BIZARRENZ

UFO? Strange lights in Cardwell [Townsville Bulletin]

2013-01-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

CARDWELL is on full UFO alert following sightings of strange lights in the night sky above the sleepy seaside village.

Local businessman Greg Smith said he and his son watched the lights for 15 minutes and are convinced that what they saw was some sort of UFO.
``This was a couple of months ago. I used to be the world's biggest sceptic about this stuff, but I'll tell you what, this really rattled me and my son,'' he said.
Mr Smith said they watched the lights from the front of the Lyndoch Motel on the highway towards the northern end of the town.
``There were two large orange lights. There was no beam and no noise. It was absolutely silent and they were moving slowly across the sky towards the north-west. We couldn't tell if the lights were from one or two machines. At first we thought they were over buildings between the highway and the beach, but other people said they were just out over the water,'' he said.
Mr Smith said he thought it must have been one or two helicopters, but discounted the possibility due to the fact there was no noise.
``And the lights were orange and there was no beam. Navigation lights on aircraft are green and red and they flash on and off . These were orange and they didn't flash,'' he said.
Cardwell resident Phil Mulley and his wife Helen saw the lights on two consecutive nights.
``The first night there was just one light and it was very bright. It was about 7.30pm. We thought it was a chopper coming up the channel. It was travelling at about 45 degrees to the horizon. We watched it for a few minutes and then it disappeared in cloud. The next night my sister rang me and said to look outside. I went and looked and there were two lights. We watched them for a while until they disappeared in cloud,'' he said.
Mr Mulley said he knew of at least six or seven people who saw the lights.
``The lights were bright orange and there was no sound whatsoever,'' he said.
President of UFO Research Queensland Sheryl Gottschall said she could not say what the lights were, but added she had no qualms in saying there were extraterrestrials which visited earth from time to time.
``I've been with this organisation for 25 years and in that time I've spoken to 3000 people who have seen strange lights and objects and to another 600 to 700 who have had close encounters,'' she said.
She said two brothers fishing in the Hinchinbrook Channel in 1995 contacted her to report a sighting of six UFOs in the Fishers Creek area south of Cardwell.

Hinchinbrook region UFO sightings
THE recent sightings have not been the first glimpses of UFO activity near Cardwell reported to the President of UFO Research Queensland Sheryl Gottschall.
In 1995 two brothers contacted her to report a sighting of six UFOs in the Fishers Creek area south of Cardwell.
This is an edited version of the report sent to her from the brothers:
"On May 13 1995 my brother 'D' and I were fishing between Hinchinbrook and Haycock Island. We had a flat battery and had to paddle our 4.2 metre boat back to Fishers Creek, arriving at 3am.
"We could not reach the boat ramp due to tidal rips. 'D' saw six UFOs about 30 feet in diameter disappear behind the hill at the mouth of Deluge Creek.
"Due to the angle of the boat I couldn't see them, however later I saw lights over the mangroves through a fog."
The writer then described in detail about how a rectangular fog 5m wide by 2.5m high came towards them from Deluge Creek 1.5km away.
He said the fog was white with a black strip running horizontally along the top. He described how another rectangular 'fog' came at them from Sandstone Creek, 3km away.
The fogs were of different colours, but were uniform in shape. At one stage he said he saw what appeared to be a black fish in the fog "then a black lizard like animal with no feet and then a second and third lizard".
"During the whole ordeal we couldn't move and we were at their mercy. It was with great relief that we had survived. I tried to connect mentally with whatever the force might have been but did not receive any signals," the writer told Ms Gottschall. - John Andersen.

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2013/01/03/373022_news.html

Giant Cross Found On Mars By Rover

2012-11-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the original NASA photo. It had to be magnified by 1,000%…but its definately there.
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/703574main_MSL%20self-portrait%20pia16239%2020121101_full.jpg

Voices from the Forest [Upcoming Documentary]

2012-09-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Keep an eye, ear and mind open for this up coming new documentary that goes in search of New Zealand's mysterious and elusive faery forest dwellers.
A film, narrated by sacred sites Researcher Gary Cook, that will shake the ground on which you stand and challenge your old belief systems...
Cryptozoological? Extraterrestrial? Supernatural? Spiritual?....You decide.

Check regularly on www.voicesfromtheforest.co.nz for updates on the release date of this supernatural documentary.

North a UFO hot spot [The Northern Advocate]

2012-09-29T20:02:00.003-07:00

Have you seen any UFOs in Northland?

