UFOs in the BAY: The files

The following is a timeline of UFO reports in Hawke's Bay that the air force filed away between 1952 and the late 1990s in the recently declassified Defence Force UFO files. It contains only UFO reports mentioned in the files.
May 4, 1888, HAWKE'S BAY - Nature, Vol 42, Page 403 (August 21, 1890) - December 1953 CSI newsletter "Flying Saucer" carries extract from Nature article describing an "extraordinary Meteor" which crash landed in Hawke's Bay. Mr Taylor White describes a multicoloured oval fireball with the "tail of a pheasant" which hit the land or sea with a "loud and lengthened noise, to me like the violent shaking of all the forest trees, and evidently above the ground, thereby differing from the sound accompanying an earthquake coming from the Westwards." According to the NZ Times the apparent size of the meteor was "quite half that of the moon".
January 5, 1952, HAWKE'S BAY - An unidentified but very well-researched 10-page report written in an official format discusses a flurry of sightings of two "blue discs" seen flying across New Zealand on December 6 and 7, 1952, from Auckland to Hawke's Bay to Wellington to Christchurch. (See:The Flying Saucer Panic of 1952)
October 30, 1952 SUGARLOAF HILL - Civil Aviation "Air Safety Incident Report form" from a Mr Sutherland at the Napier air traffic tower which details a sighting of an "extremely bright unknown object" as recorded by Sen Sgt Tanner of Napier Police. A person had contacted Sen Sgt Tanner to report he was driving along the road from Napier towards Greenmeadows about 9.30pm when he and his companion saw a very bright light or object over the Sugarloaf Hill. "It remained motionless for a few minutes then moved to the left then returned to right before disappearing out of sight. The man was convinced that it was a "flying saucer" though the brightness prevented them from discerning its shape. Under the section "Action taken by senior officer at reporting station" it concluded, "Police advised that though the incident was unusual it would be dispatched to appropriate section of Air Department for actioning."
April, 24, 1953 ONGAONGA - Newspaper report of a fine, thread-like substance found on telegraph wires, fences and lawns at Ongaonga, near Hastings, which the report said "resembled matter seen to have fallen from flights of 'flying saucers' over France". Hastings reports said the substance, which is white, "is not unlike candy floss in that it disintegrates when handled".
June 3, 1954, HAVELOCK NORTH - Official publication of CSI, "Flying Saucers", mentions a Daily Telegraph report which poses the question "Is there an aircraft in New Zealand that can break the sound barrier?" At least five Havelock North residents reported hearing a sonic boom and claimed to have seen the plane that did it.
January 15, 1955, NAPIER - Daily Telegraph: A report on Mr H Fulton, a sergeant in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the son of Mr and Mrs J L Fulton of Napier, who was president of the Auckland-based Civilian Saucer Investigation (CSI) group which had 110 members.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph Mr Fulton said UFOs from alien planets were real but governments were covering it up because of the fear of public panic.
"Our investigations over the past two years have convinced us ... they must be controlled vehicles from outer space." Newspaper articles around the same time in the mid-1950s also carried a picture of Lord Dowding, chief of the RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, who was quoted as saying he believed flying saucers came from planets hundreds of years ahead of the world in scientific knowledge.
Another report said a French farmer was fined for firing three shots at a neighbour's car because he thought the headlamps belonged to a flying saucer. The bullets hit two cows grazing nearby. Following all this coverage it was not long before reports of UFOs started appearing in Hawke's Bay.
November 23, 1955, NAPIER Daily Telegraph: See: A Martian Writes in.
November 24, 1955, NAPIER - Daily Telegraph, Napier and HB Herald Tribune: Bright cigar-shaped light seen hovering in the sky for second night in row, then flashed above Poraite hills and hovered again, lower and farther inland, a Napier man and his daughter claimed. Mr DM McDonald reported seeing a large lighted object revolving rapidly and changing colour from bright red to green. "It was sausage shaped, changed colour, and it was big - too big to be mistaken for a planet," he told the papers.
