A recent photo proports to show a UFO over Loch Ness in Scotland, however it's
UPDATE July 10, 2015:
I contacted the owner of the cottage, who graciously agreed to take a few photos and a short video from the same location. These prove conclusively that the "UFO" is simply the reflection of a light in the window:
You can see the reflection of the curtain in the window, just like with the "UFO" photo, which demonstrates that the UFO photo was taken indoors. The light reflections here are a little bigger, as the light was moved closer to the window, but they are the exact same shape, color, and doubling as in the UFO photo, which proves conclusively that the "UFO" is simply the reflection of a light in the room.
Many thanks to the owner of Bunloit Farmhouse for taking these photos and video!
The original analysis follows.
The story accompanying the photo described the photo as being taken "at a holiday cottage near Urquhart Castle". A brief examination of possible viewpoints in Google Earth let me to determine the viewpoint was near Bunloit.
Then a quick search for holiday cottages led me to Bunloit Farmhouse, the web page for which having a photo that matched the view:
The layout of the cottage indicates the photo was most likely taken from this window
(notice the wall curves in where the steps are, so they are at 45° to the house.
Which would put the camera in the sitting room, notice the reading lamp.
Also notice the blue and white striped curtains, which can be seen reflected in the "UFO" image on the right. The photographer claims the photo was taken from outside, but that is based on a recollection from a couple of days later, and the reflection of the curtain shows this to be impossible. No doubt they also took many photos outside, so the simplest explanation here is that they misremembered how this photo came to be taken.
This photo from a previous visitor to the cottage shows the same view (notice the stone retaining wall and steps are lined up the same).
The photographer would have been on the window seat, with the camera fairly close to the window, probably in the left window, and at about 45 degrees.
So, the angle indicates that particular lamp would not be in the reflection, but there's another on the other side of the room:
(Image from this video)
If we isolate one of the two reflections, it's a good match for the shape of the light opening in the reading lamp:
But why two images? That's just what dual pane (double glazed) windows do, especially at an angle. Using a flashlight, it's quite easy to get two images that are as well separated at these two.
You might think that the fact that the two "UFOs" are lines up horizontally matches the reading light by the door, as it's at about normal camera level, which makes the reflections line up horizontally. But actually the orientation can vary quite a bit across the window, as the two panes are rarely parallel or perfectly flat.
The best photo of the window looks like a dual pane (double glazed) window. Update: The owner of the cottage confirmed via email that the windows are double glazed.
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