Suspected UFO spotted in Cao Dai Temple Vietnam_Tay Ninh_ 2006

[nightsky74]

Hi guys:

Received this from a friend while he was looking through his old digital camera. Photo taken way back in 2006 (no drones yet ~~), vietnam, Tay Ninh.
Need help to enhance and enlarged the unknown object on the top left.
Was playing aroundwith sharpness and temperature adjustment. Seems that this object has some heat signature. Help to confirm.

All kinds of assistance appreciated.

 

[Mick West]

Seems that this object has some heat signature.

That's just a sharpening artifact.

The object itself resembles other photos of birds or insects. But ultimately, there are not enough pixels to determine this.

 

[kotare]

Was playing aroundwith sharpness and temperature adjustment. Seems that this object has some heat signature

temperature here refers to a quality of the colours in the image (the exploitation/manipulation of warm/cool colours being an important part of art/design), not literal hot/cold as infra red cameras indeed do.
this photo (any conventional camera image) doesnt really tell you anything definitive about heat signatures.
also i physically winced at seeing that sharpness slider almost maxed out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature

 

[Ann K]

@nightsky74 , you'll see the term "the LIZ" used here. It stands for the Low Information Zone, and every type of camera has it. Some things occupy a very few pixels, or do so for a very few frames of a video, so that there simply isn't enough information to tell if a thing is a large object at a great distance or simply an insect passing the camera a few inches away. A very good camera can see more detail at a distance, but there is always going to be a limitation even for those.

 

[nightsky74]

That's just a sharpening artifact.

The object itself resembles other photos of birds or insects. But ultimately, there are not enough pixels to determine this.

Thanks Mick for the candid comment. Essentially, inconclusive i guess. Hope there are more comments coming

@nightsky74 , you'll see the term "the LIZ" used here. It stands for the Low Information Zone, and every type of camera has it. Some things occupy a very few pixels, or do so for a very few frames of a video, so that there simply isn't enough information to tell if a thing is a large object at a great distance or simply an insect passing the camera a few inches away. A very good camera can see more detail at a distance, but there is always going to be a limitation even for those.

 

[nightsky74]

Thanks Ann. Really wasted. Was hoping i could see something. Not sure if there are other experts out there who could help or with softwares that could enhanced the image.

 

[NorCal Dave]

Thanks Ann. Really wasted. Was hoping i could see something. Not sure if there are other experts out there who could help or with softwares that could enhanced the image.

I would venture that most software can only enhance what was on the original photo. That is, it can't show something that wasn't captured in the first place. As Ann noted, all recording systems have some sort of inherent limitations.

A classic example is the famous Patterson-Gimlin film of Bigfoot fro 1967. It was shot on 16mm Kodachrome II movie film with the Bigfoot approximately 80' away. That gave a maximum potential resolution for details of the creature at around .5"-1". The original film could not have captured any detail on the Bigfoot smaller than .5"-1" and no amount of software enhancement can either. The details that might have existed were never capture with the original film, so there is nothing to enhance.

The famous Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination suffers from the same limitations. It was shot on 8mm home movie film stock, so likely 1/2 the resolution of 16mm. There is only so much information captured. Modern software can eliminate scratches and imperfections from old film, but even then, it's trying to estimate what the photo would have looked like if the scratch were removed. That's still different from making a few unclear pixels into something they're not.

While I mention films, the same applies to digital photos. There is a limit or what the sensors can capture in the first place making enhancement difficult if not impossible.

 

[nightsky74]

Thanks Dave. This is as far as i could go then.

 

[NorCal Dave]

Thanks Dave. This is as far as i could go then.

Unfortunately, at least as far as positively identifying the dot in this particular photo.

The "found in a photo later" type claim is particularly popular in the UFO world, likely because of the ambiguity they present. There is some sort of "object", often only a few pixels worth, that was only noticed later upon review of the photo. The person that took the photo doesn't remember anything unusual, which only adds to the mystery, or as in this case, the event is so long ago, most relevant details are lost.

While it may be difficult, or impossible, to identify this particular spot in this photo, you can see similar situations where the object is likely identified. A distant aircraft or even a balloon at the resolution limit of the camera can often just become a round or cigar shaped blob of a few pixels. Likewise, a close up small insect that is out of focus can appear similar. Either of these would likely never have been noticed at the time of the photograph.

You can still do some searching around, see what you find. For example, there are several Cao Dai temples in Tay Ninh Provence, but it looks like the one in your friends photo is referred to as the Holy See. Here is the best I could get with Google street view:

Compared to your photo:

I think this is roughly the same location, with the street view being closer to the building. That would suggest your friend was taking the photo looking in a roughly North-West direction:

If we expand the map, we find the Old Tay Ninh airfield roughly 5 miles to the west of the temple, circled in red:

And we find that the direction of the runway may intersect with he direction of the photo:

However as of now, the airfield is no longer used according to Wikipedia, though it's not clear when the PAVN stopped using that part of the facility:

The airfield is no longer in use but remains clearly visible on satellite images.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tây_Ninh_Combat_Base

Was it used in 2006? I don't know. Is the object a possible aircraft climbing out of the old airfield? I don't know. But sometimes attacking these puzzles from different angles can lead somewhere.

 

[nightsky74]

Unfortunately, at least as far as positively identifying the dot in this particular photo.

The "found in a photo later" type claim is particularly popular in the UFO world, likely because of the ambiguity they present. There is some sort of "object", often only a few pixels worth, that was only noticed later upon review of the photo. The person that took the photo doesn't remember anything unusual, which only adds to the mystery, or as in this case, the event is so long ago, most relevant details are lost.

While it may be difficult, or impossible, to identify this particular spot in this photo, you can see similar situations where the object is likely identified. A distant aircraft or even a balloon at the resolution limit of the camera can often just become a round or cigar shaped blob of a few pixels. Likewise, a close up small insect that is out of focus can appear similar. Either of these would likely never have been noticed at the time of the photograph.

You can still do some searching around, see what you find. For example, there are several Cao Dai temples in Tay Ninh Provence, but it looks like the one in your friends photo is referred to as the Holy See. Here is the best I could get with Google street view:

View attachment 90432

Compared to your photo:

View attachment 90433

I think this is roughly the same location, with the street view being closer to the building. That would suggest your friend was taking the photo looking in a roughly North-West direction:

View attachment 90434

If we expand the map, we find the Old Tay Ninh airfield roughly 5 miles to the west of the temple, circled in red:

View attachment 90435

And we find that the direction of the runway may intersect with he direction of the photo:

View attachment 90437

However as of now, the airfield is no longer used according to Wikipedia, though it's not clear when the PAVN stopped using that part of the facility:

The airfield is no longer in use but remains clearly visible on satellite images.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tây_Ninh_Combat_Base

Was it used in 2006? I don't know. Is the object a possible aircraft climbing out of the old airfield? I don't know. But sometimes attacking these puzzles from different angles can lead somewhere.

Thanks Dave for all these invaluable info!
My friend told me his wife saw the object "hovering". Saucer shaped object.
But unfortunately like you said, cant really decipher what the object on that photo is.