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An Historic New Zealand Account of a UFO/UAP Sighting and Possible Close Encounter Experiences; Other Paranormal/Psychic Experiences Copyright © Suzanne Hansen 2006, UFOCUS NZ Network Over the last year in particular,
UFOCUS NZ has been approached by a number of senior citizens wishing to
talk about strange experiences that have occurred in their lives that
were indicative of contact with extraterrestrial beings. Given their generation
(ages ranging from 67 to 81), it was very hard for some of them to 'admit'
to such experiences, but they all felt 'driven' to do so. Most of them
had spoken to very few people about their experiences throughout their
lives - if at all. When asked why this was so, they had some very telling
and familiar answers. Some said they had always been afraid of being ridiculed,
or being ostracized by family and friends. One was afraid that she was
suffering from a mental illness, and chose to live with the experiences,
rather than expose them. Two of them expressed the sad concern that if
they divulged their experiences to family members at this stage of life,
they may be deemed to be suffering from some form of age-related dementia
or hallucinations. All wished to "get the experiences off their chests"
before their lives drew to a close. I found all of them to be lucid, sincere
people, who have been good Kiwi citizens, bringing up families; hardworking
and community spirited. What has caused this upswing in cases reported
by senior citizens? Perhaps they feel safer in doing so now at a time
when such topics are more widely discussed or featured in the media. Or
maybe the veils between our Earthly life and the great unknown are falling
away and we are becoming open to new understandings. Here we present 'Margaret's'
experiences. It is not our intention to definitively suggest that some
of Margaret's experiences are 'extraterrestrial' in nature, but we can
certainly draw parallels that indicate they may be. 'Margaret' (pseudonym)
is currently 73 years old. She resides in a resthome independent unit,
so that she can assist with the care of her husband, a resident. Margaret
is the eldest of ten children - all high achievers. Her parents were keen
for their children to have a broad education and they mixed with people
from all walks of life, attending public meetings and educational speeches
with their parents, developing enquiring minds. Their father was a declared
atheist and an avid humanitarian; Their mother was a very spiritual minded
person. Margaret married in 1952 and she and her husband have five children.
She qualified as a nurse and worked in both general and psychiatric hospitals.
She has participated in various church, esoteric and educational groups,
attaining a Certificate in Adult Teaching in 2001. Margaret has a deep
love of her family, music, art, singing, informative reading and humanity. In her childhood, Margaret and her family lived on a farm near the small country village of Havelock North. The village lies at the foot of Te Mata Peak, a high craggy hill rising out of the Heretaunga Plains of central Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. ('The Peak' has long been considered a place of unusual happenings - strange lights, unusual energies, clouds and mists. Local Maori revere it as a special place and it holds spiritual significance with local tribal groups.) In 1941, Margaret was just 8 years old. Late one night or in the early hours of the morning, Margaret was lying awake in her bed looking out her bedroom window, when she had a strange experience which she remembers to this day. The experience was to leave a deep impression and have a lasting impact upon her life. Margaret's
experiences: On this particular evening, Margaret was sent to bed as usual and slept with her curtains open, as was the custom in the countryside in those days. She recalls sleeping on and off until very late at night, after her parents had also retired to bed. By this time she could not get back to sleep, and lay looking out the window opposite, watching the night sky. Through her window, Margaret was able to look directly towards the Peak beyond.While gazing at the night sky, her attention was caught by a large, bright bluish/white light descending towards the Peak. Margaret watched as it moved around the sky above the Peak, appearing as if it was about to land somewhere on the steep slopes (on that steep, rugged terrain, this would have been totally impossible for any aircraft of that time, before helicopters). Margaret was curious, wondering what this strange light was. It disappeared briefly behind a hill. Within a very short space of time, the light reappeared from the same spot, swooped around the Peak and began to descend slowly towards the floor of the valley where Margaret lived. To her surprise and fascination, it descended smoothly and silently, and appeared to 'land' or settle in the farm paddock across the road. At that time, she did not recall seeing any kind of object or craft, only the large, brightly glowing sphere of light. Being curious, Margaret got out of bed and went to the window to look. Almost immediately she saw a blue light about the size of a soccer ball emerge from the larger light, and fly rapidly over the paddock and road, towards her bedroom window. When the light reached the window, she remembers something akin to an explosion, taking place both in her head and all around her; the light expanded into her bedroom, enveloping her. At the same time, she felt "strange" and remembered no more. (Margaret describes the feeling as similar to going unconscious when undergoing an operating theatre procedure; a strange kind of physical vibration moving throughout her body). Next morning Margaret recalled the incident with the unusual light and related it to her mother, who reacted by telling her not to make up stories. Margaret continued to insist that what she was saying was true, but her mother made light of it, passing the light off as a shooting star and saying it could not have landed in the paddock. Margaret decided to go out to the paddock to investigate, and was intrigued to find a very large circle of swirled and flattened grass, where she had seen the light descend the night before. She raced back inside to tell her mother, who again passed it off by saying that it was probably just flattened grass where "a cow had lain down". This made no sense to Margaret, who had been raised on the farm and knew that the large circular area of swirled grass was far too big (and regularly-shaped) for a cow to have lain down on, and besides - there were no cows in that field at the time! She said no more about the incident, as her mother did not take her experience seriously. However, several years later, her parents also observed an unusually bright oscillating light hovering and moving erratically over the Havelock Hills, and recalled their daughter's earlier sighting experience and description.
Map of Margaret's sighting area Around two years after this extraordinary sighting, (when she was 10, 1943) Margaret was sent to stay with friends in a valley nearby while her parents were away. She awoke during the night feeling very frightened and with pain in her lower abdomen, to find herself saying, "Please leave me alone…leave me alone!" In the morning there was blood on her underwear and the sheets, much to the consternation of the lady of the house. (Margaret was still only a child and she did not begin menstruation for a further three years.) The neighbour was concerned by this occurrence, as was Margaret's mother when she returned; Margaret was otherwise in good health. The following night she was afraid to go to sleep in case "someone or something" came to take her away, and this became a reoccurring concern. At times in later life she often awoke calling out and awakening her husband, because she was aware of, or had memory of a figure bending over her.Some female abductees report undergoing gynaecological examinations onboard craft prior to puberty. Could this have happened to Margaret? Margaret states that throughout her childhood, and indeed her whole life, she has felt as if someone or something has protected her from harm - even saved her life on occasions. She is unsure as to what it could be - some unknown force, power, or being. On these occasions she has sometimes been guided by a telepathic 'voice'. Margaret has also experienced precognition. She related an instance when she and her husband first met. Her husband was in the RAF and came to New Zealand in 1949, although Margaret did not meet him until three years later. At age 17 she was able to give a succinct description to her mother, of a man whom she believed she would meet and eventually marry. Margaret says she 'knew' her husband-to-be the instant she saw him, and they were married in 1952. An example of the 'protection' that Margaret speaks of occurred when she was 8 years old (the same year she saw the unusual light in the paddock). Margaret had accompanied her father out on a farm where he was working. He had told her not to go near a bank, beyond which was a steep drop with loose, unstable ground near the edge. Margaret's curiosity got the better of her, and while her father was busy, she ventured near the edge to have a look. The ground began to give way beneath her and she panicked and shouted to her father for help. She remembers falling forward over the edge as if in slow motion, and felt hands take hold of her shoulders and help her to safety. Shaken and frightened, she turned around expecting to see her father behind her. There was nobody there. Her father was some distance away with his equipment, annoyed with her for disobeying his instructions. Margaret described another
such incident involving clairvoyance/clairaudience that occurred when
she was a young mother, five months into her second pregnancy. She and
her young son boarded a bus in the city of Palmerston North and sat in
a front seat adjacent to the driver. They were only just seated when Margaret
experienced a strange feeling. She describes how she both 'heard' and
'felt' at the same time, a telepathic message. The clear message stated,
"Don't sit there - you'll be seriously injured, if not killed!"
In spite of the bus moving, Margaret took her son and immediately moved
to a seat further back. Less than five minutes into the journey, the bus
was involved in an accident and a large steel pipe pierced the bus window
and the seat where they had initially been seated. Undoubtedly Margaret
or her son would have been seriously injured or decapitated outright,
had she not heeded the warning.After leaving school, Margaret
trained to be a nurse, and later, a psychiatric nurse. In her late twenties (1960s), she developed a very large abscess in the soft frontal tissue of her left ear that the doctor considered "very serious". Eventually the abscess burst and continued to drain for about 10 days. Margaret was surprised to find a very small object had come out of the infected site. It was off-white, hard, and bone-like in appearance, although it came from an area where there was no bone tissue. On closer examination, she saw that the object was about 5mm long x 2-3mm wide and barrel shaped, with visible regularly marked ridges running around its surface. There was a protruding point or prong, extending from each end. Margaret has not had any injuries or surgical procedures to her ears or skull, so this was a complete mystery. In retrospect she is sorry she did not keep the object. The abscess cleared up after the object was expelled.
The unusual object expelled from the abscess site Margaret described how one evening, when feeling tired as she recovered from the abscess, she went to her room to rest. It was around 7.30 in the evening and her family was in the next room. While she lay listening to them talking, she sensed a 'presence' and upon opening her eyes, was shocked to see two strange beings with wrinkled faces and large black eyes, looking at her. One was considerably taller than the other. The next memory she has of this incident is that she was suddenly descending down a 'tunnel' and found herself in a bright place with a small, glowing 'boy' walking around her. He took hold of her hands and spoke to her briefly. She remembers no more until she 'woke' later in the evening.
The two figures Margaret saw near her bed This is an interesting incident in light of abduction research. Margaret could be describing an out-of-body experience (OBE) in the realms of the spirit world or astral plane. Alternatively, some abductees report encounters where entities 'draw' the person's spirit body from their physical body to communicate with them, which could explain the incident. Or she could have just lapsed quickly into sleep and dreamt, however this would not account for the fact that she was clearly awake when she first saw the figures and one would expect her to cry out, not fall asleep. Is it possible that the object that was expelled from the abscess was an implant? Were extraterrestrial or spirit beings checking up on Margaret, or bringing her reassurance? Was her 'spirit body' absent while her physical body remained - seemingly asleep? Family members suggested that she was hallucinating, having been ill. However she were was able to describe and draw (1964) specific details that we associate with extraterrestrial features, although Margaret had not read early UFO literature of the time. Margaret holds no set viewpoints on this occurrence. It is as much a mystery to her now, as it was then, however she feels the beings she saw may be associated with her childhood sighting. It is possible that Margaret's
sighting at 8 years old, of a large spherical light descending onto a
farm paddock, was an event that marked the beginning of contact between
Margaret and extraterrestrial beings. Alternatively, contact may have
been continuous from early childhood, with this event possibly being her
first conscious recollection of such interactions. Her later experience
of seeing two entities by her bed in her late twenties, would seem to
support this possibility. There are several unusual facets
of Margaret's childhood sighting experience that stand out, and which
are common factors of many close encounter episodes: 1. In this case, having initially slept for a while on that night, Margaret
later could not sleep at all and lay awake staring out the window long
after her parents had retired to bed. Although obviously there can be
many contributing factors to sleeplessness, similarly abductees describe
a feeling that can occur prior to contact, of feeling 'wired up', 'electric',
or restless and unable to sleep or concentrate. On some psychic level,
they sense that something is about to happen. 2. Margaret did not move from the window as the smaller ball of light
rapidly approached. Nor did she call out to her parents, even though she
could see the light coming straight at her. One would expect an 8 year
old to have done so, especially having experienced such a strange and
frightening phenomenon. This kind of behaviour is a reoccurring theme
in many close encounter experiences. The target subject sometimes appears
to be put in a state of 'calm,' or a decreased reactionary state, just
prior to contact taking place. 3. Margaret describes something akin to an "explosion" taking
place, both in her head and all around her, as the light surrounded her
body. Close encounter experiencers often report hearing a loud 'clapping'
or explosive sound in or around their head, just prior to the onset of
the 'Oz factor'. 4. The 'Oz factor', derived from the 'otherworldly' nature of the movie
'The Wizard of Oz', is a combination of physical symptoms reported by
