PHOTO
ANOMALIES:
COL DE VENCE – FRANCE
www.coldevence.com
by
Nancy Talbott
BLT Research Team Inc.
www.bltresearch.com
April, 2007
| © 2007 BLT Reseach Team Inc. All Rights Reserved Photos/Illustrations can not be reproduced in any media except with written permission from the photographer or illustrator |
|
The
isolated, rocky plateau at Col de Vence, France, where strange
phenomena — and bizarre photographs—are a regular occurrence. While on a 2004
lecture tour in Europe I first met Xavier Colin, a charming Frenchman
who had recently become interested in the crop circle phenomenon.
Xavier, one of a group of people who have been documenting strange
events in the mountains near Nice (the Col de Vence group) and I
had been in touch by email and phone previously and he had come
to Belgium where I was speaking so we could further compare notes
and exchange information.
Mr. Colin, a real-estate broker in Antibes, and several friends
were regularly visiting Col de Vence, a remote area in the mountains
of southern France not far from the French Riviera. Marked by dramatic
rock formations and isolated, still-wild vistas, the site (the "Vence
pass") is part of the southern Alps and has the reputation locally
of being a place where extraordinary events--of a very diverse nature—are
common. Xavier had brought some of the group's amazing photographs
to Belgium with him.
Xavier is a family man, with a young daughter and a responsible
job. He is intelligent, multi-lingual, and thoughtful in his approach
to both the events at Col de Vence and his more recent interest
in crop circles. Although not equipped with sophisticated technical
capability himself he was open, in fact eager, to obtain professional
analysis of some of the group's material (Xavier recently reported
that French experts will begin such a project this year).
The range of anomalies in these photos is incredible. In fact, when
I first attempted to publish some of the group's photos for the
English-speaking public more than a year ago, seasoned UFO professionals
strongly urged me to investigate this case further: they were certain
the Col de Vence photos I had shown them were hoaxed and that I
had misjudged the situation.
Because some people think that most "anomalous" photos are simply
artifacts of digital cameras and since I knew that years ago early
members of the Col de Vence group had used film, I thought it would
be a good idea to show some of the early film photos before moving
on to the even more amazing images captured now on digital cameras.
The following film photos were taken by two early members of the
group (Patrick and Denis) and show very dramatic light anomalies,
many of them similar to photographs taken more recently.
In this photo a swirling "fog" is obscuring several of the people
present; multiple smaller light balls seemingly in motion, as well
as more tube-like structures, can be seen. Many people have taken
similar photographs at crop circle sites with what looks like "fog"
or "smoke" (which is not due to cigarette smoke, since most crop
circle people (a) don't smoke at all, and (b) if they do, they don't
smoke out in the fields). It should be noted that at Col de Vence
there is no local light source whatsoever—no houses (close or distant),
no street lamps, nothing but the mountains and rocky fields. In
the photo below there again appear to be multiple light balls, moving
dynamically in front of the two people. [The yellow- and red-ringed
blue circle in background is a "No-Parking" sign on the side of
the road.] Some
of these early film photos show amazing colors, as well as complex
effects which will be replicated in some of the more recent Col
de Vence photographs. Below are 4 prints, taken during one night,
all with chartreuse colored tubes of light. In
the photo immediately above there are not only multi-colored light
streaks, there is a "snow-like" effect which has re-occurred in
digital photographs taken much more recently.
There are two more points to make regarding these early film photos.
First, during all the years that the Col de Vence group has been
going up into the mountains, there has been only one member who
has obtained unusual photos in each time period. Other people would
regularly bring their cameras, but only one individual at a time
(usually for a matter of years) would get strange photo effects.
Secondly, there are always 2-3 members of the group present (usually
more) when these photos are taken. So far as I could ascertain,
no one visits the location alone. The photos above are only a small
portion of the early ones taken, but they establish that very strange
effects have been repeatedly recorded on film at Col de Vence. - Part 2 -
It it now known that local residents in some of the tiny ancient villages in the area have, off and on for many years, heard strange sounds and seen unusual objects in the sky. Sometimes there is the sound of electrical engines passing just overhead, back and forth, when no planes are present. Fires have begun inexplicably, even in winter when the ground is covered with snow. There have been a number of unexplained plane crashes in the area, remnants of which are burnt forever into the massive limestone rock formations. There are also startling, and sometimes spectacular, stone falls which occur out of nowhere. Visitors report a sense of an "intelligence" inhabiting the place. The current group documenting events at Col de Vence includes several members who have been visiting the site for years. Most of the photos on the group's web-site (www.coldevence.com) and in their recent DVD were, however, taken by one man--Pierre Beake. [It was also Mr. Beake who, in 2005, photographed a silvery disc-shaped "UFO" near the Boreham Down crop circle in Wiltshire, England (www.bltresearch.com/eyewitness/eyewitness3.php ) ].
Pierre first discovered the isolated plateau in 1979, when he went with friends who were looking for wild places to have walks and picnics. For the next 15 years nothing too remarkable occurred—he did observe a few strange things in the sky on his regular visits and collected a few stories from locals. Then in March of 1994 he had his first clear UFO sighting and since 1998, when he finally obtained a digital camera, he has been the primary photographer of strange images at Col de Vence.
On September 21, 2006 I arrived in Nice, and soon Pierre and I were 1000 feet up in the southern Alps above the Mediterranean. I knew that Pierre has used a digital camera almost exclusively and that usually--as in the Boreham Down crop circle "UFO" photo--neither he nor anyone else present sees the strange light forms and/or objects registered by his camera. With the exception of some of the group's UFO photos and videos (where the objects are visible) the anomalies photographed are generally invisible to the naked eye. Pierre told me that he had been interested in the UFO phenomenon since he was about 15 years old and that, although he had been visiting Col de Vence with his friends for many years, it wasn't until he got his first digital camera in 1998 that he began to get strange photographs. Since then it has been Pierre who captures the majority (90%) of the photo anomalies in the Col de Vence group. Why only one person at a time should obtain the majority of the anomalies and other people there who are also using digital cameras do not, no one knows. And why the individual getting the anomalies changes from time to time is also a total mystery. Xavier is of the impression, in the Col de Vence situation, that Pierre himself is perhaps a critical component (just as I suspect, in Hoeven, Holland, that Robbert v/d Broeke is perhaps a conduit). Following is a very small selection of the hundreds of more or less outrageous photos taken (mostly by Pierre) at Col de Vence in the last few years. Some of the anomalies might be called "UFOs" or "orbs," others are too unique to categorize. As can be seen, they occur during the day as well as at night.
From the material above one can see why I was motivated to visit this place and meet the people involved. All of the photos above (except for the first 2 in Part 1, and the first 3 scenic shots in Part 2) were taken prior to my arrival in 2006 by Pierre and/or other members of the group, And, although some researchers who have been involved in the UFO phenomenon for much longer than I thought there was a high liklihood that these photos might be hoaxed, I was fairly sure they were genuine. Neither Xavier (whom I'd spent time with in Belgium) nor Pierre Beake (whom I'd dealt with regarding the Boreham Down "UFO" photo) seemed anything but straight-forward….and intensely curious. So I decided to go and see for myself. Parts III & IV cover some of the photos I took with my own cameras (film and digital), as well as those taken by Pierre and others while I was present and watching everything they did. - Part 3 -
The purpose of my trip to Col de Vence was to try to resolve the question of "authenticity" of the strange photographs being obtained there. I was constantly with Pierre and other members of the group for more than a week, day and night, both at Col de Vence and in various members' homes--and I'm certain that the photos presented here (mine, Pierre's, & other people's) are legitimate. None of these "anomalous" photos has been altered, other than undergoing some cropping or re-sizing to fit this report. I took both a 35mm film camera and a digital. My original intent was to constantly use both cameras but when I began to get a lot of anomalies on the digital I failed to regularly use the film camera as much as I should have. When I began to get strange images on the digital camera (which I could immediately see on the LED screen) I sometimes forgot to use the 35mm. Percentage-wise I think I obtained fewer anomalies overall with the film camera—these mostly involving an almost total loss of normal color, except in the two below. It's interesting that Pierre Beake was the subject in both.
