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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
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
# Kanaom Notes 26.11.92 Astronomers And Flying Saucers Big nspots Wetas Prince Gonsort's Advice FELLOW of the Royal Astronomical Society who s at Dunedin says that flying cers have their basis in natural phenomena. He adds t no astronomer has reported them. ethans no established observatory reported them, but astronomers are certainly claimed to have seen our phenomena which have no reon to the kind of thing they exced to see in the sky. On night the summer of 1948 Chase Tomgh, the discoverer of the planet, was sitting in his garden at home at Las Cruces, New Mexico, wife and mother-in-law were with They all saw quite suddenly something rushing silently overhead a south to north. They all agreed was too fast for an aeroplane. All agreed it was some sort of a ship. But it was a type none ever seen before. Oval in shape,ailed off at the rear into a shape luminescence. A blue-green glow about the whole thing. About half open windows were clearly visible front and along the side. all that is a report of an astronomer. He added that the object looked a long rocket-like ship. It hore esemblance to any known aircraft, we are others just as responsible an astronomer who have made simlreports. On May 21, 1951, at 3.48 three technical writers for the physics department, U.S.A., were lying in a factory ground. Their es were Victor Black, Wernerler, E. J. Sullivan. This is theirrt: approximately 30 glowing meteor objects sprayed out of the east point about 45 degrees above the ion. expanded a right-angle turn swept across the sky in an making vertical formation that resulted a tuning fork on edge. It took about 25 seconds to cross 60 miles of the horizon before perform another right-angle turn westward. estimated their diameter at 80 and their speed at 1700 miles our. They appeared as round blue lights, and moved with the Civil Aeronautics Administration. U.S.A., suggests that some flying may be attributed to natural phenomena caused by temperature in on. This may be the case, be only last August an American inst stated he had succeeded in inducing in the laboratory objects with represented descriptions of fly cancers. By introducing molecules raised air into a partial vacuum jar three feet high, orange red were created and a variety of shapes, including discs and cones. Introduction of various gases prod other colours. Movement of the outside the Jar caused these inside flying saucers to dart about untastic speeds in all sorts of erra- directions. At the time other experts did not slder these discoveries a complete wer to all reports made of flying reels. However, it might explain fact that flying saucers have been over a far longer period than of us notice. As long as the night of October 17, 1908, consumer saw a plane with flame in England, it struck a spurred 1 away "a great deal more of enish light" which he described as north-east direction. He moved bothly from horizon and pitched out two minutes. When it was par- terically above, the plane was then an elongated ellipse with height estimated at 835 feet and its ed at 10 miles per second. More- r, it was seen by other observers o referred to it as "shuttle ship." motion of flat stones skipping across a smooth pond." Perhaps some astronomer could say whether any known natural or optical phenomenon produces a similar intense, peculiar light in bright day, or whether any natural object travelling at great speed makes a right-angle turn. Here is what a pilot of a Dakota who was asked to take off to investigate a "very bright light" observed at Sioux City airport at 8:30 p.m. on January 20, 1951, had to report: He took off with a co-pilot and all at once the light dived at the Dakota almost head-on. It passed at great speed about 200 feet above the Dakota's nose. Both pilots turned, and to watch it, only to see it had suddenly reversed and was flying parallel to the aeroplane. The moon was shining brightly, and the object was clearly seen. It was bigger than a B-20, had a cigar-shaped fuselage, and a glider-type, wing set well forward without engine or nacelles. There was no exhaust glow. The white light was recessed in the bottom of the structure. After a short time the object lost height, passed under the Dakota and disappeared. Reports of this nature would appear to be reliable to indicate there, may ## Mysterious Light Bucks High Wind INVERCARGILL, Feb. 3 (PA).-For long time Mr. John Hanning, a Waiiwi barber, has believed that flying saucers are genuine. Last night he saw be. At least that is what he thinks he w, and nobody else can give a better planation. He was motoring along he was motoring along the north d with his wife, heading in the section of Walkiwi, at 9.45pm, when right west of Invercargill attracted attention. he stopped the car near he stopped the car near the Waiai River bridge and had a good The light was very bright (just right, not coloured) and was travel steadily north-west. r. Hanning guessed it would be at Oreti Beach travelling in the action of Riterton, Mr. and Mrs. being watched, the object for sev- minutes and, as it faded, drove hundred yards further north located it again. lat impressed them most it again, that impressed them most of all that the light must have been in by some power because it was tilting east to west against a wind. No other reports have received today, but it is known object was neither a weather baldor an aircraft. the time of the sighting the wind blowing from the south-west up 1000 feet at gale force. Its when recordings were taken om was 82 knots, which accent the mystery of how a light move against it. ## No Evidence Of Visitors From Other Planets 27-12-5. WASHINGTON, December 26 (Rec. 6 p.m.) —The Air Force said it has no evidence that beings from some other world lived this planet, but added that it would be unreasonable to assume such a thing could happen. prepared statement said: "The Air Force has absolutely no evidence of visitors from space. As limited as man is in his knowledge and understanding of the universe and its many forms, it would be foolhardy indeed to trust the possibility that higher forms existed there. "It would be rather unreasonable to deny that intelligent beings from some other world were able to visit our planet as least to travel within our atmosphere. "However the Air Force desires to further emphatically that there is absolutely no evidence to indicate that this possibility has been translated into reality." ## Visited Invercargill An Invercargill reader, Mr. B. Williamson, has written to the "Evening Post" to say that the "flying saucer" seen in Christchurch, Kyeburn and Walpahi on the night of December 10 was also seen five separate times in Invercargill. These observations, says, were published in the Southland Times, but apparently not issued on to North Island papers. The Invercargill reports tally with the others—the object was a bluish disc which hissed. Mr. Williamson saw the object at 11.20pm, four or five minutes after the observation at Walpahi, which is about 40 miles from Invercargill. According to this, the disc speed, estimated at 600 miles an hour from the information given by the Christchurch, Kyeburn, and Walpahi reports, was maintained. The "Southland Times" says as weather balloon was pleased at 11.50pm and its course it have carried the evening observation. It travelled at 20miles an hour, but fast-moving land would make it seem to travel faster. To this, Mr. Williamson says, "I am sure the object was not a balloon. It was travelling very quickly, and was a small, unmistakable flying object. My observation, if related with the other South Island reports, provides proof of the existence, speed, and course, of the bluish disc." The Director of the Carter Observatory (Mr. I. L. Thomsen) said the description given sounded like a meteor especially the short time the object was visible. A meteor could be seen simultaneously at points between Christchurch and Invercargill. The object given were different, but some observers—or their witnesses—not abjectly as imagined.
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