KAIKOURA.

were flying between Blenheim and Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand when they reported unusual lights tracking their aircraft. Wellington Air Traffic Control confirmed unidentified radar returns. The events were of sufficient interest that an Australian TV news crew, led by reporter Quentin Fogarty and cameraman David Crockett, returned to film a follow-up flight on the night of December 31, 1978.

During the second flight, the crew filmed approximately 23 minutes of 16mm colour footage of multiple bright objects pacing the Argosy off the coast of Kaikoura. The objects appeared to vary in size and brightness, and on at least one occasion appeared to perform a rapid manoeuvre. Wellington ATC again confirmed unidentified radar returns at the relevant time and location, and the contacts were also reportedly observed on US Air Force radar at NORAD.

The footage was broadcast worldwide and analysed by multiple investigators including American optical physicist Dr. Bruce Maccabee, who travelled to New Zealand and conducted on-site investigation. Maccabee concluded that the brightest object on the film was likely not a star, planet, or aircraft, and that its angular size and behaviour were inconsistent with any known phenomenon. The Royal New Zealand Air Force conducted its own investigation and concluded that some of the smaller lights were likely to be lights from squid boats reflected on cloud or from the planet Venus, while leaving open the possibility that some events remained unexplained.

The Kaikoura case is one of the most extensively filmed UFO events on the public record. The combined footage, multi-radar coverage, and trained-witness aircrew testimony make it a benchmark case in the UFO record. Skeptical analyses, including by RNZAF investigator Captain Bill Startup, have not fully accounted for all the recorded objects, and the case remains officially unresolved in the New Zealand archive.