BLENHEIM - 13 July 1959
A woman milking cows saw a UFO 30 feet in diameter with two strong green lights and jets sending out orange flames. She could see two entities inside a glass dome. The UFO flew off at speed making a high-pitched noise.
WAIMATA VALLEY near Gisborne - 2 December 1977
One of the 1977-1978 ufo sightings - Farmer saw landed UFO at night, it glowed bright blue and had bright red interior. Two entities were kidnapping his dogs and he fired at them. They dropped the dogs and ran away.
Photo of the Dunedin ufo, 1979
DUNEDIN - June 15 1979
An anonymous photographer snapped four good color photographs of a silvery disc-shaped object flying high above the treetops in this vicinity. The same or similar object was also photographed on 17 March 1979 by a different witness.
GISBORNE - August 10 1996
At 9 p.m. on Saturday, the same day as the UFO flap in Guarabira, Brazil, a glowing green UFO appeared over a Pacific Ocean beach on the North Island of New Zealand.
Damon W. and his girlfriend, Frances P. were lounging in the backyard on Wairere Road, just up from Wainui Beach in Gisborne, "The sky was overcast," Damon recalled, "so we couldn't see any stars." Damon thought he "saw a meteorite streak across the sky from the southeast to the northwest and called Frances's attention to it. She looked and saw it just as it disappeared over the tops of some nearby trees. Then, suddenly, it reappeared and flew in a zigzag pattern across the sky" until it turned "and dropped toward some low hills by the sea. We realized it could not be a meteor because it was below the clouds. It was a diamond or a rhombus shape about the size of a five cent New Zealand piece and was surrounded by a fuzzy green glow. It then shot straight up and down, and that was the last we saw of it."
This is the second UFO encounter for this family. In 1955, Damon's father, Norman, then living in California, USA, as a small boy, spotted a saucer over the beach in Santa Monica.
GISBORNE - August 31 1996
At 8 p.m. on a Saturday, two boys, Ben and Steve, ages 10 and 13 respectively, were on the hill opposite Haache Road, near Darwin Road, in Gisborne when they spotted something unusual in the night sky. The boys saw "a glowing green shape about the size of a half (New Zealand) dollar zigzagging about the sky for several seconds." The UFO then "zoomed off and then disappeared in the northwest," over the mountains toward Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty. It made no sound, and they could not make out any particular shape. They went straight home and told their mother.
AUCKLAND - November 1 1996
On a Friday at 10:30 p.m., Kirsty Gilbert and her son left Rothesay Bay, on the East Coast Bays of Auckland, heading home to Torbay, another suburb of the large seaport. As she drove along, Kirsty saw "a circle of lights" in the sky, located in the upper left corner of the windshield. "Her son counted seven lights in a circular pattern and one in the center. The lights appeared to be shimmering as though being seen through the trees which they had just passed."
Stopping the car, Kirsty watched the lights, which "appeared to flash off briefly and then on again." Feeling anxious and vulnerable, she got back in the car "and resumed her journey."
In Albany, four kilometers north of the East Coast Bays, two people driving north "saw a curiously-lighted object pacing their car for several minutes. When they stopped to fill the car with petrol, the object had disappeared. After leaving the service station, they noticed that the object had reappeared and seemed to be pacing their vehicle again."
Several residents of 'the Bays' saw "these strange circular lights" around 10:30 p.m. One eyewitness was Senior Sgt. Don Blayney of the Auckland police, who saw the lights from his home in Rothesay Bay. He noticed that the UFO seemed to be hovering over Brown's Bay.
Other witnesses reported "a laser light display" on the nearby Whanpaparoa Peninsula.
TAKAPUNA - February 15 1997
On Saturday, February 15, several people living in Takapuna, saw a gray saucer passing overhead. The sky was clear except for a few broken clouds, and the object was perfectly visible. The sighting took place at 10 a.m. and was reported on the shortwave station Radio Pacific.
Described as "a large disc-shaped object, mostly gray in color," the UFO appeared to be rotating or spinning. Witnesses said the outer rim of the saucer did the spinning, while "the core or centre remained stable."
The saucer arrived from the direction of Auckland and flew away to the northwest, heading out over the East Coast Bays toward Kawau Island.
MYSTERY METEORS BOMBARD WAIKANAE, NEW ZEALAND
The town of Waikanae, on the North Island of New Zealand, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Wellington, has been struck twice by strange meteoric bombardments in one month.
