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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.
“Christchurch”32 pages
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# They have an eye on this date JUNE 1954 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 A small group of New Zealanders—and their associates overseas—are watching June 25, 1954. They expect flying saucer observations to hit an all-time high that day. If the saucers don't show up these people are going to be disillusioned. Their pet theory will be exploded. The People: Members of flying saucer investigating bodies. Their Theory: That flying saucers originate from Mars. Other planets are suspect, too, but Mars is the favourite. June 25 should decide. Mr H. H. Fulton, president of Civilian Saucer Investigation (N.Z.), thinks a lot of flying saucers or other mysterious objects may be sighted on June 25, because on that date Mars and the earth will be opposite each other, in a straight line with the sun, and only 40,300,000 miles apart. If the expected boom in flying saucer observations does not occur it will merely mean, he says, that the objects are not coming from Mars. He has no doubt they come from somewhere. ## The evidence But Mr Fulton claims that much evidence shows that many mysterious flying objects have been sighted during the "oppositions" of Mars and earth to the sun. That is why the investigators are picking on Mars as the base. September 11, 1956, should be another red-letter day for the observers. On that day there will be another "opposition," and Mars and the earth will be only 35,400,000 miles apart. They could scarcely get closer. If space craft do originate or operate from Mars and/or Venus, the moon will no doubt be used as an intermediate base, says Mr Fulton. This could possibly account for various signs of life of an "inexplicable" nature which astronomers have reported on the moon, he adds. They had noted apparently moving patches of a darker shade than the surrounding areas, moving lights and, most recently by leading lunar astronomers, a vast bridge-like construction spanning 20 miles in a perfectly straight line. Mr Fulton quotes Dr Percy Wilkin, director of the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association as saying: "It looks like a vast engineering job. It is almost incredible that such a formation could have happened from natural meteoric causes." # Flying saucer investigators claim victory Flying saucer investigators claim a victory. They say their February prediction of a "major flurry" of flying saucer sightings has come true. Early in the year the president of Civilian Sailer Investigations (N.Z.), Mr H. H. Fulton, said he expected a rush of flying saucers from late May, to early August. Today was to be the peak day for sightings because today the earth and Mars would be opposite the sun and only 40,300,000 miles apart. The theory was said to be based on past experience of these oppositions and the belief that the saitcers come from Mars. Basically, says Mr. Fulton, his prediction has proved correct, though, as a result of information received from overseas, he now expects the peak sightings a few weeks hence, rather than today. This will be in accord with past overseas experience, he says. Mr Fulton expects flying saucers to start landing any time now. He says that since the sighting of 15 disc-shaped mystery craft by three topdressing pilots over Taranaki on May 24, an impressive number of sightings from many parts of New Zealand has reached his organization. In most cases there were plenty of witnesses." Overseas reports have been coming in as well. Mr Fulton would like any one who has information on the subject to write to him at Box 1014, Auckland. THE AUCKLAND STAR, FRIDAY, JUNE 25. 1954 AGE ## U.S. university may buy papers left by H. G. Wells LONDON.—Mr. Bertram Rota, a London bookseller, stated that his nearly completed negotiations for the sale of the complete literary remains of H. G. Wells to the University of Illinois at Urbana. Mr Rota said the transaction had been negotiated for the executors of the Wells estate. The price, he said, was "very substantial." and one of the purposes of the purchase by the university was to provide the head of the English Literature Department there. Professor G. N. Ray, with material to write a biography, of Wells. Mr Rota stated, that the material included hand-written scripts, typescripts, revised and re-revised in Wells' hand, proofs and corrected proofs. There were also about 1000 copies of his books, many of them bearing inscriptions by the author to his wife. Some of the copies had been corrected for new editions, with marginal notes, some had been decorated by Wells with pen and ink drawings. There were also letters from Tolstoy, Bernard Shaw, G. K. Chesterton, Einstein and T. E. Lawrence, Sir Winston Churchill, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, and Lord Beaverbrook. The Press , always add the sensation Twist , but 25th June. STATEMENT NEAR CORRECT : There is to my knowledge approx 15 . alluded . Londres , accredited to the July Now . Period of 1912 . SIMILAR HAPPENINGS ON GRANDER SCALE EXPECTED THIS TIME.
Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 445 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.