Dramatic UFO Encounter from Pretoria, S.Africa (8/28/96)

UFO REPORTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This month we are reporting a very interesting UFO sighting which occurred over the city of Pretoria in South Africa in August. The information was submitted by Marius Lubbe. Report # 1 "It was reported on SABC TV news this evening 28 August 1996 that video material was shot of an alien craft very early this morning over Pretoria (about 60 kilometers North of Johannesburg). The footage taken by a police officer on duty, Sgt. Nico Bekker was shown and I have a copy of this report on videotape. It shows a disk shaped object which seems to be lightly pulsating. The photographer who had some witnesses with him said that they are certain that this is something unusual, as there were some lights flashing on the disk. He also mentioned that the disk looked like a saucer. In a different part of the city, another witness was interviewed and he said that the object travelled silently and in an undulating fashion. When asked by the reporter whether he thought that it might be a hoax this witness, Mr. Johan Becker said that he could'nt concieve of someone spending the huge amount of money it would take to construct a craft like that, just to perpetrate a hoax. An Interview with a Police helicopter pilot, Superintendant Fred Viljoen was also shown. He had 4 passengers in a police helicopter and chased after the object. This man looks as if he had seen a ghost. He says that the craft outran him with ease and what was very unusual to him, were the undulating movements of the craft." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Report # 2 "Good day, It is now 8.56 am in Cape Town South Africa. It is reported in our papers this morning that a UFO was sigted over large parts of Pretoria and even further north in the early morning on 28 Aug 96 just before 4 am. 200 Police officers and a police helicopter took part in the chase that ensued. An unusual light was seen shortly before 4 am by sgt.Johan Becker (stationed at the "Adriaan Vlok" police station in the suburb of Centurion Pretoria). The light was floating in the air and when they went nearer to investigate, they realised that it was something from another world. They immediately contacted the police radio control centre and reported the incident. They were laughed at, but eventually managed to convince the control room to send some backup. While they waited, they noticed the light being disk shaped and lightly pulsating. They report that they saw what looked like bright green tentacles, flashing out of the disk. They also noticed what looked like red triagular light on the disk. When the backup cars arrived, the light rapidly moved in a north-easterly direction and they were having trouble keeping up with it in their cars. In the meantime, because so many more police officers on the scene corroborated the first report, it was taken seriously and the flying squad, dog units, and vehecles from police stations all over the city started moving in on the light. It is once again described by other officers as pulsating and gettting bigger and smaller. After following the disk for one and a half hours, a police helicopter was able to take to the air at 5.30am with 5 people on board. The object then started moving northwards toward farming country at high speed. Superintendant Fred Viljoen of the police air division, said that he did not believe in flying saucers, but "It is the first time in my life that I have seen anything like this. At first I thought that it was a joke when I was called out, but soon came to realise that this was something I have never experienced before. We were going after it at full speed and it still outran me with ease and as it wished." After chasing the object for a while, it suddenly took of of. The helicopter climbed to height of 3000 m and eventually gave up the chase." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Report # 3 UNUSUAL LIGHT ABOVE PRETORIA HAS EVERYBODY GUESSING! Johannesburg office reports. The unusual light seen over Pretoria the day before yesterday by many police officials still has people guessing. No solution has been found for the unusual light that was chased by hordes of police vehicles in the early morning hours. A police helicopter took part in the two hour long chase. Captain Dave Harrington, PRO of the police in Pretoria, has confirmed that the helicopter chase cost approximately R4000,00 ($900.00). He said that the cost of the many vehicles and officers involved, has not been determined. The Police confirmed that the matter will not be investigated further as no crime has been committed. Lt.Col. Laverne Machin_, spokesperson for the South African Air Force said that although the air force has keeps a file on UFO's this particular incident is not being investigated to her knowledge. She said that the government has to give the air force an order in order for them to launch an investigation. She also said that they do not have any physical proof that can be investigated. Col.Machin_ said that the help of the air force was not called in during the incident and that it is just speculation that a mirage fighter was scrambled and she would not confirm nor deny it. A farmer from Bronkhorstspruit, Mr. Dick Sherwood, said that it looked just like a light he saw in the area about two years ago and he now firmly believes in UFO's. A spokesperson for the company distributing the film Independence Day , Which starts in South African theaters