The Passaic Photos

Crisp daylight photos of a domed disc, widely regarded as a hoax made with a small model — a textbook example of the era's fakes.

The case made for it at the time was simple: crisp daylight frames of a structured domed disc, published before hoax-spotting conventions existed.

It is a textbook model shot — the composition, scale cues and era-typical technique have led reviewers to class it as a fabrication for decades.

Hoax / fake. Shown to be fabricated, or confessed by its maker.

STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 3 SEPT 2026