New Zealand UFO Sightings 2008

All sightings, photographs, drawings and articles are Copyright UFOCUS NZ.

The extent of our investigation and analysis of sighting reports is dependent upon the data received, and the length of time elapsed between the sighting event and the receipt of a report. UFOCUS NZ investigation outcomes are included in our website reports, or if applicable, additional findings and comments are in a 'UFOCUS NZ comment' at the bottom of a report.

Date:	Sunday 28 December 2008
Time:	10.30 pm
Location:	Papakura, Auckland, North Island
Features/characteristics:	white light travelling at speed, executes sharp-angled turn
Description:
Clear sky; stars visible; no audible noises. The witness was out on her decking at night talking on the phone. She had the sudden sense that something was watching her, and instinctively looked up. She looked up into the sky straight at a bright white light. Initially she thought it must be a meteor however it appeared to be heading straight for her, increasing in size and brightness. It initially appeared around the size of a 5 cent piece held at arm’s length, increasing to around the size of a 10 cent piece. The light moved on a downward straight line, before suddenly changing direction at an acute angle and disappearing up into the sky, within the space of a second or two becoming a dot, and then no longer seen.

Date:	Saturday 22 November 2008
Time:	2.30 pm
Location:	Mareawa, Napier, North Island
Features/characteristics:	formation of lights moving erratically
Description:
Over Napier city, a witness caught a glint in the sky out of the corner of his eye and sighted what looked like a couple of bright stars, which they thought was odd considering it was the middle of the day. He alerted his wife, who confirmed that they were ‘moving stars’ up high and moving southward. It was hard to keep track of them as it was a bright glary day with a clear sky. The couple watched the lights move southward overhead, and at that point, they realized there were more than 2 or 3. “I could not count them because they kept disappearing out of sight (glare) but there could have been up to 20 or more. They were moving at the speed you would expect to see a 747 …. like stars moving across the sky … definitely not birds, way too high up and moving way too fast. They were at high altitude, but very distinct as light was either emitting from them or was reflecting off them. They seemed to be moving south quite purposefully, although not in formation and almost a bit randomly (at odd angles and slight changes of direction, not like how aircraft move). They were eventually lost from sight in the bright sunny sky.

Date:	8 November 2008
Time:	11.30 am
Location:	Concord, Dunedin, South Island
Features/characteristics:	spheres in group formations
Description:
A bright sunny day. A witness photographed a group of 5 bright white spheres or orb-like objects in the south east sky over Blackhead Beach. The witness described them as looking like “stars in the daytime.” They did not move or flash. He took a series of 4 photographs: one containing a triangular formation of orbs, two showing the triangular formation plus a fourth orb, and one showing two orbs together with one at a further distance away. The orbs appear almost transparent or luminous. The luminosity is consistent, rather than having a shaded side, therefore they do not appear to be ballooons. The photographs are not suitable to post on the website, as the definition is lost in small sizing.

Date:	Monday 3 November 2008
Time:	Early evening – just on twilight
Location:	Clarence River mouth, Lower Marlborough, South Island
Features/characteristics:	two child-like figures; large bright light leaves ground at speed
Description:
A man and his wife had been to Nelson and Blenheim in a camper van and had decided to spend the night by the Clarence River and lower Marlborough. While the wife prepared an evening meal, the man went for a walk down the path near the river.It was just on twilight with two or three stars visible and a few clouds, and the man was confronted by the sight of an extraordinary sphere of light that took off from ground level and disappeared into the sky in a split-second. There was no sound associated with the sighting except the rustling of bushes and trees as the light ascended. “ After walking about 200 m I entered an area of bushes and trees and was surprised to see two children about 50 m in front of me, who quickly crossed the path and entered some other bushes that lead down towards the river. Suddenly a bright light, somewhere down where the children had run to, took off like a bullet into the air at an angle and disappeared into the twilight sky in what must have been less than a second. Whatever it was, it travelled at the speed of a tracer bullet. There was a slight swishing sound and the trees and bushes rustled briefly. I would estimate the light, which was yellowish, to be 10 to 15 feet in diameter. This shook me up a bit and the adrenalin was pumping. I turned and made my way back to the campervan and told my wife what I had seen. We both decided to spend the night elsewhere. We parked up five or 6 km down the main road and discussed the event for some time before retiring. The next morning, we discussed the subject again for a while before deciding to drop it. We actually discussed it again when we reached Kaikoura, because of the things that were seen in the sky from there, some years ago. I have no idea what it was I saw that evening, but it may be significant that it was only a couple of days before Guy Fawkes. I refuse to believe that I saw some sort of a spaceship. Those sorts of things belong in the Hollywood movies. There has to be some explanation, and I am hoping that you good people can give me one.” UFOCUS NZ comment: some considerable discussion took place over E-mail between this observer and UFOCUS NZ. His description did fit the characteristics of common possible causes of the light such as: a helicopter, ball lightning, meteor, missile, laser, or a spotlight. Nor would fireworks fit his description of a sphere of light some 10 to 15 feet in diameter, moving at exceptional speed into the sky and disappearing, and causing the trees and bushes to rustle. We asked a series of investigative questions pertaining to: the light, the children, their safety, occupants of any other cars, caravans or houses in the area, and why the observer chose not to check whether the children were alright, and where/what he thought this light may have originated from. The observer did not answer our questions, and felt that he was comfortable believing that he had observed a laser (although he himself pointed out that laser beams are generally pencil thin, and we questioned what somebody would be doing in such a remote area, with a laser capable of forming a 10-15ft wide, bright, fast moving sphere of light could disappear into the distance in the night sky). It was clear to us that this observer had been severely shaken by this event. He could find no logical explanation for it, however, he expected us to do so. He could not accept that our finding could be ‘unexplained’ or ‘unidentified’. Finally, we also suggested a possible scenario to this event, based on international UFO research and sighting reports, that he may have experienced a ‘close encounter’, however he did not wish to consider that possibility.

