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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
President for bringing this matter to his notice, and has promised to try and do something officially. We expect to hear from him in the near future. Plans are in mind for radio presentation of UFO research and results; the broadcasting people have been approached and discussions are continuing. A number of skilled Radio and Electronics men have recently joined our forces, promising experiments and developments are in the wind: more on this later. Membership enquiries are being received at an ever increasing rate, the majority of the enquirers immediately joining our ranks on receiving our proforma listing C.S.I. objects, aims, and conditions of membership. MR. ELLIS DUDGEON, A.R.P.S., F.R.S.A., Emerson Medallist. P.O. Box 152, Nelson. N.Z. Mr. Dudgeon, Nelson member of C.S.I., is a most qualified photographer. Remember he closely examined Mr. Gibbon's 9th Sept., 1954, "UFO Photographs" and declared them to be 100 percent genuine. Now Mr. Dudgeon has kindly forwarded to C.S.I. prints of a photograph he recently snapped at a Nelson air Pageant, of a Devon Aircraft almost eclipsing the sun which was at the Zenith (directly overhead). On developing, this particular negative showed a "ghost" of the tiny "saucer-shaped" unshielded portion of the sun and the "corona-like" halo, duplicating the real image, but cast to the rear and remote from it. Mr. Dudgeon explains how this is caused by the camera lens "optical abbreviation" affect, and how this similar but reversed image could look like a saucer being ejected from a semi-visible nebula - mother ship. One or two examples of these camera lens "ghosts" have unfortunately appeared in creditable books as photographic evidence, explains Mr. Dudgeon. We thank our Nelson member for the prints and explanations forwarded, the material will be included in the projected display. ## MR. G.R. NANKIVELL, F.R.A.S.: member of the Royal N.Z. Astronomical Society, recently forwarded to C.S.I. the details of a personal observation of an "Unidentified Flying Object" which he witnessed from his home in Christchurch at 10.21 p.m. on the 20th December, 1954. Mr. Nankivell was seeing a friend off from the front gate when his attention was first drawn to flashes of fluctuating light on the house across the road from his home. On quickly turning about he saw a disc object at approximately 60° elevation, West South West, about half diameter of the moon, glowing with a dirty yellow colour. Shortly afterwards the object disappeared with a radial (directed away) movement from the observer. Mr. Nankivell gives all other necessary details, explains how he could not reconcile his observation with anything astronomical, electrical, meteoric, or atmospheric phenomena. He classified his observation as apparently coming under the heading "Unidentified Flying Object". We sincerely thank Mr. Nankivell for forwarding the particulars of his observation, so expressing confidence in our work. UFO'S NOT MADE ON EARTH: In early February this year, Len Stringfield, publisher of C.R.I.F.O. NEWSLETTER, and close associate of Donald Keyhoe, wrote the O.P.I. Defense Dept, Washington, to reaffirm the periodic official Air Force statements denying that UFO's are of Russian or U.S. origin. The closing paragraph of a letter received in reply, dated February 16th stated, "We have been experimenting with new type aircraft and missiles for a long time, possibly some of them have been reported as Unidentified Flying Objects. However, the number of such sightings would be negligible. We have nothing that spins through the air like a disc, pulsates, glows, dematerializes, changes colour, goes from a standing still position to supersonic speed, or can turn at square angles in full flight, as some sighters report." Signed: Robert C. White. Captain, U.S.A.F. Capt. Ruppelt, (Ex-head U.S.A.F. "Project Bluebook") in a letter to Len Stringfield who requested a statement from him, said, "I am afraid that until my forthcoming book is cleared by the Air Force and published, I'll have to stick to what I said in my "True" article, "If UFO's exist they are interplanetary. As for them being of U.S., or any other worldly development, I can categorically deny this."
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.