More Observers Confirm
"NORTHERN ADVOCATE"
Seeing Strange Object
6 NOV 1954
"I HAVE never seen anything like it in my life."
That is how Mr R. P. Wynniatt, of Onearah, confirmed statements yesterday by Mrs A. Kasper and Mr John Clark on the strange object they had seen in the Northland sky on Saturday night.
Several other people today added confirmation of the phenomenon.
Mr Wynniatt said he had an ideal view of the object.
He was on top of the hill in Commins Street, Onearah, when the sun had just disappeared over the horizon. He was not sure of the time.
"I first noticed the object between Hikurangi and Kamo," he said today.
His description of the object was:
Cigar-shaped with a steady bright light at the front end, slate-coloured in the centre and a flickering yellow light at the back.
It travelled at a great height at a great speed to disappear into the evening glow over Waipu.
SIZE OF BIG BOMBER
The "thing" looked about the size of a Super-Fortress bomber.
It travelled a slightly curved course and appeared to rise slightly over the Tangihua Range.
Mr Wynniatt had a 15-second view and had time to call his children and a neighbour.
He first thought the object was a meteor, but soon decided it was not because it was not being attracted to earth.
It did not diminish and the only reason he could not keep in sight was its disappearance into the sunset.
At 7.15 p.m. on Saturday night, Mrs D. Saies, of Moerewa, her neighbour and two children caught sight of the object.
It was travelling east-to-west into the sunset.
"It was like a silver-white rocket," said Mrs Saies today.
"There was no dropping tail and its shape was definite."
There were no stars in the sky at the time.
SEEMED VERY LOW
Up Kaikanui Road, Opuawhanga, Mrs B. Dale was watering her garden about 7.20 p.m.
She looked up and saw the "thing."
"I thought it was very low," said Mrs Dale over the telephone this morning.
"It looked like a glowing ball."
There was no noise and a "bluey-white" smoke seemed to trail behind.
By the time Mrs Dale had called her husband and children the object had disappeared over a hill.
Mrs H. W. Martin's children let out excited whoops from their Otaiika orchard.
They called their mother to see the "shooting star."
But it was no shooting star, according to Mrs Martin when she called at the Advocate office today.
"We have long telephone wires to our house," she said.
"When the object passed over they gave off quite a 'boom' noise."
WHAT WAS IT?
"I wonder what it was?" Mrs Martin asked.
"After reading all the reports I have often thought I would like to see one of them, but I never thought I would."
Mrs Martin saw the object for only a few seconds.
She thought it looked like a star which "flattened out" as it disappeared.
The Martin children were still excited yesterday morning and rushed off to school to tell their teacher.
"When you see one you know there is something in the reports," Mrs Martin said.
Ann Montague (13) of Second Avenue, had a good look at the phenomenon, and was able clearly to describe it.
Mrs E. Steer, next door, and at least four other Second Avenue residents and a visitor from Marlborough, also caught a glimpse.
Mr G. Brocas, of Hikurangi rang to say he had heard a lot about flying saucers, but he had previously not put too much credence in them.
During his experience at sea he had seen plenty of "queer things," including meteors and shooting stars.
There was no doubt in his mind "about this one."
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Diagram of "the thing" drawn from Mr Wynniatt's description.
Its steady speed convinced Mr Brocas that it was something well out of the ordinary.
The object appeared to be covered light; there was a semi-circular and darker patch further back.
A light seemed to precede the object — "just like the bow of a boat cutting through the water."
A Maori family up the road had also seen it. They were very excited.
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Strange Objects Over Hamilton
HAMILTON, Tue. (P.A.)—Strange objects have been reported in Hamilton skies.
A man reported today that at 7.28 p.m. on Saturday, while travelling with his wife and two children in his car on the main street, he saw a strange-looking object travelling from east to west across the northern sky at a terrific speed.
He said it looked like a tennis ball with an elongated tail, and that it had strong lights underneath but was in shadow on top, and was travelling fast and straight.
His wife and children also saw the object, which was visible for some seconds before disappearing behind a bank of dark clouds.
It was not a meteor or an aircraft, they said.
Later a letter was received in the mail from an 11-year-old boy which said: "On Saturday evening at 7.30 p.m., while travelling from Hillcrest to Hamilton, my father and I saw a strange brightly-lit object going eastwards very high and travelling fast.
"It was like a huge cigar, only the end went off into a long tail. It had a bright white light in the forward part and the middle of it.
"At first we thought it was an air freighter, but it had no wings and was travelling too fast."
The letter was countersigned by the boy's father.
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See explanation
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