On August 12, 1883, Mexican astronomer José Bonilla made a historic and puzzling observation at the Zacatecas Observatory. While conducting his study of sunspot activity, Bonilla noticed something extraordinary: over 300 dark, unidentified objects crossing the face of the Sun. Intrigued and astounded by the sight, he quickly captured several photographs using wet-plate photography, with exposures of just 1/100 of a second.
The images revealed these objects as being surrounded by a misty or hazy aura, adding to their mysterious nature. These dark objects moved across the Sun's disk in a manner that didn't correspond with known astronomical phenomena.
When Bonilla's findings were published in the French journal L'Astronomie in 1886, the editor speculated that the objects might have been birds, insects, or dust. However, this explanation was met with skepticism, both in Bonilla's time and among modern researchers. The sheer number of objects and their misty appearance led to various theories. One leading theory is that Bonilla might have captured fragments of a comet that had recently broken apart, which could explain the clustered movement and the surrounding mist.
The objects were estimated to be between 538 kilometers (334 miles) and 8,062 kilometers (5,009 miles) above the ground and ranged in size from 68 meters (223 feet) to 795 meters (2,608 feet) in length. Sometimes touted as the "1st UFO Photo".
Several hours over two days
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