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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.
## 150 pds. / 10 / 62 - 8200 The air commodore slept on When he landed, he checked with references and decided positively that what he saw was Venus. low down on the horizon. He is still sure. In the meantime the Minister in charge of Civil Aviation, Mr Shand, has ordered an inquiry. The acting-Minister of Defence, Mr Halstead, has instructed that the Air Force co-operate. And Air Force Sergeant H. H. Fulton, at Whenuapai, has promised the support of Civilian Saucer Investigators, the saucer study group which he leads. ## [TEM 509] ## 一 Like the N.A.C. pilots, he hesitates to label it a "saucer," but has no clues on its origin or fact. Now air traffic control officer, at Hobsonville, he was on the plane, too, observing the mystery object for several Orange-red at first, it turned steel blue as he watched and seemed to move away quickly and disorientment A pilot with 2500 hours in his flying log, dating back to 1940, Mr A. R. Tuckett, may also be man Who saw the night first. More evidence, is likely from Captain W. T. Rainbow and First Officer S.G. Trounce, the man who saw the light first. well south. It eventually disappeared behind the land mass of the South Island. "The light was quite bright and pulsating. It gradually changed colour from orange through to yellow to a sort of bluish - white." \the passenger said. ## The light: No it was not Venus Tape recordings of the emergency flash message the crew sent on first sighting it have been replayed in the search for appear in a moment. "In all my flying I've never seen anything 'like it," he said today. Air Force Intelligence officers have ruled out Venus as the source of the mystery light National Airways crew members say tailed their airliner on Monday night. But all-day investigations, including questioning of the two N.A.C. pilots involved, have produced no alternative suggestion. They have discarded this theory held by the Inspector-General of the R.N.Z.A.F., Air. Commode. R. J. Cohen, a passenger on the plane. bigger than usual on an aircraft. "It passed us in uncanny silence. The most remarkable fact was the absence of any noise. It was visible to us for about four minutes before vanishing into a cloud bank." Mr Paul said he stayed outside for some time in the hope of catching another glimpse of the object. A little while later an aircraft (later identified as an R.N.Z.A.F. Sunderland) flew at right angles to the object's course with its landing lights blinking. He said it was "completely different from the other object." ver. NOW taxi iver saw the object firs said M Paul yesterday. "We wer going down Hendon Avenue about 1'a.m., and the object was flying parallel with us and to the south. "At first there was a swishing noise, rather like a jet. It appeared to be a long object with three or four lighted windows, but the windows were much bigger than usual on aircraft.
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