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Was the Tarbaca UFO a Nearby Model?

The 2007 Tarbaca clip looks dramatic, but missing scale references and possible suspension or model movement sharply limit its value.

34 sources 3 graphics

On this page

  • What Marvin Badilla Recorded
  • Why Scale and Speed Cannot Be Measured
  • The Model and Suspension Line Explanations
Preview for Was the Tarbaca UFO a Nearby Model?

Introduction

The 2007 Tarbaca UFO video is arguably Costa Rica’s most widely circulated modern UFO recording. Filmed by Marvin Badilla on an early Motorola Razr mobile phone while working near Tarbaca in the Central Valley, the brief clip appears to show a metallic disc hovering before abruptly changing orientation and departing. Unlike the country’s better-known 1971 Lake Cote photograph, however, the Tarbaca case rests almost entirely on a short consumer video and witness testimony rather than on official documentation or independently verifiable physical evidence. As a result, it has become less a question of identifying an object than of evaluating the reliability of the recording itself. The central dispute is not whether the video exists—it plainly does—but whether it depicts a genuinely distant aerial object or a small nearby model deliberately or accidentally presented as something extraordinary.[Telediario Costa Rica]telediario.crTelediario Costa RicaCostarricense aseguró que grabó un ovni desde Tarbaca | VIDEO| Telediario Costa RicaJuly 28, 2021…Published: July 28, 2021

Tarbaca Video illustration 1

What Marvin Badilla Recorded

According to Badilla’s consistent public account, he was working on a house under construction near Tarbaca in November 2007 when he noticed a metallic-looking object hovering relatively close to the work site. He said he quickly began filming with his Motorola Razr while attempting to attract the attention of a co-worker operating a power drill. By the time the second worker looked up, the object had allegedly tilted, accelerated away and disappeared. The published video lasts only around sixteen seconds and ends before any long-range tracking or corroboration becomes possible.[telediario.cr]telediario.crTelediario Costa RicaCostarricense aseguró que grabó un ovni desde Tarbaca | VIDEO| Telediario Costa RicaJuly 28, 2021…Published: July 28, 2021

Badilla has generally avoided making extravagant claims about extraterrestrial visitors. In later interviews he maintained that he did not know what the object was, only that it appeared unlike any aircraft familiar to him. He also stated that he had never witnessed anything similar again. This measured testimony has led some investigators to regard him as a sincere witness even if they remain unconvinced by the recording itself.[La Teja]lateja.crOpen source on lateja.cr.

The video spread rapidly through Costa Rican television before becoming one of the country’s best-known UFO clips internationally. Its popularity owes much to the apparent proximity of the object, which seems far clearer than many distant lights or night-time recordings commonly associated with UFO reports. Ironically, that same apparent clarity created one of the strongest arguments against its authenticity.

Increíble avistamiento OVNI en Tarbaca, Costa Rica. Entrevista con el testigo.

Channel: Fantasma Estelar

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Why Scale and Speed Cannot Be Measured

The greatest technical weakness of the Tarbaca footage is that almost none of the quantities viewers instinctively infer can actually be measured.

The recording lacks reliable reference points that would establish how far away the object was. Without known distance, its apparent diameter cannot be converted into physical size. A small object a few metres from the camera can produce essentially the same image as a much larger object hundreds of metres away.

Several additional limitations reinforce this problem:

  • The video comes from a low-resolution mobile-phone camera with heavy compression typical of 2007 devices.
  • The object is not tracked against identifiable landmarks over a long period.
  • There are no simultaneous photographs, radar observations or independent calibrated recordings.
  • Camera shake dominates much of the sequence, making apparent object movement difficult to separate from movement of the phone itself.
  • The recording ends before the alleged departure can be analysed in detail frame by frame.[Unidentified Phenomena]unidentifiedphenomena.comtarbaca costa rica ufo incident 2007Unidentified PhenomenaTarbaca Costa Rica UFO Incident (2007) – Unidentified Phenomena…

These limitations mean that claims about extraordinary acceleration or unusual flight characteristics depend heavily on assumptions about distance. If the object were genuinely tens of metres away, some of the observed motion would appear remarkable. If instead it were suspended only a short distance from the camera, exactly the same image could be produced with comparatively modest movement.

This inability to determine scale distinguishes the Tarbaca case from evidence that contains known geometry or multiple observation points. It also explains why neither proponents nor sceptics have been able to produce a definitive physical reconstruction from the available footage.

