Photography, as a medium, has many instances that blur the boundaries between reality and fiction. From the Victorian era’s spirit photography to Jerry Uelsmann’s magical multi-exposures, the medium has offered us profound pictures that live in the other world but are also tethered to our lived experiences. Amidst many such examples, today, we are here to tell you a story about a photograph that is considered the oldest image of a UFO (Unidentified flying object). Yes, you read that right. I am certain you do not believe us. Read to find out more.

Image is a screenshot from Facebook.

Our story began in 2002 when a photograph captured in 1870 began to gain immense attention on eBay. It was sold on the platform to Samuel M. Sherman, the president of Independent-International Pictures Corps, for $385. How so? Because the claim was that the sepia-toned image was the oldest photograph of a UFO. The image, which was initially oddly cropped, showcased a cigar-shaped object and soon fueled speculation that it was evidence of extraterrestrial life trying to contact us.

In fact, there were experts who also analyzed the image and agreed that it was indeed an original photograph of a UFO, was dated correctly, and was not a result of any manipulation. There were many theories of what or how the craft ended up being photographed, which tickled viewers’ curiosity. Some even alleged that the strange object was a mothership, which often carries smaller UFOs, as shown in Hollywood today. Others added that they saw a swastika symbol on the craft, with many UFO conspiracy websites and magazines trying to unravel the mysterious object.

However, amidst this, the founder of the New Hampshire UFO Research website, Ryan Mullahy, was not buying what the claim stood for so long. Instead, he decided to dig deeper and found that while the image is genuine, it is indeed a heavily cropped version of a photograph captured by Amos Clough and Howard Kimball using a stereo camera to capture depth. Titled Frost Architecture, the image was captured during a meteorological expedition between 1870 and 1871. The duo’s images were widely distributed and were published in a book called Mount Washington in Winter. However, Mullahy found that none of the photographs talk about a UFO sighting.

The object in the picture was later found to be a wooden ‘standard’ folding ruler, which is used on the featureless, snow-covered terrain to help indicate the scale of the picture. However, this was later dismissed by former UFO Radio Host and Moderator of UFO UpDates List, Errol Bruce-Knapp. He stated that he “did solarize”, a process where you can reverse a photograph to showcase its outlines and highlights.

However, Robert Moore, a UFO expert, favored Mullahy’s explanation. He agreed this could be a mundane, scientific photograph of a scale, which is now being blown up by the community. He added, “Sometimes scales were inked in by people to give an indication of size, one arctic explorer even inked in a man with a sled team for the purposes of scale!”

However, the most wonderful thing to come out of this is how a photograph’s understanding is entirely based on one’s personal history and what one wants it to be. An abstract image can mean many things to people, but it is up to you what you make of it. And that’s the most power one can give another individual to decide.