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SUBJECT: _________________________
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TARANAKI DAILY NEWS, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1955.
Further Mysterious Objects Seen In Sky
The appearance of further unusual objects in the sky following on that seen recently over North Taranaki and Waikato are reported from Auckland and the West Coast.
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MOVING “LIGHTS” IN SKY
WAIKATO TIMES. 4 NOV 1955
When Ministers of the Crown are informed that a strange “flying light” object has been observed for five minutes from a passenger aircraft, and by a witness of the calibre of the Inspector-General of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Air-Commodore R. J. Cohen, and other experienced airmen, it is necessary that official notice should be taken. Accordingly, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Shand, and the acting-Minister of Defence, Mr Halstead, have called for detailed reports on the whole matter from the heads of their departments. It would be interesting if New Zealand should produce the first explanation of phenomena which have been reported from many countries.
It is futile simply to inform such reliable witnesses that they are dealing with nothing more than a fragment of the imagination. There can be no doubt that they see something, even if it is only an optical illusion, and it is in the interests of science and for the purposes of general information that an explanation is being sought. Similar reports have been received over a period of years, though the “objects” seen differ substantially. The latest one is remarkable in that a number of responsible people aboard the aircraft flying over the Waikato declare they watched the object for five minutes—a much longer time than is usually associated with “sightings.”
Five minutes is an exceedingly long time for an optical illusion to persist, especially from a swiftly moving aircraft. Extravagant claims will no doubt be made, especially among those who were not witnesses, but from the statements of the experts aboard the aircraft it might be possible to make some progress toward an explanation of the frequent sightings of strange moving lights in the skies. The explanation may be simple, if it can be established—a trick of reflected light, an electrical manifestation? Those making the inquiry can be assured of an interested following.
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Was It a Plane or a Planet?
DUNEDIN EVENING STAR, 5 NOV 1955
Plane or planet? When an American air-satellite? Just when people were settling down comfort-
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A lighted object, flying silently at great speed, was seen by Mr. D. W. Paul, Hendon Avenue, Avondale, early this morning. With him at the time was an Auckland taxi-driver, says an Auckland Press Association message.
“The taxi-driver saw the object first,” said Mr. Paul. “We were going down Hendon Avenue at 1 a.m. and the object was flying parallel with us and to the south.
“At first there was a ‘swishing noise’ rather like a jet. It appeared to be a long object with three or four lighted windows; but the windows were much bigger than usual on aircraft.
“It passed us in uncanny silence. The most remarkable fact was the absence of any noise. It was visible to us for about four minutes before vanishing into a cloud bank.”
Mr. Paul said he stayed outside for some time in the hope of catching another glimpse of the object. A little while later, an aircraft (later identified as a Royal New Zealand Air Force Sunderland) flew at right angles to the object’s course with its landing lights blinking. “It was completely different,” said Mr. Paul, “from the other object.”
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Roared Across Sky
A cylindrical luminous object flashed across the West Coast skies with a roar about one o’clock this afternoon, according to reports from Kumara and Greymouth residents, says a Greymouth message.
It is reported to have moved at great speed from the south-west across Kumara, glowing in the clear sky before disappearing behind a cloud bank screening the Southern Alps. Observers claimed that the object disappeared above 5,000 ft.