2007 Costa Rica UFO

ebx

New Member
Hi everyone.
My apologies if there are mistakes in the format of the question.

I recently came across a video, which shows a flying object staying relatively still in the mid-air for a few seconds, later flipping vertically and leaving the area. It is hard to tell what the dimensions of the object are, due to its distance from the grass not being clearly identifiable.
It appears that the object is metallic, and it seems to be at a further distance than the grass which is seen in the video. Furthermore, it doesn't seem like there are any people in proximity of the terrain where the person recording the video is located, suggesting that it might not be a "pendulum" situation, where the object is physically manipulated to simulate weird maneuvers.

The reason why I am assuming that the object is further than the grass is because of its details, compared to the grass and the stones. The object seems to be initially blurry, and its details are not captured by the camera properly, while the grass and stones are better captured. When the man recording the video zooms, its details become more clear.

The video was shot in Costa Rica, 2007, by a 35-year-old carpenter named Marvin Badilla.


 
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You might get flagged for not following posting guidelines, but I’m glad you brought this one up. I always thought this video was worth analysis from the video experts here (I’m definitely not one of them). I’m guessing they’ll conclude it was a mundane object manipulated by a thin wire or thread.

edit: related note: there’s a translated interview with the witness for anyone interested. I get flagged when I link so I’ll just mention the video is titled Costa Rica Nov UFO 2007 on YouTube.
 
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Clearly a model flying saucer dangling on a string. It's a not-very-skillful hoax. (Is that really the best quality footage available?)
 
i didn't ask anything.
No you didn’t. I guess I wasn’t clear. I was referring to the OP’s question asking if anyone had debunked the Costa Rica video. Then you replied to him with a video debunking Billy Meier videos. So I wanted to make sure the two sources weren’t confused.
 
Clearly a model flying saucer dangling on a string. It's a not-very-skillful hoax. (Is that really the best quality footage available?)

It isn’t “clear” to me. Or apparently the OP. But thanks for your analysis.

As for the quality, it appears it was taken with a flip phone by a carpenter in the middle of his workday. I’m not sure how any other video quality would be available.
 
It's super easy to fake, it looks physically like a small model in the way it moves, so that seems quite likely.
 
It's super easy to fake, it looks physically like a small model in the way it moves, so that seems quite likely.
It's particularly obvious by the way the "UFO" tilts up at the end - exactly the way it would if was suspended by a single point in the center, and was perturbed by movement.
 
it might be a good example though of what is [maybe] meant by Dietrich's "tumbled into non sensical angles". (not that i think Fravors ufo was a model on a fishingline! ...just pointing out that i would describe this uf oas "instantaneously tumbling into nonsensical angles)
 
It's super easy to fake, it looks physically like a small model in the way it moves, so that seems quite likely.
Yes it does look like a model. Or maybe just an older-style hubcap. What confuses me is that if you look at the stabilized slo-mo video, the object first flips so the top of the object is directly facing the camera. This would make some sense if it were being yanked away while dangling. Then before it disappears to the right, it flips again so the bottom of the object directly faces the camera. I can’t make sense of one string making the hubcap or whatever behave that way. Flip vertically, flip vertically again then departure to the right. Im guessing you’re saying it’s super easy to fake because you tried it and succeeded. I tried it with a frisbee and I can’t duplicate it. I can’t even get the frisbee to snap to its edge sharply for the first flip.

Note: The stabilized slo-mo video is on Reddit (you’ve probably already seen it). I’ve been cracked enough times for posting links improperly that I won’t do anyone the disservice of linking to it.
 
I can’t even get the frisbee to snap to its edge sharply for the first flip.
i think you need a long pole, like if you have one to paint 12 foot ceilings. so you can pull the object kinda high and then just let it free fall back into place. also maybe something lighter like styrofoam.
 
There's a difference between duplicated precisely planned actions and duplicating random actions. There appears no real significance to the movements and the flippings, because we only see each for a few frames. It seems to me that's simply the way things ended up when they pulled the strings.

If I wanted to fake it, I'd use a center string going to four points, which gives a very stable flying saucer, then additional strings on either side to flip it up or down as needed
 
To me the motion looks consistent with a model of a saucer hung from something like a fishing rod and line (rod held above the cameras view of course), which when the camera conveniently pans down (removing the object from the shot) is quickly yanked up and dropped, to give the erratic wobble motion, very briefly seen. Possibly a 2nd line could be attached to it and pulled on by someone out of shot, behind the grass bank, but if that is how this was done, there's less of a reason for the camera panning down, which makes more sense if the rod holding the object is suddenly yanked/dropped, potentially bringing into shot.

All that is just conjecture of course.

Is it just me or does the object appear small and close, rather than large and far? It's difficult to tell as the video is of such low quality, but object appears to have the same level of sharpness as the grass in the foreground, compared with the highly blurred trees in the distance.
 
