URECAT - UFO Related Entities Catalog

URECAT is a formal catalog of UFO related entities sightings reports with the goal of providing quality information for accurate studies of the topic. Additional information, corrections and reviews are welcome at patrick.gross@inbox.com, please state if you wish to be credited for your contribution or not. The main page of the URECAT catalog is here.

JULY 24, 1909, CLINTON, SOUTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

It is said that in the newspaper Clutha Leader, of Clutha, New Zealand, for July 27, 1909, there was an article saying that in the Otago area, residents of Clinton saw an airship and heard its occupants' voices, on July 24, 1909.

Basic information table:

Case number:	URECAT-001479
Date of event:	July 24, 1909
Earliest report of event:	July 27, 1909
Delay of report:	3 days
Witness reported via:	Not known.
First alleged record by:	Newspaper
First certain record by:	Ufology article Tony Brunt.
First alleged record type:	Newspaper.
First certain record type:	Ufology article.
This file created on:	August 28, 2013
This file last updated on:	August 28, 2013
Country of event:	New Zealand
State/Department:	South Island
Type of location:	Not reported.
Lighting conditions:	Not reported.
UFO observed:	Yes
UFO arrival observed:	Not reported
UFO departure observed:	Not reported
UFO/Entity Relation:	Uncertain
Witnesses numbers:	Not reported.
Witnesses ages:	Not reported.
Witnesses types:	Not reported.
Photograph(s):	No.
Witnesses drawing:	No.
Witnesses-approved drawing:	No.

Number of entities:	Not seen
Type of entities:	Not seen
Entities height:	Not seen
Entities outfit type:	Not seen.
Entities outfit color:	Not seen.
Entities skin color:	Not seen.
Entities body:	Not seen.
Entities head:	Not seen.
Entities eyes:	Not seen.
Entities mouth:	Not seen. Voices heard.
Entities nose:	Not seen.
Entities feet:	Not seen.
Entities arms:	Not seen.
Entities fingers:	Not seen.
Entities fingers number:	Not seen.
Entities hair:	Not seen.
Entities voice:	Voices heard.
Entities actions:	Were apparently in UFO, talking.
Entities/witness interactions:	None.
Witness(es) reactions:	Observed.
Witness(es) feelings:	Not reported.
Witness(es) interpretation:	Not reported or airship occupants.
Explanation category:	Possible hoax.
Explanation certainty:	Medium.

Narratives:

[Ref. tb1:] TONY BRUNT:

Back in the Otago area residents at Clinton were reported briefly (6) as having seen the object and heard the occupants talking.

The source is noted Clutha Leader, 27 July [1909].

[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:

July 24 1909

CLINTON (SOUTH ISLAND : NEW ZEALAND)

Voices were heard as an airship passed over

Basterfield 1980 citing Saga UFO Report no 2 p2

Points to consider:

One may of course discuss endlessly on the definition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind: if no occupant is seen but voices are heard, it it or isn't it a "CE3" case? As at least on CE3 catalogue answered in the positive, I have to deal with the case too.

Unfortunately, as shown in the List of Issues below, there is almost no information here and and assessment thus makes little sense.

At the time, there were no airship carrying passengers flying in New Zealand. There were fire balloons, known nowadays as Chinese lanterns, but they of course did not carry any passengers. Hot air balloons with passengers existed, so this may be a possibility, admitting that the witness or witnesses did not know the conceptual difference between a balloon and a dirigible balloon. Of course there is also the possibility of a hoax either by an alleged witness of alleged witnesses, or by a newspaperman.

What certainly appears here is that there seems to be nothing in the file to indicate a spacecraft from another planet or anything supernatural.

List of issues:

Id:	Topic:	Severity:	Date noted:	Raised by:	Noted by:	Description:	Proposal:	Status:
1	Data	Severe	August 28, 2013	Patrick Gross	Patrick Gross	Primary source not available.	Help needed.	Opened.
2	Ufology	Severe	August 28, 2013	Patrick Gross	Patrick Gross	Totally insufficient information: witness(es)?, hour, distance, size, description...?	Help needed.	Opened.
3	Ufology	Severe	August 28, 2013	Patrick Gross	Patrick Gross	No sign of this sighting in the numerous other newspaper there and then that I could check.	Help needed.	Opened.

Evaluation:

Possible hoax.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

[---] ? Article in the newspaper Clutha Leader, Clutha, New Zealand, July 27, 1909.
[---] ? Saga's UFO Report, USA, #2, page 2.
[---] ? "In-depth Review of Australian UFO Related Entity Reports", by Keith Basterfield, Australian CUFOS, Australia, 1980.
[tb1] * "The New Zealand 'UFO' Wave of 1909", by Tony Brunt, former convener of the Auckland University UFO Research Group, 1967, on the UFOCUS NZ ufology website, New Zealand, found 2013, at www.ufocusnz.org.nz/content/THE-NEW-ZEALAND-UFO-WAVE-OF-1909/53.aspx
[pr1] * "INTCAT 1901 - 1919 - International Catalog of Entity Reports", by Peter Rogerson, U-K., 2013, at intcat.blogspot.fr/2012/08/intcat-1901-1920.html

Document history:

Authoring

Main Author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history

Version:	Created/Changed By:	Date:	Change Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	August 28, 2013	Creation, [tb1], [pr1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	August 28, 2013	First published.

This page was last updated on August 28, 2013