The Gapyeong UFO photograph
On 4 September 1995 Munhwa Ilbo photographer Kim Seon-gyu, shooting landscapes at Seolgok-ri, Gapyeong, found a disc-like white object in two frames.
1995 CE · 37.65, 127.49 · status: disputed
The account
The paper ran it on the front page two days later. Kim sought verification from the Korea UFO Research Association and was told by the Air Force that no aircraft had flown there; the picture became Korea's most famous UFO photo.
The sceptical view
A researcher who filmed at the same spot later argued for an unusual cloud or a small object near the lens; with no witnesses to the object itself, the case stays open.
The researched reading
A genuine negative showing something no one saw at the time. A small nearby object frozen by the shutter is the likeliest answer, with an unusual cloud or flare as alternatives.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 45% | The object was not seen at the time and appears in only two frames, the classic pattern for something near the camera: an insect, a bird or a thrown or wind-borne object, frozen by the shutter and taken for a distant craft. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 15% | A researcher who later filmed the same spot proposed an unusual cloud; lenticular or small cap clouds can look disc-like in a single frame. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 12% | A sharp disc in a professional negative remains unidentified, but no one saw it, so its size and distance are unknown. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 10% | Analyses of the negatives found no retouching, and the photographer was a professional with no clear motive, but a thrown model cannot be ruled out from negatives alone. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 8% | An optical artefact (a lens flare or reflection) or unusual atmospheric feature cannot be fully excluded. |
| Secret human technology | 7% | A military drone or balloon near the DMZ region is a small possibility, though Gapyeong is not a likely test area. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 3% | Perception plays little part: the object was found later on film, not seen. |
Official position: No official investigation; the negatives were examined at the request of KBS and found unretouched.