10.5814° N, 84.9115° W
September 4, 1971
Lake Coté, Costa Rica
Lake Coté, or Lago de Coté, in northwest Costa Rica has long been a sacred place. The indigenous Maleiku initiated their shamans in the region, and it is known as the "heart" of their sacred lands. But Lake Coté has another, more otherworldly claim to fame: it may be a hotspot for UFO activity.
On September 4, 1971, a Costa Rican government survey aircraft flying over the lake snapped a photo that has been lauded as one of the best pieces of evidence of the existence of alien spacecraft ever documented.
The survey plane was automatically snapping photos every set number of seconds as it maintained a constant altitude and the crew were unaware that they had captured such an important image. Only after the images were being reviewed as part of the government survey project was the disc discovered.
In the photo, a bright, disc-shaped object can be seen hovering above the clouds. The object is clearly not an airplane or any known type of aircraft. It appears round, with no wings or any other type of appendage typically associated with man-made aircraft.
While some people believe that the photo is conclusive proof of alien visitation, others say that it could be anything from a weather balloon to a flock of birds, oddly captured by the camera in bright light. No one has been able to definitively say what the object is.
In 1989, scientists Richard Haines and Jacques Vallee (recently profiled by WIRED) attempted to analyze the image further. Their conclusions, published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration (Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 1 13-1 3 1, 1989) confirms the legitimacy of the image, even as the researchers fail to fully understand what is shown.
"In summary, our analyses have suggested that an unidentified, opaque, aerial object was captured on film at a maximum distance of 10,000 feet. There are no visible means of lift or propulsion and no surface markings other than darker regions that appear to be nonrandom. This case must remain 'open' until further information becomes available."
Detail of topographical chart with circle indicating where disc was located.
Graphic of light line analysis for estimated time of day when image was captured.
Enlargement of the disc with added contrast.
Despite this, questions — and doubts — remain. Chief among these was the lack of a ground shadow.
"All available photographic evidence was studied for the existence of a shadow of the disc," the authors wrote. "None was found." This was the primary concern of Marilyn Bruner, Staff Scientist at Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory, who responded in the publication.
Further, as the graphic above shows, the dark side of the object was in fact the side receiving direct sun at the time the image was captured. Why? Could it simply be the coloring of the object itself? A trick of the light? Or another indication that the image is no object at all?
Bruner concludes: "[I]t is my opinion that the oval image is more likely to be an artifact such as a pressure mark than a photographic image of a physical object. Such a mark could have been caused by a foreign particle trapped between two layers of the film on the supply spool.”
Perhaps because of the famous image and the mystery surrounding it, or perhaps because of larger forces at work, additional UFO sightings have been made around Lake Coté in subsequent years.
On October 25, 1986, two men saw an object floating at the surface of the lake. Local farmers, they described three or four “post-like” cylinders rising about 3 feet above the lake surface.
They claimed the objects tilted in unison, as if attached to a larger object or structure that was submerged below the surface. After a few minutes, the objects disappeared, disturbing the surface of the lake with bubbles and waves. Could something still be there, hidden below the surface?
Whether or not you believe in aliens, it's hard to deny that something strange is going on at Lake Coté. Weather balloons, new flight technology, or something else entirely, these sightings suggest some strange activity in the skies above — and perhaps below the surface of — this sacred place.
Go Deeper
Best UFO Photo in the World Taken at Arenal, Costa Rica 45 Yrs Ago, The Costa Rica Star
How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously, The New Yorker, and accompanying New Yorker Radio Hour story, Are U.F.O.s a National Security Threat?
