NZDF declassified RNZAF UFO files

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

## 1909

## ENIGMA

## (Nelson Evening Mail Dec 6,1952)

Can we rightly regard flying saucers and aerial cigars as the enigma of the Radar, Jet Plane, and Atom Bomb era, or have these phantom objects been flitting across our skies for at least several decades? For about three weeks in the horse-and-cart days of 1909, reports came from all over the Dominion, telling of dark objects wending their way across the heavens and of bobbing lights. Explanations were far more prosaic than those being considered today and mention of sightings finished as suddenly as they had begun, possibly because observers feared ridicle and doubts as to there sobriety. Although mention of the occurrence did not appear in "The Mail" until several days after objects in the sky had become general news, it seems that one of the first sightings was made in the Nelson district on Saturday July 24, 1909. The paragraph read: "A Riwaka resident reports having seen a mysterious light in the sky. The object whatever it was, was first seen to appear in the direction of D'Urville Island. It came across the bay until it appeared quite close to Motueka. then it changed its course and travelled in the direction of Farewell Spit, where it was lost sig-ht of. The object zig-zagged across the sky, also rising and falling at intervals. The observer watched it for fully 20 minutes before calling the people from the house to see this strange light. The light was described to be as large as an ordinary-sized bucket. Needless to say, the whole family was greatly alarmed."

Not long after, reports began to come in from other districts. The following Wednesday a resident of Opoho,near Dunedin, claimed he saw an airship after the noise had wakened him at 2 o'clock that morning. There must also have been sightings at Auckland, not so generally publicised, for during Wednesday an Auckland fireworks dealer threw cold water on the tales with the comment that he had been seading an unusually large number of toy fire balloons, considering it was not a festive season.

## Airship seen at Kelso

In Otago "fly-by-nights" began to excite tremendous interest. Several Dunedin and Mosgiel people asserted that they saw a moving light in the sky on Wednesday night. One report mentioned a bright light like that a railway engine with a dark body attached. At Kelso the "ship" was seen by scor- es of reliable people and the police and others began making investigations. This information appeared in the "Mail" of July 29,1909 under the heading "Aerial Navigation". It is interesting to record that in the same column was a report of Mr Latham's attempt to fly the Channel which almost succeeded. Another message from New York advised that the President had watched an official trial at Washington in which Mr Orville Wright... "acroplaned" with a passenger. On Thursday more information flooded in. Dunedin city and country people said they watched lights during the night, early morning and again that evening. And invercargill residents entertained themselves in a similar manner. Mysterious lights Kakanui Rangos, near Oamaru had also been observed for several nights, sometimes through field glasses, but the veracity of reports had been doubted. Scoffers were con- founded, however, by the unusual story of a settler at Kauroo Hill. It was apparently light at the time. The man sensed something unusual was happen- ing as horses in the yard were restive. He looked up and saw an object shaped like a boat with a flat top", speeding along at something like 30mph,