A UFO expert has urged the US Government to release a top-secret photo that purportedly shows an 100ft object hovering over Calvine in Scotland.
Nick Pope, who investigated UFOs for the Ministry of Defence, is hopeful US intelligence agencies release the photo when they publish an upcoming report on UFOs and strange encounters.
Pope, who saw the photo of Calvine Scotland while working for the MoD, told the Sun it is one of the 'most compelling' pieces of UFO evidence he's ever seen.
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He told the newspaper: "The photos are pretty much as good as it gets. They were assessed by defence intelligence staff as real - they were clearly visible, sharp focused, broad daylight with the Scottish countryside in the background."
The image was taken in August 1990 and is said to show a 100ft object in the Scottish Highlands. Pope says it used to hang on the wall in the UFO investigation unit in Whitehall but was 'removed without a trace' when a diplomatic row broke out between the MoD and the US.
UK officials have ordered that the image be kept under wraps until at least 2072, but Pope is hopeful that US counterparts could release the photo when a report is published next month.
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He added: "I hope we get the Calvine photo back, I hope we find the US government had a copy - I am sure they do - and I hope they publish it in the report as the MoD say it's either lost or under lock and key for another few decades."
It's believed the photo is actually just one of a set that were taken during the same incident.
The report was prompted following a request for the Pentagon to brief Congress on all it knows about unidentified flying objects back in December.
The Senate Intelligence Committee said in the comment that it 'directs the [director of national intelligence], in consultation with the Secretary of Defence and the heads of such other agencies... to submit a report within 180 days of the date of enactment of the Act, to the congressional intelligence and armed services committees on unidentified aerial phenomena'.
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Speaking to The New York Post at the time, Pope said: "I welcome this move, which shows how seriously the phenomenon is being taken in the intelligence community."
Pope said that 'the Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force is probably already drafting the report for DNI to send to the Senate Intelligence Committee'.
He added: "Questions remain about what the report will say and how much can ever be made public, given the highly classified nature of some of the material, but this is a step in the right direction."
Featured Image Credit: Artist impression of the incidentTopics: UFO, Interesting, Weird