Illustration of UFO from NZDF
© Unknown
A photo of what was described as a flying saucer seen over Hastings in 1955 features in secret UFO files released on Wednesday by the New Zealand government.

From mysterious lights in the sky to a reported sighting of a flying saucer taking off, New Zealanders have had an intense relationship with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) since records began in 1952.

Thousands of previously secret documents released today by the Defence Force cover hundreds of accounts of what people saw, or believed they saw, and many were convinced they had been in the presence of alien visitors.

In November 1955 the writer of a letter to a government department reported he had seen many flying saucers.

"I and my nephew actually witnessed one taking off,'' he informed the Government.

In the same year the Napier Daily Telegraph published a photo of what was described as a flying saucer seen over Hastings, an incident which was given wide publicity and reported in overseas papers.

The documents show those who contacted authorities about their experiences were taken notice of, even if it was to thank them for their theories.

Explanations were usually offered -- the planet Venus, meteors, comets and even the moon were cited in correspondence as the likely source of the ''celestial phenomena'' that had been witnessed.

Private and commercial pilots were among those who saw lights in the sky they believed could not be explained by any natural occurrence.

Their detailed accounts of those sightings include maps, positioning data and drawings of lights which were very bright, moved quickly and often changed colour.

The files also cover the 1978 Kaikoura mystery, New Zealand's best known and most compelling UFO event.

A cargo aircraft reported strange lights following it and moving around it, and Wellington air traffic control detected unexplained objects on its radar which were not other aircraft because none were in the air at the time.

The files were released under the Official Information Act, and all names and other identifying material have been removed.

The original files are held by Archives New Zealand and are classified until 2050.

Source: New Zealand Press Association