A high-resolution image allegedly showing a UFO was released more than 50 years after it was taken. The original photo was captured in 1971 by a mapmaker named Sergio Loaiza who was flying over Costa Rica photographing the rainforest below for a hydroelectric project.
Loaiza took the image as he flew over Lake Cote (Lake Arenal), capturing the rainforest in 20-second intervals for The National Geographic Institute of Costa Rica (Instituto Geográfico Nacional de Costa Rica).
The photograph—taken from 10,000 feet—appears to show a metallic disc flying lower over the land. The unidentified object was only spotted a decade later in the 1980s when the negatives were studied for potential ways to connect Lake Cote with the nearby Arenal Lagoon.
Out of all the pictures, only a single frame, time-stamped at 8:25 am, contains the metallic disc. Over the years, the object's size has been estimated to be between 120-220 feet in diameter.
The image has been referred to as "the best" photo of a UFO ever taken—according to New York Times reporter Leslie Kean.
She said: "There was this disc object and you clearly see the sun reflecting off this round object that's got a little dot on the top and what's important about it is that it was a government photo."
Luis Elizondo, former director of AATIP (the secret investigatory effort funded by the United States Government to study unidentified flying objects), commented: "Although I was not around during this incident, pilot reports of smooth, shiny, lenticular craft are not new. In fact, even to this day, pilots, both civilian and military, along with their air crew, continue to witness these types of craft and oftentimes displaying performance capabilities well beyond state of the art."
In 2022, more than 50 years after the original photograph was taken, UAPMedia UK acquired a "drum scan" copy of the photograph from Esteban Carranza, a citizen of Costa Rica.
The image, an 8×10 negative, is reportedly a "contact" copy of Loaiza's original negative that resides in the National Archives of Costa Rica. A drum scanner is essentially a precision digital camera, used to scan reflective and transparent materials at an extremely high resolution.
The remastered version provides a much clearer, modern image of the alleged UFO, though it still cannot definitively tell us whether the shiny silver disc is evidence of extraterrestrial visitors.
Researchers have concluded that the object in the photograph appeared real and was not the result of double exposure or a deliberate fabrication.
The Costa Rica UFO photograph remains one of the most significant and compelling UFO images ever captured. Unlike many alleged UFO photographs, this image was taken by a government aerial survey mission using professional equipment, lending credibility to the account.
The original negative is held in the National Archives of Costa Rica. Multiple researchers have examined the image and have not been able to successfully debunk it. The object's size (estimated 120-220 feet in diameter) and the reflection patterns on its surface have been cited as evidence of its authenticity.
The case remains unresolved, with no definitive explanation for the object captured in the photograph.