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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.
“Hill”41 pages
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"He went on to say that it was also significant that at the time of the reports at least two major planets had been prominent in the evening sky - Jupiter in the north and Venus in the West. Meteors and shooting stars could also be observed on most clear nights. Clouds, with wind and other atmospheric conditions, would account for the seeming movement of these planets. 'To dub them 'flying saucers' is in my opinion natural enough but absolutely erroneous. Anyone who sees what he thinks is a flying saucer is at liberty to ring me up and tell me about it. I will try to give an accurate identification, using binoculars or a refracting telescope. I am sceptical about these reports but I am very willing to cooperate in the matter of identification.' 23. On Saturday night, 6th December, of Dominion Road, Auckland, was driving across Green Lane, between 8.35 and 8.40 p.m. when he saw two objects one above the other. One was blue, the other green. At first they seemed to be hovering. Then they increased speed and disappeared south. He left his car but heard nothing. 24. A Giaborne resident saw a blue object flying south at high speed at 9.15 p.m. on the Saturday night. Two observers there also saw a similar object the following night, moving eastward. Its progress was described as erratic. 25. About 9.35 p.m. of Warringate Line, Fordell, noticed a light in the sky approaching from the west. It did not pass quite directly overhead, being a little inland from where he was. It went quite silently and appeared quite markedly spheroidal, being about half the size of a full moon and of a distinct bright green colour. Although it was a dark night it did not seem to light up the surrounding sky. There was no sound until it had all but disappeared, when he heard a subdued bizzing, which persisted for a few seconds after it had gone out of sight. It was quite unlike in size, sound and speed any night-flying aircraft lights he had seen. His wife, whom he had called, was in time to see the object as it disappeared in an easterly direction. 26. A resident of Fielding reported that he saw a green object travelling in a south-easterly direction towards Palmerston North. It was egg-shaped, moving at a fairly high speed and accompanied by a faint hissing sound. While watching it he saw a similar object, blue in colour, approach from the direction of Hawks's Bay. The blue object seemed to be slightly above the green, and they then proceeded together on a more or less southerly course, with the blue just above the green. This account was corroborated by a witness at Kolvin Grove and two others at Palmerston North. The objects were sighted between 9.45 and 9.50 p.m. and about 12.45 a.m. on Sunday. 27. At Plimmarton a green luminous object was seen to the east, travelling at great speed towards Wellington. It was followed by a hissing noise and had a band of brighter dots around it which may have been windows. It seemed to be round like a ball. It was going too fast and was too bright for a plane. 28. About 10.10 p.m. two objects were seen by a resident of Karori, a suburb of Wellington. One, with a greenish tinge, was flying very fast just below a bluish one. The two were circling around each other, and after a few seconds they shot off in different directions. The bluish one went in a more or less southerly direction, and the greenish one in a westerly direction. After passing overhead at very high speed, they were followed a few seconds later by a soft hissing sound.
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.