The Hannah McRoberts Photograph, Vancouver Island (1981)

The rest area sits about thirty miles north of Kelsey Bay, on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Investigators later placed it just east of Highway 19 at the Eve River bridge. In October 1981, Hannah McRoberts, 25, of Campbell River, British Columbia, stopped there with her husband and daughter. She carried a 35 mm Mamiya camera with a 50 to 55 mm lens, loaded with ASA 100 colour film.

Around 11:00 in the morning, the family noticed a peak "surmounted by a cloud." To them it looked like "a volcano issuing steam." They found the scene worth a picture. McRoberts took it. That was all. No lights. No sound. The family did not remember noticing anything in the sky.

Several days later the film was developed. On one frame, above and to the right of the peak and its plume of cloud, was a sharply focused disc-like object against a clear blue sky. It had been in the picture all along.

The photo went first to the Vancouver Planetarium. Its director, David Dodge, remained disturbed by it. Staff member David A. C. Powell brought it to public attention and could find no evidence of tampering. Bill Allan of CKOV radio in Kelowna interviewed McRoberts on air and judged her story entirely genuine.

In Britain, Percy Hennell, photographic consultant to Flying Saucer Review, found "nothing dubious or suspicious about the picture." He added a caution. If the object were far away, it would have to be "several hundreds of feet wide." Gordon Creighton wrote the magazine's report. For APRO, Dr. James Harder of UC Berkeley said it "appears to be an excellent and probably genuine photo of a classical disc photographed in daylight." He noted that the lighting on the object matched the scene. He also warned that "proving authenticity is likely to be elusive."

Then came Dr. Richard F. Haines, a retired NASA scientist. He obtained the original negative and the camera. He went back to the site with Mrs. McRoberts and her family to re-enact the moment. He used micro-densitometry, computer enhancements and other measurements, searching for a support thread, atmospheric disturbance or any other sign of a hoax. He found none. His conclusion: "a three dimensional object located at a distance of at least 30 feet."

Haines presented the work at the MUFON 1986 Symposium and published "Analysis of a UFO Photograph" in the Journal of Scientific Exploration in 1987. His analysis was later included in the scientific report of the Sturrock Panel in 1998.

Sceptics point to the obvious gap. Nobody saw the object. The Photobuster blog compared it to a chrome-plated truck wheel cover or a frying pan lid thrown into the air, about 20 to 40 centimetres across and no more than 3 to 10 metres away. On Metabunk, from 2019, Mick West favoured a thrown object such as a domed frisbee or a pan lid. Others suggested a percolator lid or a VW Beetle hubcap. In 2025, AI-upscaled versions hinting at a bird drew the reply that such tools invent detail.

Supporters answer that Haines placed the object at least 30 feet from the lens. The frame came from an uncut strip of negatives. No one has ever confessed, and no investigator found tampering on the negative.

One frame. One moment nobody noticed. The McRoberts photograph is still widely reposted as one of the best UFO pictures ever taken, and material on the case is held among the Richard F. Haines papers at Rice University. The family's account has never been questioned. They photographed a cloud. The disc only appeared when the prints came back.