Turkey UFO Incident

"The objects in the footage have the structure of a specific material that

is definitely not made up by any kind of computer animation, balloon, prop,

model, or special effects used for simulation in a studio."

The Science and Technology Research Board of Turkey

TUBITAK Report Documents

(Unidentified object witnessed by multiple residents

of Istanbul and filmed over the sea)

6-12-08 Footage

Turkey has a long and rich history of unexplained aerial phenomenon dating back centuries. But between 2007 and 2009 in the northwest region of the country, a series of unusual events took place. Multiple strange objects were observed over the sea and witnessed by local residents. During that time an important video was taken of something unidentified hovering in the sky at the same location. Is it possible that Yalcin Yalman was able to capture in close detail on film what people were seeing? This blog is an attempt to document, as much as possible, what happened.

Residents described metallic, oval, and disc shaped objects, which behaved oddly, hovered, and moved silently while sometimes accompanied by strange red and orange lights. Some of the witnesses lived in the nearby housing complex, curious onlookers, and fishermen. But in 2009, during and after, the International UFO conference near Istanbul, Roger Leir and 7 to 8 other people became witnesses themselves observing a physical oval metallic object hovering in the sky while in the company of Yalcin. Roger discussed this in several interviews before he died.

Listed below are the raw video segments, from 2007, 2008, and 2009, including single frame images. After multiple attempts, nobody has been able to solve the case.

**NEW POST** A Look Behind The TUBITAK Report

Original Raw Footage 2007 to 2009

2009 Original Video Footage

What are the objects that were filmed?

It may seem close to the camera although the object was actually filmed from a long distance away in the sky above the sea.

Single Frame JPEG Images

After comparing statements by the witnesses and locating landscape markers in the video I was able to identify the general location from which many of the videos were taken from.

(The approximate location and vantage point of the camera)

Reports were filed with the Sirius UFO and Space Science Research which is Turkey's primary UFO reporting organization run by Haktan Akdogan. Also, the videos were analyzed by "The Scientific and Technology Research Board of Turkey" and "TUG National Observatory" which are both sponsored by the state and highly influential. They reviewed the originals confident they would find evidence of a hoax, but amazingly came away with results that support the authenticity instead. The original film cassettes have been studied by people from Japan, Chile, Brazil, and Russia. After several attempts so far nobody has been able to successfully demonstrate evidence of a hoax, fraud, or manipulation.

2008 Sightings And Video Footage

The previous year a number of sightings took place between May 22 and Sep 28 of anomalous aerial activity. Yalcin was a night shift watchman at the Yeni Kent building located on the shore of Kumburgaz which gave him a good vantage point. But, when the sightings started to take place it caught the interest of local residents and more people began watching the skies. Similarly in 2007 the 2008 sightings were discussed in the Turkish national media, and even appeared on CNN Turk, soon gaining interest from the local scientific and skeptical community, and even inspecting the original cassettes. It is important to consider that the video contains short segments that occurred over multiple days and in some instances the unknown objects were also filmed during the daytime.

2008 Original Footage - Part 1:

2008 Original Footage - Part 2:

2008 Original Footage - Part 3:

100% Raw - Uncondensed Version - 2008

Scenes from the 2008 video:

June 8, 2008

June 9, 2008

June 12, 2008

What was filmed?

July 2, 2008

June 16, 2008

More Single Frame Images

20 Interesting Segments Of The Turkey UFO Video:

Multiple Eyewitnesses Interviewed:

Transcription of Interview

See the link above for text of translation.

SIRIUS UFO Space Science Research Center

At first, the videos were analyzed under the direction of noted researcher Haktan Akdogan. SIRIUS UFO and Space Science Research Center firstly spoke with all the witnesses separately and then did the analysis of the videos. With participation of the members of their science board they enlarged the video images. They did all the detailed analysis, checked their pixels, and went through frame by frame.

Haktan Akdogan stated: "After doing all the necessary analysis which went on for several weeks, the board came to a definite conclusion with no doubt that these are 100% genuine videos. The objects sighted in the aforementioned footage that have a structure that is made of specific material are definitely not made up by any kind of computer animation nor are they any form of special effects used for simulation in a studio or for a video effect therefore in conclusion it was decided that the sightings were neither a mock up or hoax. And it is concluded that these objects in the sightings that have physical and material structures do not belong in any category such as; planes, helicopters, meteors, Venus, Mars, satellites, fire balls, Chinese lantern, fire balls, weather balloons, natural or atmospheric phenomenon etc. and but rather fall into the category of UFOs."

SIRIUS UFO Research Organization

Video Explanation By Haktan and Murat Yalcin:

The director of the most well known Turkish UFO organization and the primary witness Murat Yalcin discuss the details of the video.

