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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.
“Headquarters”37 pages
and reporting his cruising altitude as 19.500 ft. But on crossing the French coast at Dieppe this aircraft reported his position behind me. No aircraft reported crossing the French coast at a time that would have put in the position of the mystery craft. I was at once interested in my unchanging neighbour and began to check up on other aircraft in the vicinity. I noted the following facts: (I) Low fog had prevented aircraft not only leaving London Airport, but by and large most of the U.K. aerodromes up to approx 8.40 a.m. and I was the fourth to take off from London. (2) The three preceding me were a D.C.4. to Amsterdam, the Elizabethan to Nice, and a D.C.3. to Brussels. (3) No civilian aircraft leaving Northolt would comply with the height, direction etc., of the mystery craft. This eliminated all civilian aircraft flying from U.K. to France. I was left with the possibility of a Service jet or an Air France Comet. We ruled out the later possibilities because neither a jet nor a Comet would maintain for thirty minutes a course exactly the same without showing some variation in apparent position relative to our aircraft, for they would be flying twice as fast. Remember also that we could see variation in the apparent position in the Constellation. The most striking thing to both of us was the absence of flutuation in the intensity of the reflected light. I admit that at one time I toyed with the idea that it might be a balloon. But it would obviously have had to be an enormous and later observation confirmed the elliptical shape. In this it had the properties of an aircraft wing, being roughly one-tenth as deep as it was long. It was impossible to estimate the size of the object because we did not know how far away it was from us. The day was so clear that it could have been an extremely large craft up to a 100 miles from us. Given the size of an object one can estimate its distance away. Given the distance one can estimate the size. We knew neither. It certainly looked as big as the constellation and was farther away from us. How far we could not judge but we estimated that it was somewhere over the north of France. Neither of us have any doubt about one thing: We were not deceived by a trick of light. WE HAVE NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER THAT THE OBJECT WAS SOLID, HAVING A SHAPE APPROXIMATELY THAT OF AN AIRCRAFT, WING AND THAT IT WAS CONSTRUCTED OF A METAL SIMILAR TO THAT USED FOR AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION ONLY MUCH MORE HIGHLY ## POLISHED In 18 years of flying I have never seen anything like it. If it had been visible for a few seconds or even for a few minutes I would of dismissed it as an illusion or trick of light. But we had our "saucer" under observation for a full half hour. We had time to consider it and estimate its size. Our Radio Officer saw it and we brought along the steward to confirm what we saw. Certainly we saw something material in the sky. Whether or not it was a flying saucer we cannot say. But we will not dismiss it as trick of imagination -- not after 30 minutes of wondering what it could be. If it wasn't another conventional aircraft, and I have given my reasons why we do not think it was, Then what was it, But we did see it.
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