8 Unbelievable Photos That Cannot Be Explained

Since the invention of photography, there have been many unbelievable photos that lacked rational explanation. Some things just remain a mystery, beyond our scientific knowledge and reasoning. These photographs have baffled scientists for years. What do you think?   

1. The Black Knight Satellite  

This mysterious photo is one that was taken by astronauts during a U.S. space shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 1998. It is the mysterious orbiting object known as the Black Knight Satellite. It is in near-polar orbit above the Earth and many believe it is thousands of years old and of extraterrestrial origin. Supposedly Nikola Tesla picked up repeating radio signals off of it in 1899.

Though amateur radio operators and astronomers worldwide have been reporting strange radio signals emanating from the satellite since the 1930s, information about the Black Knight didn’t come to light until 1954 when numerous newspapers, including the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the San Francisco Examiner, ran stories about it. Retired naval aviator and UFO researcher Don Keyhoe told the newspapers that the U.S. Air Force has known about the mysterious satellite orbiting the planet. Back then, in 1954, there were no man-made satellites (Sputnik wouldn’t be launched for another three years). The story soon became a major media interest.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union became particularly interested in the satellite, each believing it might belong to the other. Other countries, such as Sweden, began to take interest too. In 1957, a Venezuelan government official photographed it while tracking Sputnik II as it passed over Caracas. He noted that as Sputnik, and other satellites, orbit west to east using Earth’s natural rotation to maintain orbit, the strange Black Knight orbits east to west. Whether it’s just space junk or an alien satellite, the Black Knight has been around for a long time. With numerous photographs, many still remain skeptical about what it is and where it came from.  

2. The Phoenix Lights   

                        

The Phoenix Lights were one of the largest mass UFO sightings ever reported. On March 13, 1997, these lights were seen by thousands of people in the skies above Phoenix, Arizona. The sighting was actually two sightings. The first at about 7:30 PM, were a triangular formation of lights was seen to cross the city. The second sighting, at approximately 10:00 PM, is the one where hundreds of photos and videos recorded a series of stationary lights hovering over Phoenix. Thousands of witnesses reported the event to the local Air Force bases and news stations. Due to these reports, investigators were able to ascertain the path of the lights, coming from the northwest Nevada border in a southeastern direction over Phoenix and Tucson, into Mexico.

The Air Force initially had no comment but later claimed the lights were simply a squad of A-10 Warthog jets dropping flares in formation. This has been confirmed by witnesses,… as having occurred a day or so after the sighting. Witnesses to the event included Arizona Governor Fife Symington, who was in his backyard at home when he claims he saw an immense V-shaped object, moving slowly and silently through the sky, “It was bigger than anything that I’ve ever seen.”

According to his estimates, as well as those of several witnesses, the object was incredibly huge, larger than a few football fields, with strange lights. It was so large that it blocked out stars in the sky as it passed overhead. Symington, a former Air Force captain, continued, “I’m a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies,” and, “it was bigger than anything that I’ve ever seen. It remains a great mystery.”

3. The Battle of Los Angeles 

This photo was published in the Los Angeles Times on February 26, 1942, and has been mentioned as definitive proof of extraterrestrial visitations. The photo clearly shows searchlights focused in on… something.

It all began in the early morning hours of February 25, 1942; just three months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The U.S. had just entered World War II and the military was on high alert when it responded to what was believed to be another unprovoked attack above the skies of California. Witnesses reported a large, round object, glowing pale orange, in the skies above Culver City and Santa Monica, cruising along the Pacific coast.

Air raid sirens sounded and searchlights began scouring the skies over Los Angeles, as over 1,400 shells from anti-aircraft guns barraged the mysterious object as it quietly moved across the night sky, vanishing from view. No enemy aircraft were shot down and indeed no satisfactory explanation could be given for what occurred. The Army’s official statement was that “unidentified planes” had invaded Southern California air space, but Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox dismissed those claims as “war nerves” and a “false alarm.” They never could explain the bright lights in the sky that started the whole affair.

 4. Tulip Staircase Ghost 

This famous photograph was taken in 1966, by Rev. Ralph Hardy, retired clergy from British Columbia. His intention was to simply photograph the spiral staircase in the Queen’s House area of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. However, when he got the photo developed, he was surprised to see a shrouded figure climbing the stairs, both hands ahold of the railing. The photo was taken around 5:30 PM, with Rev. Hardy’s wife standing beside him. She confirmed that there was no one on the stairs when they took the photo. In fact, the Tulip Staircase itself was closed with a rope and a sign stating, “No Admittance.”

Hardy admitted that he had heard about the rumors of the house being haunted. Spectral apparitions and unexplained footsteps are always being reported near the staircase by both visitors as well as staff. There have been sightings of a ghostly woman seen wiping down the bottom of the stairway. She is believed to be the ghost of a maid who fell over the banister and died at the foot of the stairs hundreds of years ago. Experts from all over, including Kodak, have examined the photo and the original negative. They concluded that the photo had not been doctored. It remains unexplained.

 5. The Hook Island Sea Monster 

The photo has been circulating for years and I always thought it was just a tadpole that was Photoshopped into some huge creature. Then, I learned the photo, one of about three that were taken, has been around for decades, way before photo editing was possible.