Date:	Sunday 28 September 2008
Time:	8.35 pm
Location:	Helensville, Auckland, North Island
Features/characteristics:	red light moving low above landform
Description:
Duration of sighting approx 5 mins; clear sky, excellent visibility. Multiple witnesses. A witness, his wife and child were driving near Helensville when they noticed a red light behind (but beyond) some trees at an estimated height of 1000 ft and a distance of 1 km. They slowed to get a better look once they were beyond the trees. “It was a distinctive red colour; it did not have any aircraft navigational lights, so we thought it must be Mars, however I have never seen a planet or star that clear, red or bright, and it actually seemed very close. I also thought it may have been a flare, but it wasn’t dropping.” As they drove along the road they noticed the movement of the light in relation to the stars behind it, and realized that it was in fact, quite close. They drove slowly along until they came across two people walking along the road pointing to the light in the sky. They pulled over and spoke to these observers who said that the light appeared to have been moving straight for them a few moments earlier, which was when the observers in the car had seen the light low behind the trees. Another car pulled up and the occupants also watched the light. All the witnesses watched as it became smaller and appeared to be moving directly way from them. The reporting witness still thought it was possible that the light could be a flare burning out, until he realized its position in relation to the horizon did not alter until the final 10-15 seconds of the sighting when it changed direction and moved east before descending towards the horizon, becoming fainter in brilliance until they could no longer see it.

Date:	Saturday 16 August 2008
Time:	approx 10 pm
Location:	Jervois Quay, Wellington, North Island
Features/characteristics:	large matt-black object
Description:
Slightly cloudy conditions. Duration of sighting 10 to 20 seconds. The witness was walking from the railway station towards Jervois Quay, when he looked up into the sky and saw a dark object visible in the city lights reflected into the sky. The object flew from the western hills across the harbour towards the airport (west to south east) at an estimated height of several hundred metres. The object had no navigation or landing lights, and flew in a direct straight line. The witness lost sight of the object behind tall city buildings. He made the comment that the object seemed to, “Absorb the light around it.” The witness was unsettled by the experience.