The truth may be out and about in Northland with numerous reports of strange phenomena above the region - from curious lights, mysterious craft and even a possible alien landing, and video footage being sent overseas for expert analysis.
Suzanne Hansen, network director for Ufocus NZ research, which collates UFO/UAP (unidentified flying object/unidentified aerospace phenomena) reports, said she had received 237 such sightings so far this year, with many from Northland.
Ms Hansen said there had been a significant increase in sightings involving descriptions of actual objects (not aircraft) as opposed to "lights in the sky" sightings.
"Several of these have involved the sighting of entities in conjunction with an object," she said.
However, president of the Northland Astronomical Society Terry Hickey said there were sound explanations for what people thought they had seen. Mr Hickey said he believed there was alien life "out there" but that it had yet to make it to Earth.
But Ms Hansen said specific objects have been described, with reports coming from scientists, pilots, aviation personnel and police.
She said a "top scientist" had reported seeing an object land in an isolated part of Northland, that was "definitely not an aircraft or like anything else he had seen".
"In these cases, we have withheld most of these reports to see if corroborative reports come in. This has been the case in each of these cases, with corroborative sightings of identical objects coming in from different parts of the country," Ms Hansen said.
"We have also had a number of reports from people who said they had previously been sceptics, but have had to change their perspectives having had a sighting themselves that they could not explain. There are several photos and video footage being examined overseas by analysts."
Most of the reports this year have been from the BOP/central North Island, Auckland and Northland, Canterbury and Manawatu, with the balance spread around the country.
But Mr Hickey said in the 42 years he had been in the society he had yet to see any UFOs and doubted if any had even visited our planet.
"There are very good explanations for what people report, but it doesn't make a very good story if you can explain it," he said.
He said the recent upsurge in sightings was probably down to Venus being close to Earth and Jupiter also clearly visible, particularly around dawn and sunset. An increase in iridium satellites was also responsible for false sightings, he said.
"Because Venus is always between us and the Sun it's always close to the horizon when it's visible. It's very bright and can create an optical illusion where people think they see things that aren't there," Mr Hickey said.
But he said with billions of stars out there, and even more planets orbiting them, it was highly likely that there was intelligent life out there somewhere.
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/news/north-a-ufo-hot-spot/1536554/
Mike Dinsdale

Mystery of lights in sky lingers [Hawkes Bay Today]

2012-09-28T23:31:00.000-07:00

The mystery of moving coloured lights in the night skies over Hawke's Bay continues to deepen with a third sighting since early last month.

Last Saturday night it was Onekawa resident Stephen Carr's turn to be perplexed by unexpected lights overhead after going outside just after 9pm.

And, as he discovered after calling police, he was not the only one to see them.

"I was outside having a smoke, looking for satellites ... and I looked over towards the Taradale hills and saw a bright orange light in the sky," Mr Carr said.

The light was heading toward the hills, from the east.

He watched as more appeared, in pairs, which eventually resulted in eight lights travelling at what he said was a reasonable speed across the sky, all following the same path before they banked to the left.

His partner and flatmate also saw the lights, and attempted to video them.

"It was just a solid orange light and there was no flickering, no firework type effect or anything it it," Mr Carr said.

"There was no noise and it was a still night, there were bugger-all clouds in the sky.

"They were moving pretty quick, they weren't like rockets or anything, it was a good, steady movement."

He estimated they were in the sky for about eight to 10 minutes.

"I rang the police to see if anybody has reported any strange lights and strangely enough, they'd just had someone ring up about it.

"I just thought it was really odd how they all followed the same sort of flight path."

He said he believed that given the time and the movement of the lights, other people must have seen them.

In early August Napier man Vaughan Brooks and his family watched as fast-moving red lights crossed the sky from east to west, and a fortnight later a Havelock North couple reported seeing a stream of orange lights travelling across the night sky.

Mr Brooks ruled out the suggestion they could be Chinese lanterns being released as they were moving too fast, and at a time when there was no wind.

http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/news/mystery-of-lights-in-sky-lingers/1561909/

Auckland 'ghost hunters' spend night in haunted shop

2012-09-26T02:46:00.002-07:00

Visitors to Auckland may want to make the most of some of the haunted buildings in the city.

Published on: 25 September 2012

A team of paranormal investigators spent the night in the spooky setting of an old Auckland shop in order to get to the bottom of rumours the facility is haunted.

Mark Wallbank, who is the man behind the Haunted Auckland group, was joined by his team of ghost hunters at Smith and Caughey's to discover if there were any unearthly beings, reports stuff.co.nz.

While the squad are currently in the process of reviewing footage captured on that spooky evening, Mr Wallbank revealed there was another presence in the room with them.

He said: "There were three people in the room and they all felt something chilling at the exact same time."

Smith and Caughey's is the latest in a long line of buildings around Auckland the investigators have searched, including the Masonic Taverne, Ewelme Cottage in Parnell - regarded as one of the most haunted constructions in the city - and The Civic.
http://www.travelup.co.uk/

Busting Auckland's ghosts [Auckland Now]

2012-09-26T02:44:00.000-07:00

Bridget Jones

WHO YA GONNA CALL?: Smith and Caughey's is just one in a very long list of Auckland buildings Wallbank and his team of paranormal investigators have spent time in.

