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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.
“The Advance”22 pages
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
# FLYING SAUCERS? NELSON EV. MATT OBJECTS SEEN IN SKY 10 SEP 1954 PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE A Nelson man, Mr K. M. Gibbons, while home on holiday from Blenheim where he has been living for some time, has taken what he believes to be four photographs of flying saucers. At about 2.20 o'clock yesterday morning Mr Gibbons saw three objects in the sky in a northerly direction from his home at Atawhai. He got his 35 millimetre camera, fitted a telephoto lens and took two shots of the three objects before the two outside ones turned on their edge and disappeared at great speed vertically. Mr Gibbons then took three shots of the remaining object and took a fourth as it left, again vertically but at a much slower speed. Telling his story to "The Mail" today and showing photographs of what he claims to have been flying saucers, Mr Gibbons said he had been lying awake for some time and went to the kitchen for a drink of water. After sighting the objects he watched for about two minutes before thinking to get his camera. The objects were tilted at an angle, were bluey in colour and had a small dark-coloured area in their centres. He had thought at first that they were reflections from car headlights. The two outside ones, which were wobbling when he first saw them, turned on their edges and streaked upwards while diverging in a V shape. He took three shots of the remaining saucer before it turned flat and also began to wobble. It left vertically at a much slower speed than the others and changed colour slightly to become more white as it started to move. Mr Gibbons took one shot as it was leaving which showed as a blur when printed yesterday. He then looked at his watch which showed 2.25 o'clock. Mr. Gibbons said the saucers were out over the mud flat and appeared to be only about a quarter of a mile away from him. He estimated them as being between 300 and 400 feet above ground level. It was quite a bright night and the objects were well below the cloud base. Mr Gibbons watched the sky for some time but as there was nothing further to be seen he did not wake any one else in the house. He did not even tell his parents at breakfast. As soon as he could he had the film developed which showed the cylindrical objects with the dark centres quite clearly. ## CHECK ON RESTAURANTS ## (By Airmail) Tokio health authorities found most restaurants, in government buildings were "lilthy and insanitary" during a spot check recently. Worst offenders were the Metropolitan Police Department. The only Ministry to pass with a clean bill of health was the Welfare Ministry—to which the health authorities belong.—Reuter. ## MYSTERIOUS OBJECT IN THE SKY This is a photograph of one of the three objects seen in the sky from Atawhai by Mr K. M. Gibbons early.yesterday morning. An account of Mr Gibbons's experience is published on this page. # AUSTRALIAN PRESS CUTTINGS # Stalbridge Chambers 443 Little Collins Street Melbourne, Victoria # Flying Saucer Reports Pose Puzzle in Britain LONDON: Two people described to the Sunday Dispatch a "huge circular flying machine surrounded by brilliant flame-coloured light" seen hovering over hamlets in Hampshire (Somerset) during the week. The Dispatch said: "The Air Ministry is puzzling over this extraordinary phenomenon, which is described as a "perfume" example of a flying saucer," observed from only 20 yards. So far no natural cause has been found. Just a spare clipping giving brief details of the English incidents that occurred at approx the same time as the similar Melbourne incidents mentioned in the leading article of our June issue Nigel Frapple. (18) and Doreen Heffer saw the object independently hours apart. Both agreed it was circular and emitted flame-coloured light from a central cockpit. The object hovered for more than a minute, then sped off practically silent except for a slight swish. Frapple, who was cycling home at 2 a.m. jumped from his cycle, hid behind a hedge and watched the object hovering over the field. Frapple said: "The body seemed to be metal. I watched it for more than a minute and tried to follow it on my cycle when it moved, but it was too fast." Miss Heffer saw the object from a window. She at first thought it was a forest fire. The Dispatch also said the Swiss Air Ministry reported that an illuminated object was observed circling over Zurich on the night of June 11.
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