Best picture of UFO ever clicked goes viral, netizens baffled

A 50-year-old image is creating a massive buzz on the internet after assertions that it shows an unidentified flying object. Shared by many media organisations and posted extensively on Twitter, the image displays a saucer-like object over Costa Rica.

According to users, this is the best photograph of a UFO ever clicked. It was taken by aerial photographer Sergio Loaiza in September, 1971, as he flew over Costa Rica on a mission to survey land for the construction of a hydroelectric project, as per a report in Daily Star.

The mega project was planned near the Arenal Volcano in South American.

The photographer clicked several high resolution photos from an altitude of 10,000 feet of the lake below and surrounding rainforest at 20-second intervals plying his automated 100lb camera.

In one of the pictures, a metallic disc can be seen hovering between Loaiza's Aero Commander F680 aircraft and the ground. The photo was not very clear at first, however the claims about UFO started going around only when it was enhanced later

That photo belonged to the National Geographic Costa Rica, which had ordered the survey to be carried out, to study the potential impact of the hydroelectric project on surrounding land and water.

The picture has now been shared by Esteban Carranza, a native of Costa Rica (Twitter handle @UAP_CR). Mr Carranza has the "contact" copy of the original negative present in the National Archives of Costa Rica. He acquired it from his uncle who obtained the copy from the National Geographic Institute.

"I made this high res scan last year, met with people on the National Geographic Institute and tracked the technician in charge of the camera back in 1971. But there's no reason for the image to sit on my desktop. Disclosure is a team effort and everyone should have this image," Carranza said.