The Cote Photo follows the most believable UFO photograph ever captured, with the cartographer interviewed on camera.
DETROIT, MI, UNITED STATES, September 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Five and a half decades ago, during the early hours of September 4, 1971, a government plane carrying cartographer Sergio Loaiza flew over Lago de Cote in northern Costa Rica. The mapping camera installed in the aircraft’s underbelly recorded an image on the official aerial survey film. Sandwiched between frames 299 and 301 is a photograph of a shiny, disc-shaped object that has never been accounted for.
That single frame became the focal point of decades of scientific study, two peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, and a quiet, enduring question: what was captured above Lake Cote that morning?
The Cote Photo, a documentary directed by Adam Pillon and produced by Megan Woomer, premieres September 4, 2026 on major streaming services. The film follows Esteban Carranza, a Costa Rican lawyer and UAP researcher, as he investigates the photograph from the national archive in San Jose to the hills around the lake.
Carranza dedicated years to gaining the trust of Sergio Loaiza, the cartographer who originally shot the film. Now 83 years old, Loaiza speaks extensively on camera for the first time about what he observed—or didn’t observe—from the plane that morning.
What distinguishes the Cote Photo is its chain of custody. This isn’t a phone screenshot or a tale passed through indirect witnesses. It’s an official government photograph with an unbroken paper trail stored in the national archive. Scientists Dr. Jacques Vallée and Dr. Richard Haines, both formerly with NASA Ames, reviewed the image and published two peer-reviewed papers about it. The object was photographed from above, eliminating most conventional explanations. No manipulation, no drones, no artificial intelligence. The image lives on the original film reel.
The Cote Photo runs 76 minutes and becomes available in English and Spanish across more than 80 countries, including France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Japan, and Latin America.
Michael Moriarty
Pursuing X
+1 623-341-3931
michael@pursuingx.com
The Cote Photo (official trailer)