During the first week of June, a strange object was seen in the southwest sky, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Paraparaumu, between 6 and 9 p.m.
According to local ufologist David Butterfield, "A fair number of witnesses saw it, but the paper (the Kapiti Observer) only quoted about three or four. The object was seen for maybe 30 to 60 seconds. It was approximately spherical, and changed colour from green to red, I think. The object was bright and left a trail of some description, I believe."
New Zealand's National Television played down the incident as "a meteor shower." But David Butterfield adds, "The phenomenon took out several television channels when it hit, as well."
On Friday, June 13, 1997, residents of the Waikanae Valley reported "hundreds of green and yellow illuminations crossing the sky...The lights appeared to be something entering our atmosphere and may have been from the trail left behind from the Hale-Bopp comet."
According to Ross Dowe of Australia's National 24-Hour UFO Hotline, New Zealand's "Carter Observatory advised that the showers of green and yellow light were likely to be space junk or something re-entering the atmosphere."
"Radio New Zealand reports Wellington Police as saying the biggest meteor was a large green ball of light that appeared to crash into valleys behind Waikanae. No debris have been found at this stage."
GISBORNE - August 4 1997
On Monday night, August 4, two men coming out of a building in an industrialized neighborhood of Gisborne, saw a UFO "moving slowly through the sky." The witnesses described the object as looking "like a star. It was round and two or three blinding colours."
The UFO first appeared in the southern sky and came towards the men, "but not in a straight line and... appeared to be moving too fast to be a satellite." As the object passed directly overhead, "it was then lost in cloud cover."
UFO FLAP BREAKS OUT IN NEW ZEALAND
On Saturday, October 25, at about 10:30 p.m., several residents of Dunedin, spotted two bright white UFOs in the sky.
According to newspaper reports, "A number of people reported sighting two very bright white illuminations crossing the sky, following each other, from west of Dunedin."
The UFOs halted in mid-air "for some time and then moved off to the east, until out of sight."
"Six people contacted him (i.e. Ross Dowe of Australia's National 24-Hour UFO Hotline) about two bright white lights they had seen about 10:30 p.m. He had not received reports from elsewhere in Otago or New Zealand, but localized sightings were not unusual based on weather conditions and other factors."
According to Dowe, after checking the NASA website, he was unable to "find any data indicating space programme activity over New Zealand at this time."
Four nights later, on Wednesday, October 29, 1997, at 9:40 p.m., Paul R., who lives in the Glenfield section of Auckland, spotted a UFO over the large North Island city.
"I was sitting, just looking up at the stars as it was a clear night. At about 9:45 p.m., I was looking at a planet in the northwest area of the sky when my eye noticed a satellite passing by," Paul reported.
"A second later, there was a bright flash of light, brighter than the planet and closer to Earth. Then it was gone. My first thought was that it was too bright for a plane or a helicopter."
"About ten seconds later, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flash again, only saw it was in the northern sky."
"Again it was gone, or so I thought. It blinked again but did not move. It was in the same spot. I waited, and again it flashed, ten seconds later. I went inside and reluctantly told my wife. As expected, my wife told me I was mad, and because I had just watched a programme on UFOs...well, you know the story."
"I went back outside and it was still there in the same spot. A light flash, nothing for ten seconds, then another."
"It continued to flash every ten seconds, but grew fainter (it was still brighter than the stars) and smaller each time. It appeared to be moving away in a straight line from and climbing in altitude each time, heading north."
Paul added that the UFO might have been seen by the residents of Albany, Dairy Flat and Coatesville, all northern suburbs of Auckland.
CHRISTCHURCH - November 12 1997
On Wednesday at 7:40 a.m., a few dozen witnesses in the Port Hills section of Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand reported seeing "two eye-shaped objects traveling from south to north" over the seaport city "at approximately 80 to 100 miles per hour at an approximate altitude of 3,500 feet."
The condition of the sky at the time was mostly clear with some light clouds and wind gusts of up to 80 knots. "The objects appeared to be 12-plus feet (4 meters) across in size." The UFOs "appeared to be shaped like human eyes. In the center was a silver ball, and the outer areas were black and tapered off to a point. The objects traveled above light cloud in blue sky, and there were heavy gusts of wind at the time."
TAURANGA - November 15 1997, Saturday, 9:50 p.m.
A couple living in Tauranga, spotted a UFO flying slowly over Welcome Bay.
"It appeared approximately 100 metres (330 feet) from where we were standing on a second-storey verandah, looking out to the north," they reported. "It was approximately 15 to 20 metres (50 to 67 feet) wide and appeared almost mist-like. It was round in shape. There was no noise or lights. One of us saw it and asked the second person if they could see it. When both acknowledged seeing it, it disappeared, and not in any particular direction. From the first moment, it was there for almost ten seconds."
CHRISTCHURCH - March 30 1998, Monday, 8:30 p.m.
Three people witnessed a cigar-shaped UFO in the sky over Bexley, just north of Christchurch, South Island. Edith Perkins saw what she called "a capsule or cigar-shaped object at first...silver-whitish body, darker grey forked tail."
"At the time I was doing some chores in our backyard," she reported, "We live by the coastal line of New Brighton. Naturally I looked up and I observed, still overhead, the silver-whitish object coming. I was facing west. The rounded edges, front and back, of the object called my attention. Its size appeared to be about 10 centimeters (five inches) long (if held at arm's length.)." She estimated its altitude to be 30,000 feet but "was puzzled that there was no trail behind it."
Edith went to fetch a pair of 7X35 binoculars. She was soon joined by her husband and a home-care nurse. As they watched, "suddenly a very bright light covered the object. It did not happen as a flash of light. It had a beginning" and at the end of the light burst, "I was seeing a different rear on the craft, a forked end to it, the colour of it was dark grey."
Another burst of light occurred, "and the object presented a rim, all around the craft, with either intermittent colour lights on the rim or a rotating rim." She described the lights as "reddish-orange tones." The UFO flew out over Pegasus Bay, heading northeast.
GREYMOUTH - January 16 1999
On Saturday afternoon, people relaxing on the beach in Greymouth, South Island, were startled by the cries of children, who were "pointing to the western horizon" where "a UFO was enjoying itself."
The UFO, described as "a large opaque and shiny disc," zipped about in the blue sky over the Pacific Ocean for several minutes.
"One intrepid adult took a photograph or two of the large opaque and shiny thing as it bounced, dived and then proceeded north in a flat trajectory. Everyone is waiting to see how the film comes out, which, considering the camera is not much more than a box Brownie, will be an event in itself."
Greymouth is on the South Island's western shore about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Christchurch.
FOXTON - November 6 1999, Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
A New Zealand motorist spotted two glowing orange UFOs low in the sky. The sighting took place 16 kilometers north of Foxton, a small city on the North Island about 128 kilometers north of Wellington.
The witness told ufologist Ross Dowe of Australia's National Space Centre that "whilst travelling up north, 10 miles from Foxton, we saw an orange light above another. The top one was bigger than the other at the bottom. The lights were so close together that the glow around them made them look like a round line. I was staring at these lights for about 20 seconds and then they disappeared. They came back about one minute later but quite a distance from where I first saw them. Then they disappeared for seven seconds and came back for 15 seconds, then disappeared all together."
"The evening was perfectly calm. There were a few clouds," the witness stated, adding that at first he thought they were milking shed lights, "but they were too high." He then thought they might be lights from RZNAF Ohakea, a nearby Royal New Zealand Air Force base. "But we were too far away to see the air base lights. I just can't explain what I saw."
UFO FLAP BREAKS OUT IN NEW ZEALAND
"UFO fever is threatening to break out after a rash of calls to police about fast-moving, coloured lights in the sky north of the city," i.e. Auckland, located on the North Island.
"Police received six calls over two hours from several different areas north of Auckland on Saturday night (December 25, 1999) but have been unable to explain the lights."
"One caller said the lights moved 400 metres (1,320 feet) in less than two seconds whilst two others said they moved up and down in the sky very fast."
"Inspector Barry Smalley of the Police North Communications Centre said there was something in the sky, but no one knows quite what."
'There's something there. Because of the path it was travelling, it may have been something coming through the atmosphere.'
"The first call to police was at 9:30 p.m., twenty minutes after the first sighting from Raglan of what appeared to be a green flare when looking in the direction of Auckland. The flare died before it hit the sea."
"Further reports had the lights moving north."
"The last sighting was about 11:36 p.m. from Tinopai, in Northland, where a resident reported 'huge lights' over the hills due north. The lights were reported to have moved about 400 metres in two seconds."
"Two more strange lights were reported 'going straight up and down sky, intensely bright and intensely red,' looking across Kaipara Harbour. The lights were reported to be darting about in the sky."
UFO FLAP ENGULFS NORTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
UFOs appeared over New Zealand's North Island twice in recent weeks--the first time on Boxing Day and again on January 10, 2000.