1:00

2007 UFO Sighting in Costa Rica – Filmed on Motorola RAZR V3 by Marvin Badilla

Channel: UAP Files Podcast 🛸 · Views: 87.7K · Uploaded: October 2025 · Length: 1 minute

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The Model and Suspension-Line Explanations

The principal sceptical explanation is straightforward: the video may depict a relatively small model suspended close to the camera by a fine line or similar support.

Several features have encouraged this interpretation. Critics note that the object’s apparent size remains consistent with a nearby model, its movement resembles something swinging or being pulled rather than travelling through open air, and the abrupt change in direction near the end could reflect tension on a suspension line rather than advanced flight. Because the original recording lacks sufficient resolution, any fine support would be difficult—or impossible—to confirm or exclude visually.[Reddit]reddit.comStabilized and slow motion video of the Tarbaca, Costa Rica, 2007 UFOAugust 10, 2022…Published: August 10, 2022

The suspension-line hypothesis does not require sophisticated visual effects. A lightweight model filmed on a low-resolution phone under suitable lighting could produce an image difficult to distinguish from a more distant object. Early mobile-phone compression further obscures fine detail, reducing the evidential value of individual frames.

An additional controversy developed years later when online investigators pointed to social-media material suggesting that Badilla had experience constructing detailed models or miniatures. Some commentators argued that such a hobby would increase the plausibility of a practical hoax. Others responded that this association is circumstantial rather than evidential: building scale models does not demonstrate that the Tarbaca video itself was fabricated, and no direct evidence has emerged showing preparation of a prop matching the filmed object. The claim therefore remains an argument about opportunity rather than proof of deception.[Reddit]reddit.comStabilized and slow motion video of the Tarbaca, Costa Rica, 2007 UFOAugust 10, 2022…Published: August 10, 2022

Importantly, no publicly available investigation has produced physical evidence of a model, recovered prop, visible suspension apparatus or witness confession. The model explanation remains plausible because it fits the available imagery, not because it has been conclusively demonstrated.

Tarbaca Video illustration 2

Why the Debate Has Never Been Settled

Supporters of the video’s authenticity frequently emphasise that digital examinations have not identified obvious signs of computer-generated imagery or frame-by-frame compositing. Given the limitations of mobile-phone video from 2007, however, the absence of detectable editing does not eliminate simpler practical effects such as a suspended physical object filmed in-camera.[Unidentified Phenomena]unidentifiedphenomena.comtarbaca costa rica ufo incident 2007Unidentified PhenomenaTarbaca Costa Rica UFO Incident (2007) – Unidentified Phenomena…

Likewise, the witness’s apparently calm manner and consistent recollection support the view that Badilla believes he saw something unusual. Yet witness credibility and object identification are separate questions. A sincere witness can still misjudge distance, size or the nature of an unfamiliar object, while a convincing personal account cannot compensate for missing physical measurements.

The case therefore occupies an unusual position:

  • There is no persuasive evidence of digital manipulation.
  • There is equally no reliable way to establish the object’s true distance or dimensions.
  • The nearby-model explanation remains technically feasible.
  • The extraordinary-flight interpretation cannot be demonstrated from the surviving footage alone.[unidentifiedphenomena.com]unidentifiedphenomena.comtarbaca costa rica ufo incident 2007Unidentified PhenomenaTarbaca Costa Rica UFO Incident (2007) – Unidentified Phenomena…

OVNI Tarbaca - Costa Rica UFO

Channel: Madrigoloide

Open on YouTube

How the Tarbaca Video Fits Costa Rica’s UFO Record

Within Costa Rica’s broader UFO history, the Tarbaca recording illustrates the contrast between public impact and evidential strength.

It is unquestionably one of the country’s most famous modern UFO videos and continues to circulate widely online. Yet its evidential value is substantially weaker than the official provenance of the 1971 Lake Cote aerial photograph. Lake Cote benefits from documented government origins and surviving photographic material, even though its interpretation remains disputed. Tarbaca, by contrast, depends almost entirely on a brief consumer recording that cannot establish scale, range or physical behaviour with confidence.

For that reason, the Tarbaca case is best understood not as compelling proof of an extraordinary craft but as an instructive example of how ambiguity sustains UFO controversies. The video’s dramatic appearance keeps it alive in popular discussion, while its missing geometric information prevents either believers or sceptics from reaching a definitive conclusion. The nearby-model hypothesis remains one of the strongest conventional explanations precisely because the recording never supplies the measurements needed to rule it out.[unidentifiedphenomena.com]unidentifiedphenomena.comtarbaca costa rica ufo incident 2007Unidentified PhenomenaTarbaca Costa Rica UFO Incident (2007) – Unidentified Phenomena…

Tarbaca Video illustration 3

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Endnotes

1. Source: telediario.cr
Link:https://www.telediario.cr/videos/nacional/costarricense-vio-ovni-abro-camara-empiezo-grabar

Source snippet

Telediario Costa RicaCostarricense aseguró que grabó un ovni desde Tarbaca | VIDEO| Telediario Costa RicaJuly 28, 2021...

