302537148.pdf

|  1. DATE - TIME GROUP | 2. LOCATION  |
| --- | --- |
|  13 January 65 13/0845 | 41S 167E (Between New Zealand, Australia)  |
|  3. SOURCE | 10. CONCLUSION  |
|  Civilian Airlines | CONTINUED  |
|  4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | Not a UPD report. Report of contrails apparently made by A/C in formation.  |
|  7 Contrails |   |
|  5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS  |
|  6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Air-Visual | Single vapor trail in NW moving East observed from Civilian Airlines. This single contrail became 7 distinct contrails apparently a/c in formation. Speed estimated as in excess…

# Mystery Vapor Trails

The Melbourne, Australia Herald of 15 January 1965 carried an article about seven unexplained vapor trails observed 250 miles off the New Zealand Coast over the Tasman Sea at 6:45 p.m. on the 13th (Wednesday) of January. "The RAAF has failed to identify flying objects reported over the Tasman Sea on Wednesday night", the lead sentence read.

Captain D. Shannon and the crew of his Electra which was at 20,000 ft. altitude reported seeing the trails at 28,000 feet, going west to east. The trails "seemed to split", into seven directions, indicating a flight formation, Shann…

trails seen by Qantas pilots (apparently
others besides Shannon observed them--
Ed.) in the sky over Tasman were a
natural phenomenon . . . a Qantas official
said that "the Electra crew sighted what
appeared to be contrails from high-flying
planes."

Let us hope our Australian colleagues
were treated to a more detailed explanation
---the planes should have been
identified.

Additional information reaching this
office indicates a radar confirmation of
the sighting but the location of the radar
was not made explicit--it could have
been radar contact by Shannon's plane.
The clippings which divulg…

502
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

|  PRECEDENCE | TYPE M&O (Check) | ACCOUNTING SYMBOL | ORIG. ON REPEAT TO | CLASSIFICATION OF REFERENCE  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  ACTION | RECORD | RECORD | RECORD |   |
|  INFO |  | X | AF |   |
|  FROM: | FTD, W P AFB, OHIO  |
| --- | --- |
|  TO: | CIBCPACAF RICKAM  |

CLASSIFIED/CITE TDEW (UFO) 13540 MAR 65.

REFERENCE SECRET MSG FM USAIRA CANBERRA, CITE C-6 JAN 65.

SUBJECT MSG REQUESTED POSSIBLE IDENTIFICATION OF U.S. FORCES OPERATING IN SIGHTING AREA. FTD WAS INFO ON THIS MSG. A NEGATIVE REPLY FROM THE ACTION ADDRESS WAS DESIRED IF NO U.S. FORCES I…

UNCLASSIFIED

NNNN

WPA 7852V106 HQA939
RR RU3022
DE RUEANQ 196 14/2008Z
R 142906Z
FM CSAF
INFO FTD
P 142632Z
FM USAIRA CANBERRA
TO CINCPACAF HICKAM
CINCPACFLT

150 EW
6 A

CSAF
DIA
USAIRA WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND
LT
C-6.

JAN 65. FOLL MSG RECD FROM DEPT OF AIR RAAF THIS DATE:

"CONCERNING SIGHTING OF UFOS BY QUANTAS CREW FLIGHT 363 CAPTAIN
SHANNON ON 13 JAN. FOLLOWING ARE PERTINENT POINTS AIRCRAFT POSITION
41 SOUTH 167 EAST COURSE 275 M HEIGHT 20000 FEET TIME 1300452
SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET. OBJECTS: SINGLE VAPOUR TRAIL APPEARED TO
NORTH WEST TRAVELLING EAST AT APPROX MACK 1 PLUS BECOMING 7 DISTINCT
CONTRAILS APPARENTLY MADE BY LARGE AIRCRAFT IN LOOSE FORMATION.
ALTITUDE ANGLE FROM OBSERVERS APPROX 30 DEG. HEIGHT EST 35-45
FEET. TRAIL DISSIPATED FROM REAR. OBSERVERS:…

AT AT WELLINGTON AND OHAVEA RECORDING NOTHING AT HEIGHT WITHIN 10-20 HOURS EXCEPT 10 ANGLES NORTH OF WELLINGTON SPEED APPROX 310 LBS. HE PRESS ARE AWARE THAT A SIGHTING HAS BEEN REPORTED AND RNZAF HAS SUGGESTED TO THEM THAT WEATHER PHENOMENA IS POSSIBLE EXPLANATION AT THIS STAGE. DEPT OF AIR (ODA) REQUESTS INFORMATION IF ANY US FORCES WERE OPERATING SITING AREA AT SITING TIMES. NEGATIVE REPLY FROM ACTION ADDRESSES DESIRED IF NO US FORCES IN SITING AREA. GP-4. UNQUOTE. GP-4. BT

UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED
PRIORITY
UNCLASSIFIED
Received Via Autodin
365 JAN 19 22 55
A/194

PITG JAM RUEBHOA0296 0152057-SNSS--RUCIFDA.
ZNY 86883
P 152049Z
FM USAF
TO TDEW HQ FTD WPAFB OHIO
BT
SAF-CIPS 77411 JAN 65

FOR MAJ QUINTAVILLA, PROJECT BLUE BOOK OFFICE. FOLLOWING
MSS 18 FWD FOR YOUR INFO AND ACTION. QUOTE. JAN 65.
FULL MSS RECD FROM DEPT OF AIR REAF THIS DATE: "CON-
CERNING SIGHTING OF UFOS BY QANTAS CREW FLIGHT 363
CAPTAIN SHANNON ON 13 JAN. FOLLOWING ARE PERTINENT
POINTS AIRCRAFT POSITION 41 SOUTH 167 EAST COURSE 275 M
HEIGHT 20000 FEET TIME 130845Z SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET.
OBJECTS: SINGLE VAPOUR …