Tracking Down the Man Behind the Greatest UFO Footage in History: Yalçin Yalman | How We Did It and What He Said
Written by UAP Files Jimmy
The Kumburgaz UFO footage, also known as the Turkey UFO footage, was captured from 2007 to 2009 and is considered by many in the UFO community to be the most compelling evidence of extraterrestrial, or Non-Human activity ever recorded. This footage contains hours of raw material showing a craft from multiple angles, in different lighting conditions, and with different lenses, including a telescopic lens, with footage captured on two different cameras mounted on a tripod. He even invented a multiple lens set up especially. The footage even captures the metallic skin of the craft, the cockpit, and the pilots. This extraordinary footage has been circulating online for nearly two decades.
The Kumburgaz case is historic. It even has its own Wikipedia page. The History Channel covered it and concluded that the case was unresolved and genuine. There has never been a conclusive debunking, making the case significant in UFO lore.
The man who captured the footage, Yalcin Yalman, seemed to vanish after the footage hit the news. Only a handful of interviews exist, mostly with fuzzy news shows and the occasional short segment. Yalcin became an enigma, striking gold and then disappearing into the sunset.
After the footage was released, Yalcin left the famous Kumburgaz area, and only his footage and aging witnesses remained. Many witnesses corroborated his story, sharing that they had seen the craft too or were with him when some of the footage was taken. Even Dr. Roger Leir gave an interview describing meeting Yalcin at an event and capturing the craft on camera in real time with Yalcin in person. Dr. Leir's account is fascinating, and audio from his interview with George Knapp has been used in UFO documentaries and soundbites ever since.
So, what happened to Yalcin?
Chris Lehto (Lehto Files) tried to find him and make a documentary about him. He went to Turkey to speak with witnesses, hoping to track down the elusive Yalcin but never managed to find him. Yalcin had largely stayed off popular social media platforms and continued with his life.
So, how did we find him, and what did we do when we did?
Let's talk it through. On the UAP Files Podcast (UAP_Files IG/ UAP Files Podcast YT), we pride ourselves on our uniqueness. We aim to bring the subject of UFOs to the mainstream in a positive and productive way. While many other podcasts and shows are great, we wanted to be a little different, speaking to people both inside and outside the UFO community, which is often viewed as an echo chamber. We've interviewed actors, directors, artists, comedians, producers, doctors, pilots, rock stars, scientists, historians, congressmen, British special forces officers, tattoo artists, astronomers, sorcerers and cops. No one is off the table if they're interesting and help progress the subject forward.
Yalcin was a natural guest for the show. The man responsible for the greatest capture in this subject and could offer insights not depicted in the footage and provide context from an hour of his time. What could we learn about why he was chosen by "them"?
Step 1: Finding Yalcin
Yalcin is 66 years old and lived somewhere in Turkey, I thought. That’s all I had to go on. No LinkedIn, no Instagram, no Linktree, nada. Stereotypically, older generations use Facebook, so that was the starting point. I found his name, the correct Turkish spelling with the little hook underneath the letter C. After broadening the search due to slight variations in the name, I got a few hits. Narrowing down the images, I focused on similarities in eyebrows and forehead wrinkles. The real Yalcin was wearing sunglasses in his picture, but I had a match!
Step 2: Confirming the Identity
Assuming Yalcin only spoke Turkish, I used translation carefully to avoid miscommunication. I translated the translation back and forth, not wanting to lose any tone, or context of my langue in the translation. Communication is a delicate thing and I didn’t want anything to be lost in translation. I introduced myself with links to my work, expressing a desire to talk. This way, I could confirm he was the real Yalcin and open the door to a possible interview.
Step 3: Building Trust
Trust is incredibly important to me and my podcast co-host, Thomas Vernon (DimebagV3 IG/Thomas Vernon UAP YT). We aim to be positive, professional, and kind, maintaining our integrity. We want people to trust us and not see us as part of the toxic "UFO Twitter/X crowd." Building good relationships is key.
Step 4: Waiting
I waited, checking back to see if my first message had been read. Patience was crucial.
Step 5: First Contact
Yalcin replied, and I translated his response. We talked, and he put me in touch with his colleague and translator, Mr. Baskin, who seemed loyal and protective of Yalcin. Mr. Baskin conducted due diligence, which I appreciated. He seemed like a great guy.
Step 6: Arranging the Podcast
We set a date, provided a Zoom invite, and researched the available footage and information. We found very little—only a few grainy pictures from nearly twenty years ago. We were going in cold, but that was exciting.
Step 7: The Interview
The interview was a full 1 hour and 12 minutes of pure gold. Yalcin revealed unexpected details, including that he had been "chosen" to capture the footage and was essentially a practitioner of CE5. He predicted a sighting of a huge craft this month and provided locations. Yalcin even joined Instagram and we now follow eachother. Crazy to think that only a few weeks ago I didn’t even know If he was still alive and now were Insta-buddies! Even crazier to think that this all came down to correct identification of forehead wrinkles!
Check out our conversation with Yalcin Yalman on the UAP Files Podcast Season 2 Episode 19. The link to the interview is below.