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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.
“Nevers”58 pages
## Climbed It was in sight for fully five minutes and when the aircraft climbed to 9000 feet to clear some cloud, the object climbed with it. Among the passengers were Air Commodore R. J. Cohen, inspector-general of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and an airline to cover the 10 miles between Albatross Point and what we call Hamilton West, the object covered 70 miles." pilot. "The pilot had seen the object when I spoke to him about it," commented Captain Rainbow, "and I woke up Air Commodore Cohen and pointed it out to him. We did not tell the women passengers in case it caused some alarm." His co-pilot, First Officer S.G. Trounce, also saw it. S. G. Trounce, also saw it. "It was definitely not an illusion," he added. "I know what a planet looks like and it was nothing like that. On the ground it is easy to get confused about these things, but when you're in the air and an object flies alongside of you, you cannot mistake that." ## Discussions Held Venus—not an errant outer space visitor. 4 NOV 1955 This is his evidence: "I was asleep when the pilot, Captain Rainbow, shook me awake." He told me he had seen something strange." That was the thing Captain Rainbow describes as 'like a marine beacon revolving with some kind of a porthole in it and changing colour, flying seven times faster than we were." Captain Rainbow and First Officer Trounce were in Wellington today and held discussions with the Director of Civil Aviation (Mr. E. A. Gibson) and senior officers of the Civil Air Administration. The log of the flight and the tape records of radio-telephone communications between plane and ground control were discussed at length with the officers of Flight Com- "I looked out," Air Commodore Cohen says. "I told him it was a planet—and promptly went back to sleep." That was the stage Captain Rainbow decided not to tell women passengers because the news might alarm them, and it was then, too, that his co-pilot, First Officer Trounce, agreed it was not a planet, but something flying alongside them. 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, and the acting Minister of Defence (Mr. Halstead) has instructed that the Air Force co-operate ## EXPERIENCE ## VARTIME Mr. Lumsden took off from England at 7 o'clock at night and landed bout an hour and a half later. Heew to the French coast and pinpointed himself over the mouth of le Somme. A wartime experience similar to that of the NAC crew was described day by Mr. B. C. Lumsden, of power Hutt, who was nying a Hurricane on intruder operations overrance in December, 1942, when heighted two lights which followed him or about 15 minutes. He was flying at 7000 feet when he saw two dim amber or orange piered lights climbing steadily side by side, with one slightly above the other. At first he thought it was tracerak, but stopped thinking that because of the slowness with which the lights climbed. He did a full turn and still saw the lights astern and port but larger and brighter than before. The lights were then level with him 7000ft and no longer climbing, ir. Lumsden recalled. He again made complete turn and found the lights ere staying behind him on the turn. the airliner neared Raglan, moved ahead to the north-west. Planets, said Captain Rainbow, do not do that. There was no question of the aircraft swinging to give that effect, he said, for he was flying on the automatic pilot. Another passenger, who could not be communicated with yesterday as he was on leave, was Mr. A. R. Tuckett, Air Traffic Officer at Hobsonville and a very experienced pilot, too, had watched the light, or,ighted object, or whatever it was, and had first expressed the opinion o Mr. Trounce that it was a planet, but later decided that that could not be so.
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