New Zealand Defence Force Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) Files

This document serves as a public release statement for the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) files concerning Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Unidentified Aerial Sightings (UAS). The files, spanning from 1952 to 2009, were declassified in September 2010 and released under the Official Information Act. The original files are held at Archives New Zealand and are restricted until 2050 for personal privacy reasons. The released copies have been redacted to remove personal details of members of the public who made reports, though details of service personnel and government employees remain. The files contain a wide range of materials, including reports of sightings by private individuals and military personnel, investigations by the NZDF and other government departments, newspaper clippings, and correspondence with UFO research groups and overseas researchers. Notably, the files include the RNZAF investigation into the Kaikoura sightings of 1978/9 and summaries of unusual aerial sightings from the Australian Department of Defence. The document clarifies that while the files are generally in date order, they are not strictly chronological and may contain duplicates. The redacted hard copies are available for public access at the Defence Library in Wellington.