Kaikoura Lights
A freight aircraft crew and an Australian television team aboard filmed unusual lights near Kaikoura, New Zealand, that were simultaneously tracked on Wellington Air Traffic Control radar, producing some of the era's most analyzed UFO footage.
Background
On the final night of 1978, an Argosy freight aircraft operated by Safe Air was flying its regular route between Blenheim and Christchurch along the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island when Captain Bill Startup and co-pilot Robert Guard observed unusual bright objects pacing the aircraft. Wellington Air Traffic Control confirmed simultaneous anomalous primary radar returns, corroborating the visual sightings, while a film crew captured compelling footage.
The Incident
The aircraft carried a film crew from Channel 0 Melbourne, who had arranged the flight to investigate prior sighting reports.
- Cameraman David Crockett filmed approximately sixteen minutes of bright, pulsating lights moving independently of identifiable reference points.
- The footage was broadcast internationally within days.
Investigation
The Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research conducted inquiries.
- Proposed explanations: reflections from fishing vessels, the planet Venus, anomalous atmospheric refraction from temperature inversions.
- Simultaneous radar confirmation from Wellington challenged optical-only explanations, as radar is immune to visual illusions.
Significance
The film became one of the most widely viewed and technically scrutinized UFO recordings of the twentieth century.
The case remains debated, with the correlation between radar tracks and visual observations as the central unresolved element.
Significance
The Kaikoura lights represent one of the few UFO cases where professional film footage was captured simultaneously with independent radar confirmation. The incident placed New Zealand briefly at the center of global UFO attention and remains a key reference case for radar-visual correlations. Captain Bill Startup (Safe Air Ltd., 14,000 flight hours) and copilot Robert Guard (7,000 hours) were key witnesses. Australian TV reporter Quentin Fogarty, cameraman David Crockett, and sound operator Ngaire Crockett were aboard filming a documentary about the Valentich case. Crockett captured the objects on 16mm color movie film for about 30 minutes. Wellington ATC tracked the objects on radar simultaneously -- controller Geoffrey Causer reported the target had doubled in size when the phenomenon flew in formation with the aircraft. Radar maintenance technician Bryan Chalmers confirmed.