An unknown mysterious figure appears behind her daughter in one of the photographs taken out by Jim Templeton during a family outing, causing a global frenzy. Thus the legend of The Solway Firth Spaceman is born!

Jim Templeton was a local fireman and photography enthusiast from Carlisle, Cumberland, England. He had never imagined that May 23, 1964, would become a historic day and he would give the world the legend of Solway Firth Spaceman, turning him into an instant celebrity!

On this day, he took his wife Annie and five-year-old daughter Elizabeth on a trip to Burg Marsh, situated near Burgh by Sands, overlooking the Solway Firth in Cumbria, England.

Jim clicked three photographs of his daughter during the trip and gave the film roll to the local lab for developing the photos. The lab technician, who processed the film, noticed a bizarre thing in the background that had spoiled one of the pictures of Elizabeth, while the other pictures in the sequence showed nothing in the background.

A mysterious figure is seen in the background

Jim was perplexed to see a strange figure behind Elizabeth in one of the pictures. He found it a little strange that the figure appeared only in one of the pictures and not the other two sequential clicks. He had no idea the figure would later turn out to be the mysterious Solway Firth Spaceman!   

Jim involves the Police to investigate the figure 

To solve the mystery behind the background image, Jim thought to seek Police’s help. He took the photograph to the Carlisle Police. The police minutely examined the picture but did find anything suspicious about it.   

News about bizarre photographs reaches Media 

The case came to the attention of the local newspaper, The Cumberland News. 

The Cumberland News published the story, which was picked by Daily Mail and Express. Soon a media frenzy ensued and the photograph was all over the place. Numerous theories were propagated to solve the mystery surrounding the strange figure behind Elizabeth in the photograph.

Ufologists sought clarity on the Solway Firth Spaceman photograph from the authorities. However, a British Ministry of Defence official informed them that the photograph in question was of no interest to them.  

Following the publication of the images in various newspapers, several theories were proposed at that time.

Theory #1 –  The mysterious figure is an Alien  

Many people believed the mysterious figure in the background is a spaceman – wearing a spacesuit, and helmet with a dark visor! They also believed the spaceman and his spaceship were hidden by a cloaking device that made them invisible to the human eye but not to the camera lens. 

The photograph, thus, got the acronym – Solway Firth Spaceman Photograph. For the uninitiated, The Solway Firth is located off the southwest coast of Scotland, between Dumfries & Galloway and England.

Mr. Templeton said after the photograph was published, he was visited by two mysterious men. The men refused to disclose their identity and said that they work for the government and referred to each other as Number 9 and Number 11.

The men asked Templeton to take them to the same spot where the Solway Firth Spaceman Photograph was clicked.

He took the men to the site and explained that he had not seen the figure at the time of clicking the picture. Hearing this, both the men got furious and drove away, leaving him alone to walk back home from the site.

Later, Mr. Templeton dismissed the two men as frauds who had nothing to do with the government. 

Theory #2 – The mystery figure was Jim’s wife, Annie Templeton

David Clarke, an author on UFOs believed that figure was Jim’s wife, Annie Templeton, who had accidentally photobombed the photograph. Annie was wearing a light blue dress when the photo was clicked. According to David, Annie stood behind Elizabeth, with her back towards the camera, and the overexposure caused her blue dress to appear white.   

Dr Clarke did not find the theory of Solway Firth Spaceman credible as he believed Templeton couldn’t see Annie due to the blind spot in the Pentacon F SLR camera that allowed him to see only seventy percent of what the viewfinder had actually captured. 

To justify his theory, David cited the other photographs by Jim that also had captured some portions of his wife wearing a light blue dress.

Theory #3 – The photograph was manipulated

To ascertain if the lab technician had manipulated the photograph, Jim got the photograph and negative checked by the film company Kodak. Analysts at Kodak, after checking, confirmed there was no sign of manipulation and the photograph was genuine. 

Kodak even announced a reward of a free film roll for a year to anyone who could prove the photo was manipulated. However, the reward was never claimed. 

Other theories – 

Some theories claimed that Jim or his daughter possessed psychic powers, while others believed the figure was a spirit. 

An aborted missile launch and alleged UFO sighting 

Reportedly, just days after Templeton clicked the photograph, a planned launch of a Blue Streak missile in Woomera, South Australia was aborted after two large men were seen within the firing range. 

When the team, involved in the missile launch, saw the Solway Spaceman photograph in an Australian newspaper, they were astonished by the similarity of the two men with the alleged Solway Firth Spaceman present behind Elizabeth in the photograph. 

Some people also claimed to have sighted a UFO at Woomera.

The mystery deepened as the Blue Streak had been built at RAF Spadeadam, a Royal Air Force station in Cumbria – close to the area where Templeton photographed Elizabeth. 

But what could explain the mysterious Solway Firth Spaceman photograph? Could it simply be a hoax? Dr Clarke, who met Mr Templeton in 2002, thinks it unlikely.

“I came away absolutely convinced he was telling the truth and couldn’t explain it himself, although I was less convinced about his ‘Men in Black’ story. Whoever it was who visited him, I don’t think they were from the government.”

Dr. david clarke in an interview with bbc

The photograph with alleged Solway Firth Spaceman in the background continues to fascinate us even after more than five decades of its origin.

Jim Templeton died on November 27, 2011, leaving behind an unsolved mystery that caused a global frenzy and remains an enigma to date.