New Zealand UFO baffles experts

A mysterious object seen in skies over the Tasman Sea near Kaitaia is baffling UFO experts. Last month, The Northern News reported that UFO Focus New Zealand (UFOCUS NZ) and world UFO expert Dr Bruce Maccabee were studying a series of unusual photographs taken at Ahipara on April 28. The digital photos, taken of the sky and sea at 5.42pm, showed a bright object which did not look like a cloud and had the appearance of a craft. The story attracted intense interest and remained one of the most viewed stories on the Northland page of the Stuff news website three weeks after publication. Last week, UFOCUS released its report on the sighting and we can now bring you photos. The report says the photographer watched the object for nearly five minutes while it moved silently across the sky in a northerly direction reducing in size and disappearing.

Dr Maccabee, an optical physicist in the United States Navy, says in the report that the object does not display flight characteristics that distinguish it as a 'craft' of unknown origin. However, its shape suggests a circular 'something' with a dome-like top. The object could also be a jet aircraft's vapour trail viewed end on, he says. Air Traffic Control says there were no scheduled flights in the area at the time. It would expect to see consistency of shape from both trails and a 'flow-off' similar to a cirrus cloud blown by winds if the object was a jet contrail. Instead, the shapes in the photos are compact. UFOCUS has consulted the Carter Observatory and ruled out the object being space junk or a meteorite, says the group?s coordinator Suzy Hansen.