Solway Firth "Spaceman," 1964
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Every now and then, an event occurs that is so out of the ordinary that it stands out as an anomaly even amongst other anomalies. This is the case in the Solway Firth “Spaceman” photograph, which shows a large, unidentified figure not seen or heard at the time of its taking. Decades later, the image is still unexplained, and it continues to defy even our most basic attempts at categorization.
The Event
On May 23, 1964, Jim and Annie Templeton, a couple living in Carlisle, England, took their two daughters out to a nearby marsh, known as the Solway Firth. The marsh was unusually quiet that day, and the cows and sheep that were normally scattered across the open grounds were all huddled together in a group.
Jim, an amateur photographer, told his 5-year-old daughter Elizabeth to sit down on the grass so that he could get some pictures of her in her new dress. He snapped three photos of Elizabeth against the empty horizon, while Annie stood behind him with their 9-year-old daughter, Francis.
When the pictures were developed, Jim found that the second of three sequential photos showed what looked like a large humanoid figure in a white spacesuit, standing behind Elizabeth’s head. Annie had obviously taken care not to wander into the photo, and the couple insisted that there were no bystanders on the marsh that day.
Jim had the photograph examined by the Kodak lab that developed it. They assured him that the anomaly was in the original negative, and that the figure was physically present when the photo was taken. A police investigation confirmed this. Obviously there was no Photoshop in 1964, and there were very limited means of altering a negative.
The mystery deepened in the following weeks. Two men in suits appeared at Jim’s workplace to ask him some questions. They claimed to be government agents, but showed only a badge labeled “Security” and gave no names or titles. They referred to each other as numbers 9 and 11. The men convinced Jim to take them out to the location of the photograph, and then asked him if it was where he’d seen the figure. When Jim told them he had not actually seen the figure, they thanked him, climbed into their car, and drove away.
The Aftermath
A few weeks later, the editor of the paper that broke the story informed Jim of an unusual event at a missile launch site in Australia. Two unidentified figures had been seen on the site’s security monitors before a test launch around the time of the Solway Firth incident. The launch was aborted, but the inspection found no sign of the intruders. When site personnel saw Templeton’s photo in the Australian press, they immediately recognized the “spaceman” as the same type of figure they’d seen on their monitors.
Conventional Explanations
Many people have tried to explain the Solway Firth anomaly without invoking the “spaceman” explanation. Some say that a bystander - even a beekeeper - walked into the frame, but the Templetons insisted they would have seen the person, given the open nature of the marsh. Others have argued that the figure was Jim’s wife, Annie, whose light-blue dress was overexposed in the sunlight. But Annie’s slight build looks nothing like the muscular, broad-shouldered figure in the picture.
And of course, all explanations that involve people straying into the shot are undermined by the fact that the figure only appears in one of three photos taken in quick succession.
Significance
The Solway Firth Spaceman photograph is a stubborn mystery. Not only can we not identify the spaceman in the photograph, we can’t even place the event in a familiar category. Do we call it an alien encounter, because the figure looks like he’s wearing a spacesuit? Or do we call it a ghost sighting, because he only appeared on camera? Was it a “glitch” in a real-world Matrix?
The problem is, the image is too ambiguous for anything more than speculation. And while we grasp for answers, the Solway Firth Spaceman photograph reminds us of the limitations of our knowledge of this mysterious universe.
Source:
Jenny Randles Interview:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yAIEeufAdtw
Support new videos on Patreon: https://patreon.com/user?u=3375417
Think Anomalous is created by Jason Charbonneau. Illustration by Colin Campbell. Music by Josh Chamberland. Animation by Brendan Barr. Sound design by Will Mountain.
Every now and then, an event occurs that is so out of the ordinary that it stands out as an anomaly even amongst other anomalies. This is the case in the Solway Firth “Spaceman” photograph, which shows a large, unidentified figure not seen or heard at the time of its taking. Decades later, the image is still unexplained, and it continues to defy even our most basic attempts at categorization.
The Event
On May 23, 1964, Jim and Annie Templeton, a couple living in Carlisle, England, took their two daughters out to a nearby marsh, known as the Solway Firth. The marsh was unusually quiet that day, and the cows and sheep that were normally scattered across the open grounds were all huddled together in a group.
Jim, an amateur photographer, told his 5-year-old daughter Elizabeth to sit down on the grass so that he could get some pictures of her in her new dress. He snapped three photos of Elizabeth against the empty horizon, while Annie stood behind him with their 9-year-old daughter, Francis.
When the pictures were developed, Jim found that the second of three sequential photos showed what looked like a large humanoid figure in a white spacesuit, standing behind Elizabeth’s head. Annie had obviously taken care not to wander into the photo, and the couple insisted that there were no bystanders on the marsh that day.
Jim had the photograph examined by the Kodak lab that developed it. They assured him that the anomaly was in the original negative, and that the figure was physically present when the photo was taken. A police investigation confirmed this. Obviously there was no Photoshop in 1964, and there were very limited means of altering a negative.
The mystery deepened in the following weeks. Two men in suits appeared at Jim’s workplace to ask him some questions. They claimed to be government agents, but showed only a badge labeled “Security” and gave no names or titles. They referred to each other as numbers 9 and 11. The men convinced Jim to take them out to the location of the photograph, and then asked him if it was where he’d seen the figure. When Jim told them he had not actually seen the figure, they thanked him, climbed into their car, and drove away.
The Aftermath
A few weeks later, the editor of the paper that broke the story informed Jim of an unusual event at a missile launch site in Australia. Two unidentified figures had been seen on the site’s security monitors before a test launch around the time of the Solway Firth incident. The launch was aborted, but the inspection found no sign of the intruders. When site personnel saw Templeton’s photo in the Australian press, they immediately recognized the “spaceman” as the same type of figure they’d seen on their monitors.
Conventional Explanations
Many people have tried to explain the Solway Firth anomaly without invoking the “spaceman” explanation. Some say that a bystander - even a beekeeper - walked into the frame, but the Templetons insisted they would have seen the person, given the open nature of the marsh. Others have argued that the figure was Jim’s wife, Annie, whose light-blue dress was overexposed in the sunlight. But Annie’s slight build looks nothing like the muscular, broad-shouldered figure in the picture.
And of course, all explanations that involve people straying into the shot are undermined by the fact that the figure only appears in one of three photos taken in quick succession.
Significance
The Solway Firth Spaceman photograph is a stubborn mystery. Not only can we not identify the spaceman in the photograph, we can’t even place the event in a familiar category. Do we call it an alien encounter, because the figure looks like he’s wearing a spacesuit? Or do we call it a ghost sighting, because he only appeared on camera? Was it a “glitch” in a real-world Matrix?
The problem is, the image is too ambiguous for anything more than speculation. And while we grasp for answers, the Solway Firth Spaceman photograph reminds us of the limitations of our knowledge of this mysterious universe.
Source:
Jenny Randles Interview:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yAIEeufAdtw
Support new videos on Patreon: https://patreon.com/user?u=3375417
Think Anomalous is created by Jason Charbonneau. Illustration by Colin Campbell. Music by Josh Chamberland. Animation by Brendan Barr. Sound design by Will Mountain.
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