There have been rumours for years. Whispers of more than just clothes and perfume lurking in the walls of Smith and Caughey's department store.

They were stories Mark Wallbank couldn't ignore.
The man behind Haunted Auckland, a group of like-minded locals searching for the truth about the afterlife, recently spent an evening in the Queen St shopping institution. And what he found brings more questions than answers.
While the team are still in the process of reviewing the footage and audio from the time they spent in the building's basement and top floor, Wallbank said it seemed as though something else was there with them in the bowels of the building that evening.
"There were three people in the room, and they all felt something chilling at the exact same time," he said.
Smith and Caughey's is just one in a very long list of Auckland buildings Wallbank and his team of paranormal investigators have spent time in, including The Civic, The Masonic Tavern and Ewelme Cottage in Parnell, which is regarded as one of the most haunted places in Auckland.
Armed with cameras, voice recorders, thermometers, torches, motion detectors, electro-magnetic generators, parabolic audio receiver dishes and military-grade glow sticks, the team of 10 (four men, six women) spend anywhere from an hour to a whole night in buildings.
Either they contact the owners - like Smith and Caughey's - or, as is the case with most private homes they visit, the owners call them.
It might be because of the building's history, or a general bad vibe, that they are needed. Or there may be some physical issue the occupants are experiencing.
"We have gadgets that measure electrical and magnetic fields in the air; things that may cause hallucinations, paranoia, uneasy feelings, things that may be misunderstood as being paranormal.
"If you've got a leaking power box next to where you sleep, that's going to be giving off electronic and electrical readings, which can affect you."
That's right, even the ghost hunters believe it's 50/50 in the race between supernatural and perfectly natural.
But Wallbank said it's not always that easy to find the root cause.
"We go in with our cameras and our gadgets and we film empty rooms. And you never know, there's a chance we could capture something but it's about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment aimed in the right direction really."

That luck of the draw hasn't put people off wanting to join the hunt though.
"There's a lot of people who want to get involved. They have been influenced by TV and want to be ghost hunters. But they have no idea what to expect - they expect exciting things when they go out, but actually it can be quite boring. If you took away all the soundtrack stuff from a TV scene, not a lot would happen - it would just be a creaking floorboard or something."

Ghostly goings on in Hastings [Hawkes Bay Today]

2012-09-24T02:25:00.003-07:00

An alleged ghost sighting in the Hawke's Bay Today Hastings office has inspired a raft of claims surrounding other potentially haunted buildings in the city.

A contract cleaner was working in the Hastings office on Thursday night when she was "notified about a presence in your building".

She had been working in the building for a few weeks but could not manage to finish her Thursday night shift as the presence, which was not pleasant, scared her out of the building, she said in a message to the paper.

"I will never return to the building as this presence did not want me there. I hope the next person does not experience the same thing for it's a horrifying thing to go through."
Hawke's Bay historian Michael Fowler said part of the Hawke's Bay Today building, the brick section on the corner of Karamu Road and Queen St, survived the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake but no one died inside at the time of the disaster.

Darby Ryan was a popular reporter at the Hawke's Bay Tribune working at the newspaper office at the time of the 1931 earthquake. He died during the quake, hit by a falling clock tower while standing on the corner of Queen St and Russell St where he was waiting for an interview that morning.

Mr Fowler said initial thoughts that the tower building of the current newspaper office may have been built on a morgue proved incorrect as pictures showed nothing on the site before the office's construction in the 1960s.

"But down the road, where Forbes and Co use to be, there is an art shop now and the top floor of that building is reputed to be haunted," he said. "There's been a long-time rumour about something being up there."

Messages left on social media websites suggested there were also ghosts at the Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings including a report that said one often looked out of a top floor, small window of the historic building towards St Joseph's School.

Other popular places for ghost sightings include the former Napier Prison, the former Napier Hospital site, certain homes on Napier Hill, cemeteries and the old Waipukurau Hospital which closed in 1995.

Lawrence Gullery

Australia's secret UFO files released

2012-09-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

MYSTERIOUS: A colour-enhanced photo of a UFO seen from Bendigo. One caller dismissed it as a rock band's laser show.

It is probably the closest Australia has come to scrambling fighter jets to intercept a UFO.

Documents that have just become available under the 30-year rule at the National Archives of Australia reveal how two RAAF Mirage jets were placed on the second highest level of alert to determine the cause of unidentified radar contacts seen on screens at Mascot.

The ''X Files'' viewed in Canberra also give details of other unexplained sightings, some of which are supported by witness statements to police.

