1971 Lake Cote / Lago de Cote UFO Aerial Photo

[Ann K]

Perhaps it was just an artifact of the filming and developing process, but it looks to me more like a deliberate creation. Either way, it seems to have been deliberately represented at some time as something that it's not, so it's still a hoax.

Metabunk and it's community are a great resource for examining and analyzing imaging problems and for worrying out the details of a given complex scenario. But sometimes when I read these threads it reminds me of a group of people in lab coats standing around trying to figure out how someone got a jackrabbit to mate with an antelope.

"It's a hoax", while sometimes true, is often the lazy way to dismiss a thing. That's usually what we DON'T do here. If it's a hoax, we want to know how and why it was done before drawing that conclusion. If it's a mistake, a misidentification, a genuinely strange thing, we want to know that as well. People throw their initial ideas into the ring for discussion first before they are "tested to destruction".

 

[JMartJr]

Perhaps it was just an artifact of the filming and developing process, but it looks to me more like a deliberate creation. Either way, it seems to have been deliberately represented at some time as something that it's not, so it's still a hoax.

It is not a hoax if it was presented in good faith and was not intentionally faked. It could still be any of several things, including a hoax. But just saying "It is a hoax" is not evidence that it is one! Earlier you'd posted about double exposure and a high hat cymbal. Can you walk me through how that would be done, using the system that was used to make this photo. |

I'd suggest being a bit cautious about conflating "it looks like a thing" with "it is that thing." It does indeed look something like a cymbal. It also looks rather a lot like a conchoidal fracture in a pane of glass -- when I first saw it, I was pretty sure that's what it was. Later evidence convinced me that was not the case -- but it still looks a lot like one!

Heck, it looks a LOT like this illustration of something to do with flint knapping:
https://www.chegg.com/homework-help...s-stone-tools-artifacts-due-resista-q36460622

I don't think that's what it is.

Metabunk and it's community are a great resource for examining and analyzing imaging problems and for worrying out the details of a given complex scenario. But sometimes when I read these threads it reminds me of a group of people in lab coats standing around trying to figure out how someone got a jackrabbit to mate with an antelope.

That may be an unavoidable side effect of the process, especially if you really would prefer a simple solution. But as you note, the technique does seem to yield results.

 

[Ravi]

@DarkLight

A hoaxer would've have to create fake aerial images in an obscure format, that are not possible to make if you are not in an aircraft using a dedicated camera, photographing the scenes.
Unless you believe it was recreated using models and such.. I am not seeing this a real option.
I think it is an artefact, as we discussed very early in this thread. We just don't have a good way in making sure it was.

 

[NorCal Dave]

Metabunk and it's community are a great resource for examining and analyzing imaging problems and for worrying out the details of a given complex scenario. But sometimes when I read these threads it reminds me of a group of people in lab coats standing around trying to figure out how someone got a jackrabbit to mate with an antelope.

But for most of us, that's a fun part of it all. These are puzzles to be worked out. I would also argue that good debunking is accurate debunking, or at least as accurate as possible.

If someone presented a "jack-a-lope" as curiosity or gaff, we likely wouldn't spend much time on it. If, like many UFO, paranormal and cryptid claims, someone presented a "jack-a-lope" as evidence of a real animal, we may in fact put on our virtual lab coats to understand if it's a hoax and if so how was it done. Maybe it's not a hoax, but a rabbit with Shopes rabbit papilloma virus, which is real and causes horn like growths on some rabbits:

The Shope papilloma virus (SPV), also known as cottontail rabbit papilloma virus (CRPV) or Kappapapillomavirus 2, is a papillomavirus which infects certain species of rabbit and hare, causing cancerous lesions (carcinomas) resembling horns, typically on or near the animal's head.

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

Jack-a-lopes are known hoax and it's likely anyone presenting one as a real creature is presenting a hoax, but not necessarily. If in fact they are presenting a CRPV infected rabbit, dismissing it as a hoax is inaccurate.

Similarly with the Cote Lago UFO, it may be a hoax, created with known objects and a double exposure. Or it may be an artifact from the camera, or the making of analog copies of the negatives, or a number of other things. Figuring out exactly, or as close as possible, to what we are actually seeing, isn't just a fun puzzle, it's a good exercise in proper debunking.