Type: Witness Testimony
Source: Safe Air Ltd Flight Crew
Formal statements from pilots and crew members describing multiple bright aerial objects pacing the aircraft during the Kaikoura UFO incident, with coordinated movement and no identifiable aircraft structure.
During the December 1978 Kaikoura Lights incident, the crew of an Argosy freight plane—Captains Bill Startup and Jim Howard, and First Officer Bob Guard—reported that multiple glowing orbs paced their aircraft, hovering, darting, and matching their speed while Wellington air traffic control simultaneously tracked the objects on radar.
The flight crew’s testimony became one of the most famous cases in ufology due to the combination of trained eyewitnesses, radar tracking, and accompanying footage shot by an Australian television news crew that was also on board.
The Crew's Account and TestimonyThe Sighting: The crew reported seeing up to five white flashing lights and large, pulsating orbs. At times, the objects were described as large as a house and glowing with a bright red or white hue.
Radar Correlation: Wellington Air Traffic Controllers confirmed that they saw unidentified targets shadowing the Argosy aircraft, appearing and disappearing on their screens.
The Evasive Maneuvers: The crew stated that the lights aggressively maneuvered alongside and behind their aircraft, tracking the plane for miles before breaking off.
News Crew Validation: A Channel 0 (Melbourne) television crew, traveling on the newspaper-run flight, managed to capture film footage of the mysterious lights