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New Version Of Best 'Picture Of A UFO Ever' Has Been Released
Featured Image Credit: Instituto Geográfico Nacional de Costa Rica/Alamy

New Version Of Best 'Picture Of A UFO Ever' Has Been Released

The image was caught over Costa Rica in 1971

A high-resolution image appearing to show a UFO has been released more than 50 years after it was taken from the sky over Costa Rica.

Anyone who's interested in the idea of aliens will be all too familiar with squinting over blurry pictures purporting to show UFOs, but it's hard to miss the disk-shaped object apparently flying over the water in this particular snap.

The image was originally taken by an automated camera used by the National Geographic Institute of Costa Rica in 1971, when aerial photographer Sergio Loaiza flew 10,000 feet above the ground to capture images for a map.

Black and white photographs were snapped at 20 second intervals, and in one frame a strange object could be seen hovering over Lake Cote at 8.25am local time.

Studies of the image were conducted by Costa Rican UFO researchers Ricardo Vílchez, Dr Richard Haines and Dr Jacques Vallée, who all concluded the image was not the result of double exposure or a deliberate fabrication.

A high-resolution version of the image has now been released by Esteban Carranza, a citizen of Costa Rica who describes himself on Twitter as a 'UFO Enthusiast'.

According to UAP Media, Carranza obtained a 'contact' copy of the original image from his late uncle, who passed away last year. The uncle had previously obtained the image in the late 1970s or early 80s from the National Geographic Institute.

Carranza sent the negative to the Michael Strickland Photography photo laboratory in Kansas, where a Tango Drum Scanner was used to produce a very high-quality scan of 1.7GB in size.

Check it out here:

The image of the UFO has been described as one of the best in existence.
Instituto Geográfico Nacional de Costa Rica

In a post on Twitter, Carranza explained he 'met with people on the National Geographic Institute and tracked the technician in charge of the camera back in 1971' as part of his efforts to create the high-resolution image last year, and explained there was 'no reason' for it to sit on his desktop.

"Disclosure is a team effort and everyone should have this image," he added.

Investigative journalist and UFO researcher Leslie Kean has previously described the image as 'probably the best photograph ever taken of a UFO', according to the Costa Rica News.

Kean added: "It was taken in the 70s from a government mapping plane in Costa Rica that had a camera strapped to the bottom of the plane and it was like touring the terrain.

"There was this disk object and you can clearly see the sun reflecting off this round object that has a small dot on top and the important thing is that it was a government photo. There is a clear chain of custody. It has always been in the possession of the Costa Rican government, so you know it’s authentic and thus completely inexplicable."

Studies of the image have determined the object is an estimated 120-220 feet in diameter.

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Topics: UFO, World News, Photography