Date:	Tuesday 12 August 2008
Time:	10.10 pm
Location:	Seddon, South Island
Features/characteristics:	intense white light shines beam of light; changes colour
Description:
Excellent visibility; sky clear in the vicinity; some clouds on the eastern horizon; no wind. The sighting lasted approx 1 minute and was reported to UFOCUS NZ within an hour of the occurrence. The sighting took place in a rural farming/viticulture area near Seddon. The witness went outside to feed his dogs at about 10.10 p.m. He noticed what he thought was an unusually bright star or planet to the north east of his house at about 30° above the horizon. He stopped to take more notice as he couldn't remember a star or planet this low or this bright before. His initial thoughts were of a spotlight on a vehicle up on the hills, however the light seemed to be positioned higher than where the road would be, for this explanation. It appeared to be about 25 m above the top of a hill. The witness described the size of the light as initially being about 1/4 of the size of a thumbnail, with what looked like a beam of light shining from it. The white light was quite intense and resembled a high-powered spotlight on an aircraft. When the light changed colour to red, and dimmed (beam of light went off/out), it appeared more like 1/8 of a thumbnail or less. The light was initially stationary or hovering, but after about 30 seconds of observation, the light dimmed and appeared to recede slightly, before changing to a red flashing light. It then flew off quite quickly to the south east, eventually disappearing from view in the direction of Cape Campbell. The flight path was not a direct one as one would expect from a plane. The path of the light seemed to oscillate or change direction erratically or randomly. The witness stated that from past observations of aircraft, the light moved considerably faster than a commercial airliner. The observer's initial thoughts were that this was possibly a helicopter on some kind of spotlighting mission, but the unusual manner of its flight and its perceived speed, made him suspect otherwise. He commented that usually you can make out the sound of commercial airliners flying overhead, and he felt that if this was indeed a helicopter, then he would probably have heard some noise, as it was a perfectly still and quiet night. However, there was absolutely no noise associated with the sighting. The witness could not work out what an aircraft would be doing in this particular area at this time of night, especially with a spotlight on. He commented that he lives in an area of vineyards, which often have helicopters on frost protection duty, but it is the wrong time of the year for that sort of activity, and the direction of the departure of the light was well away from the vineyards and in the opposite direction to the nearest aerodromes. During the sighting, the witness realized that he had a video camera in the car that was parked in front of him. At the moment he thought of moving towards the car to retrieve the camera the light seemed to immediately dim and head off into the distance. At the time of writing his initial report the witness thought that this was merely coincidental, but after submitting his report, he noticed that some other reports on UFOCUS NZ’s website mention this similar factor - that the light seemed to respond in some way to the observer's thoughts. UFOCUS NZ comments: We enquired with Blenheim airport ATC, who advised that there were no helicopter flights that they knew of in that area at the time of the sighting, and they were not aware of any RNZAF activity either. However, helicopters do operate from private fields and ATC would not be aware of their operation, unless they were close to controlled airspace. The erratic movement of the light and its flight path toward Cape Campbell does not coincide with the route of any commercial aircraft flying into/out of Wellington. The flight pattern of the light was more like that of a helicopter, however, the speed of the light was described as faster than a commercial airliner, and the observer stated that it disappeared from view “quite quickly”. Venus was visible in the sky, however, the witness observed this light to shine a beam, dim in intensity, change colour, and move off at speed. Around this time, there were heavy snowfalls up the Awatere Valley further to the southwest of the observer's position, and air force helicopters were used to drop feed to isolated sheep and stock. However, these helicopters would not have been flying at night, and the light viewed by the observer was positioned to the north east and departed in a south easterly direction, towards the coastal lowlands and sea off Clifford Bay/Cape Campbell. Read other reports with similar aspects: Beam of light shining down - Blenheim Beam of light shining down - Wellington UFO seeming to respond to witness’s thought - Waihopai Valley, Blenheim [THESE NEED LINKING]

Date:	Wednesday 25 June 2008
Time:	10:45 p.m.
Location:	Hastings, North Island
Features/characteristics:	object with windows emitting yellow light
Description:
The witness and his son-in-law were heading towards 0mahu Road (the main road into Hastings from the Flaxmere area). They noticed some lights which at first they thought were reflections from the car's dashboard onto the windscreen. As they entered Wilson Road, they now noticed that the lights were on the right-hand side and at a distance from the car. The lights seemed peculiar to the witnesses. They watched as the lights gained speed and traveled parallel to them across the adjacent paddocks above the tree line. They could now make out a dark object shaped like a round 'cake tin' silhouetted against the city lights. There appeared to be four rectangular windows around the middle of the object which were emitting a yellowish light. The lights gained speed and crossed the road in front of the witnesses at a height of about 100 feet and then slowed. This was at 10:48 p.m. The lights were now over the paddocks on the left of the witnesses, and were partly obscured by a row of trees. The driver offered to stop at the first gap in the trees, and when they did, there was the object hovering over what looked like a pole, just visible in the dark. One witness opened a car window but no sound was heard from the object. For a moment it looked as if the object would move towards the car but it suddenly changed direction and moved off back the way the witnesses had come towards Flaxmere, in a gentle, slow paced descending arc, as if to land. The witnesses had moved off by this time and they lost sight of the object among the orchard trees in the area. When they reached home they both made notes on the encounter separately. The next day they checked with the local Bridge Pa Airfield and Skyline to see if there was anything in the air at that time the night before. They were told that the last aircraft landed at 7 p.m. that night, and there were no helicopters up at that time. The police had not received any reports of strange lights in time. The witnesses were at a loss to explain the object. NB - not investigated by UFOCUS NZ Source: T. Lucas

Date:	Friday 2 May 2008
Time:	Approx 11am
Location:	Oputama, Mahia Peninsula, North Island
Features/characteristics:	circular or oblong object in photo
Description:
A family was holidaying at Oputama. The children had climbed a nearby hill to take photos of the beach, looking east. When the photos were downloaded onto computer the family noticed an unusual object in the sky. There were no small aircraft or microlytes in the sky at the time the photos were taken by the children. The adults, who were seated at a picnic table below the hill, have confirmed this. UFOCUS NZ comment: our aviation consultant has stated that there are no scheduled airline flights over Mahia Peninsula. Having examined the photo he has stated that if the object was a small private plane performing a turn, he would expect to see evidence of wings and tail shapes. However there is a distinct absence of any definition of tail or wings, making it unlikely that the object was a small aircraft. Areas of shadow and light indicate a circular or oblong object, possibly with a raised area on top. Shadow and light on the object are consistent with the sun’s position. Possible explanations: unknown object, bird in flight.

