In late February 2000, Peter Gersten contacted me about a UFO photo that had
been posted on the CAUS website.
The person in the picture was in a military uniform and he wanted to
know what I thought about the photo. Intrigued, I had Peter help me
contact the owner of the photo, as the name provided is a pseudonym.
After exchanging several e-mails, Jack LeMonde agreed to a personal
meeting near his home. On 9 March the meeting took place. When I asked
about obtaining a copy of the print, LeMonde stated that he had checked
me out and was prepared to temporarily loan me the original contact
print for examination. What follows are the results of that examination
and background information about the photo.
According to LeMonde, the photo was taken on a June morning in 1945.
He is the individual sitting on the horse. Twice wounded while fighting
with the U.S. Marine Corps in the South Pacific, he was then home on
leave. The exact date is not known but the location is near the Pickwick
Riding stables in Burbank, California. In those days this was a relatively
rural area and equestrian stables were common. The photographer was
his father, a motion picture producer with extensive technical experience.
The camera belonged to LeMonde himself. Like his father, he too had
a keen interest in photography and owned very good equipment. The camera
was a German Voightlander equipped with a Carl Zeiss f3.5 lens (possibly
f4.5) with a focal length of approximately 10 centimeters. It is the
excellent quality of the optics that made this remarkable photo possible.
LeMonde believes the f-stop was set at f-11 with shutter speed at 1/50th
of a second. LeMonde emphasized that the f-stop and shutter speed were
from memory-going back over 50 years. The film was standard Kodak 120
with an ASA of 25.
When the film was developed they noticed the unusual object above the
horse's neck. It was attributed to either an airplane in the distance
or a speck of dust that had gotten on the negative. Remember, in 1945
the words flying saucer did not exist. Therefore, it is highly unlikely
that LeMonde was hoaxing something that was totally unknown. Photo
#1 is the original of LeMonde on his horse. The UFO is clearly visible
between him and the horse's neck. Photo
#2 is an enlargement showing the UFO in greater detail.
The family placed the supposedly blemished photo in the family album
where it remained for more than 50 years. Upon the death of LeMonde's
father, several members of the family expressed interest in obtaining
copies of the family pictures. Having had a technical career, LeMonde
had both the experience and the equipment to digitize the photos so
that all family members desiring them could have a copy. When he began
to scan this photo he again noticed the blemish and decided to enlarge
that section. In so doing he discovered it was in fact a UFO. Unfortunately,
after 50 plus years the negative is missing.
In researching the dating of photos I learned it is nearly impossible
to authenticate the paper. To assist in this process I contacted a retired
member of the FBI's Special Photographic Unit and he provided instructions
on how to proceed. He noted that the basic historical databases and
paper archives do not exist. The best that can be done is to test the
chemical emulsions on the photo. This is a destructive test and would
require most of the existing photo. Unwilling to destroy the photo we
were left with traditional methods that includes physical examination
for anachronistic anomalies. None were found. Further, as LeMonde was
in the photo, I was able to look at several pictures taken over time
and am convinced that this is the same person.
The next step was to enlist the aid of Peter Stankiewicz, a former
technical photographer and photo analyst for the U.S. Air Force. He
currently manages the largest photographic laboratory in Las Vegas.
Stankiewicz and I examined the original print under a microscope. He
then digitized the versions in this article and analyzed them. The original
photo was a 2¼ by 3¼ inches contact print. All aspects of the lighting
angles and intensity appear to be congruent. Taken to the grain level
under a microscope there is no indication of a supporting structure
of any kind. The clarity of the object suggests this is not an item
that had been thrown into the air. At the shutter speed listed, a thrown
object would be slightly blurred. A fair amount of structure can been
seen on the object. All indications are that the photograph was developed
at about the time reported (1945).
Since too many original items associated with aerial phenomena disappear,
the original contact print has been returned to LeMonde. In fact, I
made a second trip so that I could personally return the original photograph
to him. We have also searched the UFO archives looking for a craft with
the same physical characteristics. One of the better examples is posted
with this article as Photo #3. This
photo was provided to me by Michael Hesemann and taken from a book published
in Germany. The photo is one frame from a motion picture reportedly
taken 23 July 1966 near Clarksburg, West Virginia. According to the
text, two men were driving on a country road when they spotted a UFO
following them. They had two brief opportunities to take home movies
of it. They estimated the craft to be 3.6 meters in diameter and reported
a humming sound as they filmed.
It should be noted that no attempt has been made to authenticate Photo
#3. Rather, it is included because of the structural similarity to the
photo taken in 1945.
In my contacts with LeMonde I found him to be honest and straightforward.
When I offered to pay to have a reproduction made he refused. LeMonde
noted that obtaining any money for this photograph would contaminate
the authenticity. He has asked for nothing in return for the picture
and is only interested in providing the information to the public. Because
of his professional background he has chosen to remain anonymous. I
have seen sufficient evidence to confirm the authenticity of his career
and respect his desires not to become involved in a UFO controversy.
To the best of my knowledge, LeMonde has provided the first known authentic
picture of a UFO.
