On June 5th a group of paranormal researchers set out to document alleged paranormal activity taking place in a cemetery in Richland Missouri. The group consisted of the leader, his wife, and a third witness who submitted the report. At first, as the witness reports, they were attempting to contact the unknown entities that seemed to be haunting the graveyard. What they later documented, however, was a far cry from what they had expected to see.
The light according to the witness was clear with no real indication of an impending storm. As they investigated for almost an hour they picked up several pictures of faces with strange stripes running along their sides and orbs, but nothing too incredible in the field of paranormal investigation. The photograph that was later uploaded to the MUFON database was not, however, of a ghost. It was most conclusively an unidentified flying object. Ten minutes into reviewing the material they had gathered that day, the witness reports hearing the group leader exclaiming that something unusual was in the picture. As the rest of the team went to review the image what they found was shocking. It seemed to those present that they had picked up a seemingly alien craft hovering between the clumps of trees and partially obscured by the darkness.
They submitted the UFO image to the Mutual UFO network along with the claim that they had spotted several clumps of dirt overturned in the cemetery and other strange formations that suggested there could have been some sort of alien activity in the area. The whole thing had the makings of an incredible story. Almost too incredible, it seemed. After reviewing the images and reading the report it soon became quite clear that the image itself had been doctored in some way. Of course it’s difficult to determine if something is photoshopped, so calling in a favor, I sent the image to a friend who determined that while he couldn’t confirm the image was a hoax outright, it was very highly suspect. Other experts confirmed that the dramatic staging, the lighting anomalies, and the fact that leaves can be seen through the object in the image appeared to suggest a hoax. In addition to that, there is the obvious suggestion that there’s no disturbance of leaves or dust as this object moves within 30 feet of the witnesses and even closer to the trees. By the end of it the picture seemed almost too perfect. Was it possible this image was uploaded to MUFON to call into question the credibility of a separate ghost hunting team? Fearing a credible group could be coming under fire from a hoax that was about to go viral, I tracked down the original website only to confirm that the image was there as well.
If this truly is a genuine picture of a UFO and has been falsely identified as a hoax, then it is one of the most dramatic pictures of one of these craft to ever be taken in over fifty years. If the experts I have consulted are right, however, it is a fairly well crafted fabrication. Of course such a hoax would call into question other evidence gathered by the group. Seeing that these individuals seem to take the concept of ghost hunting seriously, it’s difficult to ascertain what this means for the rest of the evidence they have gathered.