All sightings, photographs, drawings and articles are © 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.  If applicable, additional comments are made at the bottom of a report.

Date: Saturday 20 November 2014

Time: 10.10pm

Location: Greytown, North Island

Features/characteristics: airborne object with very bright light

Description:

Conditions wispy cloud, north/west wind, starry night with good visibility. Duration of sighting one minute.

The witness and his partner were outside when they saw an object low in the sky, approaching from the south and travelling north. It was extremely bright and they thought it was a plane, but there were no blinking lights, just one solid bright light similar to a car headlight on high beam. There was no sound. They observed it while using a star as a reference point. It then seemed to get suddenly duller as if it was going through cloud, and they were still keeping the star as a reference of its movement, when it disappeared.

Date: Thursday 6 November 2014

Time: 4.45 pm

Location: Papamoa, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, North Island

Features/characteristics: bright white elliptical light travelling at speed

Description:

Clouds, storm overhead, but clear view beyond over Tauranga and the Kaimai Ranges. Duration of sighting approx. 5 seconds. Daytime sighting.

The witness sighted a bright white elliptical light moving from SW (the Kaimai Ranges) to NNE (out over the sea) at a speed described as, “as fast as an aircraft”. The light was obscured by neighbourhood trees as it passed beyond the coastline and out to sea in the direction of Mayor Island.

Date: Tuesday 21 October 2014

Time: unknown, daytime sighting

Location: Parklands, Christchurch, South Island

Features/characteristics: shiny metallic-looking object

Description:

A witness spotted a shiny metallic-looking object high in the sky, turning and glimmering. It was bright and reflective, and caught his eye. The witness watched the object move across the sky, before it became stationary for approximately ten minutes. The object then ascended until it was out of view.

Date: Saturday 5 July 2014

Time: 6.40am

Location: Waiwhakaiho Valley, New Plymouth, North Island

Features/characteristics: large airborne triangular object

Description:

Conditions dark with very low cloud. Duration of sighting approximately one minute.

The witness was driving to work and approaching traffic lights at Waiwhakaiho when he noticed lights in the sky directly ahead of him. This was unusual, but he assumed it was a helicopter doing a search. However, as the witness got nearer he realised that the object was much larger and a lot closer than he had thought when it appeared to stop and hover 350-400 metres above the road. The witness put his head out of the window, looked up, and saw a very large triangular dark shape with lights on all corners (two red and one blue) and a larger white light in the centre. The witness then became concerned and drove quickly to his destination. The object was also observed by a senior operator at his workplace in the same position at approximately 6.20am.

Date: Wednesday 18 June 2014

Time: 7.05am

Location: Lepperton, New Plymouth, North Island

Features/characteristics: large T-shaped airborne object

Description:

Conditions clear, moon and stars visible. Duration of sighting 10-20 seconds.

The witness was driving south along a country road towards Inglewood when he noticed a very large T-shaped object in the sky through the windscreen. The object was a white/grey colour and appeared to be ridged like concrete. As he watched it, it just vanished from view. The witness pulled over and stopped the car, but there was no sign of the object in the clear sky.

The object was too large to have been a plane or helicopter and was stationary. The witness also noticed a flash of red light that pulsed throughout the sighting.

Date: Saturday 31 May 2014  

Time: 6.30am

Location: Wanganui, North Island

Features/characteristics: flashing light

Description:

Clear frosty morning. Duration of sighting approximately 1 to 2 minutes.

The witness observed a light high in the atmosphere travelling from the north-west, heading south. She observed a sudden flash of the light as it changed direction, dropping in altitude towards the west. It flashed another two times as it descended, then faded from view.

Ufocus NZ comment: the witness also described seeing a meteor cross the sky around the time of this sighting and it is possible the light she observed was also a meteor.

Date: week of 12-14 May 2014

Time: unknown

Location: Queenstown, South Island

Features/characteristics: two fast-moving objects

Description:

An Australian film crew on location in Queenstown discovered a piece of their footage contained two fast-moving objects.

Link to YouTube footage of incident.

Ufocus NZ comment:  we have also received a similar piece of footage from a witness in Tauranga, which is currently being assessed by a photographic data analyst.