many abductees that occur just prior to a contact; in fact they are experienced
so commonly that many abductees have come to clearly recognize them as
a sign that 'something is about to happen'. They may include: tingling
or vibrations throughout the physical body, particularly in the arms and
legs, progressing up into the torso; narrowing of the peripheral vision,
or a feeling of 'blacking out' (as when one is losing consciousness);
dizziness, faintness, or a feeling of an altered state of consciousness;
inability to move the body, sometimes with the exception of the eyes and
head; inability to perform any actions or reactions that would normally
be instinctive or intentional; sometimes a sense that everything is happening
in slow motion; a cessation of or 'distancing' of all normal sounds. Margaret
clearly experienced several of these symptoms as she stood at her window
watching the smaller light approach. She recalled "strange physical
vibrations" moving through her body; she felt "strange"
as when one is going unconscious; she did not react to the approaching
light as one would expect a child to do; she was 'rooted to the spot'
and made no attempt to move or call out to her parents; she makes no mention
of feeling fear or concern. 5. As many abductees experience, Margaret has no recollection of 'what happened next'; there was no closure to the event. Instead, there was that all-to-familiar 'blank', leaving the person guessing as to what might have taken place. She has no recollection at all of seeing the spherical light depart from the paddock and equally no recollection of getting back into her bed. One would expect a child to have alerted the whole family to such a spectacle - or at least to remember running and hiding under the blankets! Similarly the incident involving two entities appearing by her bed has that same aspect of 'what happened next'? It skipped bizarrely from shock at their appearance, to a peaceful, otherworldly scene - and then nothing until she 'awoke'! (came back?). Later in life, Margaret experienced what is known as a 'flash-back' (a person exposed to a traumatic or highly strange event sometimes 'blanks' the event from their memory. This memory can suddenly surface in vivid detail weeks, months or years later. Experiencers/abductees often report that vivid abduction memories surge back into conscious memory following a 'trigger' event or circumstance). While holding a conversation on spiritual topics, Margaret unexpectedly recalled (ie. had a sudden clear image in her mind) having seen a small, thin humanoid figure next to the sphere. It wore a 'helmet' or headgear of some sort which protruded from the back of the head and across the shoulders with a pipe or tube coming down into some sort of 'backpack' on its back. (See NB) A spherical, metallic object/craft was floating just above the ground, with bright bluish/white light emanating from what appeared to be windows around the upper third of the sphere. She does not recall the dimensions of the object, but recalls a misty glow around the entire object. These memories were very disturbing and caused Margaret to begin questioning what may have happened to her that night. For Margaret to have seen these details, she may have been much closer to the object than just at her bedroom window. Did a contact take place? Was she taken onboard the object/craft? If so, did subsequent activities take place that were deliberately 'blanked' from her memory by the occupants?
Artist's impression of Margaret's description of the spherical craft It is a popular theory among psychologists and sceptics, that abductees and people who allege extraterrestrial contact are highly imaginative people whose recollections are influenced by images in 'pop culture' and sci-fi. However Margaret's descriptions of this object bear little resemblance to common popular images of extraterrestrial craft - which makes her memories all the more credible in respect that she has not been influenced by popular culture, and in fact Margaret is not well-read at all when it comes to UFO literature or sci-fi. There have been reports of similar spherical craft to those that Margaret recalls, but they have been vastly outnumbered by the 'classic' images. It is to Margaret's credit also that she does not necessarily lay claim to having had an experience with extraterrestrials. Not once did she stray from her descriptions or embellish her experience during any of the interviews - she simply outlined to me, quite matter-of-factly, her recollections. She remains uncertain to this day of the actual nature of her experiences. Margaret has had a strong sense
of 'purpose' that has run through her life and a strong desire to be of
help to others, which she has performed through her many years of nursing
and caring for others. She also recalls a 'dream' or 'visionary experience'
that occurred in childhood in which she 'promised to work for mankind.'
Again, this is a detail she shares with many close encounter experiencers
and people of devout religious beliefs. Throughout her life, Margaret
has felt driven to explore spiritual perspectives on life, healing and
psychic abilities. In recent years she has written a booklet, a collection
of her personal research into such topics as energy, intelligence, astronomy,
light, God and Spirit - to name a few. Margaret considers her search for
answers to her experiences to be an ongoing investigation and opportunity
for learning and opening to new paradigms. We wish her well on her journey. Link:- 'The Moreland Sighting' |