Is it just me or does the object appear small and close, rather than large and far? It's difficult to tell as the video is of such low quality, but object appears to have the same level of sharpness as the grass in the foreground, compared with the highly blurred trees in the distance.

This video is to me one of the most useless pieces of "evidence" an ufo-enthousiast can bring forth.
 
The guy who made that video is an outstanding model maker
I have seen his online pages, and he makes scale model carriages, boats, cars etc out of wood. Soom seem to be shot in a place very imilar looking to the spot the "UFO" was shot

Check out the news video below about his model making
https://www.repretel.com/noticia/el-taxista-ebanista-de-san-ignacio-de-acosta/

Here is one of his models he photographed to make it look as though it's in a realistic setting
https://scontent.fmel12-1.fna.fbcdn...=4830d1874d020bd83f7fb3b417edbb95&oe=6196DF91
 
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I posted all that above from my last post on UFOs sub reddit. Got downvoted - LOL

Here is a copy of his facebook page, in case it goes bye bye like the links I first posted

1645142707837.png

1645142754692.png
 
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@jackfrostvc

Is it not funny that the the ufo believers think this is irrelevant, whereas debunkers think it 100% is? I am of course more on the latter, as it is a rather convenient skill to have..
 
In an interview in 2018 the witness Marvin Badilla said:

The UFO is an unidentified flying object, it is not known what it is. That's what I saw, a glowing, spinning, saucer-shaped object that moved away at an impressive speed. It rose, it did not hide, until it disappeared and before rising it turned on its side and was leaving a vapor trail, the vapor almost vanished immediately. I've seen planes taking off at high speed and it didn't compare to the speed it was going. I can't say if it was manned, but in the center it had a strip like little windows that rotated.
Source (using Google Translate): https://www.lateja.cr/nacional/ovni...ntiene-gran/WGDJBJWJQ5BBHDU2NOY2K3EL7I/story/

If you slowly scrub the video in post#1 from 0:03 to 0:05 you can see that the UFO has a strip across the middle which seems to be rotating counterclockwise. This effect would be difficult to reproduce in a model.
 
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In an interview in 2018 Marvin Badilla said:


Source (using Google Translate): https://www.lateja.cr/nacional/ovni...ntiene-gran/WGDJBJWJQ5BBHDU2NOY2K3EL7I/story/

If you slowly scrub the video in post#1 from 0:03 to 0:05 you can see that the UFO has a strip across the middle which seems to be rotating counterclockwise. This effect would be difficult to reproduce in a model.

A $1 dc motor (like in toy cars) and a battery rotating a bottom plate half. Pretty simple IMO
 
the UFO has a strip across the middle which seems to be rotating counterclockwise. This effect would be difficult to reproduce in a model.
Make otherwise featureless disk with windows.
Hang model from string.
Model spins.

The video looks so much like a small model on a string (especially in the way it is jerked out of camera frame): given the propensity of things hanging on strings to rotate I think it would be harder to make such a model and have the windows NOT rotate.
 
A $1 dc motor (like in toy cars) and a battery rotating a bottom plate half. Pretty simple IMO
I must admit that after looking at his Facebook page I can see that he is a gifted model maker who could have made a model of a saucer-shaped UFO with a rotating strip around its circumference. But also from his Facebook page and his media interviews he seems an honest guy.

I reckon his close encounter case is a good one so I give it 50% likelihood that he witnessed a UFO. I only need 30 such good, independent cases to conclude that the likelihood that at least one of the witnesses saw a UFO is 1-0.5^30=0.999999999. This likelihood can balance a 10^-9 prior probability that aliens are visiting Earth, based on our current understanding of science, to leave a 50% posterior probability of alien visitation.
 
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I must admit that after looking at his Facebook page I can see that he is a gifted model maker who could have made a model of a saucer-shaped UFO with a rotating strip around its circumference. But also from his Facebook page and his media interviews he seems an honest guy.

I reckon his close encounter case is a good one so I give it 50% likelihood that he witnessed a UFO. I only need 30 such good, independent cases to conclude that the likelihood that at least one of the witnesses saw a UFO is 1-0.5^30=0.999999999. This likelihood can balance a 10^-9 prior probability that aliens are visiting Earth, based on our current understanding of science, to leave a 50% posterior probability of alien visitation.

If I got a dollar from every person to say "he looks honest , that's why I believe him" . Unfortunately, after investigating in depth multiple UFO cases and talking to the witnesses directly myself, I can tell you more people who claim to witness UFO's lie than you might think.

It's something I have been wondering about to be honest. I get the feeling that some people see lying about UFOs as a bit of harmless fun, and therefor are not morally held back from lying as they would be for other things. Just a personal theory of mine. The ramifications of lying about a UFO and being found out are also low. No one goes to jail for that, etc. It's also difficult to prove in a lot of cases that someone did lie. Something that this excellent post on reddit goes through


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/t9lz7f/brandolinis_law_and_bullshit_how_to_survive_rufos/
 
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