Date:	Saturday 19 April 2008
Time:	10.45 pm
Location:	Hamilton, Nth Island
Features/characteristics:	6 bright lights in formation
Description:
Duration of sighting 15 minutes. Clear sky, no wind, moon & stars. The witnesses observed 6 bright lights moving across the sky in formation, travelling in a NE direction, at an elevation of approx. 15 degrees above the horizon. They watched the lights until they faded from view in the distance. They observed the lights through binoculars and saw no indication of strobe or navigation lights that would indicate they were aircraft.

Date:	Saturday 19 April 2008
Time:	11.50 – 11.55 pm
Location:	Hamilton, Nth Island
Features/characteristics:	bright orange light crosses sky
Description:
Duration of sighting 5 minutes. Clear sky, moon and stars, no wind. The witness observed a small bright orange light tracking from east to west, and at one point, traveling directly over the witness’s house. The witness initially thought it must be a flare set off by part-goers after the Hamilton V8 car races that day, however he quickly realized it was not a flare because of its steady, straight, horizontal flight path, and the fact that it continued on that path until it was too small to see in the distance (this description and the duration of the sighting also discounts it from being a meteor). There was no sound associated with the sighting. The witness stated he was too awestruck by the sighting to think of fetching his camera.

Date:	Wednesday 2 April 2008
Time:	9.30pm
Location:	Melville, Hamilton, Nth Island
Features/characteristics:	bright white orb with defined shape
Description:
The sighting lasted approx. 6-9 seconds. Stars, including the Southern Cross, were visible at the time, with clouds over the hills some 15 miles to the NE of Hamilton. The observer first saw the light/object as it passed overhead the house. It was initially the size of a man’s thumb at arms length, reducing in size as it tracked away from Melville, subsequently disappearing behind stratus-type clouds NE of Hamilton. The witness called her granddaughter who also witnessed the last 2-3 seconds of the sighting. The light/object was described as a very bright white orb, with the light seeming to be contained within it (unlike the moon reflecting light). The edges were well-defined, with no exterior blurring/sparkling apparent. There was no sound from the object as it moved across the sky in what appeared to be a flat trajectory, at the speed of a very fast jet. The witness was very familiar with cloud types, the night sky, space station and satellite sightings, as well as the lights associated with aircraft using Hamilton International Airport. The witness was quite specific as to the description of the orb sighted. The witness reported seeing a similar object on 24/1/08. Given information from the witness, UFOCUS NZ calculated that the orb was some 8-10 miles away, some 25 degrees above the horizon, at an approx. height of 20,000 feet, and having an approx. speed of 3500 mph. ATC has confirmed that there were no aircraft in that area at the time.

Date:	Tuesday 1 April 2008
Time:	9.50 pm
Location:	Spray River, Blenheim, Sth Island
Features/characteristics:	bright light illuminates entire valley
Description:
The sighting lasted approx. one hour. The night sky was clear. The witness, a farmer on a remote farm, was at the Waihopai and Spray River conjunction. He observed a strange light up over the Spray River Gully towards the head of a valley. Knowing that the light was not typical of a spotlight, the witness decided to get closer to try to find out what it was, and traveled some 5 kms further up the 20 km farm track until he could go no closer by vehicle. He climbed to a vantage point to get a better view. The light was approx. a further 5 kms up the valley. The farmer observed an area of light that he estimated to be approximately one kilometer wide. A light was shining downwards into the valley, lighting it up with bright flashes of light that he described as being like “stars and light”. These flashing lights lit up the entire valley. The farmer sat and watched for 15 minutes. Because of the strangeness of the light, the farmer decided against going any closer. He commented that it was strange that once he had made the decision not to pursue the light any further up the valley, the light stopped flashing. He waited for a further 15 minutes, but the light did not resume. There was no sound associated with the sighting or the light. The farmer’s wife and neighbours have had similar sightings on 3 separate occasions in February this year: * One of these sightings was witnessed by their 31 year old daughter who was extremely frightened by the event. * One of their neighbours has a courier run in the area, and was driving down the valley at 4 am when he was momentarily ‘blinded’ by a brilliant light. He assumed it was a flash of lightning, until he heard the similar experiences of other residents. * Two days later the farmer’s wife was sitting outside having a spa with a friend when they saw the same flashing as described above lighting up the sky, again up the Spray River. The bright lights in the sky continued flashing for a good two hours. This occurred two nights in a row. * A friend in the valley opened her curtains and watched the flashing lights until falling asleep. There was no noise associated with these lights. * On another occasion during the day, the husband heard an extremely loud noise - like a boom or blast - coming from up the Spray River. The dogs with him barked furiously, but there was nothing to be seen. * Two members of this family experienced a close encounter with a UFO in the valley in 2005. Click here UFOCUS NZ comment: The witnesses live a 30 minute drive from the Waihopai spy base for electronic surveillance and communications. Could these strange occurrences be associated with the spy base, or with UFO activity, or with both? Base Position: New Zealand, Marlborough, Blenheim Longitude: 173 degrees 44’ 20” Latitude: 41 degrees 34’ 35” To read about the Waihopai base, click on these links: Waihopai – the electronic intelligence gathering base www.converge.org.nz/abc/waihopai.html Government communications security bureau base http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Communications_Security_Bureau 20 years of protest – Waihopai spy base http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/72348/index.php

