Half Moon Bay beach, San Mateo County, California, United States
The Half Moon Bay Flying Discs
Photographer Watson Morris said beachgoers alerted him to several disc-like objects over Half Moon Bay on 2 February 2005 and that he shot five or six black-and-white frames. One published frame shows four small dark shapes; Morris described seeing three craft. The named photographer and 2005 web ar
Why This Case Matters
A good photographic-provenance case with a useful internal discrepancy: the witness says three discs while the published frame contains four dark shapes, and coastal birds are a strong image-based alternative.
Chronology
- 2 Feb 2005 beachgoers reportedly call attention to objects
- Morris watches ~30 sec and shoots 5–6 frames
- one image submitted with first-person statement to Coast to Coast/UFO Evidence
- archived online by Oct 2005
- no technical examination of negatives located
The Witnesses
Evidence
The following evidence types are documented for this case:
Conventional explanations: Pelicans/cormorants or other seabirds are a strong visual match for several dark elongated shapes over the coast. Thrown objects or distant aircraft are also possible. The uncorroborated naked-eye account is the main evidence against birds.
What Remains Unresolved
- Original negatives and remaining frames
- camera/lens/exposure data
- named beachgoers
- exact site/time and bird conditions
- independent image analysis
- reuse permission.
Key Takeaways
- The photograph is genuinely old and traceable, but its contents remain ambiguous and the multi-witness claim has not been independently recovered.
Sources
Primary and secondary sources for this case file: