What is in the sky in this photograph?

Is this one of the earliest UFO photographs?

Catalina Island Circa 1900

I saw this magic lantern slide photograph for sale on eBay about 5 years ago and thought it was interesting enough to copy on to my computer, but not to bid on.  It was identified as Santa Catalina Island at the turn-of-the-century and that was pretty much all there was to the description. The person selling it did mention there is a strange object in the photograph.

There certainly is.

First I do believe there are UFO’s. But let’s be clear – Unidentified Flying Objects. Not necessarily spacemen from other galaxies or strange visitors from other planets in flying saucers. I won’t eliminate the possibility, but I need better evidence.

There definitely is something in the right hand corner of the photo. For some strange reason I do not believe this photo is a hoax.  It appears to be in the air. But, is it flying? Is it a blemish to the photo itself? Is it a reflection? Somebody threw their hat in the air? A cloud? Sunspot? Optical illusion? Or is it some sort of saucer-like spacecraft? Click on the photo and then click again to get an enlarged closer view.

Larger Image of Catalina Island UFO

I checked the newspaper archives from the Los Angeles Times from 1890-1915 and can find no mention of this event on Catalina Island where the photograph was supposedly taken.  Continue reading →