NZDF declassified RNZAF UFO files

taking photographs, when suddenly the enormous thing began to move eastwards, slowly at first, and rising as it did so. Before it reached 40,000 ft. at which point it was ultimately lost sight of, the sides of the awesome, whale-like object were seen clearly to be without a break in their smoothness, no windows or portholes relieved the harsh purity of line, no engine mounts or jet pods marred the perfectly streamlined hull.

The day being exceptionally clear, there were no cloud formations in evidence anywhere, and Capt. Bicknell calculated that in the 3 minutes of visible movement, the bullet-snaped object covered 60 miles; that in other words, its speed could have been nothing short of 1,000 m.p.h. during the period of observed flight. It left behind no vapour trail and to all who saw it, had no visible means of propulsion.

During an interview some days later, Capt. Bicknell said that his impression was that the unidentified thing was some kind of flying machine, and with this, his radio officer, a Mr.D.W.Merrifield, unhesitatingly agreed. A 'mirage' was suggested as the possible cause, but the radio officer discounted it. "Mirages are rarely seen without cloud", he stated, "nor would that explain the object's movement". He commented that if the object was a flying machine "it was 500 years ahead of anything we have today".

Nairobi "Sunday Post" the following Sunday said: "If this report had come from a few isolated individuals it would soon be discounted. But it came from responsible airline officials and nine ordinary travellers". It too, dismissed both the balloon and 'mirage' theories, and concluded that hopes of a "natural" explana- tion had begun to fade. Other theories ranged from Maritan visitors to radio-controlled weapons.

Fragmentary evidence accrued since then increase the sum total of knowledge but little. U.S."LIFE" Magazine early in 1952, published a sketch of the object, which showed it to closely resemble an ordinary lipstick tube lying on its side. More recently, in connection with learning the whereabouts of the photographs taken from Capt. Bicknell's plane, the Australian Flying Saucer Bureau learnt that "the only known public photograph of the object shows a blurred spot on the film". A motion picture film taken by another passenger was "quite clear" we learn, but the same reliable source stated, either laconically or ominously, it is hard to tell which, that "the man with film is supposed to have disappeared".

So the case stands, at present, one of the most puzzling and enigmatic unexplained Saucer Sightings recorded in Australian Flying Saucer Bureau Files.