today, said that they knew nothing of this, and that they had nothing to do with it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Report # 4 The following report was published in "Rapport" our largest Afrikaans Sunday newspaper today. I translate verbatim from the Afrikaans text: WAS IT A HOAX OR WAS IT LITTLE GREEN MEN? Was it a marketing ploy for a movie or the return of ET? Nobody has up to now come forward to claim responsibility for the bright light seen in a burst of colours in the airspace over Pretoria this week. The object drifted along in the early morning over the Erasmuskloof suburb until police appeared on the scene. It then shot of at an "unearthly" speed over Pretoria until it disappeared over the horizon at Cullinan. This is what witnesses says and also what can be seen on the video shot of the object that morning. In the meantime earthlings in South Africa are looking for an explanation in movie theaters where Independence Day started showing on Friday. Vonda Morgenrood, PRO for Sterland movie distributors says that they had nothing to do with it and one can hear that she is becoming agitated by this rumour. Superintendent (Colonel) Fred Viljoen is also not to happy to have to tell his story once again. He is a veteran of many dangerous chases involving dangerous criminals and was one of the pilots involved in the heroic rescue of people from the roof of a burning office building, the SALU building, last year, and a serious man that studies historical Boer - war campaigns as a hobby. He stands by his statement of what he saw after his helicopter was scrambled at 05.25am with 4 passengers on board. " A bright light was above Mamelodi, a township near Pretoria, at 70 degrees above the horizon. I followed the white disk, with the unusual flight pattern, in the direction of Cullinan. It moved at a high speed. We could not keep up with it and eventually had to give up when lack of fuel became a problem." He stands by his statement that the disk was easily observable even in broad daylight. Supt. Viljoen says that he did not ask the air force to scramble a Mirage fighter, but had contact with the control tower at Waterkloof air force base. They told him that their radar showed "clutter" in the area in which the disk was flying. Supt. Viljoen says that it is the first time in his life that he had seen something like this and also say that he has always been skeptical about UFO存 and visitors from other planets. Sgt. Nico Stander, one of the policemen who was on patrol when the object appeared, showed us the video he took of the events. One can see the steering wheel of the police car, then you see the bouncing ball of light through the front windscreen while hearing the police radio chirping in the background. Its pulsating like a little hart says one of the voices. The Sgt.存 voice says it could be a balloon, the morning star or an eclipse of the sun and moon. Whatever it was the Sgt. says it was the highlight of a boring night patrol. On Tuesday nights, very little goes on in the streets of Pretoria. "It was a full moon night with a slight breeze blowing. The conditions was very clear that morning. We were in the right place at the right time and just got lucky I suppose." Sgt. Stander has an interest in the unusual, and showed us a stack of the American magazine "Encounters". UFO存 is an interest of his and he says that he believes in this sort of thing. "When I saw this object, I just knew I had to get it on video. I went to my dad and borrowed his camera. When asked what he would have done if the disk landed and little green men appeared, he said that he would have tried to communicate with them and be friendly towards them." -------------------------------------- Check in next month when we expect to have some eyewitness photographs and sketches for you! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Got a question about UFOs? [Image] Here are some sample questions from the "Interview" section of Unity Publishing's CD Rom "Ufos...the Real Story". Just click on the icon to hear Stanton Friedman's answer. Note: The ToolVox plug-in is needed to listen to the compressed files. If you don't have the plug-in and would like to get it, click here. What percentage of the public has seen a UFO? For a WAV version of the file (Size=270k), click here For a WAV version of the file (Size=270k), click here When was the first UFO sighting? For a WAV version of the file (Size=331k), click here For a WAV version of the file (Size=331k), click here Wouldn't it violate the laws of physics to get here? For a WAV version of the file (Size=206k), click here For a WAV version of the file (Size=206k), click here Did a UFO really crash in Roswell, New Mexico? For a WAV version of the file (Size=388k), click here For a WAV version of the file (Size=388k), click here Is there any proof UFOs really exist? For a WAV version of the file (Size=257k), click here For a WAV version of the file (Size=257k), click here What percentage of UFO sightings are hoaxes? For a WAV version of the file (Size=151k), click here For a WAV version of the file (Size=151k), click here Is there a connection between Crop Circles and UFOs? For a WAV version of the file (Size=188k), click here --------------------------------------------------------------------------- * The monthly report, September 1996 "Mars & Microbes" * Back to the homepage * UFO publications * Biographical information on Stan Friedman [Image] _1996 MediaNet Communications (medianet@nbnet.nb.ca)

Back to the UFO Evidence...