Thanks to Peter Hassall and Murray Bott for their assistance in obtaining this information. If you are interested in New Zealand sightings, consider purchasing Peter's new book - "The NZ Files: UFOs In New Zealand", from UFOmind.

OCR of original source document from NZ Scientific Space Research Group (North Island, New Zealand) Bi-Monthly Newsletter No 14 Sept-Oct 1959

13.

Who owns this one?

The following is an eye-witness report of an incident that took place at Blenheim, South Island, and, as far as I know, is unique in New Zealand. On my request, Mrs Moreland, of Old Renwick Road Blenheim (the only witness) furnished her own details of the incident, since I felt that some discrepancies might have crept into the paper reports we have read. Mrs Moreland duly confirmed my assumptions and was kind enough to give her experience in her own words. Here it is:

"At about 5:30 a. m. on the morning of July 13th 1959, I was going out across the paddock to bring in the cows for milking after having switched on the light in the shed. The morning was very cold with a thick cloud which has been roughly estimated at about 2000 feet.

I was about halfway across the paddock when I noticed an odd green glow in the clouds directly above me. I stopped to look at it, thinking that it couldn't be the moon ( anyway it was in the wrong place) when suddenly two green lights like large "eyes" appeared through the cloud. The ground was illuminated with this sickly green light and when I looked down at myself, I too was bathed in this light. I immediately thought "I should not be here'' and I bolted for the pines which border the paddock. I could see the cows plainly in the light and I ran among them and stood against a tree. When I turned round the saucer was about 50 feet from the ground and slowly descending. There were two rows of jets like flames sprouting from two bands at the top and bottom of the "fuselage". These were of a brilliant orange fading off to yellow and made a faint hissing noise. At about 15 ft from the ground she abruptly halted and became motionless, just hanging there. At once the jets shut off and reappeared[footnote 1] at an angle - each band then began to whirl at high speed with little or no "revving" up. This was accompanied by a faint humming sound.

I then noticed that the ship was occupied and I am afraid I was scared stiff. The clear plexiglass or perspex (or whatever the material was) cabin was lit with a pure white light, though I couldn't see the source of. light. The two men were seated one behind the other, at, more than an arm's length apart. They were dressed in almost skin-tight suits of some shiny material like aluminum foil - which wrinkled with each movement and deflected little points of light. The rear man suddenly stood up and leaned forward on his hands and appeared to be looking down at something between them. I could see a reflection of a flickering light. in front of him, but could not see what it was. I did not get a glimpse of. their features as the huge helmets which took in from shoulder to shoulder, (as I have sketched) were opaque and silver like the suit. The man then sank back in his seat, the ship tilted at a slight angle, the bands of jets stopped whirling, and the jets appeared as when descending and with a mighty "whoosh" of air she rose vertically, still at the slight angle, and vanished into the clouds at a tremendous speed, accompanied by a high-pitched whine. I never thought anything could move at such a speed, it was unbelievable.

A moment or two later the atmosphere became noticeably warm, and there was a strange smell of "hot pepper" After a moment or two I pulled myself together, as it were, collected the cows which had not been the least bit alarmed[footnote 2] at the strange object and drove them to the yard. As I did so I heard the town clock chime a quarter to six, so the visit could not have been move than 2-3 minutes, though it seemed ages.

I milked as usual; put the milk out at the gate and then flew inside with my story. Everyone was soon awake. My husband believed me, and told me to ring the police. I was hesitant at first, saying "who is going to believe that I saw such a thing". However I did ring and they were mightily interested.. My husband, who is a member of the R.N.Z.A.F at Woodbourne notified the authorities there, who, far from scoffing at the story, took it very seriously. However, they do believe it and that is the main thing as for as am concerned.

I hope this has answered everything you want to know, and you will see that the two ships your sketch and mine - ore quite different, this one looking rather heavy and cumbersome compared with the other (the Adamski saucer - Ed.) I shall be very pleased to become a member. (N.Z. Scientific Space Research Group) and should you require any further information, will do my best to give it. Thanking you for your kind interest, I remain,

Yours faithfully

(Sgd) Eileen Moreland

14.

In a second letter written to me Mrs Moreland adds the following interesting details:

TERRAIN : The paddock is a flat one, and the trees (pines) are on the same level.

