Calvine Revisited - 35th anniversary marked by sold-out event and new walking trail
- Dr David Clarke
- Aug 30
- 4 min read
Reproduced with kind permission of Dr David Clarke
More than 150 people gathered at Blair Atholl village hall in Scotland to hear about what has been described as ‘the best UFO photograph ever taken’
One of the highlights of the event, held on the 35th anniversary weekend 2-4 August 2025, was our special guest Craig Lindsay, who joined the research team on stage to answer questions from the audience.
Craig, now 86, was MoD/RAF Press Officer for Scotland when the best of the six colour photographs taken near the village of Calvine, 13 miles north of Pitlochry, was couriered to his office at MHQ Pitreavie Castle by the Scottish Daily Record. They wanted a comment for use in an exclusive story in August 1990, but this never ran and the photographs disappeared after they were sent to London.
He was joined on stage by retired RAF civil servant Michael Mulford, who like me is an investigative journalist. He has supported our work ever since I contacted him in 2021 and said, at the event, that we had proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ our contention that the UFO was likely to have been a secret project involving the US and UK military
Earlier, my presentation on the background to the story was followed by Andrew Robinson who summarised his work on the photo analysis. The last speaker was Matthew Illsley, an independent investigator who is part of our team. He provided an update on our quest to identify the mysterious photographer, Kevin Russell, whose name was written on the reverse of the print sent to Craig.
The event was organised by Giles Stevens, local resident and member of the community council. Giles has been involved, with Andrew, in the design of a sign for a walking trail that leads from Calvine to Struan Point. That is one location where we believe the photographs might have been taken. The trail has been created by landowners Atholl Estate working with Giles and the community council
Around one third of the audience were from the local area and others had travelled from as far as Lancashire to attend. A vote taken from the stage during the Q&A found that a majority agreed with Michael Mulford that we had proved our theory as to the likely origin of the story.
The event received coverage in The Perthshire Courier and on BBC Scotland and I was interviewed live on BBC Radio Scotland shortly before the opening of the public meeting.
Following the anniversary event, Andrew Robinson has collated a range of information about our Research Team’s activities and our quest to discover the true story behind this fascinating image. The Centre for Contemporary Legend Calvine page is a handy resource for reliable information including a hi-res download of the image (via QR code) and important information on reproduction rights and the correct acknowledgement for use, e.g. ‘with permission of Craig Lindsay/Sheffield Hallam University’.
Andrew undertook the original analysis of the image the results of which were included in my exclusive story that was published in the Daily Mail on 13 August 2022. This analysis was extended with new information in the summer of 2024. Follow the link below to download the updated analysis: Calvine Photograph – Image Analysis (Updated 2024)
Andrew has also posted a number of additional updates and further information on his Substack account that tackle some of the theories and misconceptions about the nature of the image:
The anniversary has provided an opportunity to collate of my outputs on the developing story, including my earliest blog on the subject in 2009. These document how my views have changed over the past 15 years.
The Calvine UFO – Media Coverage
Dr David Clarke
Freelance Journalist
X: @shuclarke
Website: http://www.drdavidclarke.co.uk/