The New Zealand "UFO Investigating Committee"

Dear readers

Today's post is about the former New Zealand Government "Unidentified Flying Object Investigating Committee" a body of which I had no prior knowledge.

One of the recently released NZ Government files is AIR 244/10/1 Volume 1, titled "Reports on UFOs" with a date range of 1959-1982.

Who was on the Committee?

The first document I found which mentioned this Committee was a Minute dated 16 Dec 1969 with a file reference of 66/30/17 DSI. It was from " Squadron Leader A Dyer, IPO(Air) Directorate of Service Intelligence" and addressed to member of the Committee. In part it read "...On 10 April 1968 a meeting of representatives from interested agencies ...was held to discuss the action to be taken on receipt of UFO sighting reports..." and called for a further meeting to be arranged.

The other Committee members listed were:

Dr E I Robertson, DSIR
Mr W J H Fisher, Carter Observatory
Squadron Leader A N Nilestone, D.DATC Ops
Dr D E Thompson, NZ Meteorology Service
Squadron Leader Irvine, D Ops

The Committee meets:

The next Minute of interest was one dated 20 June 1972 to which was attached a record of the Committee meeting of 29 January 1970. The attendee list is of interest, please note the Directorate of Service Intelligence was present. Members were:

Wing Commander R R Black, Directorate of Service Intelligence
Dr E I Robertson, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Dr D C Thompson, NZ Meteorology Service
Mr W J H Fisher, Carter Observatory
Sqd Leader A N Nilestone, D.DATC OPs, Ministry of Transport
Flt Lt C Mitchell, Directorate of Operations, RNZAF HQ
Flt Lt C Cole, RNZAF Public Relations Officer
Sqd Leader A Dyer, Directorate of Service Intelligence, Ministry of Defence.

The subject of discussions was the "...action to be taken upon receipt of U.F.O. sighting reports..."

Intelligence involvement:

A Ministry of Defence Minute dated 20 June 1972 with a reference 66/20/1 DSI states:

"The fact that an intelligence agency is involved would, to my mind, give the subject of UFOs and aura which it does not deserve. DSI became involved in UFOs as a result of integration. Originally the subject was handled by DAI (on the security side) on behalf of the Air Staff...I believe we have little interest in the subject...I understand that the Air Staff already keep their own files on the subject...If necessary S10 JIB could become a member of the Committee in order that the intelligence community could maintain a watching brief..."

A memo dated 27 June 1972 Reference 66/20/1 DSI from Lt Col DSI to ACDS(Pol) read in part:

"Our involvement is by inheritance from the Directorate of Air Intelligence who presumably were given it primarily as a security chore in the days when the Air Department controlled Civil Aviation...and went onto say "Any intelligence interest in UFOs is of a scientific and technical rather than a service nature...the committee is not an active one. It last met in January 1970..."

Department of Defence washes its hands:

In a Secretary of Defence, Memo dated 8 August 1972 Reference 66/20/1 which went to the DSIR, Transport, Carter Observatory cc to the Commissioner of Police, there is:

"For a number of years the Ministry of defence has been associated with this Committee in a leading role...the overall subject does appear to be primarily a matter of scientific interest rather than Defence..." The DOD sought to pass the UFO subject on to the DSIR or the Department of Transport. The memo closed with "In any reconstituted body which examines sighting reports of UFOs Defence representation would be restricted to Mr G M Seere, the Scientific Intelligence Officer at the Joint Intelligence Bureau."

1976:

Finally, in 1976 on file AIR 244/10/1 in a Memo dated 4 Nov 1976 attempts were made to finalise the matter.

The Secretary of Defence, reference Def 66/20/1 DDI, wrote: "I agree there seems no need to have a committee to investigate reported sightings of UFOs...As we have no interest other than to ensure that a reported sighting is checked as far as practicable by Air Traffic Control to eliminate the possibility of an unknown intruder, and in view of the lack of interest by other Government agencies, our further action will be limited to station log entries of the report."

So, it seems the New Zealand UFO Investigating Committee" met its end.

Comment:

As you know, I maintain a keen interest in intelligence agencies and UFOs. It was therefore, of particular interest to read this portion of this file and see that at the bottom of those interested in NZ UFOs was the NZ Department of Defence's own intelligence staff. As you can see from the notes above, they were not interested in the scientific side of the UFO phenomenon, just the defence implications, and in 1972 were trying to move away from their involvement to place the subject with either the DSIR or the Dept of Transport. However, despite all that they said they wanted to have the Scientific Intelligence Officer, of the Department of Defence Joint Intelligence Bureau maintain a "watching brief."

If you have read any of the material located by the Disclosure Australia Project (see http://disclosureaustralia.freewebpages.org ) you will find that the Australian Department of Defence JIB, in 1972, was also looking to devolve its UFO responsibilities. Given this timing, same year, it would seem that the DOD Intelligence agencies in Australia and New Zealand were talking to each other about the subject of UFOs.

