SIGHTING: FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"23October2005Member #9027 Paul HammondI heard that digital cameras can see a UFO where your naked eye can not. I decided to take my digital camera on one of my exercise walks and shoot the empty sky just to see if I could capture a UFO. Beginners Luck! Of the 70 or so shots, one frame had a suspicious looking speck with a tail on it (Not a vapor trail.). I enlarged it on my computer and-Paydirt! The photo was taken at the intersection of Soliere and Country Club in Flagstaff Arizona, one mile from my apartment. Shot was pointed about due west into the sunset, just after sunset. I did not see the object when photo was taken, only when reviewing them later on the computer (This, I heard, is common.). There is a low cinder cone volcano west of Flagstaff, from my viewpoint, and the object was over the northern end of it (Maybe a little past it at, I guess, around 10 miles.), obviously moving very fast. I cropped and enlarged the photo on Adobe Photoshop CS, got rid of the color data making it black and white, and then jacked up the contrast. When I did that, I noticed something very interesting. The "tail" on the object was a motion streak. Since the shot was taken at 1/500'th second, a motion streak would indicate extreme speed. In the photo, the object was edge-on, and looked like a dark hockey puck with a lighter dome on top of it, not glowing. Due to the extreme enlargement, the object is somewhat pixelated, but enough of it can be seen to tell the tale. Camera data: Used 5X optical-only zoom, 1/500'th second shutter, infinity focus, F4.5 F-stop, Sony digital camera Cyber-Shot DSC-F717, hand held and available light, Lens Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar, automatic exposure control, no filters. Shot was taken at 5:53PM on 4October2005, Phoenix Arizona Time. I had taken a shot of the same spot just a couple of seconds before, with no object visible (Which would rule out a vapor trail.), and I have that frame also to compare. I have the original raw photo files. A MUFON Investigator would be welcome to visit to examine the original photo files. Please keep my mailing address and Email address confidential so I don't get swamped with mail.Paul HammondNote also: There is the US Naval Observatory, and an Army Reserve base located at Bellemont, AZ. Object may have been over or near these. Would have to check a map."