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NZDF declassified RNZAF UFO files

NZDF / RNZAF via Internet Archive · 2010-12 · 445 pages · text by OCR

This is a New Zealand Defence Force public release of RNZAF file AIR 39/3/3, "Flying Saucers," which covers 1952 to 1955 and was declassified in September 2010 under the Official Information Act. It collects sighting reports from the public and military personnel, press clippings, and a table of 1952 sightings. It also holds Carter Observatory opinions attributing some reports to meteors. A large part covers the inquiry into lights seen from National Airways Corporation Flight 108 on 31 October 1955, which the RNZAF could not fully explain as Venus.

  • p. 11 …I have never seen a planet move like that. My co-pilot (First Officer S G…
  • p. 22 …I can only add if anyone believes my something they have never seen then here's…
  • p. 50 …they have landed, someplace, but I have never been able to track it down, but as…
  • p. 51 …the space people? A. It was not. Never deliberate on their part, but our aggression and…
  • p. 52 …Well I was taken pretty close to one other planet like that of Venus but never…
  • p. 53 …to class-room, for graduation which is never attained because eternity is eternity. Do they have…
  • p. 62 …lot on this great took it has never been strong yet I gave my standing son…
  • p. 72 …I never read who-dunnits, and I shun thrillers like poison; I suppose I have to…
  • p. 91 …such things for personal files but have never had copies made. I can see the value…
  • p. 97 …g) No peculiarities except that I have never observed its like before. (h) Solid in appearance…
  • p. 126 …moment. "In all my flying I've never seen anything 'like it," he said today. Air…
  • p. 137 …Someplace, but I have never been able to track it down, but as far as I…
  • p. 138 …the space people? A. It was not. Never deliberate on their part, but our aggression and…
  • p. 139 …Well I was taken pretty close to one other planet like that of Venus but never…
  • p. 140 …to class-room, for graduation which is never attained because eternity is eternity. Q. Do they…
  • p. 145 …we are making them," stated Mr. Quarles. Never in the history of our subject have I…
  • p. 151 …I have never said that the Big Four gathered to discuss the question of the UFO…
  • p. 152 …The real issues at Geneva are not yet known, and may never be, but we are…
  • p. 157 …a subjective reason why more stories have never been related, especially so, where PROMINENT PEOPLE are…
  • p. 158 …Wallace's mother, whom we later interviewed, claimed that her son had never been so frightened…
  • p. 167 …the phenomenon of Horseheads, N.Y., may never be known. ## ******* ## THE SWEDISH GHOST ROCKETS by S…
  • p. 172 …ALTHOUGH THE STORY WAS WIDELY REPORTED, IT WAS NEVER PUBLISHED IN FULL OUTSIDE SCANDINAVIA. NOW Flying…
  • p. 174 …I was never more than three or four minutes walk from the girls, and I reckon…
  • p. 176 …to time in the area, but they never heard of them flying at night. "What I…
  • p. 183 …He could not say whether or not it might be a meteor as he had never…
  • p. 201 …Besides, you never know what they could do to you . . . There is no material we know…
  • p. 213 …Church-because of the probability that they never contracted "original sin." ## Flying Discs Sir,—Periodically, Mr…
  • p. 216 …phenomena, there are many individuals who have never reported "sightings" of their own or knowledge. Hope…
  • p. 222 …France, never to be outdone, when it comes to autumn tourist attractions, has also had its…
  • p. 223 …It is necessary for me to state here that I would never falsely colour or manufacture…
  • p. 224 …They said this because they had never seen a modern deep-water diving suit. What they…
  • p. 231 …first reports were immediately followed by a never-ending chain of fantastic stories mostly created by…
  • p. 242 …I do not know what it was, I have never seen such an object before. President…
  • p. 248 …We have never heard of & find it difficult to imagine any meteors or aurorae presenting such…
  • p. 249 …He says that he and his companions never thought of flying saucers, being sure that it…
  • p. 254 …Civil Aviation Dept for some years, but never with the openness and seriousness of these last…
  • p. 256 # ore Observers Confirm # "NORTHERN ADVOCATE" # Seeing Strange Object 凯6 NOV 195本 "I HAVE never seen anything…
  • p. 257 …the man and his family. "I have never seen anything like it in my life," he…
  • p. 263 …or Martians, they reiterate that astronomers have never made any observations which could indicate a high…
  • p. 271 …With this weight of evidence you could well ask why saucers have never been, officially accepted…
  • p. 272 …chances are greater—a planet we have never even heard of. But wherever they come from…
  • p. 273 …I have never seen a saucer—but at least I have seen Mars! Vow the first…
  • p. 280 Acura shall call the existing currency All Min the Prairie neverer less len Qian FILE. for…
  • p. 286 …The world may never know, although he definitely has had a hand in the disk project…
  • p. 302 …observing of evidences, while those who have never seen a flying saucer make a show by…
  • p. 306 …In 18 years of flying I have never seen anything like it. If it had been…
  • p. 307 …and not forgetting those very important ones never to be forgotten sightings. We sincerely hope you…
  • p. 308 …likes light reading as well, but can never find the time now, so great is the…
  • p. 320 …Another official said that the Air Force had never accepted this theory. By classifying sightings as…
  • p. 321 …I never saw it happen before. If the acceleration explanation is true, then the speeds involved…
  • p. 324 …The Air Force has never denied that such a possibility exists. Some of the personnel believe…
  • p. 332 …more closely, I am sure they would never be so keen to rashly debunk it. Right…
  • p. 356 …These have never been confused with flying saucers as some sources of information contend. Recent events…
  • p. 367 …happenings in the sky that science had never been able satisfactorily to explain. Unger, beginning in…
  • p. 373 …Forefathers, the great majority of their ranks never dreamed of or envisaged that which is ordinary…
  • p. 401 …nuclli open to doubt because there have never been reports of them from sailors, astronomers and…
  • p. 416 …to bright red. "I wish I had never seen it," he said. "It's too fantastic…
  • p. 436 …In spite of all the flying saucer reports all over the world, science has never been…
7. 6 Venus was in the general direction as reported by all concerned on the first sighting.

