Unexplained Light Visible in the Vumba

What was reported

Philip, cook to a Mrs B.S. in the Vumba mountains near Mutare, was sitting outside his hut with his wife at 2230 on 23 November 1990 when a very bright object appeared abruptly from the south and travelled north, lighting the ground for a good distance around them. He described it as huge and elliptical, rather elongated, with a longish flame streaming from the rear, a large steady light underneath about the size of the full moon and a smaller light in front that blinked on and off. There was no noise and no unusual smell. Though extremely frightened, the couple watched it for about five minutes. The report came through a neighbour, Kathy Newman; Hind has spoken to both women and intends to interview Philip and his wife when she can travel there.

What Hind made of it

Hind has not been to the Vumba since the report arrived; she has spoken to Kathy Newman and Mrs B.S. but not yet to Philip and his wife, whom she will interview personally when she can travel there.

In their words

• It was so bright that it lit up the ground for quite a way around them.

Connected

• Unexplained Balls of Light: 1990, St Augustine MissionCase fileSame window

  Both 1990, both within 15 km of Mutare, both objects that 'lit up' the ground or surroundings and left the witnesses frightened; Vumba (23 Nov, 22:30, five minutes, aircraft-like lights) and St Augustine's (undated evening, 18:30, hovering disc). Independent channels (Vumba via neighbour Kathy Newman; mission via the boys).

• Letter from Trust Muteera, Mutare: silent shining dish seen in Grade 5Case fileSame behaviour

  Both c.1990 Mutare-area objects travelling south to north, silent. Muteera's Grade 5 sighting is dated only by his age and by the TV programme 'Off the Beaten Track' covering UAP reports at the time; his letter is from 1998. Weak link.

• Blue light with flaming tail over Old Mutare (Maria Sullivan)Case fileSame behaviour

  Both describe a flame or flaming tail at the rear, silence and 'no smell'. The 'no smell' item in both is Hind's standard question rather than a shared feature. Duration separates them: Sullivan's 2-3 seconds is a meteor; Philip's five minutes is not.

Source

Cynthia Hind, UFO Afrinews No 4 (March 1991), spread 11

Nearby

Stories within 60 km

• The horses on Hospital Hill 1988 · 8 km
• The fireball at La Rochelle 1981 · 13 km