December 4, 1956, HATUMA - Daily Telegraph, Napier report on Central Hawke's Bay farmer Mr WR Kibblewhite who says he awoke at 2.10am by cramp in his knee and was walking around in his room to exercise it when a tiny bright beam of light shone through the open window and reflected in a mirror. When he moved out of the light it disappeared, and from the window he was able to see an object in the sky with another smaller object near it. The article said it followed a number of other "strange sights" reported in Hawke's Bay in recent weeks.
January 1957, RISSINGTON - Daily Telegraph, Napier report where Mr and Mrs D McEwen, of Rissington, have seen mysterious lights in the sky which resemble a "flying wrapped newspaper". She said it was a "long, bright object with rays extending from it. It was an enormous size, and shaped like a wrapped newspaper". The next day she said she was suffering with burning eyes, caused by looking at the "tremendously bright light".
January 5, 1961 DANNEVIRKE - Person whose named has been deleted sent handwritten letter to Defence Minister (sgd.) KJ Holyoake to tell of the "sensational appearance" of a rocket over Dannevirke at Midday and questioning whether it may have been launched from a "soviet submarine" as part of some kind of experiment.
January 9, 1961 DANNEVIRKE - Letter from KJ Holyoake, who would later become prime minister, thanking the writer for the letter about a rocket over Dannevirke. "I have been very interested in what you say about the object which was sighted over Dannevirke recently and am having some enquiry made regarding it."
February 8, 1965 NAPIER - A Napier citizen writes to Wing Commander AF Tucker to report an unusual sighting made with four family members on January 3 at 10:35pm. The person, whose name is deleted, reports seeing a light descending from the sky towards them and then doing what appeared to be a controlled turn before stopping for about eight seconds. "I do not belong to any of these'flying saucer' organisations, nor do I intend to join one. But the moment that light stopped and hovered for eight seconds I was bought and sold," the letter said.
December 23, 1968 HAWKE'S BAY - Auckland University UFO Research Group President AJ Brunt writes to Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal CA Turner advising a group had been set up to "study on a strictly scientific basis the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects". He notes an earlier letter had been referred by the Air Force public relations division to the Civilian Saucer Investigation in Auckland but which had been disbanded in 1959. In the letter he also makes a "rather demanding request" about a September UFO sighting reported in Taradale. "In this case, two youths, John Dow and Paul Franklin, reported that their car was chased by a UFO and as a result the vehicle smashed into a shop. Consequently Dow appeared in the Napier Magistrate's Court on a charge of careless driving and was discharged." Mr Brunt said he understood the air force had the police file on the case and sought the release of Dow's and Franklin's statements to the police on the incident.
December 17, 1980 NAPIER - Handwritten air force minute sheet recording report of a UFO sighting by a resident whose name is deleted. The person saw a bright object rising in the east and slowly climbing. "Our investigations would indicate that it was probably Venus," the writer concludes.
August 14, 1981 NAPIER - Handwritten air force minute sheet which reports "UFO Sighting" on radar based at Ohakea. It was located 22 miles South of Napier and contact was lost at Cape Kidnappers, with a comment saying it must have been above 9000 feet to show up on radar.
The minute sheet notes it was "ideal conditions for ware activity," but it is unclear what this means. Written in the margin is "Note, this ties up with radar return on cloud formation!?"
Fulton, a sergeant in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the son of Mr and Mrs J L Fulton of Napier, who was president of the Auckland-based Civilian Saucer Investigation (CSI) group which had 110 members.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph Mr Fulton said UFOs from alien planets were real but governments were covering it up because of the fear of public panic.
``Our investigations over the past two years have convinced us ... they must be controlled vehicles from outer space.'' Newspaper articles around the same time in the mid-1950s also carried a picture of Lord Dowding, chief of the RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, who was quoted as saying he believed flying saucers came from planets hundreds of years ahead of the world in scientific knowledge.
Another report said a French farmer was fined for firing three shots at a neighbour's car because he thought the headlamps belonged to a flying saucer. The bullets hit two cows grazing nearby. Following all this coverage it was not long before reports of UFOs started appearing in Hawke's Bay.