In the Sydney alert, the papers stamped ''restricted'' tell how operation ''Close Encounter'' was launched by No.3 Control and Reporting Unit at RAAF Base Williamtown near Newcastle on June 30, 1983, after the phenomenon was first noticed earlier in the month

Senior air controllers at Mascot said the contacts were mostly located between 70 and 150 nautical miles north of Sydney at ''alleged speeds of 1100-6500 km/h that suggested high altitude''.

The papers state that no scramble was to occur in the round-the-clock operation unless confirmation of any reported tracks was made on the radar screens at RAAF Williamtown or any radar other than Sydney.

At the same time, three senior air defence controllers were dispatched to Sydney to investigate and plot every contact and ''control interceptors against these contacts if a reasonable chance of interception presented itself''.
But then one of the defence controllers, a squadron leader, asked whether a comparison had been made of the contacts on the screens of Mascot's Area Approach Radar Centre and those in a ''workshop across the corridor''.
Soon after, tests showed that the ''unidentified objects reported by Sydney were generated entirely by radar interference known colloquially as 'running rabbits' ''.

Squadron leader K Keenan, in his six-page report, said operation Close Encounter cost 66½ days of overtime, 1000 kilometres was travelled by a staff car and a C130 Hercules transport aircraft ''may have been diverted to Sydney airport'' to deliver one of the defence controllers.

He wrote: ''The lines of communication, extending as they did across the width of an entire corridor, seem to have been insufficient for the purpose.''

He added rather dryly: ''Fortunately there was no temptation to launch aircraft and add to the fuel bill occasioned by use of the RAAF Datsun.''

A cautiously worded statement was released as a result ''in a manner that would not embarrass departmental personnel'' which blamed ''random atmospheric conditions''.
Other reports in the X Files give details of an ''unidentified physical feature'' of circles on Milo Station at Adavale, Queensland, in 1982. The file refers to photographs that apparently were taken, but they were not among the papers.

Constable Geoffrey Russell, from the local police station, visited the site and wrote a report for RAAF Base Amberley near Ipswich.
The officer saw depressions in the ground and thought they were caused by a motorcyclist doing donuts but then dismissed the idea.
He wrote: ''I strongly feel this [is] no hoax even though I do not know the cause of this 'feature'.''
He described a large circle of 2330mm in diameter with one inner circle of 2010mm which were 160mm in width and about 15-20 mm deep. The soil around the outer circle appeared to have been ''blown away'', he said.
Elsewhere in Queensland, dairy farmer Robin Priebe phoned Imbil police at 5.30am in July 1983 to report seeing a strange object in the sky to the north of the town.
The papers state that a Sergeant Waterson then went to his back verandah and saw ''a large white light with several flashing lights around it'' which did not appear to be a normal aircraft.

A similar sighting was made by Constable R Keys from a separate position. He was also of the opinion that it wasn't a normal aircraft.
Priebe said both he and his wife saw a bright red glow gradually change to a white light which then started to move slowly east.
Through binoculars, ''the light was disc shaped with a very bright light around the perimeter of the disc with two flashing lights in the front and one to the side'', he said.

The only photographs in the X Files were of unusual lights over Bendigo, witnessed by hundreds in May 1983.
An interim report by the RAAF stated that Mike Evans, a 17-year-old disc jockey with the Bendigo radio station 3BO, received calls from listeners, then saw the lights himself and took photos.
One anonymous caller to the RAAF said the lights were caused by a rock group experimenting with laser lighting. The report said they were probably caused by train headlights or lasers or from planets or stars.

There had been unusual weather atmospherics on the night.
Zoe¨ D'Arcy, director of digital and online access at the National Archives, said: ''Where you and I might think UFO - a spaceship - the RAAF and other agencies were probably wondering if there was a security threat.

''Most of the files you read and you think that most probably was a meteorite, but there are ones that you read and you think - well, what could that have been?
''I can't explain that from my knowledge.
''So what was it that these people have experienced? It has that open-ended question to it that I find really intriguing.''
TIM BARLASS - Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/7418845/Australias-secret-UFO-files-released

UFO photographed over Auckland New Zealand 31st August 2012

2012-09-01T21:27:00.001-07:00

UFO photographed over Auckland New Zealand 31st August 2012
Multiple UFO's photographed over Auckland New Zealand 31st August 2012 by Oliver Hilbert.
There were 4 to 5 documentend objects. Here are the photos of each object with enhanced close ups.
Photos were taken from a high rise building and were estimated to be 10 - 15km away.
Taken on the Canon 550, 200mm lens.

http://dreamalities.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/ufo-photographed-over-auckland-new.html

The Possiblity of Mosasaurs breeding off the New Zealand Coast

2012-08-21T02:24:00.000-07:00

An interesting, thought provoking new article post from our mate Tony Lucas at CFZ (The Centre for Fortean Zoology)-New Zealand, titled The Possiblity of Mosasaurs breeding off the New Zealand Coast.
http://cfz-nz.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/the-possiblity-of-mosasaurs-breeding.html

