'It looks like a living organism': California man's mysterious photo captures imagination

Michael Kennedy is used to capturing beautiful sights on camera. 

He once took a photograph that turned out to be of a rare black wolf in his community. He has also taken quite a few shots of Lake Tahoe.

Last week, he added another stunning photo to his collection – lights and crystals captured on film that came together to look like a gauntlet, shimmering in the sky.

He was sitting at his desk around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday when he noticed the phenomenon of shimmering light in the sky. He coined the term ‘cosmic chalice’ due to its shape. 

“The most amazing anomaly I've ever seen in my lifetime,” he told USA TODAY during an interview Monday morning. “I'm sitting at my desk and it found me. You go all over the world to search and this thing is just floating in front of your face where you live at your desk. That's just incredible.”

He and his wife, Nicola, took photos of it. Eventually the couple shared the photos online, compelling ecstatic social media users to chime in. 

Some said it looked like a martini glass, he recalled. Others said it was spiritual and reminded them of God.

He looked at replies from the public and came up with a name for his latest subject – a ‘cosmic chalice.’

“If you look at the video, it looks like a living organism, moving about,” he said. “It was unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Man’s love for photography helped him meet his wife

Kennedy is from Florida and just over four years ago moved to Olympic Valley, near popular ski resort Palisades Tahoe.

He calls his photography and exploration a “search for awe” and said he likes to photograph juniper trees. 

He has even captured photos of the sunrise over a post office building near his home that’s kind of an eyesore to him, he said.

“I've captured photographs over the four years I've lived here of these sensational sunrises and sunsets and other anomalies,” he said. "Just out of nowhere, just this incredible sight. I'm literally sitting at my desk.”

When he first moved to the area in June 2019, he saw what he thought was black bear on a hill. Against his better judgment, he moved closer to get a photo. 

As he inched closer, he realized it wasn’t a black bear at all. It was a black wolf that he described as “huge.” He shared his photo of the black wolf on Facebook and got 3,000 likes in a matter of days.

“Everyone was telling me ‘That’s uncommon. It just doesn’t happen here,’” he recalled. “No one saw him since and no one saw him before.”

Shortly after uploading the photo and it gaining popularity, a woman from England named Nicola sent him a friend request. He accepted and the pair had a two-year friendship, he said.

The pair eventually married and now they live together in Olympic Valley, sharing photos of their travels online.

Kennedy hasn’t seen the wolf since then but his memory of it lives on through his website, where he shares his photos and writes blogs about them. 

He wanted to name the site “Black Wolf Gallery” after the wolf he saw back in 2019, but that name wasn’t available. He then decided on www.bluewolfgallery.com.

Photographer uses an iPhone to capture images of Lake Tahoe, other natural areas

At first glance, the photos on Kennedy’s website look like they were taken with a specialized lens or camera made specifically for capturing natural phenomena.

But no, he said. That’s not the case for him. This visual storyteller’s photos were all taken with his iPhone 13 Pro Plus. 

He has a 35-millimeter camera he loaned to his daughter but found it inconvenient to use himself. He likes that he can take really good photos on his phone, he said. It’s great since he likes to visit a lot of places.

“I don't have a big camera,” he said. “I don't have lenses. I don't bulk up. I just keep this in my pocket, climb up mountains, go to the lake, climb over boulders and snap the shots.”

Keep up with the Kennedy family at www.bluewolfgallery.com, www.facebook.com/MichaelKennedy999 and www.instagram.com/michael_kennedy999.