The first incident occurred on Boxing Day night, December 26, 1999, at 9:18 p.m. in Raglan, N.I., a small city 105 kilometers (63 miles) southwest of Auckland. "A green flare was seen on the west coast. The flare died before it hit the sea."
At 9:25 p.m., "a red flare alerted the Raglan Sea Rescue, which searched the area but failed to find anything."
At 9:29 p.m., in Port Waikato, N.I., located 75 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Auckland, there was "a report of a low green flare" in the northwest over the Pacific Ocean.
At 9:36 p.m., in Warkworth, N.I., a small town 70 kilometers (42 miles) north of Auckland, "a resident reported multi-coloured lights in the sky heading in the direction of Pakiri Beach." The lights were last seen passing over the Dome (Mountain) Range.
At 10 p.m., residents in Army Bay, N.I. reported "orange sparkling coloured flares to the north side of the Whangaparoa Peninsula. The flare was reported to have ascended into the sky before it came down."
At 11:30 p.m., residents of Tinopai, N.I. saw "'huge lights' over the hills due north" of town.
On Monday, January 10, 2000, Mrs. J. went outside her home in Tauranga, Welcome Bay, N.I. "at 10 p.m. to look at the clear sky. Just after she had gone outside, she was aware of a flourescent green light that was travelling from the east and to a spot fairly nearly in front of her, when it stopped. It was high up. The green object was larger than the stars which she beheld. The total time was approximately 1/2 hour (30 minutes). As it was a clear calm night, she was sure there was no wind."
CHRISTCHURCH - July 29 2000, Saturday, 7:25 p.m.
Kevin Emmett and his five year old son went out on the back patio of their hillside home in Christchurch to look at the stars.
"This is a regular occurrence as we both love the stars, and I love teaching him," reported Kevin, who works as a private investigator in Christchurch. "Just as we walked to the rear of our house, a bright flash shot across the sky. At first I thought it was sheet lightning, but to our surprise a standard disc-shaped craft flew right over our house and headed towards the port hills."
"My son ran off to his mother, scared out of his wits, but I grabbed my binoculars and, after alerting my wife, we watched the craft do a quick U-turn and fly back in the direction from which it came," adding that the UFO made its approach from the east and headed west, then doubled back eastward again.
"I have seen many UFOs in and around this city and trying to get some good footage for everyone to see. I have been investigating UFOs for 17 years, and it still puzzles me why we cannot get the truth out."
NEW PLYMOUTH - January 1, 2001
Five people in a car spotted five disc shaped objects in the sky at 12:01a.m. along the western shore of North Island. They were driving down Highway 3 and had the radio tuned to 94 FM. The witness says, "I knew there was enough coverage in the area for good radio reception but we started getting a static buzz when we left Inglewood." This buzz continued for a minute so we decided to switch the radio off. As we approached the next corner, I saw an orange light over the trees that soon vanished. We retained speed through the next few corners and something orange hovered above us. It appeared to be about 100 feet above us and looked to be between 30 and 50 feet long and the same in width (basically circular). There were five of us in the car who could see it. The object hovered soundlessly as we all stepped out of the car. As we looked around we saw three other objects hovering and swaying around in the air. They looked like they were changing color from metallic glowing orange to metallic deep purple and shades of blue. One more larger object appeared on the horizon and sped towards the other four. Each seemed to react in a way similar to an army unit and formed a line and disappeared almost instantly over towards Mount Taranaki. As we left several minutes later we realized we hadn't seen any traffic for half an hour and only saw some as we entered New Plymouth.
GISBORNE, NORTH ISLAND -- December 29, 2001
Eye-witness account:
"I was on our computer at home online, when my wife who was outside opened our front door and asked me to come and have a look at something in the sky. As soon as I got outside it didn't take long to catch sight of the large light overhead at 7:43 PM. My first reaction to this object in the sky was in reference to its speed, size, and brightness. Having personally seen numerous lights in the sky during a UFO flap over Gisborne, New Zealand in 1976; I knew what we were looking at in the night sky was unusual. The object/light was larger than the planet Mars (which was also visible). It was definitely pulsating in brightness, set against the backdrop of a clear sky with a full moon to the east. By the time I was called by my wife Kathleen, the object was directly overhead, and took between 30 seconds and one minute to disappear over the southern horizon. I even jumped on top of our fence to watch the object as long as possible. During the whole time of observation, the object's speed remained constant and in one direction. It may not have gone in a perfect straight light across the night sky, but its direction did not deviate. The apparent size of the object somehow concerned me. My wife, not normally interested in things in the sky above, was quite elated and curious during this observation. To me its varying brightness caught the eye. I waited during the sighting to see a color change, but none occurred. However as stated above, its size stood out compared to other objects; i.e., stars/planets. I checked up at (heavens-above.com) for other known objects in the sky at that precise time. Nothing seemed to match this object we had seen. We would both like to know what such a bright/large object in the night sky could have been? In addition, what travels at the speed this thing was doing?" LATITUDE: 38.65S LONGITUDE: 178.00E.