Baffling Timaru beach creatures probably 'spoon worms' [Timaru Herald]

2012-08-20T00:51:00.002-07:00

Unusual creatures that puzzled Timaru beachgoers are likely to be "spoon worms" according to a Dunedin scientist. Hundreds of the marine life-forms were scattered along Caroline Bay, lying along the sand, and caught in the debris that has washed up on the bay in recent floods. The creates, 4-15cm long, move when touched, are quite flexible, and have proved tempting morsels for dozens of seagulls. Dr Brian Paavo, of Benthic Science Limited, who studies animals on the seafloor, said from the photos, the creatures looked like echiuran, more commonly known as spoon worms because of their spoon-like tongues which scrape mud off the sea floor. "They are most certainly not slugs. Slug would have a very clear bilateral symmetry where one side looks like the other. With these, you can't tell left from right." The most certain way to find out would be to cut one [of those creatures] up lengthwise down the middle and take a look at the insides. It should have some very distinct anatomical features, he said. The radial symmetry of the creatures rule them out from being slugs and geoducks. Suggestions from readers have so far included: *beche-de-mer, also known as sea cucumbers, *priapulid worms (also known as penis worms), *sea slugs, some of which can be toxic, * ''gooey-ducks'' or ''geoducks'' although the reader could not confirm the spelling, *Sipunculid or peanut worms, and *echiurans or spoon worms. http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/7504792/Slug-like-creatures-baffle-beachgoers

UFO Sighting | Brisbane, Australia | 07/30/2012

2012-07-31T03:51:00.001-07:00

An interesting piece of footage.
I was going to say 'helicopter', until saw saw the zoomed-in views.

Ufo Fleet 20+ objects - New Zealand West Auckland 14th July 2012 8:45pm

2012-07-16T00:51:00.002-07:00

Ufo Fleet 20 plus objects - New Zealand West Auckland Saturday 14th July 2012 8:45pm
The report attached to the You Tube clip states...."At approximately 8:45 pm on the 14th of July 2012 we went outside and looked at the night sky to see what appeared to be a fleet of ufos. They were around 20+ in number or more, traveled in a line formation and glowed orange-red. We tried to record as best possible with our camera and then lightened the footage with Windows Move Maker. The lights rose from the ground up and over the sky and disappeared around West Auckland area. They were not Chinese lanterns or fireworks. The lights on the ground are house lights and street lights and the left hand side large light is a street light and with tree reflection however some of the ufo orbs do appear flickering in the sky above and you can also hear our reaction to seeing this. At the end of the first video recording we also witnessed a black orb moving in a totally different direction towards the ground off into the distance where we stopped recording and tried to take photos of it.

Another clip filmed elsewhere by another witness.

Two linked lights over Western Australia June 22nd 2012

2012-06-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

New footage of bright unidentified flying objects flying in the night sky above Kwinana in Western Australia. This was filmed on Friday, 22nd June 2012 around 6:30 pm.

Rotorua UFO 'sighting' goes viral on YouTube

2012-06-17T15:42:00.001-07:00

Sightings of unidentified flying objects in Rotorua skies have sparked an online discussion about paranormal activity in the Bay of Plenty.

A video uploaded to YouTube claims to have images of UFOs above Rotorua. It has had more than 131,500 hits since being uploaded by someone with the username Horsefarmer1000.
The video blurb states it was taken between 2am and 4am three weeks ago.
"Camera was pointing towards the back of the farm ... North towards the ocean ... I'm in the Rotorua Region close to Tauranga," the blurb states.
The footage has received 30 pages of comments from around the world. The uploader has also loaded several other similar videos and comments that Bay of Plenty has lots of unexplained aerial activity.
Ufocus NZ director Suzanne Hansen said it was hard to comment without talking to those who shot the video.
Ufocus is an independent UFO research network based in Tauranga and Ms Hansen said the video seemed to capture meteors.
"The larger lights are obviously closer, but the slow motion makes them look bigger than they probably are.
"They are unlikely to be aircraft landing lights as Tauranga Airport is not active at that time. I don't know what they are and would need to speak to the witness and visit the site, to get a clearer picture of the surrounding area."
Ms Hansen said although the video information labelled the UFOs as crafts, they were just unknown lights at this stage.
"Having said this, we are currently investigating sightings in areas between Tauranga and Rotorua which involve a landed object, not a conventional aircraft, objects hovering over farmland, not aircraft and a UFO sighted from an aircraft.
"These sightings are still under investigation and we cannot comment further until this is completed."
Ms Hansen said New Zealand was experiencing an upswing of sightings at present.

http://www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/news/ufo-sighting-goes-viral-on-youtube/1411704/

Strange lights over Taranaki - Did you see this?