This loss of normal color was the most pervasive effect noted on the film prints. A majority of film photographs, both day & night, were affected in this way. In the print below the color is partially altered—but the two following photos show the more typical almost total loss of color.
It was my digital images, though, that were the most interesting. Although usually it is only Pierre who gets anomalies, that first night I began to get abnormal digital images, ranging from white BOLs and "smoke" stripes (usually in photos which included Pierre), to peculiar red effects. Temperature was in the 60s with a few clouds, some stars and no moon. There was not even a hint of rain, nor any light source at all other than the flash on our cameras.
Although a definite majority (75%+) of my digital shots overall were normal, periodically the anomalies would begin to occur, usually continuing for several minutes (and multiple shots) at a time. Pierre and I found that, often, we would get strange photos during more or less the same time periods, each using our own cameras—but these anomalies were not always of the same type. On our repeat visits to the site the numbers of unusual photos that both Pierre and I were getting increased, although overall Pierre obtained more of them and his were generally more spectacular. However the photo, below, was taken with my digital camera on that first nite and is the only one taken at the plateau that had this odd blue effect (color here is similar to Nancy Talbott's film anomaly of Pierre drinking from the village fountain).
The digital photo of mine, below, both reflected a particular type of anomaly Pierre has been obtaining recently and was predictive of a whole series of anomalies we would both get in the following days.
I stood close to Pierre and watched while he took photographs—both in daytime and at night. He was using the same digital camera he has used for several years and I saw him do absolutely nothing out-of-the-ordinary, ever. He simply aims the camera and shoots. It was interesting to me to learn, later, that he has no more technical inclination than I do and, as of this date, still does not use a computer. All of his photos that I have from this trip were downloaded from his camera onto a computer by one of his colleagues in my presence. For fairly long stretches of time neither one of us got anything unusual at all — our photos were all normal. But then, every so often, something seemed to change and he or I, or both of us, would begin to get strange shots. These "active" periods would last anywhere from a minute or two to perhaps 10 minutes each, at which times I watched as a wide range of anomalies appeared on Pierre's LED screen. These becoming increasingly bizarre as we continued shooting. During one session two sets of new batteries failed in my camera. Most of the photos I have at the moment from these sessions are strange ones Pierre took while aiming at me. Although there were many others, these will adequately demonstrate both the range, and the spectacular nature, of the photos he took while I was right there. Here, then, are some of Pierre's digital photos, taken over several nights in September, 2006.
- Part 4 -
For many years my photos, taken in conjunction with crop circle research, have contained quite a variety of anomalies. These have included various sizes of whitish-to-orange, translucent to opaque light-balls (often called "orbs") to large, brilliant red circular splotches and a range of multi-colored light stripes and other light distortions. Sometimes these occur when I am in or near a crop circle, but they most regularly occur if I am in the company of Robbert van den Broeke (the young man in Holland around whom crop circles occur regularly) or, more recently, with certain other individuals in various countries who are intensely interested in this phenomenon. Increasingly it seems that both the likelihood and the frequency of such photographic anomalies occurring is increased by physical proximity to these individuals—perhaps also at specific locations, although this is not as clear. It also seems that when I and the other person are in a similar state of mind, the anomalies increase in both number and sophistication. One particularly curious event occurred while I was at Col de Vence. There was one member of the group, Jean-Paul, who also occasionally got strange photos on his camera—but most often he did not. I thought that his interest in the Col de Vence phenomena was perhaps more metaphysical, more of a "spiritual" nature, than was evident in other members of the group. On my last night in France we decided to have a picnic with all of the group at Col de Vence up on the side of the hill. Jean-Paul arrived later than the others and, as he climbed up over the limestone boulders to where we were all sitting, I started photographing him. It was a cool evening and absolutely dry. At first my photos were either completely normal or showed small, translucent orb-type anomalies (which I thought might possibly be related to dust particles in the air) around his body. So far that night no one had been getting anything unusual, but it was early and from past experience we knew to keep trying.