AUCKLAND - January 24, 2002
On Thursday, 11:30 p.m., Jody L. was at her friend's apartment in Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand. "I went out onto the balcony, and I saw it in the sky. It was low cloud, and it (the UFO) flew about in the cloud. I called my friend out to see it."
"He didn't know what it was. It sort of curved a few times, like a bird would when turning, then it flew off out of sight in a straight direction southward."
Jody described the UFO as "roughly spherical." It seemed as though it didn't give off much light. It was lighted by the city lights. It was flying within the low clouds, so it is estimated that it was about a metre (3.3 feet) wide (at that altitude). It was silent and moved smoothly. It was travelling much faster than a bird would at about 60 to 80 kilometers per hour (36 to 50 miles per hour).
OTAGO COAST - October 2002
Cylindrical silver UFO seen in NZ
On Tuesday, October 15, 2002, at 10:15 p.m., a silvery UFO appeared over the Otago coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Eyewitness Kirsty Sutherland reported, "At 10:15 p.m., I saw what I thought was a plane. I was thinking what a strange direction it was travelling for this area" because "most flights travel either north or south. This one appeared from the west (i.e. over the Dunstan Mountains)," heading east towards the Pacific Ocean.
Kirsty, who was in the city of Dunedin at the time, "followed it for about 30 seconds, then it vanished. It was slow-moving, with an instantaneous departure. The object was silver, similar to what you would see viewing a Boeing (jetliner) or the like without wings."
MANLY - December 2002
On Tuesday, December 24, 2002, at 11 p.m., Karen Dugdale and her son were at ther home in Little Manly, Whangaparaoa, New Zealand when, looking south towards Manly, she saw "several round shapes of 10 to 12, green in colour, which appeared to be in one large circle (formation)."
"The objects travelled from within the large white cloud and moved from top to right to bottom to left of the clouds. My son seems to think it was moving in a circular motion. And, as the cloud changed shape and became smaller, the circle of lights disappeared until it vanished altogether."
The UFOs, Mrs. Dugdale reported, were "colour: green and shaped round."
She described the formation as looking like this:
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
"As it moved, the circles stayed together as one circle. This lasted approximately 20 minutes."
Daylight Disc Caught On Film In NZ
December 2002
"Cardona's 'bra fence' has attracted worldwide attention since it hit the headlines same time a year ago, but a photograph taken last month (December 2002) has some people questioning whether word has spread even further."
"Dunedin man Tom Ueyama noticed an odd sight in a photograph he took of the fence on (Friday) December 27 (2002)."
"The photo clearly shows 'something' in the sky, which, to the untrained eye, resembles the shape of a flying saucer."
"'I don't believe in aliens and extraterrestrial beings, but there's something in this photo that's not right,' Mr. Ueyama said."
"He did not notice the object when he was taking the photograph and claims the image has not been tampered with. Inspection of the photograph and negative did not show any signs of doctoring."
"Carters Observatory senior astronomer Brian Carter said he had doubts about its authenticity." "'I suggest the photo has been doctored, but I'm no expert with photographs.'"
"'If it is genuine, then I have no idea what it is or could be,' Mr. Carter said."
"University of Otago optics technician and amateur astronomer Robin Gledhill could also not reach a conclusion but did not believe the image had been doctored."
"'As an astronomer, I don't believe in UFOs, but I can't honestly say what it is. It doesn't appear to be moving, whatever it is, and it's definitely not cloud.'" Dunedin is on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island, located about 160 miles (256 kilometers) south- southwest of Christchurch. (See the Otago Daily Times for January 14, 2003, "UFO over the bra fence?" Merci beaucoup a Robert Fischer pour cette article de journal.) (Editor's Note: The Otago region around Dunedin has long been a major UFO hotspot in New Zealand. It was the site of a major "airship" flap way back in July 1909.)
New Zealand's most famous UFO photo
- Taken by G. McIntyre, December 1960