2012-02-11T16:19:00.001-08:00

The Taranaki Daily News has today received reports that last night at about 9.30pm in New Plymouth a set of six bright red lights were seen travelling from the east before turning and disappearing in the north.
"At first there were three lights travelling in a triangle formation and then three more followed", said a witness who didn't want to be identified.

If you saw these unidentified lights please contact the Taranaki Daily News by emailing web@dailynews.co.nz or phone 06 7590826

Scientists find 'supergiant' from the deep [Stuff.co.nz]

2012-02-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

Alan Jamieson with one of the supergiant amphipods.

From the depths of the Kermadec Trench, New Zealand scientists have retrieved the largest known examples of a creature that looks like a giant albino flea.

On a recent research trip to the trench to determine how far down fish could be found, staff from Niwa and the University of Aberdeen found "supergiant" amphipods – deep-sea scavengers that feed on dead material.
"the first big trap came out, first of all we said, great, we've got five fish," Niwa's Ashley Rowden said.
"But then we looked and said, `What the hell is that?"'
Not only were the amphipods a record size – the biggest was just over 28 centimetres – but they were found seven kilometres below the ocean's surface, far deeper than before.

Deep-sea amphipods, a relation of the sandhoppers that can be found on any beach, are typically two or three centimetres long. The research team knew of only two occasions when "supergiants" had been found anywhere in the world, with the last Kermadec sightings in the 1950s.
The discovery highlighted how much more there was to learn about the 10km deep Kermadec trench, Dr Rowden said.

"The marine realm of New Zealand is huge and it contains some unique creatures, yet the number of samples we've taken from it is incredibly low."

The amphipods were now in storage at Niwa's laboratory in Wellington, but would soon travel to Aberdeen so scientists there could determine if they were a distinct species.

Dr Rowden said they also hoped to work out why the amphipods were so big. "We're really waving our arms at the moment – there are lots of questions swimming about.
"We don't know how big these things can get."
KATE NEWTON

Ghostly experiences offered on tour [Kapi-Mana News]

2012-01-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

BY ANDREA O'NEIL

For someone who says she's not much of a people person, Kathy McBride has the wrong career: she's confronted by friends and strangers all day long - only they happen to be dead.
Ghost hunter, ghost buster, medium, psychic - call her what you will, Miss McBride says she has seen, heard and felt ghosts since childhood.
She didn't choose to be a medium. She had no choice but to heed her calling and become a fulltime spirit communicator 10 years ago, she says. It's not always an easy road.
"It would be nice to have a regular income."
Since then she has had a regular spot reaching spirits live on radio, has staged "Messages from Beyond" shows up and down the country and has worked with the police on cases, she says.
Locals will have a chance to put their faith in Miss McBride's abilities on January 28, by attending an event she calls "The Great Ghost Hunt". A group of 20 people will be taken by bus to a cemetery and the site of a murder, then to The Lodge at the Inlet to communicate with spirits.
She says participants can expect to see ghosts and orbs of light energy, be touched by ghosts, and feel extreme cold spots of minus-20 degrees Celsius to minus-30 deg C where ghosts pass by. There won't be a seance, which Miss McBride says are dangerous and encourage malevolent spirits, but the group will do some "table tipping", where spirits levitate a table half a metre in the air.
Cameras are welcome. Miss McBride says she has photographed spirits and orbs on many previous ghost hunt tours.
"We're quite scientific about the way we do this. I look for a real reason for the signs," she says.
"The real orbs - you can tell the difference."
Miss McBride uses a laser thermometer, spirit voice recorder and a gauss meter for measuring electromagnetic fields, which she says are disturbed by ghosts' presence.
Most ghosts are not evil, and while many people come on the tour to give themselves a fright, the point isn't to scare the living daylights out of them, Miss McBride says.
"It's not for people to be scared out of their wits. They want to experience the supernatural, the other side."
Many ghosts have a sense of humour and are happy to be "hunted" by tour groups, she says.
The ghosts themselves benefit from the tours too - Miss McBride can encourage them to move to the other side.
"It's about finding out who that spirit is, especially if they feel trapped or stuck."
For ghost tour bookings, phone 528 3506.

2012 - UFO SIGHTING COMPILATION JAN 1- JAN 12, 2012

2012-01-16T10:21:00.001-08:00

It's 2012, here come the UFOs [NZ Herald]

2012-01-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

The New Year has seen a spike in reported sightings of UFOs, with 2012 hysteria blamed for an increase in reports of flashing lights and floating orbs.

