Strange flying objects are usually considered state phenomena.
But a remarkable shot shows one flying relentlessly though mountains in northern England – and experts are baffled.
The mysterious aerial unit was captured by photographer and local man John Tunnah from Shipton in Yorkshire.
Dangerously, the Yorkshireman took about 10 or 12 photos from his vantage point, but the object only appeared in one of them.
Mr Tunnah said they were “the first photos on an unfamiliar camera” he had just purchased.
He described the phenomenon as a possible “UFO” – an unidentified flying object.
And it is remarkably similar to the classic UFO saucer shape depicted in popular culture, with a distinct round and elongated shape.
“Why it was manoeuvring at low level over West Yorkshire was a mystery,” Mr Tunnah told the Daily Mail.
Yorkshire photographer John Tunnach, with a Pentax Optio SVI camera, captured the strange saucer-shaped object with a Pentax Optio SVI camera
The photo, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was taken with a Pentax Optio SVI camera one Saturday morning, according to Tunnah.
“I was driving home with it when I noticed that there was a perfectly formed cloud arch behind the hills behind Silsden – like a cloudy rainbow,” he said.
‘I pulled in, planning to take a picture. By the time I got my camera ready, the arch had broken up according to the photo, but I took a few shots anyway.
‘That night I was playing with the camera and deleting the shots I took when I came across this one showing something on the left.
‘It didn’t show up in any other photos I took at the time.
“I’m not a ‘flying-saucer’ or ‘alien visitation’ freak, but whatever it was, it deserved the term UFO.”
Mr Tunnah, originally from Scotland, then showed the confusing folder to some of his friends “just out of interest”.
“They all tended to agree that it was ‘real,’ ‘solid,’ and seemed to be traveling at speed from the dispersing ‘arch’ to the horizon,” he said.
The Yorkshireman’s attention was caught by a perfectly formed arch of clouds above the trees (centre) – and it was only later that he noticed the saucer-shaped object on the left
“Various theories were put forward – for example, a ‘flying saucer’ and a very short-lived cloud.”
The resident speculated that it could also be a “Skunk Works-type aircraft of a previously unknown design.”
Skunk Works is the official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), which is responsible for developing highly classified experimental aircraft.
Nick Pope, a UFO expert formerly with the British Ministry of Defense, offered several explanations for Mr. Tunnah’s photo.
“When there is an anomaly in the photos that was not visible at the time, I suspect either a glitch with the camera or a fast-moving object, such as a bird or insect, close to the lens,” he told The Daily Mail.
But the US Department of Defense – otherwise known as the Pentagon – declined to comment on the image.
UFO stands for “unidentified flying object,” and therefore the term does not necessarily describe an object of extraterrestrial origin.
But some of its characteristics follow common descriptions of what a UFO looks like.
Most UFOs have been described as “orb,” “round,” or “sphere,” but other reported shapes include polygon, triangle, and “tic tac,” Pentagon says
Pentagon document published in 2023. A typical UFO has a round shape, usually spherical or orbicular, with a white or silver color.
Based on what it knows from reported sightings from 1996 to 2023, other UFO shapes include rectangle, oval, triangle, disk, cylinder, square, and even polygon.
Meanwhile, 16 percent are described as being like lights, although in many cases this may have been due to their reflective properties.
The Pentagon also released a hotspot map revealing the location of reported UFO sightings, including Japan and the Middle East.