POSITION OF OBSERVER - Was more or less looking both up to and on to the saucer and since it was about 40 yards away and only a few feet in the air, the angle was not very great.

BANDS : The bands were contrarotating when she was hovering only, but they were fixed for both descent and ascent.

MEASUREMENTS OF CRAFT : The "fuselage", meaning the part between dome and slightly bulging underside appeared cylindrical rather than saucer shaped. Its diameter is given as ~ 20-25 feet and its depth as 4 1/2 feet, since the bands, according to Mrs Moreland, seemed to be at least 1 1/2 feet wide with a similar space in between, thus inclusive of dome and underside, making the overall depth about 7 1/2 - 8 feet. Those measurements are of course only approximate and, adds the witness, "the nearest would be to say that the saucer was approximately 1/3rd of her width in depth".

OCCUPANTS : The man appeared to be about five feet or a little better, Singular form is used here, since the other "man" stayed seated. The former (the rear man) did not stand upright, but merely stood and leaned forward on his hands In a letter to the Hastings-group[footnote 3], of which we received a copy, Mrs Moreland again shows her alertness, which is apparent right through the report , and remarks : "Only the rear man stood up and moved. The front man did not move at all, and for all I know could have been a robot, The suits were almost skin-tight, so I am sure I'd see some movement if he was real".

OBSERVANCE AND ATTITUDE OF WITNESS: Mrs Moreland writes "I can assure you I will never forget one detail as long as I live, even if I never see, another one. I cannot say what kept me there looking at it. I just couldn't move, even if I'd wanted to! Fortunately I am not- a nervous type and I am not easily scared, so perhaps that is the answer".

COMMENTS ON THE ABOVE CASE From various sources in the country we have been assured that the witness is sincere and reliable. This statement, I think, is confirmed by the excellent and detailed report and the above average alertness displayed by the eye-witness. We have seen several reports on this case, not at any stage have we observed any discrepancies or contradictory statements. The fact that the witness is very definite about 2 rows of jets like flames sprouting from the 2 bands puts the case in a rather "earthly" sphere[footnote 4]. The indication that no force field was used seems confirmed by the attitude of the cows which weren't in the least disturbed, a factor that is most important since the influence of an electrical field, without exception, is easily sensed by animals. Overmore[sic], the sighted craft was heavy and cumbersome in comparison with the "well known" general type of saucer that is usually observed. I therefore have a sneaking suspicion that the reported Blenheim case concerns an effort on the part of our scientists, and we may become well aware of the fact that the papers are "slightly" behind in their reports on the process of space science which of course is not entirely their fault. Ever heard of the Rheinholdt Schmidt Case and the High German speaking "Venusians"?... better ask AVRO in Canada. From the different reports received it appears that our air force and also our Police were indeed very actively interested in the Blenheim case and although it is obvious from the above report that NO SCOFFING by the authorities took place we do not have to strain our imagination in observing that the "Marlborough Express" in a later write up states that "Chief Inspector J.J. Kearns of Nelson said that they were treating the matter with a certain amount of reserve", and again.... we refer to the Rheinholdt Schmidt Case, where the sheriff "pulled out" within an hour after giving Schmidt full support in substantiating his claim of a genuine experience.

R. B. CATHIE

HENK & BRENDA HINFELLAAR

OCR of original source document from SATCU files

BLENHEIM (173 degrees 52 mins East 41 degrees 30 minutes South)

Date: Monday, 13th July, 1959

Time: Between 0530-0545 hrs.

Duration: 2-3 mins.

Witness: Mrs Eileen Moreland, Old Renwick Road, Blenheim

Weather. Conditions: Cold and still with a thick cloud layer at approx. 2000 ft (estimated). Dark.

At about 5.30 a.m. on the morning of Monday, July 13th, 1959, Mrs Eileen Moreland was walking across a flat paddock to bring in the cows for milking. The paddock was surrounded by trees where the cows had camped for the night and, after turning on the milking-shed Moreland set off across the paddock, torch in hand, to collect the cows. She was well-clad as the morning was cold, and there was a thick layer of cloud over the district at a height estimated to be 2000 ft.

Halfway across the paddock, some 50 yards from the shed, she noticed an unusual green glow, emanating from the cloud above and bathing the area in a ghastly light. She stopped and looked directly upward, thinking that it could not be the moon, as it was in the wrong place.