WeatherWatch.co.nz - which receives a handful of eyewitness reports of meteors and other lights in the sky every day - said there had been a dramatic increase of alleged sightings in the past 24 hours.
While there would usually be about 10 reports from around the globe on a busy day, Weatherwatch said 80 reports had been received in the past 24 hours, with another 10 coming in every sixty minutes,
WeatherWatch.co.nz weather analyst Philip Duncan said there had been reported sightings of flashing lights, "floating orbs" and "UFOS" from those celebrating the New Year in Otago, Cape Town, Venezuela, the UK, Australia and North America.
He said the increase in sightings could be attributed to two factors.
"Many people around the world have been outside celebrating the New Year. In the US, where most of the sightings came from, conditions were fairly mild and dry in many areas - so more people were outside to see things. Finally, it's 2012, the year the world is supposed to end according to the Mayans and it seems many are already worrying ".
The comments range from normal meteor sightings, to the strange and unusual.
One Spanish writer said: "My father and I saw them in Spain at 00:45 am, but there were 5 or 6 of them all in a vertical line quite close to the earth....I have no answer to all these questions that we are all asking ourselfs and when I think I have an answer it just leads to more questions, so all I have to say is, WE ARE NOT ALONE!"
Mr Duncan said the sightings were likely to be meteors, shooting stars, Chinese lanterns - which appear as slow moving orange lights - and other normal aircraft.
- HERALD ONLINE

UFO News: What Are The Waituhi Lights? (Video)

2011-12-31T00:56:00.000-08:00

In the latest UFO news, a father and daughter from Waituhi, New Zealand shot some video of strange lights in the night sky on Friday and are now appealing to the public for help in identifying the unidentified flying objects.

Kharma Jones and her father Matthew spied the noiseless, hovering aircraft while on a walk in the town, and, luckily, had a digital camera with them. The video shown below is the result.
While the video quality and camera work are shaky at best, the pair managed to capture a minute of footage which is hard to explain as any kind of conventional aircraft.
What appear to be three distinct flying objects, with a triangular light pattern, are seen hovering in the pitch-black night-time sky.
Lights on the craft can be clearly seen"winking out" which is not a normal occurrence for pilots navigating through the air so close together. And why are these objects hovering, noiselessly above? There are no known aircraft which can perform these kinds of aerial manuevers. So what are they?
That's what the Jones' would like to know and they're appealing to the public for help. "They were visible for about five minutes and then two of the orange lights went off on their own and they all disappeared like someone had turned a light switch off," said Mr Jones. "I can't believe no one else saw it. I don't know what to think."
Comments on the YouTube channel where the video is posted have no real explanation for this latest UFO news story. Commenters agree they've seen the lights as well, for at least a year, and no one is able to explain it.
What do you think? Is this evidence of a UFO? Or are these conventional aircraft? Do you have an explanation for the Waituhi UFO?

Waikato's most haunted [Waikato Times]

2011-12-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

They're not ghostbusters, they're investigators
Quantum Foundation founders Lisa Austen, left, and Tracey Royce investigate paranormal activity in the Waikato and say Hollywood horror flicks are nothing like the real thing.
Things that go bump in the night go bump a little more often in the Waikato than other parts of the country.
That's according to the Quantum Foundation, a paranormal investigation team founded by Lisa Austen and Tracey Royce in 2009.
They're not ghost hunters or ghostbusters – they're Hamilton's very own paranormal investigators – and if there's something strange in your neighbourhood they are "who ya gonna call".
The fearless duo say their free service is in high demand in the region which, according to the group, is home to a number of "paranormal hot spots".
The NZ Skeptics group isn't convinced, saying there is usually a perfectly reasonable and logical explanation for anything dubbed as "paranormal".
Mrs Austen and Miss Royce have conducted 10 investigations at private and commercial properties in the Waikato in the past 16 months.
"We don't go looking for ghosts as such, we go in trying to put clients' minds at rest," Miss Royce said.
"We're not ghostbusters either. We don't get rid of whatever is there.
"We can call in people to do that."
They take what they call a "scientific, research-based" approach to the supernatural. They ignore the horror movie hype and seek natural explanations for alleged "hauntings".
"We wanted to take a more investigative approach rather than a ghost hunting approach, which is just going out for sh..s and giggles basically.
"We weren't interested in that."
Using camera equipment, digital voice recorders, electromagnetic field readers, and photo analysis software, the pair amass information overnight and spend up to eight weeks reviewing footage.
Most of what they uncover is "mundane". For example, the common phenomenon known as orbs – patterns of light which some people believe to be spirits or energy from another realm – are actually just airborne particles reflecting light into the camera lens. But the pair remain undeterred.
They have both had experiences they can't explain and it drives them to uncover the truth.
Mrs Austen claims she witnessed a "full-blown apparition" (ghostly figure) while on an investigation at a private residence in the Waikato.
Miss Royce said she had a time slip experience – an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which a person, or group of people, travel through time via unknown means – at one of Waikato's most haunted sites, the Waitomo Caves Hotel.
The team have also conducted two investigations at Hamilton's Diggers Bar after a series of mysterious events led staff to believe it was haunted.
They captured five electronic voice phenomenon – communication by spirits, energies or extraterrestrials – at the bar that included laughing, a voice saying "it's coming" and one instance of aggressive swearing.
Others, however, believe the answers, if there are any, are a little closer to home.
David Riddell, journalist and member of the NZ Skeptics group, said gullible people were often suckered in by folks with fancy equipment who purported to be ghost hunters of sorts.
Electromagnetic fields? "We are awash with them from all sorts of sources, like cellphones, radio signals, that sort of thing."
And devilish laughs or spooky voices caught on tape? "Unless you are in a vacuum then nowhere is completely silent. A tape recorder is always going to pick up all sorts of different things, especially if it is left on overnight."
But Mr Riddell said sometimes just because something could not be explained it did not mean it was of another world."A lot of people, when faced with something they can't explain, automatically say must be something supernatural. But sometimes it is OK to say you simply don't know what it is."
Do you have a ghost story or picture? Send it to news@waikatotimes.co.nz.
JONATHAN CARSON AND ANGELA CUMMING - Waikato Times

