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This section contains descriptions of unexplained facts provided by eyewitnesses or published in the media, as well as the results of their analysis by the group.

UFO. New Zealand

ID #1689772514
Added Wed, 19/07/2023
Author July N.
Sources
Phenomena
Status
Fact

Initial data

Initial information from sources or from an eyewitness
Incident date: 
22.03.2009 12:20
Location: 
Мэричерч-роуд
New Zealand

Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009

Time: around 12:20

Location: between SH1b and Marychurch Rd, Cambridge, Waikato, North Is. (rural)

Features/Characteristics: the light is divided into two parts; lights illuminate the hillsides

Description:

The viewing duration is about 1 minute. A clear sky with lots of stars, but no moon.

Two witnesses, a husband and wife, were driving home from Hamilton to Cambridge on Marychurch Road/State Highway 1b. Driving through the intersection of Marychurch Road and Church Road, they saw a bright light to their left (to the east). The light was stationary, very bright and pure blue-white light (compared to other light expected in rural areas at night), and seemed too high for a street lamp located above the treetops. It was located at an altitude of 60 m or more above the ground and was at a distance of 400-500 m from the witnesses. (Witnesses visited the place the next day and found that the light was actually hovering over the paddock.)

Initially, the couple discussed the possibility that the light was a new street lamp that could be installed at the intersection of Church Road and Victoria Road, which was above the norm. However, as they walked along Marychurch Road, it became clear that it simply could not be a street lamp. They continued down Marychurch Road, passing clumps of trees, and several times the light temporarily disappeared from sight. As they neared the end of Marychurch Road, the only light split into two. The witnesses were unsure whether this was because the second light was obscured by the light ahead, or because the original single light literally split into two lights.

They passed behind another group of trees (which took no more than a second or two), and when they came out from behind them, they could see that the two fires were at least 2-3 km away and were disappearing in the distance. Then the witnesses lost sight of them when their car drove past the last tree. They stopped at a railroad crossing to see where the lights had disappeared. When they looked in the direction the lights were heading, they saw a bright flash of light, almost similar in color and effect to the very large camera flash that occurred on the surrounding hills about 10 km to the east.

The witnesses sat and discussed the events. The wife wanted to return home, as she was in fear and shock. The husband describes himself as a cynic and until that moment had never believed in any form of extraterrestrial activity and, of course, wanted to prove that there was a reasonable and natural explanation for what they saw. So the couple made a circle around the block and approached the area from Victoria Road, but there was nothing there except a very ordinary street lamp at the intersection of Victoria Road and Church Road. It was neither new nor unusually tall and had a typical yellow hue, very different from the lights they had just seen.

Then the witnesses returned from the Mary Church/Church Road intersection and saw absolutely nothing.

"No lights, no farmers with flares (which I thought could be), no signs of anything unusual at all, which gave rise to some doubts in my usually cynical mind." (husband)

The initial light appeared to be flying and stationary during the first 50 seconds of observation, hovering about 60-100 m above the ground. The two fires moved from their original position to a distance of about 3 kilometers in seconds, quickly heading in an easterly direction. Witnesses saw a huge flash of light over the eastern hills about 15 seconds after they lost the light due to briefly passing behind a tree.

A similar observation was made on Sunday, March 15, 2009.

Ufocus NZ Comment:

In 1978, while watching the "lights of Kaikoura", a TV1 news crew filmed a large bright white light that split into two lights, each of which moved independently. One of the operators recently sold these unusual shots to an American film company. It had never been viewed, and it was still in its original film packaging when it was transferred from 16mm film to digital. These images may never be seen by New Zealand viewers, which is a pity, as they would undoubtedly put an end to many controversies and misinformation related to these unusual observations.

Original news

Date: Sunday 22 March 2009

Time: approx 12.20 am

Location: Between SH1b & Marychurch Rd, Cambridge, Waikato, North Is. (a rural area)

Features/characteristics: light splits into two; lights illuminate hillsides

Description:

Duration of sighting approx 1 minute. Clear skies with plenty of stars, but no moon.

Two witnesses, a husband and wife, were travelling home from Hamilton towards Cambridge, along Marychurch Road/State Highway 1b. As they passed through the intersection of Marychurch Road and Church Road, they could see a bright light off to their left (to the east). The light was stationary, very bright, and a clean white/ blue light (relative to other light expected to be seen in a rural situation at night), and seemed to be too high to be a street light being above treetop height. It was positioned 60m or more above the ground, and was 400-500m away from the witnesses. (The witnesses visited the area the next day, and discovered that the light had actually been hovering over a paddock.)

Initially, the couple discussed the possibility that the light was a new street light that may have had been installed at the Church Road/Victoria Road intersection, which was higher than the norm. However, as they progressed down Marychurch Road, it became clear that it simply couldn’t be a street light. They continued down Marychurch Road, passing behind groups of trees, and the light was temporarily out of sight a few times. As they neared the end of Marychurch Road, the single light appeared to split into two lights. The witnesses were uncertain as to whether this was because a second light had been obscured by a light in front, or whether the initial single light had literally split into two lights.

They passed behind another group of trees (which took no more than a second or two), and as they came out from behind them, they could see that the two lights were at least 2 to 3 km away and dwindling into the distance. The witnesses then lost sight of them as their car passed behind a final tree. They paused near a railway crossing to look at where the lights had gone. As they looked in the direction that the lights had headed, they saw a bright flash of light, almost akin in both colour and effect, to an extremely large camera flash, that occurred in the surrounding hills approximately 10 km to the east.

The witnesses sat and discussed the events. The wife wished to go home, as she was in awe and shock. The husband describes himself as a cynic, and until this point had never believed in any form of extraterrestrial activity, and of course wanted to prove that there was a reasonable and natural explanation for what they had seen. So the couple did a loop around the block and approached the area from Victoria Road – but there was nothing to see other than a very normal street light at the Victoria Road/Church Road intersection. It was neither new nor unusually high and was a typical yellow tone, much different from the lights they had just witnessed.

The witnesses then retraced their steps from the Mary Church/Church Road intersection and saw absolutely nothing.
“No lights, no farmers out with flares (which had been one thing I thought it may have been), no sign of anything unusual at all, which has cast some doubts in my usually cynical mind.” (husband)

The initial light appeared to be airborne and stationary for the first 50 seconds of the sighting, hovering approximately 60-100m above the ground. The two lights traveled from their initial position to around 3 kilometres away within seconds, heading rapidly in an easterly direction. The witnesses saw the huge flash of light over easterly hills about 15 seconds after they lost sight of the lights due to passing briefly behind a tree.

See similar sighting – Sunday 15 March 2009.

Ufocus NZ comment: In 1978, at the time of the ‘Kaikoura lights’ sightings, a TV1 news film crew filmed a large bright white light that split into two lights, each light moving off independently. One of the cameramen recently sold this extraordinary footage to a US film company. It had never been viewed and was still in its original film canister when it was transferred from 16mm film to digital. This footage may never be seen by New Zealand audiences, which is a great pity, as it would undoubtedly have lain to rest much of the controversy and misinformation surrounding these extraordinary sightings.

Hypotheses

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Investigation

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