{"type":"events","slug":"1971-uss-trepang-photographs","title":"USS Trepang Photographs","url":"https://disclosdex.com/events/1971-uss-trepang-photographs","description":"Leaked submarine photos from 1971 allegedly show disc and cigar-shaped craft during Arctic exercises of USS Trepang","date":"1971-03-10T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["Sighting"],"updated":"2025-06-13T13:26:43.000Z","disclosureRating":5,"status":"resolved","lat":71,"lng":-8,"connectionCount":2,"content":{"markdown":"Photos surfaced online in 2015 purporting to show unidentified craft taken from the attack submarine [USS Trepang](/locations/arctic-ocean-iceland) during tests near Iceland. The black-and-white shots depict discs emerging from the water and unusual cigar shapes.[^1][^2][^3]\n\nInvestigators traced the images to a French magazine and suggested they actually show target balloons or experiments.[^4] The U.S. Navy has issued no official comment, leaving the photographs controversial.[^5]\n\n## Incident dossier\n\n| Date/Period          | Event/Development                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |\n| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |\n| 22 Feb – 22 Mar 1971 | USS Trepang conducted under-ice weapons experiments between Iceland and Jan Mayen during ICEX drills.[^6][^7] Crew logs confirm the boat surfaced through pack ice several times for test firings. Photographs attributed to 10 March 1971 allegedly captured unknown objects breaching the sea or airspace. |\n| 2015                 | French periodical _Top Secret_ printed thirteen black-and-white frames it said were leaked periscope images. Digital scans quickly spread online via researcher Alex Mistretta and _The Black Vault_ archive.[^1]                                                                                            |\n| 2017                 | Skeptics highlighted cloned cloud structures in one frame and matched silhouettes to 1970s target balloons, arguing manipulation.[^9]                                                                                                                                                                        |\n| 11 July 2024         | _PolitiFact_ interviewed retired Rear Admiral Dean R. Sackett Jr., who commanded Trepang, and he reiterated that no unidentified craft were recorded during the patrol.[^8]                                                                                                                                  |\n\n## Key individuals\n\n| Name                                     | Role/Description                                                                                                                |\n| ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Dean R. Sackett Jr.                      | Commanding officer; commissioned Trepang in 1970; publicly dismisses the UFO claim.                                             |\n| Senior Chief Sonar Technician John Klika | Cited in the leak as first observer; tells investigators he recalls only standard target practice.[^9]                          |\n| Alex Mistretta and John Greenewald Jr.   | Independent researchers who traced the image chain of custody and obtained the submarine's 1971 command history under FOIA.[^6] |\n| Wim van Utrecht and Gilles Fernandez     | Photo analysts who demonstrated pixel-level duplication consistent with compositing.[^4]                                        |\n\n## Physical evidence\n\nThirteen grainy periscope photographs stamped \"OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH – NOT TO BE RELEASED – SSN 674.\"[^7]\n\nCommand History and deck-log extracts verify live-fire evaluations of inflatable target drones during the mission.[^6] No original negatives, duty-log entries, or radar tracks corroborate an anomalous contact.\n\n## Assessment\n\nAvailable military records, crew testimony, and photographic forensics favour a misidentified weapons-test sequence or deliberate hoax rather than extraterrestrial hardware. Unless the original film emerges for chain-of-custody analysis, the Trepang pictures remain an instructive example of how isolated images can migrate from naval archive to internet myth.\n\nClose comparison of frames reveals identical smoke plumes copied within a single image, indicating post-production editing. Metabunk and Sécurité Civile balloon catalogues show a strong geometric match between the so-called \"cigar\" craft and 1970s MK-IV radar reflector balloons. Timing coincides with documented torpedo war-shot calibration, offering a prosaic source for airborne debris.\n\n[^1]: [The Black Vault article](https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/uss-trepang-submarine-ufo-photos-1971/)\n\n[^2]: [UFO Chronicles coverage](https://www.theufochronicles.com/2015/03/uss-trepang-submarine-ufo-photos.html)\n\n[^3]: [OpenMinds report](https://www.openminds.tv/submarine-ufo-photos/33083)\n\n[^4]: [Metabunk analysis](https://www.metabunk.org/threads/uss-trepang-submarine-ufo-photos.5887/)\n\n[^5]: [PolitiFact: \"Official\" Navy photographs of a UFO do not hold water](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/jul/11/facebook-posts/official-navy-photographs-of-a-ufo-dont-hold-water/)\n\n[^6]: [USS Trepang 1971 Command History, FOIA release](https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/navy/2015-007410-CHR1971-Trepang_Final.pdf)\n\n[^7]: [The Black Vault: Arctic UFO photographs, USS Trepang, SSN 674, March 1971](https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/arctic-ufo-photographs-uss-trepang-ssn-674-march-1971/)\n\n[^8]: [PolitiFact fact-check](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/jul/11/facebook-posts/official-navy-photographs-of-a-ufo-dont-hold-water/)\n\n[^9]: [Gilles Fernandez photo-forensics](https://skepticversustheflyingsaucers.blogspot.com/2017/06/les-photographies-de-luss-trepang-la.html)","readingTime":"3 min read"},"relatedRecords":[{"ref":{"type":"locations","slug":"arctic-ocean-iceland","title":"Arctic Ocean / Iceland","url":"https://disclosdex.com/locations/arctic-ocean-iceland"},"direction":"mutual","weight":2}],"citation":{"canonicalUrl":"https://disclosdex.com/events/1971-uss-trepang-photographs","title":"USS Trepang Photographs","publisher":"Disclosdex","retrievedFrom":"https://disclosdex.com/api/v1/events/1971-uss-trepang-photographs","license":"CC-BY-4.0"},"witnesses":["Leaked submarine photos from 1971 allegedly show disc and cigar-shaped craft during Arctic exercises of USS Trepang"],"evidence":["photographs"]}