Date:	Sunday 16 March 2008
Time:	7.50 pm
Location:	Chartwell, Hamilton, Nth Island
Features/characteristics:	spherical yellow light
Description:
Sighting duration approx. 30 seconds. Clear sky, a few stars, no wind. The observers saw a circular or spherical yellow light in the evening sky. It became visible from behind the eaves of their house traveling in a straight horizontal line from west to east. They estimated the light to be at an altitude of approx 500 ft, and about 100 metres from the observers. The object/light made no sound, although the observers could hear the sound of a small aeroplane in the sky to the far west of the light. The yellow light was traveling a little faster than a small plane would at that height. The intensity of the light remained constant (no flashing lights) as it moved from right to left in their field of vision, before it was lost from sight behind trees.

Date:	Friday 14 March 2008
Time:	5.45 am
Location:	Stratford, Nth Island
Features/characteristics:	small bright orb emits powerful light
Description:
Duration of sighting approx 5 - 8 seconds. Slightly foggy early morning conditions; dark, no wind. A farmer was walking out of a farm building early in the morning and was heading to the main house. It was pitch black, but suddenly it became very light. She looked behind her expecting to see the moon with clouds crossing in front of it however there was no moon visible in the sky. Instead she saw a very bright airborne light/object some 40 yards away from her, and some 30 feet off the ground above the implement shed. The light was roughly the size of a basketball or beach-ball and was emitting a powerful light that blinked on and off and had “a real pulse to it.” The central light/object itself was extremely bright but blurred around the circumference, and emanated a bright glow over the farm buildings. As soon as the farmer became aware of it, the light rapidly ascended a short distance, "shot to the left, zig-zagged as it moved towards a paddock, shot to the right, moved quickly back to its original position, then shot upwards and disappeared." When interviewed, the farmer described herself as a practical down-to-earth person. She described how she did not initially feel any fear, thinking that the light was the moon, however she noted that as soon as she became aware of the strange light, it rapidly moved from a hovering position to a sequence of rapid and erratic movements before 'disappearing'. She stated that she felt as if the light/object was 'intelligent' and seemed to be 'observing' her and the farm buildings. She stated that the farm is situated at the end of a remote valley and is close to the Waitara River. Other farmers in the area have also witnessed strange lights hovering and moving over the nearby hills. One evening at around 5.30 pm, the witness and her husband saw a strange array of lights over the hills. A central white light was surrounded by a flashing, moving, flickering pattern of white light in the sky. She described it as similar to the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) in appearance. They observed this array for 5 or 6 seconds before it suddenly “switched off’.”

Date:	Tuesday 19 February
Time:	10 – 10.30 pm
Location:	New Lynn, Waitakere, Auckland, North Island
Features/characteristics:	light changes direction instantly
Description:
Duration of sighting approx. 2 minutes. A clear calm evening with a few stars. Two witnesses were standing on their decking when they observed a distant light that just seemed to “appear from nowhere” in the south west sky heading east. As it moved closer they could see that there was a small light on top that was roughly half the size of a larger light below it. They presumed it was a plane. As it came closer still they noticed that there were no flashing lights. It suddenly changed direction to the south east “as no plane would” – instantly. It then hovered and the lights appeared to be rotating, and their brightness increased, before it moved sharply upwards at a 45 degree angle and appeared to leave the atmosphere at high speed. The witnesses saw the lights change colour as the object reached a high altitude changing from the original bright white, to yellow, orange and red as it vanished. The witnesses stated they felt “chills” as they observed the lights suddenly and unexpectedly change direction with sharp and sudden movements.

