Type: Radar Data
Source: New Zealand Ministry of Defence
Radar recordings from ground-based military tracking systems showing multiple unidentified aerial targets moving in coordinated patterns alongside the Kaikoura Lights incident in 1978.
The 1978 Kaikoura UFO incident involved visual sightings and simultaneous radar tracking of unexplained aerial phenomena off the coast of New Zealand's South Island by both commercial pilots and military air traffic controllers.
On December 21 and 30, 1978, the crew of an Argosy cargo plane and an accompanying Australian TV news crew reported bright, pulsating lights that tracked their aircraft. The sightings were independently verified by Wellington Air Traffic Control, which picked up anomalous radar blips that corresponded to the visual objects.
Following intense international media coverage and a direct inquiry from Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, the New Zealand Air Force and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) launched an official investigation. The official military and government reports largely concluded the radar anomalies and visual sightings were the result of natural phenomena. The primary explanations proposed for the Kaikoura Lights included unusual atmospheric refraction, the bright glow of the planet Venus, and reflections from the powerful lights of Japanese squid fishing boats operating in the area.
Despite these official explanations, the exact cause of the radar tracking and film footage has remained heavily debated.