Kaikoura lights
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
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| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Kaikōura lights, Kaikoura |
The Kaikōura lights were unidentified lights reported and filmed from cargo aircraft off the Kaikōura coast of New Zealand's South Island in late December 1978. Tracked on radar and filmed by an Australian television crew, they made headlines worldwide and remain one of New Zealand's best-known UFO cases. New Zealand authorities concluded that the lights were most likely from squid fishing boats and astronomical objects.[1][2]
The sightings
On 21 December 1978, Safe Air pilots Vern Powell and Ian Pirie, flying an Armstrong Whitworth Argosy cargo plane from Blenheim to Christchurch, reported lights around their aircraft, and Wellington air traffic control reported unidentified targets on radar.[1]
On the night of 30–31 December 1978, a crew from Melbourne's Channel 0, including reporter Quentin Fogarty and cameraman David Crockett, flew aboard a Safe Air newspaper run from Wellington to Christchurch with pilots Bill Startup and Bob Guard to film a follow-up story. Wellington radar had reported numerous unidentified targets a few hours earlier. On the flights they saw and filmed bright lights on 16 mm colour film; on the return leg after 2:16 a.m., a light stayed near the aircraft for about a quarter of an hour. The footage was broadcast around the world.[1][3]
Investigations and explanations
The Royal New Zealand Air Force, police and Carter Observatory cooperated in an investigation, and an A-4 Skyhawk fighter was placed on standby to check further sightings. New Zealand's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research concluded the lights were most likely from squid fishing boats, which use powerful lamps, and the Ministry of Defence also cited Venus, meteors and reflections. Astronomers suggested Jupiter or Mars.[1][4][5]
U.S. optical physicist Bruce Maccabee analysed the film and estimated that one object was at least 20 metres across and unlikely to be ball lightning, concluding that the lights fitted the definition of UFOs. Former government scientist William Ireland argued in 2000 that Maccabee had used an incorrect focal length and that the filmed lights were squid boats about 6 kilometres away. Government documents released later showed officials could not fully explain the sightings.[1][6][7]
References
- Kaikōura lights — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Crew remember the day UFO was spotted over Kaikōura 40 years on", NZ Herald · web.archive.org · archived copy
- "U.F.O. cover-up alleged", The Press (27 Dec 1978) — Papers Past · paperspast.natlib.govt.nz · archived copy
- "Jet fighter put on stand-by to check U.F.O. sightings", The Press (2 Jan 1979) — Papers Past · paperspast.natlib.govt.nz · archived copy
- "Govt officials couldn't explain Kaikōura lights UFO sightings, documents show", RNZ · rnz.co.nz · archived copy
- Bruce Maccabee, "Photometric properties of an unidentified bright object seen off the coast of New Zealand", Applied Optics · web.archive.org · archived copy
- William Ireland, "Ghost squid boats in the sky", NZ Skeptic 57 (2000) · skeptics.nz · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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