Date:	Sunday 27 January 2008
Time:	6.30 – 7.30 pm
Location:	Tramway Rd, Invercargill, Sth Island
Features/characteristics:	dark stationary object
Description:
Mainly clear sky with a few clouds. Duration of sighting one hour, on and off. A family of four observed a large dark stationary object in the early evening sky. They could not ascertain the distance of the object, but reported that it was visible in the distance over the treetop height, and remained hovering for an hour. The witnesses stated that they were left in a state of awe when the object suddenly shot straight upwards into the sky at speed and disappeared high in the atmosphere. The dark object is too distant and small to be clearly identified.

Date:	Monday 25 February 2008
Time:	10 – 10.15 pm
Location:	The Ureweras, Nth Island
Features/characteristics:	light moves erratically
Description:
Duration of sighting approx. 2-3 minutes; a very clear still night with stars and moon visible. Two witnesses observed a very bright light about the size of a 1-2 cent piece. The light was relatively close and large in the sky at first, but became smaller as it traveled into the distance. They described that the light was traveling fast in a generally SE to NW direction, but that it zig-zagged erratically in the sky as it progressed, and this attracted their attention. They stopped their ute and captured the last 60 seconds of flight on a digital camera, however they felt that the quality of the film and the movement evident in the last 60 seconds was not a good representation of the whole event that they witnessed. The object was lost from sight beyond as it traveled beyond tree-lined hills.

Date:	Saturday 26 January 2008
Time:	Approx. between 11 to 11.15 pm
Location:	Mt Eden, Auckland, Nth Island
Features/characteristics:	dark silent metallic object
Description:
Two witnesses were driving on Dominion Rd, Mt Eden, Auckland going towards the CBD. They observed an airborne fast-moving object coming from the direction of Mt Eden towards Landscape Rd which they assumed was a police helicopter, as they had observed police cars in the area. When the witnesses turned right into Landscape Rd they felt that the object was not a helicopter, but was in fact something big and unusual – totally different from a helicopter or plane. It was now stationary behind treetops, and the witnesses could clearly see a lot of lights on the underneath of the object. They described the object as very big – twice the size of a standard helicopter. They described its shape as elongated or round/oval. The object remained stationary for a few seconds and then smoothly started to glide away. The streets were mainly empty at the time, but the witnesses noticed two pedestrians who had stopped and were also staring at the object in silence. The witnesses tried to follow the object, but soon lost sight of it. They called the 111 emergency call centre to see if anyone else had reported seeing the object, and were advised to ring police for clarification. The witnesses were reluctant to do this for fear of ridicule. Both witnesses were hoping that UFOCUS NZ would find that the object was just a police helicopter, however in their own minds, they do not believe that it was a helicopter that they observed. They commented that the streets became unusually quiet just before the sighting – traffic flow dropped off and became quiet – and they felt as if “time had stopped for a while”. Both witnesses are adamant that they will remember this incident for a long time to come. UFOCUS NZ comment: we have not been able to establish through ATC whether this was in fact a police helicopter, or not. Police do not always inform ATC of police helicopter movement. Witness Diagram

Date:	Saturday 26 January 2008
Time:	4.05 pm
Location:	Rotorua, North Island
Features/characteristics:	group of bright lights move in formation; change position
Description:
The sky was almost cloudless and blue apart from the very high hazy clouds. No other aircraft or objects were in sight in the sky; wind east to west. The witnesses (husband and wife) stated that they were enjoying a hot spring bath outside their Rotorua motel. Leaning back, the husband caught sight of a very bright light, like a large bright star, that looked at first like a passing aeroplane with no vapour trail, moving from right to left, high in the sky from the north east. He pointed it out to his wife who commented that there was one behind it too. They observed both bright lights moving from the 2 o’clock position through to the 1 o’clock position, where the leading object came to a stop. The object at the rear caught up with the first object, then climbed and overtook it. The overtaking manoeuvre included executing a turn: as the two lights became level (one higher than the other) with each other, the lower one moved towards the upper one by executing a 90 degree turn before continuing flight. The first object remained stationary for some 2-3 minutes. At this point, the observers saw 4 to 6 more bright lights traveling in the same direction, all without any sign of vapour trails. They were in a group, and moved around towards and away from each other erratically. The objects were as bright as a star and were moving in almost level flight as compared to some adjacent power lines. The objects were small in size to the extent that they disappeared behind the power lines then reappeared as they moved across the sky. The husband ran to his room to fetch his binoculars. On his return, the lights could be seen high in the sky out in front of the observers. Some had disappeared by now into the high hazy cloud. Two were left. By now 10 to 15 minutes had passed with the lights moving about in the sky. The observers commented that their necks were aching from looking up, and they discarded the binoculars as they could not hold them still. The last remaining light gradually faded from view as it rose high into the atmosphere. All the lights had gained height and disappeared into the high cirrus-type cloud. The observers are adamant that these lights were not aircraft, that they were under intelligent control, and that there was no sound. The objects appeared from the north east, traveling westerly initially, but eventually disappearing due north. From information obtained during an interview with the witnesses, UFOCUS NZ was able to ascertain that the objects were at an approximate altitude of some 25-30,000 feet, were approximately 55 degrees above the horizon, and approximately 4 miles horizontally from the witnesses. There were no known military aircraft in the area at the time, and the flight paths of the objects did not conform to standard aircraft flight paths.