7. 6.1 The light fluctuation, or twinkling is a common occurrence for planets at low altitude, contrary to the generalisation of text-books that planets shine with a steady light. The prismatic effect of the atmosphere at such altitudes also causes changes of colour, and it is understood that the object was reddish with occasional flashes of green or blue. This is to be expected.

7. 6.2 Some of the reports indicate a fairly large object. This may be either psychological after attention has been actively directed to an object for an interval of time, or could be due to a halo effect in the atmosphere producing an apparent enlargement.

The well known illusion of the apparent enlargement of objects near the horizon (e.g. the rising moon) must also be considered. This could well compensate any diminution of brightness due to atmospheric extinction.

7. 6.3 Some confusion was at first caused by the impression of the captain of the aircraft that the object moved relatively from abaft to before the beam. With the aircraft on course 350 True, and assuming the object to be Venus at bearing 245 True, the relative bearing would be Red 105 or only 015 abaft the beam. Unless expert airmanship evidence can state otherwise I consider it would not require undue yawing to bring such an object abeam on the wing tip or ahead. I understand that one witness considers the object remained on a steady relative bearing abeam. Such being the case, the evidence for Venus is increased, and it is difficult to say whether the observer would clearly distinguish from eye alone, relative bearings anywhere between Red 090 and Red 110. So far as I can ascertain no accurate bearing or relative bearing observations are available.

FILE

7. 6.4 At the times of sighting the altitude of Venus was such that it would have been approaching or in the horizon plane of the aircraft. This can be seen from the data in Section 3.

7. 6.5 Air Commodore Cohen, and several of the other witnesses ascribed the appearance to a planet on the first sighting.

7. 6.6 At the first sighting, Venus in relation to Mount Egmont, would have an apparent motion due to the motion of the aircraft.

From all the above considerations it is suggested that the planet Venus was the object responsible for the reports, unless new evidence is produced to completely eliminate such a possibility.

## 8. GENERAL CONCLUSION:

## 9. RECOMMENDATION:

In the next few weeks, aircraft on the same flight might watch out to confirm this appearance. Venus is rapidly becoming

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Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 445 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.