airport, home to 130th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard (composed primarily of C-130s).

Witness testimony indicated no moonlight was visible during the sighting, and while the date and time were estimated, the position of the moon could be verified on the estimated date at 4.61 degrees South (latitude) and it was in Waxing Crescent Moon phase, illuminating 18%, which would explain the lack of visibility by the witness.

Possible Explanations

Due to the proximity of the airports and their locations in comparison to the witness’s vantage point, commercial aircraft and/or military aircraft must be considered.However, the rate of speed observed by the witness would not indicate aircraft known to the public.

Conclusion

Stars, planets, satellites and the International Space Station can be ruled out due to the changing position of the object from being stationary to accelerating at high speeds.

The object remains to be unidentified.

However, due to the amount of time that has elapsed since the event, the estimation of date and time of the sighting, and the lack of visual evidence, this case holds no “conclusion” and is archived here for reference or for possible future corroborating witness testimony.

The post UFO over Oak Hill, West Virginia – Approximately 2008 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Oak Hill, West Virginia – Approximately 2008 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.