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On October 23, 1976, an amatuer astronomer, Nick Flaskas and his two friends Frank Zonaras and Bill Zonaras journeyed 300 miles south from Sydney to the Ben Boyd National Park on the New South Wales Coast of Australia.
The purpose of their journey was to experience and record a total eclipse of the sun. Taola Point in the Ben Boyd National Park was selected as the ideal location to see the eclipse, as it had a cliff face that overlooked the ocean and was in the direct path of the moon's shadow. |
At 4.00 pm, the three friends placed their cameras in position to film the eclipse. Bill Zonaras noticed unusual grey objects hovering over the ocean. He pointed them out to his brother Frank and their friend Nick. Upon closer examination, Frank and Nick decided to film the objects.
At 4.20 pm, the solar eclipse started and during totality, the objects couldn't be seen. At 4.23 pm, as the sun reappeared, the objects vanished.
The film used was Kodak Super 8mm high speed night film, specifically selected to record the dim light during a total eclipse.
When the developed film was viewed by the three young men, the clarity of the images in the film did not represent what they had seen.
However, unbeknown to them, the high speed sensitive night film was the ideal recording medium for full digital analysis.
The film was sent to Ground Saucer Watch (GSW) of Phoenix, Arizona for inspection and analysis using all modes of computer enhancement including edge enhancement, color, contouring, digitizing and computer reconstruction.
The following is a transcript of the critique supplied by GSW:
The UO image is at a vast distance from the camera, over a mile as determined from other foreground/background features.
The size of the UO image based on a digitizing program and the focal length of the camera is approximately 30-40 feet in it's largest dimension.
The surface of the UO is dull and bland in its coloring.
The main image can not be compared to any type of helicopter or aircraft.
Digital densitometry suggests a protuberance on the subject similar to a dome in it's configuration. When the photograph was highly magnified in the pseudo-color mode, the shape becomes more obvious.
The main object is being affected by low horizon atmospherics, substantiating the distance of the UO.
The smaller objects were barely discernable amoung the processing anomalies and projection scratches.
There was no attempt by GSW to enhance the smaller images due to these problems.
The image is one of three dimensional proportions and definately appears as a structured shape.
Conclusions
It is the consensus of the GSW technicians that the UO image represents a structured object of unknown origin, without any sign of misrepresentation of a conventional object or phenomenon. Although the witnesses did not report any protrusions, as evidenced by the domed top portion of the UO in the analysis photos, we feel the reconstruction pictures represent the object's "real proportions and size.
Reference to the output photographs, especially the edge enhanced and color contoured prints, clearly and unmistakably show the commonly reported disc shape, the profiling cursor depicts the object of substance, that is, three dimensionality, while the tapering off of color around the object attests to the fact it has curvature. This confirms the witnesses original testimony that it was rotating, without changing shape and looked like a dome-shaped bell. The pixel configuration confirms the visual observation and the witness statments that the objects were close to the visible horizon.