"Best photograph of a UFO ever taken" goes viral

A 50-year-old photograph is causing a stir on the internet amid claims that it shows an unidentified flying object (UFO). The black and white photo, which was extensively shared on Twitter after being published by several media agencies, depicts a saucer-like object over Costa Rica.

According to users, this is the finest shot of a UFO (alien craft) ever taken. According to an article in the Daily Star, it was taken by aerial photographer Sergio Loaiza in September 1971 while flying above Costa Rica on a mission to survey land for the development of a hydroelectric project.

In the South American country, the project was proposed near the Arenal Volcano.

Mr Loaiza used his automated 100lb camera to take many high-resolution photographs of the lake below and surrounding rainforest at 20-second intervals from a height of 10,000 feet.

A gleaming metallic disc can be seen soaring between Mr Loaiza’s Aero Commander F680 aircraft and the earth in one of the shots. The shot was initially blurry, but it was only after it was improved that UFO reports began to circulate.

That photograph belonged to National Geographic Costa Rica, which had commissioned the survey to assess the hydroelectric project’s possible impact on the surrounding land and water.

Esteban Carranza, a Costa Rican (Twitter account @UAP CR), has finally made it public. Mr. Carranza possesses a “contact” copy of the original negative in the Costa Rican National Archives. It was given to him by his uncle, who got it from the National Geographic Institute.

“I made this high res scan last year, met with people on the National Geographic Institute and tracked the technician in charge of the camera back in 1971. But there’s no reason for the image to sit on my desktop. Disclosure is a team effort and everyone should have this image,” Mr Carranza said on Twitter.

The photograph has never been successfully discredited, according to UAP Media, which used it.