* November 23, 1955, NAPIER Daily Telegraph: See: A Martian Writes in.
* November 24, 1955, NAPIER _ Daily Telegraph, Napier and HB Herald Tribune: Bright cigar-shaped light seen hovering in the sky for second night in row, then flashed above Poraite hills and hovered again, lower and farther inland, a Napier man and his daughter claimed. Mr DM McDonald reported seeing a large lighted object revolving rapidly and changing colour from bright red to green. ``It was sausage shaped, changed colour, and it was big _ too big to be mistaken for a planet,'' he told the papers.
* December 4, 1956, HATUMA _ Daily Telegraph, Napier report on Central Hawke's Bay farmer Mr WR Kibblewhite who says he awoke at 2.10am by cramp in his knee and was walking around in his room to exercise it when a tiny bright beam of light shone through the open window and reflected in a mirror. When he moved out of the light it disappeared, and from the window he was able to see an object in the sky with another smaller object near it. The article said it followed a number of other ``strange sights'' reported in Hawke's Bay in recent weeks.
* January 1957, RISSINGTON _ Daily Telegraph, Napier report where Mr and Mrs D McEwen, of Rissington, have seen mysterious lights in the sky which resemble a ``flying wrapped newspaper''. She said it was a ``long, bright object with rays extending from it. It was an enormous size, and shaped like a wrapped newspaper''. The next day she said she was suffering with burning eyes, caused by looking at the ``tremendously bright light''.
* January 5, 1961 DANNEVIRKE _ Person whose named has been deleted sent handwritten letter to Defence Minister (sgd.) KJ Holyoake to tell of the ``sensational appearance'' of a rocket over Dannevirke at Midday and questioning whether it may have been launched from a ``soviet submarine'' as part of some kind of experiment.
* January 9, 1961 DANNEVIRKE _ Letter from KJ Holyoake, who would later become prime minister, thanking the writer for the letter about a rocket over Dannevirke. ``I have been very interested in what you say about the object which was sighted over Dannevirke recently and am having some enquiry made regarding it.''
* February 8, 1965 NAPIER _ A Napier citizen writes to Wing Commander AF Tucker to report an unusual sighting made with four family members on January 3 at 10:35pm. The person, whose name is deleted, reports seeing a light descending from the sky towards them and then doing what appeared to be a controlled turn before stopping for about eight seconds. ``I do not belong to any of these'flying saucer' organisations, nor do I intend to join one. But the moment that light stopped and hovered for eight seconds I was bought and sold,'' the letter said.
* December 23, 1968 HAWKE'S BAY _ Auckland University UFO Research Group President AJ Brunt writes to Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal CA Turner advising a group had been set up to ``study on a strictly scientific basis the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects''. He notes an earlier letter had been referred by the Air Force public relations division to the Civilian Saucer Investigation in Auckland but which had been disbanded in 1959. In the letter he also makes a ``rather demanding request'' about a September UFO sighting reported in Taradale. ``In this case, two youths, John Dow and Paul Franklin, reported that their car was chased by a UFO and as a result the vehicle smashed into a shop. Consequently Dow appeared in the Napier Magistrate's Court on a charge of careless driving and was discharged.'' Mr Brunt said he understood the air force had the police file on the case and sought the release of Dow's and Franklin's statements to the police on the incident.
* December 17, 1980 NAPIER _ Handwritten air force minute sheet recording report of a UFO sighting by a resident whose name is deleted. The person saw a bright object rising in the east and slowly climbing. ``Our investigations would indicate that it was probably Venus,'' the writer concludes.
* August 14, 1981 NAPIER _ Handwritten air force minute sheet which reports ``UFO Sighting'' on radar based at Ohakea. It was located 22 miles South of Napier and contact was lost at Cape Kidnappers, with a comment saying it must have been above 9000 feet to show up on radar.
The minute sheet notes it was ``ideal conditions for ware activity,'' but it is unclear what this means. Written in the margin is ``Note, this ties up with radar return on cloud formation!?''