Then suddenly, two green lights, "Iike eyes", appeared through the clouds, circled by a band of orange lights. All about her the ground was illuminated by the sickly-green light, and, looking at herself and her hands, she saw that she too was bathed in this green glow. Feeling that she did not want to stay put, she bolted for the pinus radiata trees bordering the paddock. The cows could be seen plainly in the light and she ran among them and stood against the trunk of one of the pine trees.

Turning around from, the shelter of the trees,she saw a flattish cylindrical object slowly descending from about 50 ft above the ground. It stopped its smooth descent some 30 ft above the ground and hovered about 13 ft above a group of peach trees (10-15 it high).

The ratio of height to width of the object was about 1:3 It was between 71/2-8 ft high and some 20-25 ft across.There were two circumferential rows of orange-green jets set into bands at the top and bottom of the main body of the object.The jets were a brilliant orange colour, with greenish centres,and faded to the outside, through orange to yellow. They made a faint hissing noise and were located about 1 1/2 ft in towards the centre from the upper and lower edges of the cylinder on metallic bands. (If the bands had been 2 ft wide, say, there would have been about 1 1/2 ft between the two - the total depth of this arrangement being about 4 1/2, possibly 5 ft)

The motionless object hovered some ",0 ft above the ground,about 40 yds out in the centre of the paddock,and was perfectly visible.

On stopping, the jets immediately shut off and reappeared, at a slight angle. Each band of jets then began to counter-rotate at high speed,the top band from right to left and the bottom band from left to right. The speed became so great the bands of lights became continuous, "like halos". There was none of the 'revving-up' noise associated with a car or plane engine, but a loud humming could be heard, and the noise of the 'jets' hissing.

Mrs Moreland became apprehensive when she noticed that the object was occupied. There was a clear, glassy dome-like structure on top, filled with a bright white light - the source of the light was not visible, itself but seemed to arise from the centre of the object.She could see two figures seated,one behind the other and facing the same way, a little over an arm's length apart The two figures were dressed in -almost skin-tight metallic suits,which crinkled and creased with each movement, and reflected the. light.The 'man' at the rear suddenly stood up and leaned forward on his hands, and appeared to be observing something between himself and the figure in front,possibly the brightly flickering light-source. Firs Moreland* thought he must be a little over five feet in height,but could not make out any facial characteristics as he was not facing in her direction,and the large silvered -helmet covered from shoulder to shoulder.The rear figure then sank back to his former position -the front figure remained motionless throughout the period of observation.

The object then tilted slightly, the bands of jets stopped whirling and went out, then back on again without the rotation. There was a loud 'whoosh' of air and the object rose vertically (the body still at a slight angle) and vanished into the cloud at tremendous speed. This movement was accompanied by a high-pitched whine - "the screech was almost unbearable" - the movement "unbelievably fast".

A moment or two later a wave of warm air reached Mrs Moreland,and there was a strange hot pepper smell of ozone.

After several more moments, Mrs Moreland "pulled herself together" and collected the cows, which had been little affected by the episode (one or two did get up), and drove them to the yard. At this point she heard the town clock striking a quarter to six, "so the visit could not have lasted longer than two or three minutes, though it seemed ages."

The milking was completed, as usual, and the milk left at the gate, before Mrs Moreland flew inside with her account. Her family was soon awake, and her husband, a member of the R.N.Z.A.F. based at Woodbourne, nearby, told her she should ring the police. Although a little reluctant to do this at first (she thought no-one would believe her), she did telephone and said that they seemed to be interested. Her husband notified the Woodbourne authorities who took the story seriously.

Mrs Moreland was questioned by Air Force personnel who visited the area. Furthermore, they indicated that residual radiation had been detected where the object was seen.

After several days, Mrs Moreland's hands began to swell and get puffy. Her wedding ring became painfully tight and had to be cut off. Brown pigmented areas developed on her face, and she referred these conditions to her doctor. The swelling gradually subsided, but the brown patches on the face persisted considerably longer. The last blotch,over her right eyebrow, washed off some six years afterwards.

Footnotes

1. Underlined in the original

2. Underlined in the original

3. SATCU?

4. This and the remainder of the document represent some rather odd interpretations of the event, not supported by the witness, the account, or the author of this website. They are retained for historical completeness.