Could the race for Pennsylvania's 10th District Congressional seat turn on a 1989 photo?

We are about to find out.

The image, to be sure, is jarring on its face.

There's Democratic nominee George Scott, then a captain in the U.S. Army, pointing a gun at what would appear to be the head of an unidentified captive in a photo taken nearly 30 years ago. The "captive" is actually another American soldier in what was intended as a comic image, Scott said. The weapon was unloaded, he said.

Scott is challenging U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a York County Republican, in what has emerged as one of Pennsylvania's most competitive congressional battlegrounds for a seat encompassing Dauphin and parts of Cumberland and York counties.

Scott said the photo was taken at or near completion of Operation Just Cause in Panama, the 1989-90 mission in which U.S. troops were asked to oust dictator Manuel Noreiga and protect American citizens.

The image shows Scott grinning with a colleague in a Panamanian forces hat. Scott said they are celebrating the successful end of a mission. The finger, Scott supporters add, is not on the trigger.

The image began being circulated on social media and in GOP party circles Friday night.

In a race that could be critical in the battle to determine which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives, the question for both campaigns is: How much does this matter with voters?

Perry's campaign is hoping it will resonate and is planning to use the picture in broadcast advertisements through the last days of the campaign, according to sources. Election Day is Tuesday.

There's a fundamental question the image raises about George Scott's judgment, a campaign source said Friday night.

"When you're going through this campaign, it's kind of like the ultimate job interview, right?," said the Perry source, who asked not to be identified because the ad in question had not aired yet.

"If you were the human resources person for any employer and you are interviewing someone for a job, and someone passes something like that along to you, does that give you pause?"

It's the question the Perry campaign wants voters to ponder over the next four days.

Scott's forces couldn't disagree more.

His top campaign staff railed at the late turn of events Friday that, in their view, only showed how fearful Perry, a three-term incumbent, and the GOP are about losing his seat.

In a statement issued after he completed a Friday night campaign event, Scott owned up to the picture. But he also indicated he believes it really has little relevance to the mission he's tackling this year.

He said:

"This photo from 29 years ago, with an unloaded weapon, was taken with fellow service members to symbolize the arrest of Dictator Manuel Noriega, a man responsible for the killing of a U.S. Marine, threatening U.S. citizens, and flooding our streets with narcotics.

"I was proud to serve my country in Operation Just Cause and throughout my 20 years on active duty. I look forward to getting back to the issues that matter to the people of the 10th District."

The photo emerges as polls show the 10th District race as too close to call, and with A-list reinforcements dropping in. Former Vice President Joe Biden will be in Harrisburg for an event to boost Scott's campaign Sunday. Vice President Mike Pence visited Lancaster County to aid Perry and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker last week.

Some context

At the time of the photo, Scott was a 27-year-old captain with the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade.

Operation Just Cause started on Dec. 20, 1989. Major military operations took just five days; by that time, Noriega had taken sanctuary in the Vatican's embassy in Panama. He surrendered to American forces on Jan. 3, 1990.

And the mock prisoner?

Yancy Stermer, reached Friday night by PennLive, was a little distressed that what he remembers as a good moment from his military career - a celebration of a win - is being weaponized for politics.

"We were making a videotape that was going to go our families back at Fort Bragg, to let them know how we were doing," Stermer recalled. He said he was Scott's first sergeant at the time.

"It was actually a light-hearted time, and I can remember everybody was in good spirits."

Stermer said at some point during a break in the taping, he reached for the Panamanian hat and mirrored sunglasses to portray Noriega, "being a goofball." That's when the photo was snapped, he said.

He could not recall who suggested the pose with Scott. But Stermer said he considered it all part of the larger celebration: "We got the guy that the president wanted us to get."

The image circulates

The photo first emerged in late October.

One source of the photo is apparently another non-commissioned officer, whose identity could not be learned Friday night, who also served with Scott.

He shared it with Carlisle resident John Rovegno earlier this fall, after Rovegno, a retired Army colonel and declared Perry supporter, began asking friends and former colleagues what they knew about Scott.

One of those friends, Rovegno said, put him in contact with the sergeant, who does not live in Pennsylvania, and the picture was exchanged.

Rovegno has since sent it to several news outlets in the district, including PennLive. He argued that it reflects poorly on Scott's professionalism as an officer.

He did not, Rovegno said, send it to the Perry campaign. But it raised a lot of questions for him about Scott's judgment, he said.

"The very first thing we teach people is do not ever point a weapon at someone unless you're planning on shooting them," Rovegno said.

Told of the Scott campaign's explanation, he added, "I've been with foreign military forces where they use the term 'celebratory fire' and shoot rounds into the air.

"But I've never seen a U.S. soldier shoot a weapon in the air, and I've never seen a U.S. soldier pointing a weapon at somebody else."

George Scott, right, after taking a re-enlistment oath from his former 1st. Sgt. Yancy Stermer.

Defending Scott

A friend of Scott shot back with his own take.

Retired Maj. Gen. George Franz said he did not serve with Scott in Operation Just Cause. After reviewing the photo Friday, he acknowledged that the faux Noriega pose does not meet with any kind of military protocol.

But he also said, in real life, "I see it as soldiers at the end of a tense, successful operation kind of blowing off a little steam."

Franz, a Maryland resident, described himself as a friend and former colleague whose career intersected with Scott's several times over the years. Franz said if he were Scott's superior at the time and he had learned of the photo, "he (Scott) would have gotten an ass-chewing... and I would have expected he learned the lesson - don't do it again."

But Franz said he sees it as little more than that, adding "I am frankly more disurbed that somebody who apparently served with George is recycling it to disrupt the campaign of an honorable guy."

That's the Scott campaign position, too.

Campaign Manager Jason O'Malley called the photo "a distraction from the real issues that are affecting the people of the 10th District, like access to affordable health care and jobs that pay living wages..."

O'Malley also blasted the Perry campaign for changing the tenor of a campaign that - while filled with hard shots about pre-existing conditions and Nancy Pelosi - had seen little personal mud-slinging.

"I think this is a low blow," O'Malley said.

Stermer, the former first sergeant who rallied to his former captain's defense Friday, sent PennLive a second photo that he said better reflects his memory of Scott. It's a picture taken of Scott supervising Stermer's re-enlistment.

Scott served in the Army for 20 years, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Perry also has an extensive background in the armed forces. He reached the rank of Brigadier General in the Army National Guard.