Kaikoura lights
- Date of account
- December 1978
- Location
- Kaikoura coast and Cook Strait
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
Crew members aboard an Argosy freight aircraft reported unusual lights near Kaikoura, New Zealand, during several flights in December 1978. Television footage and radar-related claims made the episode internationally prominent, with New Zealand officials and researchers examining it. Proposed explanations included fishing vessels, planets, atmospheric effects and misidentified aircraft, while proponents emphasized apparent radar and visual correlation. The case is valuable for comparing instrument claims, cockpit testimony and documentary editing, but the surviving evidence is contested and not a confirmed anomalous craft.
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