Eerie events at Embassy theatre - Renovations punctuated by ghostly sightings

2011-12-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

Embassy Theatre manager Damianos George in the foyer of the new cinema. CRAIG SIMCOX/Fairfax NZ

The supernatural raised its ghostly head during the construction of the Embassy Theatre's two new 70-seater boutique cinemas which open to the public tomorrow.
The site of the new fully-digital theatres beneath the upstairs auditorium still resembled a building site when visited by The Dominion Post a couple of weeks ago.
But the visit did reveal the opulence of the makeover which includes a tiled fireplace and marbled-topped bar in the new foyer. It also revealed that a ghost could be haunting the 87 year old theatre.

First of all the camera being used by the newspaper photographer Craig Simcox unexpectedly started displaying photos in black and white. There was no explantation for the spooky occurrence.
It was suggested to Embassy Theatre manager Damianos George that theatre could be haunted.
"I have heard a few ghost stories... so there could be a ghost."
The latest eerie occurrence happened during construction of the new theatres when a breathless staff member ran into the office asking what Mr George had been doing hanging around in the dark recesses of the cinema.
"I said 'I wasn't up there'. She said 'oh my God who the hell was up there' because we were the only people in the building."
There have also been plenty of sightings of ghostly figures and unexplained lights over the years, Mr George said.
James Gilberd earlier this year co-authored Exploring the Paranormal in New Zealand which investigated, and sometimes debunked, paranormal activity in New Zealand.
Wellington's top four hot spots for reported ghostly events were Inverlochy House, St James Theatre, Opera House and Downstage Theatre.
"I would love for us to do an investigation of the Embassy Theatre. I have heard some interesting stories about that place," he said at the time.

The two new theatres tonight get an invitation-only opening on December 8 with a special one-off screening of Steven Spielberg and Sir Peter Jackson's 3-D flick The Adventures of Tintin which goes on general release on Boxing Day.
Event Cinemas operations general manager Carmen Switzer said the theatres would open to the public on December 9 when there will be a two-for-one ticket deal.
- The Dominion Post

One-third of Kiwis believe in alien visits [www.nzherald.co.nz]

2011-12-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

A third of New Zealanders believe aliens have visited Earth and a majority think psychic powers exist, a study has found.

One thousand respondents were asked by UMR Research if they believed "that Earth has been visited by UFOs from other planets".
About 33 per cent said they did, and Maori (42 per cent) and Pasifika (40 per cent) were more likely to believe.
The number of believers is greatest among the 30 to 44 year olds at 36 per cent, and drops to 26 per cent among those aged 60 and over.
Graeme Opie, a sighting investigator and researcher for the Ufocus New Zealand Research Network, said: "According to reports, the number of Americans that believe in extra-terrestrials and life on other planets is quite high too, so it isn't too surprising that many of us here believe in UFOs."
The veteran Hamilton traffic controller and pilot adds, "I can say with near certainty that UFOs have been to Earth ... and there's plenty of literature to back this belief."
Sightings in New Zealand include events such as the Kaikoura lights, the Ngatea landing-site mystery and the Gisborne UFO event of the late 70s that included sightings of silver-suited humanoids in the Waimata Valley.
The UMR survey also found 55 per cent believed that at least some people have psychic powers such as ESP.
Women (67 per cent), over-60s (63 per cent) and Maori (60 per cent) more likely than others to be believers.
Six in 10 - 72 per cent of women and 52 per cent of men - believe in the existence of God or a universal spirit.
Nearly 8 in 10 believe that Jesus was a real person who lived 2000 years ago, and 57 per cent believe in life after death. That belief declined with age, falling from 65 per cent among under-30s to 49 per cent among over-60s.
A quarter believed astrology can predict people's futures.

By Lincoln Tan