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So, I was perusing through the Danger Room, when I happened upon a link to an article over at Ares talking about this mysterious aircraft spotted over Northern California.  I was like, ‘here we go again with those mysterious aircraft,’ but I thought I’d give it a try since, after all, it was Danger Room linking to the article.  Unbeknownst to me the aircraft is pretty damn mysterious looking…

Background

The first thing to do is completely forget about the aircraft and concentrate on the story.  If this is a hoax, it most likely will be in the not too well thought out story of how, where, and why the picture was taken.

The story goes that a person by the alias of Mackbolin posted an article with one image attached to LiveLeak(a media sharing site).  Initially one is under the impression that Mackbolin took the picture.  However, this is unlikely because as you read through the article you will notice that at the end it states:

source and references:

MUFON submitter 10539

There are not too many people that will source and reference their own first hand account, so we will have to assume that Mackbolin is cross posting this account from another place on the Internets.  An examination of the source shows that persona 10539 submitted the account to MUFON, which is the Mutual UFO Network.  I’ve contacted, via email, the State Director for their Northern California Division and have yet to get a response in order to confirm that there is indeed a submission from submitter 10539.  Furthermore a cursory scan through their ill-implemented (or my ill-ability to apply the right service) reporting database does not show that there was a submission on April 24th, 2008, or any other date within a months time-frame, that resembles Mackbolin’s posted account.

The Story

The story goes that “I,” or 10539, was “fishing on Lake Trinity,” Trinity County, California, United States of America on April 24th, 2008.  10539 has fished at this Lake before and has heard airliners fly over the lake:

“…when an airliner flies over this lake, I hear it long before I can see it.”

On this day of fishing, 3 things happen to 10539.  First he feels a quick warming feeling through out his exposed skin.  Secondly he feels the oncoming presence of an aircraft engine, stating that he felt it before he heard it.  Finally he hears and sees the exhaust trail at the same time of an overhead aircraft.  While he may have embellished when he said that his skin may have been warmed by a “microwave beam,” 10539’s overall experience, as Bill Sweetman’s spotter friend (Sweetman is over at Ares) points out, is akin to what somebody feels when the body tells them they should “look up.”

As for the fishing, as Bill Sweetman points out (after I asked :), the Forest Service says there is good trout in the waters at Lake Trinity during the spring time, and it operates under a unrestricted season, meaning you only need a generic fishing license.  Finally the weather for that day, April 24th, was cool enough at altitude for contrails to have formed.

For the most part, this story doesn’t seem to be a hoax.  There are few other details that stick out but they aren’t unlike situations I personally have found myself in.

• 10539 was using a Sony Digital Camera with 10x zoom
• The batteries on the camera were close to dead
• Only 4 pictures taken
• 10539 has seen aircraft fly out of Nellis AFB
• The supposed aircraft was purportedly flying on a Southeast vector

Grammar & What Not

Grammar is something to look at as well.  Certain phrases may give us a clue into 10539’s age for he says, ”I read the disk.”  This is an old fashioned way of talking about a camera memory card, a more current phrasing would read, “I loaded the camera’s memory card into the computer.”  10539 also uses the phrase, “I packed up and sped home asap.”  (Really… who uses the word sped anymore, is it even a word?).  The last phrase coupled with the fact that he thinks his sudden skin warmth may be due to a microwave beam point to 10539 as being paranoid, which progressively worsens with age (or lack of social interaction).  Sentence structure is also poor, and comma usage is fervent.

All these grammatical signs point to 10539 being at least 35 and maybe as old as 50.  After all he was able to download a picture to his computer, and was somehow able to re-size it to a standardized 640 x 480.

With what we have, there is no basis for ruling out this case simply due to the story behind the photo, alone.  The account does add up, the location is relevant, the reporting method is established, and there aren’t any inconsistencies with account (meaning it follows from beginning to end).  Now, we can talk about planes.

(Continued… Pt. 2 we have analysis of the picture itself)