Date:	Thursday 24 January 2008
Time:	Between 10 & 10.15 pm
Location:	Oxford, North Canterbury, South Island
Features/characteristics:	large anomalous light
Description:
The sighting lasted a few seconds, but the observers watched the sky for a further 5 minutes or so. It was dusk, not completely dark. The observers, husband and wife, were outside in the evening air when they saw a large bright light that traveled at speed in a horizontal line from SE to NW between a tree-line and the nearby mountain range. At first they thought it was a plane, but realized that the speed of the light was far in excess of a conventional aircraft, and there was no sound. It was lost from view into thin cloud near the mountains. The observers continued to watch the sky for a further five minutes or so expecting to see it emerge from the clouds again, but it did not. They considered the event to be highly unusual. There were a few stars starting to appear in the sky, but the observers stated that they were “nowhere near” the size or brightness of the anomalous light.

Date:	Sunday 20 January 2008
Time:	12.03 am
Location:	Hamilton, North Island
Features/characteristics:	large white light below cloud level
Description:
The sighting lasted approx. 10 seconds. The sky was mostly clear with high cloud to the west. The moon was to the north of the observer. The witness was out on the decking when he observed a large ball of white light which seemed to have some dark areas. It was traveling rapidly south to north high above trees, and was seen to pass in front of a cloud. It was lost from view beyond treetops. The observer commented that he shivered as he watched it, as the sight was so unusual, and there was no sound at all.

Date:	Friday 18 January 2008
Time:	9.02 – 9.04 pm
Location:	Central Auckland, North Island
Features/characteristics:	dark object with flaming glow
Description:
Duration of sighting 2 minutes. Some cloud cover; no wind. Multiple witnesses. The witness and 3 friends were sitting outside talking at a home in Grey Lynn, when their conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a very bright light dropping through the cloud cover over the Auckland CBD at about 4000 feet. At first they thought it was a meteor as it was, “…. very flamey in appearance, like a blow torch, and large with a dark, barely visible roundish silhouette shape just in front.” However the witnesses discounted this theory when the light then began to proceed north-westward on a horizontal path. The witnesses then thought it may be an aircraft in trouble. It was below the cumulus cloud base moving at a speed comparable to an airliner, and appeared about one inch in length in the sky (visually). However there were no other visible conventional aircraft lights (strobing, flashing) on the object and no sound from a distance. Its speed and direction remained constant heading northwest on a 15 degree angle towards west Auckland. “What made it even more unusual was that just over west Auckland it started to ascend straight out towards the stratosphere.” It ascended high over the Waitakere Ranges and quickly disappeared. The reporting witness contacted the Auckland International Airport control tower, and was told that nothing unusual had been reported or sighted on radar. No aircraft were departing at that time. Drawing of light / object by witness

Date:	Thursday 17 January 2008
Time:	Approx 5 pm
Location:	Lake Taupo, Central North Island
Features/characteristics:	delta-shaped object
Description:
A family was boating on Lake Taupo near the ‘white cliffs’. It was a bright sunny day and the sky was totally clear – excellent visibility with almost zero wind. None of the witnesses saw or heard any aircraft or airborne objects in the sky during the time that they were out on the lake. White Cliffs area of Lake Taupo Yellow line marks position and flight direction of the object sighted. A photo was taken of the children being towed behind the boat on floats at 5 pm. The photos were later downloaded onto computer and the parents noticed an anomalous object in the sky. The photographer has estimated that the object appears to be very low and relatively close to their position. They are adamant that they would have seen or heard an aircraft in that vicinity. The object appears to be traveling diagonally across the field of the camera from left to right, although any side or point of the roughly triangular object could have been the leading edge or corner. It has a structural, generally triangular appearance. It appears to be very large, with a blunt rounded ‘nose’. There is the impression of sloping sides or a delta shape, but no visible tail. UFOCUS NZ comment: we checked flight arrivals and departures at Taupo Airport on that date, at that time. Four aircraft landed between 4.58 pm and 5.16 pm, and four aircraft departed between 4.51 pm and 5.15 pm including a helicopter. All were small light aircraft. Hamilton International Airport Senior Air Traffic Controller, pilot and UFOCUS NZ investigator Graeme Opie has examined the photo and states that the object in the photo does not match the profiles of any of these aircraft that landed or departed from Taupo airport. He stands by his opinion that the object in the photo is a craft of unknown origin and technology. The appearance of this object is similar to that of triangular craft sighted and photographed around the world in recent years. Visit: www.triangularufos.com/ www.ufoevidence.org/topics/triangles.htm uforth.com/triangular.htm Photos are Copyright © UFOCUS NZ, and cannot be used without permission. Here is a similar object photographed 5 months later over Jackson County, Michigan, USA, on 26 June 2008. This photo was taken by Jeff Westover, whose artwork can be seen on our 'Artwork' page.

