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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
# REPORTS FROM TWO AREAS # STRANGE OBJECTS IN THE SKY AT least one Hutt Valley family saw something in the sky early yesterday morning which caused them to ring "The Post" today to give an excited description. Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Brown, of Hill Grove, Naenae, their daughter Alice and her friend Ron Middleton, all saw a bright circular object describing a slow circular route about 2000 feet above Woburn about 1am. It was travelling very slowly, and made only two or three circuits during the hour that the Browns watched it. At the bottom of its more or less circular route the object had an array of sparks round its edges. As it travelled round clockwise, the sparks disappeared and a small red tail appeared instead. As it began its downward journey the tail disappeared gradually, and the object itself diminished in size until it was hardly visible. When it reached the lowest part of the circular route the sparks appeared again and the process was repeated. After seeing the object making its leisurely couple of circles, the Browns and Mr. Middleton went indoors. ## 'Probably Seeing Things' "DAD said we were probably secing things, anyway, Alice Brown said this morning. Checks with people who might conceivably be responsible for such phenomena produced no results. There was a meteorological balloon released at 10.45pm on Saturday, which would have burst long before 1am. The next one to be released left the ground at 5am. And the Carter Observatory have heard nothing about meteorites, fireballs, or other curiosities in the area at that time. The question remains: a thing from another world or merely spots before the eyes? Karori, also, had them yesterday. ## 'Convinced' A CORRESPONDENT who would like to remain "completely anonymous" says he had always scoffed at the reports of flying saucers. "But after seeing them myself, I am convinced." Karori, however, had two objects, about 10.10pm yesterday. "One, with a greenish tinge, was flying very fast just below a bluish one," the correspondent writes. "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. "I suppose that must mean they were going at a speed a lot greater than sound." he concludes.
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