REALM33
Directorate of Information Preservation and Archival
File No. R33‑UAP‑KAI‑1978
UAP Event Profile — The Kaikōura Lights
Designation: The Kaikōura Lights
Known Aliases: Kaikoura UFOs · The Kaikoura Lights · The 1978 New Zealand UFO Flap · The Safe Air Sightings · The Channel 0 UFO Film · ███████████
Event Location: Skies above the Kaikōura mountain ranges and coastline, northeast South Island, New Zealand
Event Dates: 21 December 1978; 30–31 December 1978; additional sightings into early January 1979
Witness Count: At least seven principal witnesses (two Safe Air crews, reporter Quentin Fogarty, cameraman David Crockett, sound recordist Ngaire Crockett, TV1 journalist Dennis Grant); plus multiple air traffic controllers at Wellington and Christchurch
Classification Status: Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon · Officially investigated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force · DSIR classification: “UFOs until identified”
Current Status: UNRESOLVED — COMPETING EXPLANATIONS — DOCUMENTED BY FILM, RADAR, AND MULTIPLE WITNESSES — APRIL 2026
Fig. 1 – The Kaikōura coastline, South Island, New Zealand. The rugged terrain and dark skies of the region formed the backdrop for one of the most documented UFO events in history. (CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Directorate Notice
This file treats the Kaikōura Lights as an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon event — documenting what was observed, by whom, and under what circumstances, as well as the official and unofficial investigations that followed. The Directorate does not assert that the lights were extraterrestrial spacecraft, nor does it assert that they were mundane phenomena. The file records the claims, the evidence, the competing explanations, and the cultural legacy of the event. Where official documents are cited, they are presented in their historical context; where witness testimony is quoted, it is recorded as testimony; where skeptics offer alternative interpretations, those are presented as part of the full record.
This file is necessarily interlinked with the broader history of New Zealand UFO research — including the declassification of thousands of pages of Defence Force documents in 2010 — because the Kaikōura event is the centerpiece of that archive. However, the primary focus remains the nature of the phenomenon itself: what was seen, how it behaved, what evidence was captured, and what explanations have been offered.
Section I — Description of the Phenomenon: What Was Observed
Fig. 2 – An Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy, the same type of cargo aircraft operated by Safe Air Ltd on the newspaper runs during which the Kaikōura Lights were observed. (Public Domain)
Across multiple sightings spanning at least ten days, the Kaikōura Lights were described with remarkable consistency by independent sets of witnesses — professional pilots, a television news crew, and air traffic controllers operating radar systems at Wellington and Christchurch. The following composite description is drawn from contemporaneous accounts, official reports, and later interviews.
The primary phenomenon consisted of one or more bright lights — typically described as white, occasionally with a red or orange tinge — that appeared to maneuver in the skies off the Kaikōura coast. On the first sighting, 21 December 1978, Captain Vern Powell and First Officer Ian Pirie of a Safe Air Argosy freighter observed a bright red glowing light at their ten o’clock position. The light was “definitely airborne” and appeared to track the aircraft. Air traffic controller John Cordy at Wellington confirmed a radar target: “very strong on the radar now, it’s as strong as you are.” The object paralleled the Argosy’s course for approximately 20 to 30 miles, remaining at roughly 90 degrees to the aircraft the entire time.[reference:0]
On the night of 30–31 December, a second Safe Air Argosy — piloted by Captain Bill Startup and First Officer Bob Guard, with reporter Quentin Fogarty, cameraman David Crockett, and sound recordist Ngaire Crockett aboard — encountered a more elaborate display. The aircraft was met by a line of five small bright lights and what appeared to be a large, lighted orb. The orb fell into station off the wing tip and tracked with the aircraft for almost a quarter of an hour while being filmed, watched, and described on an audio recording made by the TV crew. Fogarty can be heard on the tape saying, “let’s hope they’re friendly.” The flight radar, operating in ground-mapping mode, appeared to show a large object matching the position of the light.[reference:1]Fogarty later described the lights as “some of which were the size of a house.”[reference:2]
The lights were described as extremely bright, flashing, and elliptical — and difficult to explain as “conventional phenomenon.”[reference:3]Captain Startup reported that what appeared to be “a huge, bright white light with a red tinge to it” seemed to track his plane, moving above, below, and in front of it.[reference:4]The objects appeared to multiply during the encounter; Fogarty reported “a whole formation of unidentified flying objects.”[reference:5]
Section II — Chronology of Events: Two Key Dates
The Kaikōura event unfolded across two principal dates, with a third film-crew sighting in early January adding to the record. The following timeline is assembled from witness testimony, air traffic control logs, and official reports.