Camera Details:

The camera was a MiniDV Canon DM-GR1-A based on the NTSC system with a diaphragm set at the maximum of 1.8. It's a 3CCD 20x optic 100x with a tele-converter mounted on a 58mm adapter. Tele-objective is a Sony brand vci hgd 1758 model lens, x 1.7.

Additional 2009 Footage:

This following video was taken on May 14, 2009 at the same time as the other footage, but directly outside the International UFO Congress taking place in Istanbul. After this conference was over, during the night into the next morning of May 15th, is when most of the 2009 film was taken. A large crowd of people can be seen with Yalcin Yalman, which backs up his statements that many others accompanied him.

The Sea of Marmara is 27 to 34 miles across.

This is the approximate location of the orange lights seen on July 2, 2008 and a daytime

photo taken from the same location.

Was the Turkey UFO a cruise ship? Probably not and here is why.

2007 Original Raw Footage:

The 2007 video was filmed starting on June 20 and over several days until August 31. During that time round, disc, and oval shaped craft were seen and filmed maneuvering over the sea while occasionally changing direction. The same thing happened again in 2008 and 2009. To this date the objects in the footage remain unidentified while nobody has been able to find an explanation.

TUBITAK Released Their Report on National Television Seen Below:

At first the scientists in Turkey were highly certain that it was a hoax. At that point Haktan Akdogan, who had already analyzed the videos frame by frame and confirmed their authenticity, challenged TUBITAK representatives on television to check themselves. When they were finished they released their report in a two page document which is translated below.

The National Council for the Study of Science and Technology

On January 31, 2008, a MiniDV format video cassette holding 35 minutes of footage was brought over to "TUBITAK" The Science and Technology Research Board of Turkey (a Scientific Institution owned by the state that is highly reliable and influential) National Observatory (TUG) by Mr.Tolga Ozdeniz, the Editor of "Reporter" that has been aired on ATV Channel. The footage on the cassette was said to have been recorded by a Canon GL1 MiniDV digital camera on a beach of a holiday village in Kumburgaz/Istanbul by an amateur.

The images were examined by TUG- National Observatory Image Processing Unit. Because, it would take quite a long time to analyze all of the images, only randomly selected parts were pre-examined. During this process, emphasis was not placed on images produced by optical clarification effects which a number of point light sources generated. Here is a portion of their report: “The objects observed on the images have a structure made of a specific material and definitely are not any kind of CGI animation or in any means a type of special effects used for simulation in a studio or for video effects. "So the conclusion of this report is that the observations are not a model, mock up, or a fraud”. At the last part of the report, it’s concluded that the objects observed have a physical structure and are made of materials that do not belong to any category (airplanes, helicopters, meteors, Venus, Mars, Satellites, artificial lights, or Chinese lanterns etc.)" TUBITAK National Observatory Report

May 15, 2009 Similarities (Night and Day)

33 Minute Separation

4:59 AM 5:33 AM

(2 frames combined for comparison)

A segment in the footage dated 5-15-09 was taken at sunrise in the morning. The segment starts with the time stamp of 4:59 AM and continues to film until 5:32 AM. It starts with the background being completely dark and eventually after sunrise it turns daylight. With the camera pointing in the same direction we finally see the horizon and the location of the UFO. For an unknown reason what previously appeared as a metallic oval craft is now 4 red orange pulsating lights This could be a plasma effect caused by the craft changing configuration or just a reaction to the sun and different environment, however this is only speculation. When combining both the day and night frames and overlaying for comparison, as seen above, the shape matches almost perfectly. Make up your own mind if you think we are looking at 1 object in both frames. There has yet to be any further explanation to explain these anomalies in the video.

Explanation of 33 minute segment:

Eyewitness Dr. Roger Leir Discussing His Sighting On Radio:

On March 31, 2013 Roger Leir also appeared on Coast to Coast with George Knapp and during the interview explained what he witnessed in person. During 2008 and 2009 Roger Leir was at a conference in Turkey among many others at the time of these sightings and reports. Here is his interview with George Knapp: C2C Interview

Dr. Roger Leir Video Interview On Location In Turkey:

When he was visiting Istanbul for the 3rd International UFO Congress in May of 2009 he completed this interview near the beach location were he witnessed the phenomenon.

Yalcin Yalman and Haktan Akdogan Video Interview:

Yalcin Yalman reveals how he first became involved at the beginning including why he purchased the camera. One of the interesting parts of this interview is when Yalcin revealed that he once had another sighting with his father when three unknown objects hovered above. He recalled that earlier in 2007 there was another mass sighting in Kumburgaz, but at the time he had not yet purchased a camera.

The Barking Dog Reaction: