UFO sightings in South Africa

This is a list of alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects or UFOs in South Africa.

Contents 1 1965 craft landing 2 1972 craft landings 3 1974 abduction event 4 90's sightings 5 2000 sighting 6 Probable hoaxes 6.1 1956 contactee 6.2 1989 Kalahari crash 6.3 1995 Lesotho crash 7 Notes 8 External reference

1965 craft landing

• After midnight on 16 September, police constables Lockem and de Klerk observed a landed, copper-coloured craft on the Pretoria-Bronkhorstspruit freeway. It was 30ft wide and left a 6ft wide imprint on the asphalt after a rapid, fiery ascent. The incident was confirmed in a press release by Lt Colonel J.B. Brits, district commandant, Pretoria North.^[1]

1972 craft landings

• On 27 June a landed craft was observed near Fort Beaufort in the eastern Cape, which attracted the attention of the military.^[2][3][4][5] On 12 November a school headmaster seems to have arrived at a still smouldering UFO landing site in the town of Rosmead.^[3][6][7][8]

1974 abduction event

• Travellers Peter and Frances MacNorman claimed an abduction event on 31 May, which would have started near Fort Victoria in the current southern Zimbabwe, and which would have continued to the vicinity of Beitbridge on the South African border.^[9]

90's sightings

• On 7 April 1991, at 23:15pm a hovering triangular craft with red central light, and white star-like lights on each extremity, was observed by a family at Baviaanspoort, Pretoria. A similar craft was sighted in the nearby Eersterust township on the evenings of 8 and 9 April, either stationary or moving.^[10][11][12]

• On 18 November 1993, at 10:15pm, Messrs du Plessis and Venter, residents of Sasolburg, observed a craft arriving from the direction of Vereeniging. The craft departed in a flash in the direction of Parys, but returned some three minutes later. The craft, similar in appearance to a water droplet, was observed to change colour and shape. With time individual lights were distinguished, and the body was determined to be cigar-shaped. While contained in a yellowish to orange glow, it emitted a downward blue light, before once again departing in a flash, upwards.^[13] A nearby town resident claimed to have found imprints of a small craft's landing gear, some two months later.^[14]

• In September and October 1994 a farmer at Warrenton claimed to have made repeated observations of a noisy, nighttime craft travelling at great speeds, besides what he described as a 'mother ship'. The craft's noise was compared to the sound of a helicopter or Volkswagen Beetle engine. The farmer's general claims were supported by four independent observers.^[15]

• A UFO wave swept South Africa from late March to mid April 1995, which was widely reported in the media.^[16][17][18]

• At 4:00am on 28 August 1996 a glowing disc was sighted by sergeant Becker near the Adriaan Vlok police station, Erasmuskloof, Pretoria. The pulsating light contained a red triangle and emitted bright green tentacles, while a radar operator at Johannesburg International confirmed its presence. A chase ensued involving some 200 policemen and a police helicopter. The helicopter chase was given up at 10,000ft near Bronkhorstspruit, when the object made a vertical ascent.^[19][20] An object was sighted again during the early hours of 31 August and 1 September.^[21]

• Around the end of July 1997 a hovering, cylindrical light or shiny cloud, was filmed by Andreas Mathios in the sky above the town of Trichardt, in the current western Mpumalanga province. Besides Mathios, it was independently observed by three other persons around 6:50am. The light suddenly dropped and rose again before disappearing. Trichardt was also the scene of a 1985 sighting.^[22]

• On 27 December 1998 the Laubscher family videotaped a group of roundish triangular craft passing over the town of Graaff Reinet, at about 25,000ft. These were changing colour and sometimes circled one another, before being overtaken by a much larger, shiny, gold-coloured craft. At this point all the objects departed to a cloud bank on the horizon.^[23]

2000 sighting

• On 8 May, at 3:24am, police inspector Kriel claimed to have observed an approaching UFO while travelling on the N3 freeway, 70km north of Warden in the eastern Free State province. The orange, oval-shaped light was fitted with two cupolas, one above and another below, and was wide enough to cover four lanes of the freeway. After a close approach the craft receded again. A follow up report claimed that the vicinity is known for moving light apparitions.^[24]
• On the 7 August 2011, at 6:54pm, At Treverton Prep in Mooi River, KZN, Treverton Prep Pupil, Lunga Dittrich, reported with Iviwe Dabula, Lesiba Mohlala, Alex Binikos, Shay Harichand and Chris O'Donoghue, that a circular, floating, red object flew down from the Drakensberg and hovered upon Koppies field(Which is a local Prep field at Treverton Prep). Moments later it flickered blue and flew off into the night sky. Immediately these pupils tried to contact local radio station, East Coast Radio with success.(Many other people contacted the radio station Joshua Potgieter was one who saw the object a few km away from Umzinto KZN.) They reported there sighting and a investigation is under way. At Shelly Beach, which was over 187km direct away, the starnge object arrived there 13 minutes after it had been repoted at Treverton, Eyewitnesses there reported the same UFO was there. That same UFO had traveled 187km in 13 minutes. 2011-08-07, 6:54pm, Published by: Kyle Spence. Reference: Prep Boarder Sociate of Treverton

Probable hoaxes

1956 contactee

A well-known photo series depicting a supposed UFO, was taken on 24 July near Rosetta in the Drakensberg region. The photographer, meteorologist Elizabeth Klarer, however also claimed to have had an alien lover, Akon, who fathered her son Ayling.^[25]

1989 Kalahari crash

According to supposed leaked documents an alien craft was shot down by South African aircraft, some 80 miles (130 km) into Botswana, on 7 May. Two alien beings were claimed to have been captured on site. To date no primary witnesses have been traced, while the supporting documents, some obvious fakes, were all obtained from James van Greunen. Researcher Tony Dodd lent Van Greunen some credibility in Quest magazine, but other researchers were highly skeptical.^{[26][27][28][29]} Nevertheless the claims have been widely circulated, either as fact or as a case deserving investigation.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]}

1995 Lesotho crash

According to supposed leaked documents an alien craft crashed in Lesotho on 15 September. It was claimed that South African forces retrieved the craft and took three alien beings captive. The source of these documents is unknown, but is once again suspected to be James van Greunen. Failing to trace any key individuals or witnesses, researcher Michael Hesemann denounced it as 'a complete hoax'. Other researchers, though skeptical, held out hope to trace witnesses.^[26][39][40]

Notes

External reference

• Scans of Cynthia Hind's UFO Afrinews

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