The Kaikōura Lights
An unidentified flying object above Kaikōura, December 1978 Photo: YouTube screenshot
New Zealand’s most famous UFO sighting took place nearly 40 years ago in the skies above Kaikōura.
In December 1978, strange lights were reported by hundreds of people, including credible eyewitnesses like pilots and air traffic controllers.
Air traffic radars in Wellington and Blenheim also recorded some activity.
Robert Muldoon's government sent up an RNZAF Orion to officially investigate, but nothing conclusive was found.
An Australian TV crew filmed the lights and their video caused a sensation worldwide.
"If these things are ever hostile, we've had it'
Supposed UFO, New Jersey - 1952 Photo: Wikimedia Commons
An earlier UFO sighting by a "perfectly sane" anonymous woman from Lower Hutt in July 1971 was never investigated by the government.
This was a dangerous oversight, the woman told RNZ reporter Peter Kingston in a 1978 Insight programme.
She says she was preparing for bed when she saw a "craft" in the sky out her window.
"There were two people in it. They had no helmets on … They had sort of … pale, bluey, almost like satin suits. Then it shot up vertically like somebody going up in a lift. Then it took off at terrific speed over the hills at the back towards Wainui.
"I think they're friendly and curious, but let's hope they stay that way. Because otherwise, I don't know what's going to happen.
"If these things are ever hostile, we've had it."
