Real Alien Photo Shuts Down 4 Chan?

On February 22nd this year, a very strange event occurred on the forum website 4 chan.
A profile was created which subsequently posted content on 4 chan, what was interesting about this profile was the picture chosen as its thumbnail.

Those who witnessed the photo concluded that it was somehow of a real alien, taken somewhere in a desert setting.

Initial descriptions were as follows, -dark scaled looking texture.
-large eyes
-thin lips
- standing in front of two trees one with leaves and one without. 

Another witness stated that the Picture was a reptilian scaled yellow alien with purple bags under its eyes, black eyes, apparently taking a "selfie" in a desert background with a tree, it was a side profile, had an hour glass head, and small pursed lips.

As quickly as users began to investigate it, the entire 4 chan website mysteriously went down, in an event unheard of on the site, when it came back online, all data pertaining to the profile had been deleted from the 4 chans servers.

Some stating that there was evidence of a warrant being issued, and certain information within the 4 chans servers had permanently vanished.

Whats more, those who managed to download the image soon found it somehow wiped from their personal hard drives.

However, some were even smart enough to log the pictures core data, successfully reverse searching for the images origin. 

This investigation apparently confirmed that the picture was taken some 40 miles from Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona.

The images background has also been identified as Arizona, a location notorious for ufo sightings.
While the original image was reportedly “high quality,” the only saved copies now in existence are of poor quality.

Did a real alien upload a selfie to 4chan? 

It is highly suspicious that the file should vanish, and clearly gives credence to a conspiracy and cover up.

Was this part of the first stages of an alien disclosure to the public? A leak? Or was it just an elaborate hoax?

The day after the event a noticeable debunking effort was made across the boards of 4 chan.
Successfully classifying the event as a hoax.

It may now be impossible to confirm if the mysterious image was authentic.
Though the heavy efforts to persuade people it was a hoax should be quite telling to all those involved.

Proof of aliens, it seems, may have to wait for another day.