Date: Sunday 11 May 2014

Time: 7.00 pm

Location: Masterton, North Island

Features/characteristics: white light moving erratically

Description:

Clear still night, no wind or clouds, Milky Way visible. Duration of sighting 1 minute.

The witness observed a small white light approx 70 degrees above the horizon, travelling in a NNW direction, which he initially thought to be a satellite. However the light veered to one side and began random zig-zag movements, sometimes staying stationary for a few seconds, the whole time continuing roughly on its NNW path. At this point the light glowed red and green. At about 20 degrees from the horizon it suddenly disappeared. There was no sound associated with the light. He described the light as solid, with no strobe effect as in aircraft navigation lights.

Date: Thursday 1 May 2014

Time: 8.10 pm

Location: Lower Hutt, North Island

Features/characteristics: ‘T’ shaped objects

Description:

Clear night with high visibility. Duration of sighting around 55 seconds.

Two witnesses noticed an object which he at first thought was a large plane, however there were no flashing lights, just steady bright white and red lights in the shape of a T, with the top section travelling forward. He considered it could be a helicopter but there was no sound.
The object was heading east to west, in the area of Lake Wairarapa and Pakuratahi Forest. As they watched the object slowly glowed red and defended until it faded from view. A second object followed, with the same pattern and characteristics.

Ufocus NZ comment: sky lanterns spring to mind, however the witnesses described large objects, comparable to an aircraft.

Date: Wednesday 5 March 2014

Time: 4.00 am

Location: Birds ferry Road, Westport, South Island

Features/characteristics: orange light rising

Description:

Weather mostly clear with some cloud cover; duration of sighting approx. 5 minutes.

The witness reports that she got up during the night and saw a light above the mountains to the east of her location, which she thought might have been a distress flare. She went outside to have a look and over some time, the light moved upwards into the clouds in a similar manner to moon-rise, and it was lost to view in or behind clouds.

In a later email, the witness suggested it might have been Jupiter, however on checking the planetary tables Jupiter at this time would have been in the western sky. Two other possibilities are Mars and Venus, both of which were in the eastern sky at this time of night.
Mars is a reddish colour and fairly small so Venus is the most likely, When low down near the horizon, this planet which is very bright, can be affected by atmospheric aberration which can give it a reddish orange colour.

Date: Wednesday 5 March 2014

Time: around 1.30 am

Location: Nelson, South Island

Features/characteristics: vertically falling blue/white light

Description:

Clear night with excellent visibility, stars etc. Duration of sighting 1-2 minutes.

The witness was sitting on his veranda on a hot night, viewing the sky. He noticed a bright blue/white light falling vertically from high in the sky, at speed. It became stationary just above nearby hills and stayed there for around 30 seconds, before moving slowly towards Nelson in a northeast direction. The light became larger as it approached and the witness noticed it seemed to have the definition of a blue four-point star within a white glowing circle. The light became slightly dimmer as it progressed until it eventually ‘switched off’.

Date: Wednesday 12 February 2014

Time: 9.00 pm exactly

Location: Gisborne, North Island

Features/characteristics: blue cylindrical-shaped light

Description:

Near nightfall, clear evening, no wind, moon in the sky. Duration of sighting 3 to 4 seconds.

The witness was driving west along Childers Road, when a blue light appeared suddenly in front of her car, directly ahead some estimated 3-4 kilometres away from her at approximately “helicopter height”. It moved across the sky a little towards her left (south).

At first the witness thought it must be an aircraft, although she thought it was a bit late in the evening for an aircraft to be landing at Gisborne Airport. Suddenly the light made an acute right turn away from her position and accelerated away at high speed, disappearing from view.

The brilliance of the light was constant without flashing, and the witness did not hear any sound associated with it.

Date: Saturday 25 January 2014

Time: 9:35 pm

Location: Raumati Beach, North Island

Features/characteristics: slow moving glowing orange ball

Description:

Partly cloudy starlight night. Duration of sighting approximately 2 minutes.

