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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.
“Hamilton”28 pages
of flying saucers. Further, except for the very short-lived effects in the wake of meteorites, ionised gases in the quantities required appear rarely to exist at heights as low as 35 miles. Meteors and Meteorites It has been known for many years that radio energy is reflected by meteors, and knowledge of the fact has proved valuable in the hands of astronomers. Meteors reach the outer fringe of the earth's atmosphere in numbers as high as 100,000 per hour but only very few survive long enough to come within the range of radar, the majority being vaporized by frictional heat. Meteors approach the earth at all angles of incidence, from vertical to glancing, and at velocities in the order of 10,000 m.p.h. Radar responses from these astronomical targets appear to be rare; but such targets may produce responses at any range or altitude, subject only to the capabilities of the radar set itself and to the size of the meteor. Unlike aircraft and balloons the presence of these meteorological and astronomical targets cannot be verified after the event except in the most general way: by carefully sifting operators' reports, and studying meteorological conditions on the paths of expected meteor showers at the time of the incident, it is often possible to produce a tentative explanation for the responses but, because of the transitory nature of the target, it is seldom conclusive. ## Radar Equipment Interference Another possibility which deserves consideration is interference from other radar equipment. Generally, the cause of this type of spurious response is immediately obvious but it can happen that the characteristics of the two radar sets bear such a relationship that the interference gives rise to one, sometimes two, bright spots on the radar tube, which may for a short time exhibit some of the characteristics of an actual target. Even in this case, the true nature of the response can usually be quickly determined except when the interfering radar set is mobile and the operator is unaware of its presence, ## Investigation The investigation of reports of flying saucers presents very apparent difficulties, the major one of which is that, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the scent is completely cold. It is only fair to point out that in every other case, i.e., when reports are telephoned and promptly checked on the spot, the sighted object has been identified as a balloon or a conventional aircraft. For the investigation of cold-scent reports/
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