It all started in 1964, when Robert Le Serrec and his family bought a boat and decided to holiday for a few months on Hook Island in Stonehaven Bay, Queensland, Australia. On December 12, the family was boating across the bay when Le Serrec’s wife spotted a strange object on the bay floor. Le Serrec began taking photos of what appeared to a large snake-like creature resting on the sea bottom. They estimated it to be about 30 feet in length.

They slowly moved closer and Le Serrec decided to get in the water to see what it was (too brave for my taste!). Underwater, he realized it was much larger than first estimated. It didn’t move when approached. He thought whatever it is, it must be dead. Just as Le Serrec got closer, the creature opened its mouth and began moving. Frightened, he quickly made his way back to the boat. By the time he got on board, the creature was gone.

The pictures were initially published in Australia’s Everyone magazine and have since been widely distributed. The other photos depict what appear to be eyes located on the top of the head, and what could possibly be a wound on the right side of its tail. The creature was described as black in color, with some brown striping and smooth skin. Le Serrec saw no teeth inside its wide mouth. No real explanation, however, has ever been found for whatever was photographed that day.

 6. The McMinnville UFO 

It’s hard to believe but these two old photos are among the most famous UFO photographs ever taken. It was May 11, 1950, Paul and Evelyn Trent were on their farm about nine miles from McMinnville, Oregon. Evelyn saw it first, something strange flying in the sky. She got Paul, who grabbed his camera, and took two photographs of the flying object. A local newspaper first published them but then Life magazine heard about it and featured them in their June 26, 1950 edition. The Trents eventually passed away but their photos have continued to intrigue ever since.

Ever since they were first published, photo experts have analyzed the photos and negatives and they have all come to the same conclusion: The photos really depict a solid object in the sky. Is it an alien spaceship, secret military project, a plate thrown in the air? They don’t know, but whatever it is, it is in those photos. There is still so much that is unknown about conditions under which the photos were taken, such as the weather or camera settings. Experts only had the negative and the photo to go by.

When I was a child and saw the photos, they screamed hoax to me. But then I saw an in-depth examination on television where all my amateur theories of how it was done were all debunked. I thought I was smart – my little ideas had been thought of and checked many years before I came along. So what did the Trents see in the sky that morning? No one really knows. Is it really a hoax? No one can say for sure, but for the past 60 years the photographs have been ruled authentic.

7. The Solway Firth Spaceman 

On May 23, 1964, Jim Templeton, a firefighter from Carlisle, Cumberland, in England, took his wife, Annie, and his daughters, Elizabeth and Francis, to Burgh Marsh, a beautiful area on the Solway Coast. Jim, being an amateur photographer, wanted to take some photos, specifically of Elizabeth’s new dress, with his Kodak SLR. One of the resulting photographs was destined to become one of the most incredible photo mysteries of all time. Jim took three photographs of his five-year-old daughter without incident.

He sent them off to Kodak for processing and was shocked when he received them back. The middle photo had a strangely dressed person in the background. He insists that no one was in the background when he snapped the photo. In fact, he is sure his family were the only ones out there that day save for two old ladies sitting in a car on the road knitting. The strange person also wasn’t in any of the other two photographs. His wife and other daughter were standing behind him leaving only young Elizabeth in the shot.

Jim sent the photo to the Carlisle Police who then sent it on to Penrith, Cumbria, where photographic experts could study it. Finally, Kodak inspected it and the camera looking for any defects. They also inspected the negative, looking for signs of overexposure, bad film stock or possible tampering. Kodak, like the other experts, found nothing wrong. Kodak then offered a reward of free film for a year to anyone that could adequately solve the mystery. The reward went unclaimed.

8. The Hampton Court Ghost 

The Hampton Court Palace, near the River Thames in London, is famous as the home of King Henry VIII. It’s also famous for being the current home of quite a few ghosts! As tourists walk about the 1,300 chambers of the palace, many report hearing, feeling, and sometimes even seeing spooky unexplained apparitions. The ghosts are often seen dressed darkly and have been referred to as the “Grey Ladies.”

One of the most famous was captured on a security camera and has been dubbed “Skeletor.” It was winter of 2003, a fire alarm sounded in the palace near an exhibition hall, which signaled that the fire doors had been opened. When the security guards arrived, the doors were closed and no one was around. When they went back to review the security footage what they saw was astonishing. The doors seeming fly open without anyone nearby, then a darkly hooded “person” appears from the hall and draws the doors closed. Security recalled that those same doors had been opened at the same time, in the same way, the previous night, though they saw no ghostly figure on that night’s security footage.

Many ask why these ghosts appear in black, as most ghostly sightings are white or cloudy. Well, 16th century dead are buried in white shrouds, hence white ghosts perhaps? However, if ghosts are a manifestation of a deceased one’s essence then Victorian-era ghosts would appear black or grey. This is because a Victorian would associate death with the darker colors of mourning, hence the appearance of the “Grey Ladies.” If ghosts exist that is….

Source http://en.beta.fishki.net/2050331-15-unbelievable-photos-that-cannot-be-explained.html