Published: July 28, 2021

2. Source: reddit.com
Link:https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/wkq40u

Source snippet

Stabilized and slow motion video of the Tarbaca, Costa Rica, 2007 UFOAugust 10, 2022...

Published: August 10, 2022

3. Source: ufo.com.br
Link:https://ufo.com.br/especialistas-analisam-ufo-costa-rica/

4. Source: telediario.cr
Link:https://www.telediario.cr/television/programas/nacional-costarricense-aseguro-que-grabo-un-ovni-desde-tarbaca-video

5. Source: lateja.cr
Link:https://www.lateja.cr/nacional/ovni-grabado-por-peon-en-tarbaca-mantiene-gran/WGDJBJWJQ5BBHDU2NOY2K3EL7I/story/

6. Source: unidentifiedphenomena.com
Title: tarbaca costa rica ufo incident 2007
Link:https://unidentifiedphenomena.com/incidents/tarbaca-costa-rica-ufo-incident-2007/

Source snippet

Unidentified PhenomenaTarbaca Costa Rica UFO Incident (2007) – Unidentified Phenomena...

7. Source: lateja.cr
Link:https://www.lateja.cr/nacional/revista-espanola-publico-reportaje-sobre/CIBDHOVQ3NFTTE62MSMCPUK5ZE/story/

8. Source: lateja.cr
Link:https://www.lateja.cr/nacional/periodista-de-teletica-habla-sobre-ovni-de-tarbaca/BZ2263V7NJHCTH6Z44UQS3A5KI/story/

Additional References

9. Source: mysterylores.com
Title: costa rica ufo sighting 2007 debunked
Link:https://mysterylores.com/news/costa-rica-ufo-sighting-2007-debunked/

Source snippet

April 25, 2026 — HAS 2007 COSTA RICA UFO SIGHTING BEEN DISCREDITED? | REACTIONS SPARK DEBATE By Sophia Lark Apr 25, 2026, 11...

Published: April 25, 2026

10. Source: unexplained.co
Title: costa rica ufo sighting 2007
Link:https://www.unexplained.co/news/costa-rica-ufo-sighting-2007

Source snippet

2007 Costa Rica UFO Sighting: Why the Motorola Razr Video Won’t Die | UnexplainedApril 15, 2026 — Image: The 2007 Costa Rica UFO Sighting...

Published: April 15, 2026

11. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mCr8bCfhW0

Source snippet

Increíble avistamiento OVNI en Tarbaca, Costa Rica. Entrevista con el testigo...

Published: November 20, 2007

12. Source: youtube.com
Title: El Ovni que sacudio Costa Rica
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ykN9Hdr-9o

Source snippet

2007 UFO Sighting in Costa Rica – Filmed on Motorola RAZR V3 by Marvin Badilla...

13. Source: youtube.com
Title: Increíble avistamiento OVNI en Tarbaca, Costa Rica. Entrevista con el testigo
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n9FGFewCMk

Source snippet

El Ovni que sacudio Costa Rica - El caso de Marvin Badilla. EL VIDEO TE SORPRENDERA...

14. Source: youtube.com
Title: OVNI Tarbaca
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5B7fYlAijY

Source snippet

Costa Rica 2007 Marvin Badilla 2007-11-20 UFO in Tarbaca, Cantón of Aserrí, San José, Costa Rica (By Marvin Badilla) Luis Andrés Jasperse...

Published: November 20, 2007

15. Source: boards.4chan.org
Link:https://boards.4chan.org/x/2/thread/37470695/thread/8

Source snippet

4chan.org/x/ - Paranormal - Page 2 - 4chanApril 13, 2026 — [Input] Anonymous 04/16/26(Thu)08:09:46 No.42254726 > >>42246282 > Low iq take...

Published: April 13, 2026

16. Source: donwi.com
Link:https://www.donwi.com/H/paranormales/ovni/4/

17. Source: donwi.com
Link:https://www.donwi.com/H/paranormales/ovni/4/index.htm

18. Source: skepticalinquirer.org
Link:https://skepticalinquirer.org/2015/01/the-trent-ufo-photosbest-of-all-timefinally-busted/