Mysterious Flashes Of Light In 1950s Photos Linked To UFO Sightings, Claim Researchers

Flashes of light were captured by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in California on photographic plates in the 1950s. Those mysterious lights remained a topic of debate ever since, but researchers may finally know what it was.

In recent studies published in Scientific Reports and Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, researchers have claimed that those flashes were caused by reflective objects in high Earth orbit linked to sightings of alleged Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), a term used to describe UFOs.

"We speculate that some transients could potentially be [unidentified aerial phenomena] in Earth orbit that, if descending into the atmosphere, might provide the stimulus for some [unidentified aerial phenomenon] sightings," astronomers, including Beatriz Villarroel, of Nordita, Stockholm University and study co-author Stephen Bruehl, a professor of anesthesiology from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, wrote in the paper published in Nature's Scientific Reports.

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The flashes of light were taken during the Palomar Sky Survey, a project that mapped the northern sky between 1949 and 1958. Researchers have analysed over 100,000 fleeting flashes and found significant correlations with atomic tests and reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The photos were captured before any man-made satellites or other crafts were orbiting the Earth.

According to the study, the appearance was 68% more likely to occur the day after a nuclear weapons test in Earth's atmosphere than on other days. The transients increased by an average of 8.5% for each UAP sighting reported.

"The magnitude of the association between these flashes of light and nuclear tests was surprising, as was the very specific time at which they most often occurred - namely, the day after a test," said Bruehl. "What they might represent is a very fascinating question that needs further investigation."

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The findings also suggest a possible connection between the flashes and UAP sightings, which were reported in the region of nuclear test sites and weapons facilities during that period of time.

Researchers believe that the mysterious flashes could have been caused by solar reflections off flat and highly reflective objects in high-Earth orbit. "Today we know that short flashes of light are often solar reflections from flat, highly reflective objects in orbit around the Earth, such as satellites and space debris, but the photographic plates analyzed in VASCO were taken before humans had satellites in space," Villarroel said in a statement.

They could also be evidence of artificial objects in orbit around Earth, which could be reflecting sunlight, or could be the result of unknown atmospheric phenomena triggered by nuclear tests, the researchers believe.

Astronomical images were recorded in these vinyl-record-sized plates, but as per Space.com, some critics have claimed that the transients could be photographic defects or contamination, as they were quite old.

The study's findings have significant implications for our understanding of UAP and their possible connection to nuclear tests. But further research is needed to better understand the nature of the mysterious flashes.