Kaikoura lights
- Date
- Dec 1978
- Place
- Off the Kaikoura coast and ranges, north-east South Island, on the Wellington and Blenheim to Christchurch cargo route, New Zealand
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
On 21 December 1978 Safe Air Argosy pilots Vern Powell and Ian Pirie reported lights around their aircraft while Wellington air traffic control radar showed unidentified returns. On the night of 30-31 December a Channel 0 crew (Quentin Fogarty, cameraman David Crockett) flew with pilots Bill Startup and Bob Guard and filmed lights in colour on 16 mm film; on the return leg a light paced the aircraft for about a quarter of an hour and the airborne radar, in ground-mapping mode, appeared to show an object at its position. The RNZAF investigation (files released 2010) attributed the sightings to Venus, the lights of a Japanese squid-fishing fleet, cars and trains, and anomalous propagation on the Wellington radar. Sources disagree on whether radar and film ever recorded the same object at the same moment: the released files treat the 21 and 30-31 December episodes as separate incidents, and critics also questioned the airborne radar and the camera's focus.
What officials concluded
Resolved
RNZAF: natural but unusual atmospheric phenomena, Venus, squid-boat lights and anomalous radar returns
Strongest ordinary reading
Squid-fishing-fleet lights, bright planets and anomalous propagation; not every radar-visual pairing has been matched to a conventional source
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- Yes: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- Yes: Film
- Yes: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- Yes: Airline crew
- Yes: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Kaikoura lightsen.wikipedia.org
- Otago Daily Times: Air Force report explains Kaikoura UFO sightingsodt.co.nz
On the map
42.40° S, 173.68° E, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map