More New Zealand UFO files

Dear Readers

For our first post-Xmas day, the weather in Adelaide is a pleasant 22 degrees celsius, after a 32 degree Xmas day. Today, is a rest day, after the merriment of yesterday's Xmas lunch with family.

Today's post sees me taking another look at the New Zealand Government's UFO files release. Rather, I am taking a look at what is not yet available. For you see, there are other NZ Government UFO files which are not part of the batch released by the NZ Defence Force (NZDF).

I decided to check the files which are listed on the Archives New Zealand website
at click here against the list of files released by the NZDF. There are five files listed in the Archives which were not released by the NZDF as they are not NZDF files.

The other NZ UFO files:

1. Miscellaneous Files - UFO [Unidentified Flying Objects] Affair (1978 Kaikoura incident)- The Truth is Out There.
Agency: CAHG Accession CH135 Box 36/1 1979-1979.
This file is open to the public.

2. Political Affairs - Outer Space - Unidentified Flying Objects [UFOs]
Reference: ABHS 6958 W5579/227 1972-1982.
Details on accessing this file cannot be found.

3. Public Weather Service - Flying Saucers and Unidentified Flying Objects [UFOs]
Agency: BAIB Series 4052 Box 376 Record no 2/13 1956-1988.
This file is open to the public.

4. Support Services - Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) - General
Agency: AAAJ Series 965 Accession W 3239 Box 180 Record no 37/21/1 Pt 1 1972-1972.
Access to this file is restricted by the agency, which is the Commissioner of Police.

5. Support Services - Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)- General
Agency: AAAJ Series 965 Accession W4443 Box 103 Record no 37/21/1 Pt 1 1972-1972.
Access to this file is restricted by the agency, which is the Commissioner of Police.

Comment:

Re items 4 &5. These files probably relate to the 1972 Ashbourne, NZ, space debris event, mentioned in NZDF file AIR 244/10/1 Volume 1.

I found a reference to this event in Kevin D Randle's latest book "When UFOs fall From the Sky." 2010. New Page Books. Franklin Lakes, NJ. ISBN 978-1-60163-100-8. Pages 256-257.

"April 7, 1972
New Zealand

The Space Defense Centre reported that they had witnessed two objects "de-orbit" and that the objects fell to the ground in New Zealand. At least one of the objects was recovered and turned over to the police department in Christ Church New Zealand. Captain D W Boucher from the US tracking station at Mt John, South Canterbury said that he thought it was part of a pressure tank.

The ball was 48 inches in circumference and had a blue-green sheen to it. It left a 6-inch indentation in the ground where it hit. Two other balls were also discovered. ll were made of titanium, which caused a New Zealand UFO expert, Captain Bruce Cathie to suggest it wasn't part of a prank. Titanium was too difficult for someone to use it as part of a joke. He had no real answer for what the balls were.

Officials in the Soviet legature in Wellington denied that the objects belonged to them,.

The most likely answer is that the objects were some type of terrestrially manufactured objects used in space flights."

I wonder if anyone in New Zealand has copies of any of these other NZ Government UFO files, they can share with us?

First quick look at New Zealand Government UFO files

Dear readers

I have just spent some time taking my first quick look at the New Zealand Defence Forces newly released UFO files. They are to be found at
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4486327/Original-files-NZs-UFO-sightings

They are split up into nine "books." Here are my notes from my quick review:

Book 1
File number: 1630/2 Volume 2
Time span: 1990-2009
Title: Reports on UFOs and Ethnology
Contains: Various pieces of correspondence from members of the public. Various UFO reports, mainly lights in the sky. Request from Dennis Grant of ACT, Australia for access to UFO files-denied.

Book 2
File number: 1630/2 Part 1
Title: Reports on UFOs and Ethnology
Contains: Correspondence from members of the public. Request from Timothy Good in the UK for information from files. Defence report on 1978 Kaikoura sightings.

Book 3
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 4
Title: Reports on UFOs
Timespan: 1981-1984
Contains: Request for information from Mr Harold J Knapman, MUFON, Christchurch re 1954 movie films and Mrs Moreland's 1959 encounter- three requests denied. Document dated 5 April 1984lists a number of cases 1979-1982 reported to Air Staff. Various reports from the public.

Book 4
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 3
Title: Reports on UFOs
Contains: Various reports of UFOs from members of the public. Query on Kaikoura events. Radar observation of 9 April 1979 by an aircraft of No 5 Squadron. "I believe this contact to have been a cloud contact..." Interesting internal documents on the Kaikoura investigation.