Date:	Sunday 13 January 2008
Time:	11 pm
Location:	Putaruru, Southern Waikato, North Island
Features/characteristics:	diamond shaped light
Description:
Duration of sighting approx 1 minute. Clear, starry night. The witness went outside with his dog. He was about to turn his attention to his dog when he caught sight of a bright light that appeared from the west, moving east. It moved around slowly and silently in the sky above him, and he was able to see it was a diamond shape. He stepped off his deck into an area of darkness to be sure of the shape. After around a minute, the light disappeared at speed back in a westerly direction, and was lost from sight.

Date:	Saturday 12 January 2008
Time:	2.35 am approx.
Location:	Rangiora North, Canterbury, South Island
Features/characteristics:	bright light moves erratically;changes direction abruptly
Description:
Duration of sighting approx. 30-40 seconds. The observer (a MAF bio-security officer) was on her decking enjoying the warm evening and observing the constellations before going to bed. She was looking south and observed the Southern Cross low in the sky. The sky was clear between a thick northwest cloud bank and cloud to the east over the sea. It was a starry night. She suddenly noticed a bright light, larger than a bright star, in the area of sky she was observing just above the Southern Cross. At first she just thought it was a star until it began to move in unusual ways. The observer described it as slower than a shooting star, but brighter and faster than a satellite. The light traveled rapidly from west to east before suddenly and abruptly turning 45 degrees and heading towards the land. The object did not travel in a straight line or curve, but moved erratically – down, veered to the left, down, veered to the right etc, changing direction rapidly before being lost from view by dropping behind eastern cloud. The observer states that she completed a course in astronomy at the University of Canterbury several years ago, and has an amateur but ongoing interest in the night sky. She commented that she has never before observed such an oddity in the sky.

Date:	Friday 11 January 2008
Time:	10.45 pm
Location:	Tauranga, North Island
Features/characteristics:	bright yellow-white light
Description:
Two witnesses were looking at the stars through a large skylight window in the roof of their bedroom. They both observed a large and very bright yellow-white light traveling very fast across their field of vision from south west to north east over their house. The flight path of the light appeared to be low and horizontal. They described the light as being as big as a fingernail at arms length. They ran downstairs to alert another family member, but by the time they got out onto their decking, the light had gone. The light was traveling much faster than an aircraft, and the Tauranga Airport was closed for the night.

Date:	Thursday 10 January 2008
Time:	10.40 pm
Location:	Mt Wellington, Auckland, North Island.
Features/characteristics:	red cigar-shaped light
Description:
Westerly wind; some stars and clouds. The observer looked up at the sky directly above him and noticed what he thought must be a very big red shooting star moving very fast from the south west. It was about the size of ½ a thumbnail at arms length, or an inch in length at arms length. However he realized that the red light was actually elongated (cigar-shaped) and glowing. It moved erratically on its path, changing direction and zig-zagging, before disappearing rapidly to the south east. The witness described the speed of the light, and its rapid changes of direction as, “Phenomenal speed – no object can move that fast. It zapped away.”

Date:	Saturday 5 January 2008
Time:	11.15 pm
Location:	Christchurch, South Island
Features/characteristics:	two lights pulsing and fading
Description:
Duration of sighting approx 5 mins; clear sky; a few stars in the south west/west. The witness was looking westward and observed a very bright light (much brighter than the brightest star) moving slowly high in the sky, when quite suddenly it became very bright, faded to the point where it looked like any other bright star, and then just disappeared. He went inside to call his wife, and they observed the light reappear in roughly the same position along with a second paler light accompanying it. The brighter of the two lights repeated the same characteristics of becoming very bright, and then disappearing. The second light continued to travel from west to south before disappearing.

Date:	Tuesday 1 January 2008
Time:	1.45 am
Location:	Linwood, Christchurch, South Island
Features/characteristics:	glowing orb moving in erratic manner
Description:
Duration of sighting two minutes. Clear sky, whether calm and still. The witness observed a bright green glowing orb of light gliding slowly and silently in a straight horizontal line, accompanied by a much smaller glowing golden orb of light which closely tailed the green orb. The golden light was moving an erratic manner behind the green light. The lights came over Christchurch from the north-west, heading out towards Ferrymead. The witness estimated the lights were some 5 km away or less. There was no sound from the lights.

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