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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.
“Sea”47 pages
## FLYING SAUCERS On the assumption that Venus has yet to evolve an intelligence, and that Mars may have reached this stage of evolution many millions of years ago, it would appear that Mars is the most likely planet to possess intelligent beings. The possibility of space travellers from another planetary system is unlikely as even travelling at half the velocity of light-- about 335 million m.p.h. it would take nearly nine years to come from the nearest star, which quite possibly doesn't possess a planetary system in any case. COMING CLOSER: As Mars takes about twice as long as the earth to whirl in its space orbit around the sun, it comes into close proximity with the earth every two years and fifty days. At these times of opposition, the separation distance between the planets varies between about 35 and 63 million miles. One would expect a Martian space traveller to prefer journeying during these periods rather than the three or four hundred million miles' flight path necessary about a year later. If the number of reports of "saucers" per month are graphed against time, there are noticeable peaks occurring in 1947-8, 1950, 1952 and now 1954, the principal peaks coinciding fairly well with the times of close opposition with Mars. There appears, therefore, to be some justification in making a further hypothesis. THIRD HYPOTHESIS: These machines originate from the planet Mars. If the problems of space travel for Martians are such that distances of the order of fifty million miles are considered large, then, there should be considerab in-flux of space visitors during the next few weeks, as on July 2 earth and Mars will be closer together than they have been for 15 years- actual opposition occurred on June 25. They will be even closer during August 1956. However, it is unlikely that such distances present a great a great problem to these space travellers. How are these space-ships propelled? There comparative silence and long range eliminates the use of a chemical fuel. Our scientists are studying the possibility of using a nuclear reactor, or a conventional power plant to generate electric potentials capable of accelerating gaseous ions to an exhaust velocity almost equal to the velocity of light. Such an ion rocket would cut fuel consumption by a factor of many thousands, enabling considerably greater velocities and ranges to be attained. This type of rocket would operate only in the vacuum of space. When in an atmosphere either jet or conventional rocket propulsion would be required. However, reported observations of these space machinists would indicate that a far more refined method of propulsion is being used. Could they possibly have found some way of gaining energy from gravitational or electro-magnetic fields. A survey of some of the reports that have been made suggests that these space machines may hover for long periods, change (even reverse) direction rapidly, accelerate at a breath-taking rate and travel at many thousands of miles per hour. USUALLY TRANSLUCENT : There seem to be three principal shapes - disc, ellipsoidal--(football and cigar) and a shape that could possibly be likened to an inverted saucer with a domed super-structure. In addition, observations have allegedly of spherical, pear, doughnut and spoked wheel shapes. The material is usually translucent, and may be made luminescent apparently at will. They are often associated with bright white and coloured lights. Exhausts are often orange or yellow-orange, sometimes green or blue and do not necessarily burn continuously. Usually they are surprisingly silent. As observations continue to be made, the general picture should become clearer, and it may be possible to deduce answers to some of the mystifying quest
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