Spheres from outer space land in New Zealand

Dennis O’Brien – 08/11/02

On the night of April 3rd 1972 at approximately 1am, some observers in the South Island reported sighting bright objects “flaring, disappearing and re -appearing”. Some observers reported sightings at Manapouri, some reported seeing 15 to 20 or more pieces over Queenstown and Clyde, some saw 7 to 9 objects with long, bright tails followed by rumbling noises over Macetown and Lake Hayes and others reported seeing 5 distinct bright objects followed by distinct sonic booms over Lake Aviemore.

Next day on the 3rd April a farmer near Willowby reported to the police finding an object sitting in a paddock surrounded by burnt grass. Subsequently similar objects were reported on 8 April near Coldstream, on 13 April in rough grazing country about 2,000 ft up in the Hakataramea valley on 29th April near Hinds and on 11 May near Ealing, all south of Ashburton.

The D.S.I.R. was contacted by the Police and we advised them to arrange for the National Radiation Laboratory in Christchurch to test the areas and objects for the presence of any radioactivity. All were found to be non-radioactive. The five objects were sent to the D.S.I.R. laboratory in Lower Hutt, where I was given the task of finding out what they were, how and from what they were made and where they came from.

All five were hollow, spherical objects (balls). Four were measured at approximately 380 mm (15 ins) in outside diameter and each weighed approximately 14 kg (30 lb). The other ball was smaller at approximately 250 mm (10ins) outside diameter and weighed approximately 4.5 kg (10 lb).

All five were damaged to a greater or lesser degree, showing signs of burning, melting and overheating.

They were constructed by welding together two hemispheres, with holes in each end for screwed fittings. The surfaces that were not melted were in relatively good condition. The next task was to determine what they were made from. By chemical analysis and microscopic examination we found that the spheres and end fittiings were made from a sophisticated Titanium alloy. This material is used in the aerospace and chemical industries as it is only approximately half the weight (density) of steel but up to three times as strong. It has a very high melting point (1800 degree C) compared to Steel (1500 degree C) and nearly three times that of Aluminium (600 degree C). It is highly resistant to corrosion and is non-magnetic. It is very expensive to make and thus is used where its unique properties outweigh its cost, in such as the space vehicle industry.

The manufacture of the sphere needed sophisticated high technology forming and welding, technology not available in New Zealand. Thus they were not made in New Zealand.

On close examination of the surface of the spheres some dark grey splashes of metal were seen, which on analysis proved to be of an aluminium alloy and which we concluded came from a supporting structure. The remains of painted stencilled letters and numbers were also seen. These were not clear enough to be read directly, to be able to establish positively the identity of the country of origin or place or company of manufacture. However, by using special lighting techniques it was seen that some of the characters looked like letters of the Russian alphabet.

From the examination of the five spheres it was concluded that they were used to store gases at high pressures and that they were space debris associated with the decay of a large object in the atmosphere which occurred at approximately 1 am on 3rd April 1972.

Summaries of objects in space published at the time by NASA showed that only two objects decayed in the atmosphere near the time of our event. One of these was debris from a rocket launched by the USA and this had a trajectory such that it would not have passed over New Zealand. The second object was apparently part of the multi-stage launching rocket for the Soviet Cosmos 482 Satellite, which was predicted to decay such that it would pass over New Zealand at the relevant time.

However, nobody claimed to be the owners or manufacturers of our “Ashburton Space Balls” and they were returned to the finders.

As a result of this investigation New Zealand and the D.S.I.R. had some interesting publicity.

Peter Read had us on TV in one of his Night sky progammes.

My daughter was taken aback to see her Dad’s photograph in one of the 1972 School Certificate Science questions.

Besides a number of photographs and reports in the New Zealand press, New Zealand was the subject of a full page article entitled “It’s Raining Rockets in New Zealand” in the British (comic) publication “TV Action + Countdown” of July 22 1972.

On a more serious note, the New Zealand representative to the United Nations reported the finding of the spheres in South Canterbury and said that New Zealand was concerned that no one would own up to their ownership. The fact that the spheres fell harmlessly into open country was fortuitous. If they had landed in a populated area considerable damage to persons and property could have resulted. The New Zealand delegation supported a convention on the registration of objects launched into outer space and that components of such objects should carry markings positively identifying their country of origin.