Two witnesses observed a glowing orange ball of light the size of a tennis ball held at arm’s length. There was no sound associated with the light, and it was estimated to be some 500 metres from the witnesses. The object’s brilliancy was steady as it moved slowly across the sky, and then it appeared to float sideways, before ascending with a slightly increased speed and disappearing.

Ufocus NZ Comment:
The light was most probably a lantern, its variable speed being explained by the effect of different air currents being encountered at different flight levels.

Date: Tuesday 21 January 2014

Time: 10.13 pm

Location: Totara North, Kaeo, Northland, North Island

Features/characteristics: bright oval yellow light

Description:

Clear sky, stars and planets visible. Duration of sighting 5 to 10 seconds.

The witness was outdoors when she observed a bright yellow oval/rugby ball shaped light north-east of her position, low over surrounding hills. Her first thought was that it could be an aircraft or helicopter, but there was no noise associated with the sighting, and the light was much larger than any aircraft she normally sees in this area. The light was stationary when she first observed it, but it began to slowly move away. As it moved, its appearance became blurry as if it was partly obscured by cloud however there were no clouds in the sky. Within around 10 seconds the light had disappeared altogether.

Date: Saturday 18 January 2014

Time: 11.45 am

Location: Matiatia Bay, Waiheke Island, Auckland, North Island

Features/characteristics: small shiny object executing sharp turns

Description:

Daytime sighting, clear blue sky, no clouds. Duration of sighting 1 minute or less.

The witness had just finished the 25 km Waiheke Wharf 2 Wharf Race and was lying on the grass looking up at the sky. He observed a small shiny object in the sky, moving in a straight line at a constant speed. It appeared to be round or spherical so the witness concluded it was not a bird or an aircraft. The object came to a standstill before making several zigzag or sharp turns without any loss of speed, before continuing on its original trajectory, west to east, disappearing from the witness’s line of sight beyond trees, as it headed eastwards. The object was roughly the size of a pea held at arm’s length. The witness estimated the object was at an altitude of several thousand metres and was travelling faster than the speed of a commercial airliner.

Date: Saturday 11 January 2014

Time: 10:30 pm

Location: Cambridge, North Island

Features/characteristics: bright orange/red light with unusual flight characteristics

Description:

Clear starlight night, no wind. Duration of sighting approximately 1 minute.

Five witnesses observed a steady, bright orange/red light very high in the sky, traveling towards them at a speed similar to a light aircraft. There was no noise associated with the object, and it was approximately 20 times larger than the visible stars. As it approached them overhead, the object climbed, hovered, then climbed again, accelerating rapidly until out of sight.

Date: Wednesday 8 January 2014

Time: 9.40 pm

Location: Hastings, North Island

Features/characteristics: single bright orange light

Description:

Light cloud, dusk. Duration of sighting 30 seconds.

Two witnesses observed a bright orange diamond shaped light moving swiftly across the sky from a south-easterly direction towards the sea. The light passed Te Mata Peak at the same altitude as the Peak itself. The witnesses watched the light increase in speed and disappear.

Ufocus NZ comment: possibly a lantern moving swiftly on an air current. The fact the light seemed to disappear could indicate the lantern burning out.

Date: Tuesday 4 February 2014

Time: approx 4.00 am

Location: Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, North Island

Features/characteristics: regularly flashing light

Description:

Clear early morning sky. Duration of sighting 15-20 seconds.

The witness was preparing to leave for work when he looked up and saw a small yellowish light at high altitude moving in a north to south direction. It suddenly flashed bright yellow, continued moving for around 10 seconds, then flashed again. The light then seemed to go out or fade.

Ufocus NZ comment: This was likely to have been iridium flares from a satellite catching the sunlight as it rolled in orbit.

Date: Saturday 11 January 2014

Time: approx. 5.30pm

Location: Rangariri, Waikato, North Island

Features/characteristics: airborne object

Description:

Conditions clear and sunny with puffy white clouds. Duration of sighting 10 seconds.

The witness was a passenger in a car travelling south on State Highway 1 towards Huntly, when he noticed an object in the sky at an altitude of about 500-700 metres. It appeared to be stationary. The sun was beaming off the object’s underside, which looked a brilliant polished aluminium colour, and the top was somewhat shaded, but resembled polished alloy.