Book 5
File number: Air 39/3/3A Volume 1 Parts 1 &2
Title: Reports on UFOs and Ethnology
Time frame: 1979-1984
Contains: "Exclusively devoted to correspondence from/to a Christchurch based person on UFOs and Ethnology."

Book 6
File number: Air 1080/6/897 Volume 1
Title" Investigation of Unidentified & radar sightings East Coast South Island-December 1978."
Time frame: 1978-1981
Contains: Interviews with people involved in the 1978 Kaikoura sightings conducted by the RNZAF preparatory to the preparation of a final report into these sightings, File also contains technical reports from DSIR and other scientific experts and an independent report of the Kaikorua sightings by the NZ UFO Studies Centre.

Comment: This is worthy of a detailed review.

Book 7
File number: Air 244/10/1 Volume 1
Title: Reports on UFOs
Time frame: 1959-1982
Contains: Reports, interviews and requests for UFO information from media on Moreland sighting. RAAF report on Kaikoura. Interdepartmental correspondence on the future of the Government UFO Investigating Committee. Report on the 1972 Ashburton space debris event. Various information requests.

Comment:
1. The Government UFO Investigating Committee papers will bear a detailed look.
2. The NZ Secretary of Defence states: "All I will say is that empiric evidence shows conclusively that there are no defence factors involved with UFO sightings." Memo 5 October 1976.

Book 8
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 2 Parts 1 & 2
Title: Reports on UFOs
Time frame: 1956-1979
Contains: Reports on UFOs from the public. RZAF investigation into Kaikoura. Summary of UAS from Australian Department of Defence. Correspondence from public.

Book 9:
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 1 Parts 1&2
Title: Flying saucers
Time frame: 1952-1955
Contains: Reports form public. Newspaper clippings. 75 questions and answers asked of George Adamsksi by "Adamski Flying Saucer Group of Timaru.

Overall comments:

As with the Australian Government UFO files, the New Zealand Defence Force files are a mix of:
1. Low significance UFO reports, specifically "lights in the sky" which may well have mundane explanations e.g. the planet Venus.
2. Correspondence from members of the public expressing views on the UFO phenomenon.
3. Frequent enquiries from UFO researchers from all over the world for details of the files.

However, what is different from the Australian experience is the detailed examination of the 1978 East coast of the South Island sightings which have become known as the "Kaikoura" events. The papers on these files will need careful examination. The papers concerning the Government's UFO Investigating Committee" will also be worth a detailed study to see who was on it and what it did.

Take some time and have a look for yourselves.

Digitised version of NZ Government UFO files

Dear readers

I have just located a digitised version of the files released by the New Zealand Government, click here.

Happy reading.

Argentina Air Force to study UFOs

Dear readers

It is obviously a day for Government action on UFOs! (See last post.)

Alfred Lambremont Webre, a noted Exopolitics figure, just announced on his Seattle Exopolitics Examiner blog that the Argentinian Air Force is forming a committee to study UFOs.

The following is an extract from the blog:

"The Air Force of Argentina on Dec. 23, 2010 formally announced the formation of a committee to study the UFO phenomenon.

The Argentinean Air Force’s action to form a UFO investigation unit was confirmed by Sylvia Perez Simondini of the CEFORA (Argentinean Republic Committee for UFO Phenomena Studies), "an organization formed by various UFOlogy groups in Argentina. The main purpose is the declassification of all related UFO phenomena in Argentina. It was formed by serious Argentinean UFOlogists in Victoria, Entre Rios during a conference.”"

For full details click here.

Release of New Zealand UFO files

Dear readers

A little Christmas present has come our way!

The New Zealand Defence Force has released its UFO files. I went to the website of Archives New Zealand to see if they had the files, but no!

Click here to find out how to access them.

"Meteorite lightning"

"Meteorite lightning" was the headline for the 4 December 2010 issue of "New Scientist" magazine, when it ran an item on the 16 May 2006 green fireball over Queensland, Australia.

"Space debris falling into the atmosphere may cause mysterious ball lightning.

Thousands of people have seen floating orbs of light, sometimes during thunderstorms, but their origin has never been established.

The weather was clear when Don Vernon, a farmer in Queensland, Australia, spotted two green balls descending from the sky on 16 May 2006. Oddly, the second rolled down a hill, bounced and then vanished.

Stephen Hughes, an astrophysicist at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, says the first was probably a bright meteor caused by debris from comet 73P, which came closer to Earth at that time than any other comer in 20 years. The second, he says, was ball lightning triggered by the meteor.

The cometary debris ionised the atmospheric gas as it passed through, boosting the current that normally flows between the ionosphere, an electrically charged region in the upper atmosphere, and the ground. Hughes believes when the "supercharged" conduit hit the soil, it formed a plasma ball, he argues. (Proceedings of the Royal Society A, DOI 10.10.98/rspa.2010.0409.)
Impacting space junk might also produce the effect, he says.