Chilean officials analyze mysterious UFO photos

Thursday, July 10, 2014, 6:02 PM - Chilean government officials have released an official report after two high-quality photos of an unidentified flying object that were spotted over the Collahuasi copper mine in a remote area of northern Chile in April 2013.

Four technicians were working at the site when they spotted a disc-shaped object in the sky.

According to witnesses it approached the area slowly and remained in the sky for an hour at an altitude of about 600 metres. The object made no noise and eventually moved away in an easterly direction.

It was described as "a flattened disc, of brilliant color, with a diameter of 5 to 10 meters. It performed ascending, descending and horizontal movements in short lengths." One of the technicians said the object appeared to be "under intelligent control".

At first, the witnesses decided to keep their story private.

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A few months later one of the technicians showed the images to a colleague who forwarded them to the CEFAA, or the Committee for the Studies of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena -- a governmental body that falls under the jurisdiction of the Chilean Air Force.

The country's meteorological office confirmed there were no clouds in the sky at the time of the spotting, ruling out the possibility that the disc was the product of naturally-occurring weather phenomena.

According to the Huffington Post, CEFAA officials also determined there were no drones in the sky at the time of the sighting.

Experimental aircraft, weather balloons or manually-operated planes were also ruled out.

Photo of the UFO (Courtesy: CEFAA)

So what was it?

In short, nobody knows.

The study has concluded that the object is "of great interest" and "can be qualified as a UFO."

Unfortunately, the witnesses weren't willing to provide statements, imposing limitations on the study.

Retired US Navy physicist and photo analyst told the Huffington Post that while more data is required, he doesn't think the sighting was a hoax.

"This is clearly not a normal thing seen in the sky," he told the news agency.

"That makes it either the real thing - UFO - or a hoax, and it doesn't appear to be a hoax, although the inability to question witnesses does reduce the credibility. Certainly this case is worthy of further study."

More information on the sighting can be found on the CEFAA website.