It has been almost 30 years since unidentified flying objects were observed off the coast of Kaikoura during the Christmas/New Year break of 1978. The sightings are to be marked soon with a commemorative flight, a gathering of enthusiasts and even a musical. At the time, news of the sightings was reported worldwide and to this day they remain a huge source of controversy. But the remarkable thing about the sightings is whatever was flying around that night was not just observed, it showed up on radar too and was caught on film. It is one of New Zealand’s biggest mysteries and one of the world’s best documented sightings of a UFO. “The most important thing I think about his story is that even to this day, the flight crew and the air traffic controllers are adamant that we saw something highly unusual that can’t be explained in mundane terms,” says journalist Quentin Fogarty. “Now, 30 years later, they still believe that.” Mr Fogarty was the reporter, with a news crew, that filmed the UFOs on an Argosy freight plane the night of the December 30, 1978.