The night before, which had been quite cold and somewhat dank, Pierre, Jean-Paul and I had spent several hours at the site and after about 2-1/2 hours Pierre had begun to get some very dramatic reddish-colored anomalies and multiple large, pink BOLs. Jean-Paul had gotten a few anomalies, too, and so had I. It seemed to me that the activity that night had been "centered" around Jean-Paul, as many of the photos below will demonstrate. On that last night, after Jean-Paul arrived, both Pierre and I began to register multiple, huge, pink light-balls repeatedly. Neither I nor anyone else present had ever produced this particular anomaly before, but as the evening progressed, so did the spectacular nature of the photos. Following are 4 shots from the sequence I took, then several photos taken by Pierre.
Another phenomenon which the Col de Vence members have experienced over several years occurred on two occasions while I was there. A moderately loud noise—which sounds exactly like a good-sized rock hitting the ground after being thrown—will suddenly occur very near one or another of the people present. The first time it happened we were not in the plateau area but on a roadway nearby, next to a rock face where loose rocks were visible. I assumed, that time, that one of these stones had simply dislodged while we happened to be there. However, such an explanation was not possible for the 2nd incident a few nights later. At about 2:30 am quite a few of us were in the plateau area on the narrow road which bisects the plain, standing near a lone scraggly tree next to the road. We'd been taking photos for several hours and Pierre and I (and Jean-Paul also on this night) had gotten many anomalies. Suddenly we were all startled by what sounded like a rock hitting the ground right next to the tree, just a few feet away from all of us. The hill on the opposite side of the road slopes gently upward and does have multiple rocks and stones lying about on the ground. But no one was up on that side and there was no way a rock could have ejected itself or fallen (if, perhaps, dislodged by a small animal) to reach where we were standing. The sound was one loud "clunk" with no repeated sounds as would be caused by a stone rolling along. The slope of the hill down below the tree is also covered with rocks, but anything falling from this area would have landed far below us.
One last thing to report. It is perhaps the most significant, perhaps not significant at all. After several nights taking photos at Col de Vence with Pierre and various other members of the Col de Vence group, it seemed to me one evening that Jean-Paul (who had not been getting anomalies) really wanted to get some. I had been getting dozens of the pink light-ball anomalies that night and I had many others from other nights….and, so, it occurred to me all of a sudden that I didn't need any more to accomplish the purpose of my trip. Right then, in my head, this thought occurred: "I don't need any more of these marvellous photos, give mine to Jean-Paul." You will have to absorb what happened next in whatever way suits you, but I swear that instantly I stopped getting any photo anomalies at all—and Jean-Paul started getting them left and right. After about an hour of this, with me also shooting repeatedly and getting nothing and him getting them constantly, I thought to myself "well, you don't have to give them all to him," but this thought didn't change a thing. After another hour or so, I just put my camera away. Jean Paul, meanwhile, was having a great time. At one point, while several of us were standing with him near our parked car, he expressed a desire to see the car "explode." The resulting photo not only looked like the car had exploded — the light shooting out of the car window threw a reflection on the road itself.
It was now quite late, totally dark and chilly. There was no visible light source of any kind. Jean-Paul had simply aimed his camera toward the car and, using the flash, had taken one photo—the results of which we all immediately observed on his LED screen. What fascinated me most about this photo was not just the vivid light effects and pink haze. The car is on the right side of the road (and photo); it was totally dark and had been sitting there for hours with no one inside it and no lights on inside or out. Looking at the photo I realized there was a reflection on the roadway beneath the yellow stripes of light which appear to be shooting out of the car windows. How could there be a reflection beneath these light stripes when none of us saw any light whatsoever emanate from the car as the photo was taken? In order for there to be a reflection of any kind, doesn't there have to be a visible light source? We were all standing close to Jean-Paul and within 10 feet of the car, and no one saw anything unusual. And, once again, there is that peculiar, small, white anomaly in the upper left side of the picture. The photos you have seen in this report represent only a small fraction of the amazing photographs taken at Col de Vence over the years by a number of people. Since I took a lot of these photos and/or was present and watching while a majority of the others used here were taken, I know they're "real." What this indicates about "reality" is now the important question for me.
For more information about Col de Vence and the DVD now available, please see www.coldevence.com. Postscript……….in a conversation with Xavier at the end of March he reports that a multi-national group of photographic experts will visit Col de Vence to implement a variety of photograpic experiments. We will report any results as soon as we have them.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