| Date / Time | Location / Aircraft | Key Events | Witnesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 December 1978 c. 1:00–4:00 AM |
Safe Air Argosy freighter, Blenheim–Christchurch–Blenheim newspaper run; airspace off Kaikōura coast | Strange lights observed and tracked on radar. A bright red glowing light paralleled the aircraft for 20–30 miles. Radar operators at Wellington confirmed multiple targets. Lights reported again on the return leg at approximately 4:00 AM, making rectangular patterns. | Captain Vern Powell; First Officer Ian Pirie; air traffic controller John Cordy at Wellington; residents of Clarence Bridge and Kekerungu areas |
| 30–31 December 1978 11:46 PM – 3:00 AM |
Safe Air Argosy “Merchant Enterprise,” Wellington–Christchurch–Blenheim newspaper run; TV crew aboard | Five small bright lights and a large lighted orb encountered. Orb tracked the aircraft for approximately 15 minutes, filmed on 16 mm colour film. Flight radar showed a large object matching the light’s position. Wellington radar had contacts about 21 km ahead. Multiple radar returns detected behind the aircraft. | Captain Bill Startup; First Officer Bob Guard; reporter Quentin Fogarty (Channel 0, Melbourne); cameraman David Crockett; sound recordist Ngaire Crockett; journalist Dennis Grant (TV1 Christchurch) |
| 3 January 1979 | Clarence River area, near Kaikōura | A TV1 film crew captured additional footage of a UFO. Described as being of much better quality than the Crockett film. This footage was submitted to the DSIR for computer analysis. | TV1 (New Zealand) news crew |
Section III — Evidence Categories: Film, Radar, Eyewitness Testimony
The Kaikōura event is distinguished from most UFO reports by the convergence of multiple independent evidence streams — visual sightings, radar tracking, and moving-film documentation — recorded simultaneously. The Directorate catalogues each category.
The most famous evidence is the 16 mm colour film shot by cameraman David Crockett aboard the Argosy on 30–31 December 1978. Crockett filmed through the aircraft window, capturing images of lights that appeared to maneuver relative to the plane. A separate 16 mm film was shot by a TV1 crew on 3 January 1979 from the ground near the Clarence River. The TV1 footage was described by contemporaneous media as being “of much better quality” because it was a straight shot free of the distortions produced by filming through the Argosy’s window.[reference:6]
The Crockett film was taken to optical physicist Dr. Bruce Maccabee of the US Naval Surface Weapons Center for analysis. Maccabee calculated that the object was extremely bright and about 20 metres or more in diameter, making it unlikely to be plasma or ball lightning. He concluded the event involved “unknown objects or phenomena fitting the definition of UFOs” and that “the film is not a hoax.”[reference:7][reference:8]
The DSIR disputed Maccabee’s calculations. They noted that “Crockett’s film now considered unmeritous because of visual discrepancies produced by filming through an argosy window. DSIR have actually duplicated Crockett’s results by shining a torch light onto the plane’s window.” However, the DSIR found the TV1 footage “more interesting as it was a straight shot free of any distortion produced by filming through glass and plastic.” The DSIR converted the TV1 film to computer readout for analysis.[reference:9]
The radar evidence constitutes one of the most compelling aspects of the Kaikōura case. On 21 December, air traffic controller John Cordy at Wellington confirmed a radar target tracking the Argosy: “very strong on the radar now, it’s as strong as you are.” The target moved with the aircraft for 20 to 30 miles at a 90-degree orientation.[reference:10]On 30–31 December, Wellington radar again picked up and reported targets in the vicinity of the aircraft. The Argosy’s own flight radar, operating in ground-mapping mode, appeared to show a large object that matched the position of the light.[reference:11]Cordy later told investigative journalist Ross Coulthart: “they weren’t refractions or atmospherics. They were solid objects giving a radar return. There is no way we were confused by what we saw … we were in communication with the pilot as he described the objects moving around him and we could see those on radar.”[reference:12]
The RNZAF attributed the Wellington radar returns to “spurious” signals, noting they were relatively common off the east coast of the South Island.[reference:13]Meteorologists suggested weather conditions were conducive to bending radar signals.[reference:14]The Christchurch radar did not register the objects.[reference:15]
The Kaikōura witnesses included two separate flight crews of professional pilots, a television journalist, a cameraman, a sound recordist, and multiple air traffic controllers. Captain Bill Startup later wrote a book, The Kaikoura UFOs (1980), documenting his account. Reporter Quentin Fogarty wrote Let’s Hope They’re Friendly (1982), named after his remark captured on the audio recording during the encounter.[reference:16][reference:17]
Captain Startup remained adamant about what he saw, telling Newshub in 2017: “they’ve said the visual sighting was squid boats, it was Venus, it was Jupiter, it was the harbour lights … but they haven’t explained why I can see Jupiter, Venus and the harbour lights doing 140 knots on my radar.”[reference:18]Captain Vern Powell was similarly dismissive of the squid-boat hypothesis, noting the plane was at 13,000 feet.[reference:19]First Officer Bob Guard later stated he didn’t know what the objects were but didn’t believe in UFOs, adding that “pilots see a lot of unidentified things” and he wouldn’t report such an incident again because “it’s not worth the hassle.”[reference:20]
In December 2010, the New Zealand Defence Force released thousands of pages of previously classified UFO files covering the period 1952 to 2009. The Kaikōura Lights file — approximately 2 cm thick — was the centerpiece. It included a report by Dr. Bruce Maccabee titled What Really Happened in New Zealand, which concluded the objects were hard to explain through “conventional phenomenon.”[reference:21][reference:22]
Also among the declassified documents was a DSIR briefing submitted to the United Nations in January 1979, which classified the objects as “UFOs until identified” while noting the “prospect of extra terrestrial intervention being proved is regarded as extremely remote.”[reference:23]The documents revealed that then-Prime Minister Robert Muldoon “took a close personal interest in what went on and specially asked he be informed of Defence’s conclusions.”[reference:24]The declassified CIA file on the incident described it as “unique among civilian UFO reports because there is a large amount of documentary evidence which includes the recollections of seven witnesses, two tape recordings made during the sightings, the detection of some unusual ground and airplane radar targets, and a 16mm colour movie.”[reference:25]
Section IV — Official Explanations and Skeptical Analysis
Fig. 3 – A Japanese squid fishing vessel displaying the powerful array of lights used to attract squid at night. Such boats were proposed as the source of the Kaikōura Lights. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The official investigations produced a series of naturalistic explanations that satisfied the RNZAF and DSIR but did not convince many of the witnesses. The Directorate records these explanations as official positions.
The RNZAF attributed the sightings to “freak propagation” of radio and light waves, an unusually bright Venus, “anomalous returns” on Wellington radar, and the lights of a squid fishing fleet, as well as cars and trains. Wing Commander J.B. Clements stated: “Almost all the sightings can be explained by natural but unusual phenomena. Defence should issue a PR statement fairly soon in order to tone down much of the wild speculation that has existed over recent weeks.”[reference:26]
DSIR scientist Bill Ireland examined the footage and concluded that the lights were most likely a fleet of Japanese squid boats. His analysis noted that the larger images contained “a large number of clearly-resolved white lights, and evidence of more than one row of lights making up the image. Typically three, four, or five rows, each apparently containing up to ten lights, are seen.…These dimensions are very similar to those of some small squid boats that are about 25 m long with two side-by-side rows of 3–4 kW incandescent or mercury-arc lamps.”[reference:27]The Ministry of Defence also suggested that the objects could be “lights from squid boats reflected off clouds, unburnt meteors, or lights from the planet Venus or trains and cars.”[reference:28]
Astronomers consulted at the time suggested the lights could have been Jupiter, Mars, or Venus — though they admitted that planets would not show up on radar. Other suggestions included ball lightning, meteorites, and terrestrial reflections. British astronomer Patrick Moore thought the lights were “of terrestrial origin, perhaps a reflection, a balloon or an aircraft.”[reference:29]Critics also pointed out that the focusing ring of the 16 mm camera may have been faulty, turning a point of light into a blob that appeared to hover and distorting size and distance.[reference:30]
Section V — The Investigation: Official and Unofficial Inquiry
The Kaikōura event triggered the only full RNZAF UFO investigation in New Zealand history. The investigative timeline is as follows:
Section VI — Cultural Legacy: Books, Documentaries, and Continued Interest
The Kaikōura Lights have generated a substantial cultural footprint. Both Captain Bill Startup and reporter Quentin Fogarty published books about their experiences — Startup’s The Kaikoura UFOs (1980, with Neil Illingworth) and Fogarty’s Let’s Hope They’re Friendly (1982).[reference:31][reference:32]Cameraman David Crockett made a documentary and lectured about the sighting for years afterward. Blenheim filmmaker Paul Davidson purchased the actual Argosy aircraft — the Merchant Enterprise — when it was about to be scrapped in 1990, and for some years ran UFO-themed experiences where visitors could sit in Captain Startup’s seat.[reference:33]
On the 30th anniversary in 2008, a replicated flight was organized following the same path at exactly the same time, with Startup and other original crew and passengers aboard.[reference:34]The case has been featured in international documentaries, including the BBC’s The Case of the UFOs (1982), and in books by investigative journalists such as Ross Coulthart’s In Plain Sight.
A contemporary musical, Kaikoura — The Light Inside of Me, was premiered during the anniversary events. The Kaikōura Lights remain New Zealand’s most famous UFO case and are frequently cited internationally as one of the best-documented UFO encounters on record — combining visual observation, film footage, radar tracking, and multiple professional witnesses in a single, converging event.
Section VII — Scholarly and Critical Perspectives
The Kaikōura Lights case has attracted limited formal academic attention, but has been extensively analyzed within the UFO research community and in journalistic investigations.
Dr. Bruce Maccabee (optical physicist, US Naval Surface Weapons Center) conducted the most thorough scientific analysis of the Crockett footage, concluding that the objects were anomalous. Maccabee calculated brightness levels, estimated the object’s diameter at approximately 20 metres, and argued that no conventional explanation — including plasma, ball lightning, or misidentified celestial bodies — adequately accounted for the film evidence combined with the radar data.
Bill Ireland (DSIR scientist) examined the footage and reached the opposite conclusion: the lights were most consistent with a fleet of Japanese squid fishing boats operating off the Banks Peninsula, their powerful arrays of incandescent lamps producing the characteristic “rows of lights” visible in the footage. Ireland’s hypothesis remains the most widely cited skeptical explanation.
Journalistic perspectives: Investigative reporter Ross Coulthart, in his book In Plain Sight, interviewed surviving witnesses including radar operator John Cordy, who remained adamant that the radar returns were solid objects, not atmospheric anomalies. Coulthart noted the unusual convergence of evidence types and the Prime Minister’s personal interest as indicators that the case was taken seriously at the highest levels.
Folklorist perspectives: The Kaikōura Lights have been discussed in the context of New Zealand’s broader UFO history, which includes the 1909 “airship flap,” the 1959 Eileen Moreland encounter, and thousands of reports collected by the NZDF between 1952 and 2009. The case is often cited as demonstrating how a single well-documented event can sustain decades of public interest and debate.
Archival Assessment — Directorate Position on Event Status
On the physical evidence: The 16 mm film footage exists and has been studied by optical physicists and government scientists. The Crockett film is compromised by window reflections (as acknowledged by the DSIR, which duplicated the effect with a torch). The TV1 footage, shot without intervening glass, is of higher analytical quality. No physical artifact from the lights themselves — no material sample — exists.
On radar evidence: Radar returns were recorded at Wellington on both the 21 December and 30–31 December flights. The RNZAF attributed these to “spurious” signals. However, the correlation between visual sightings by the flight crews and simultaneous radar contacts is difficult to dismiss as coincidence, and at least one controller (John Cordy) maintained the returns represented solid objects.
On eyewitness credibility: The witnesses were professional pilots, a television journalist, a cameraman, and multiple air traffic controllers — all individuals whose professions depend on accurate observation and reporting. None claimed to have seen extraterrestrial craft; all described bright lights exhibiting unusual flight characteristics. First Officer Bob Guard’s subsequent ambivalence — insisting he saw something unusual but “wouldn’t report such an incident again because it’s not worth the hassle” — is itself a noteworthy data point.
On the squid-boat hypothesis: The squid-fleet explanation is the most thoroughly developed skeptical analysis, and the visual similarities between squid-boat lighting arrays and some of the filmed images are acknowledged. However, the hypothesis does not fully account for the radar data, the reported altitude of the objects (as the plane was at approximately 13,000 feet), or the witnesses’ descriptions of lights maneuvering relative to the aircraft.
Recommended classification: UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENON — MULTIPLE CONVERGENT EVIDENCE STREAMS (FILM, RADAR, EYEWITNESS) — OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONS OFFERED BUT DISPUTED BY WITNESSES — FILE MAINTAINED AS A HISTORICAL UAP CASE STUDY. No determination of the lights’ origin is made; the file serves as a repository for the full evidentiary record and the competing interpretations.
References & Source Materials
- Wikipedia: Kaikōura Lights — comprehensive overview of the sightings, witnesses, and official response
- 1964.co.nz: Williamson, Laura — “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a squid boat” — detailed narrative history of the Kaikōura Lights and New Zealand UFO context
- RNZ.co.nz / Stuff.co.nz: “Govt officials couldn’t explain Kaikōura lights UFO sightings, documents show” (31 July 2021) — declassified DSIR briefing and UN submission coverage
- Otago Daily Times: “Air Force report explains Kaikoura ‘UFO sightings'” (23 December 2010) — RNZAF declassified file summary
- NZ Herald: “Files shine light on UFO sightings” (22 December 2010) — Maccabee report summary and witness testimony
- NZ Herald: “UFO flight will be re-enacted on 30th anniversary” (9 October 2008) — 2008 replica flight details
- Startup, Bill with Illingworth, Neil — The Kaikoura UFOs (1980, Hodder and Stoughton) — pilot’s first-hand account
- Fogarty, Quentin — Let’s Hope They’re Friendly (1982, Angus & Robertson) — reporter’s first-hand account
- Maccabee, Dr. Bruce — What Really Happened in New Zealand (1979, NZ UFO Studies Centre) — optical physicist’s analysis of the footage
- Coulthart, Ross — In Plain Sight (2021) — investigative journalist’s interviews with surviving witnesses including John Cordy
- Archives New Zealand — Declassified UFO files (released December 2010) — Defence Force and DSIR documents including the UN briefing, Muldoon correspondence, and full Kaikōura file
- National Library of New Zealand — Papers Past: The Press archives (December 1978 – January 1979) — contemporary newspaper coverage and expert commentary
- CIA declassified documents — Kaikōura Lights entry describing the event as “unique among civilian UFO reports”
Last updated: April 2026. File no. R33‑UAP‑KAI‑1978. Open archive for UAP case study.
