Case No 45 · UFO Afrinews No 6, July 1992
'Johan' of Pretoria: vortex of mist over a Defence Force convoy in southern Angola
1987 ยท southern Angola, Angola
Outside the region. Hind reprinted this case from elsewhere; it has a file here but no place on the map.
What was reported
During South African Defence Force operations in southern Angola in 1987, at first light, Johan's convoy of many vehicles carrying 200 to 300 people saw a vortex of mist, like a typhoon seen on a satellite picture, come down the way a helicopter does with mist swirling as if around rotor blades. High up it looked small, but it hovered over them as a vortex two to three kilometres across, hung there for a while, then shot away at unbelievable speed and vanished in millions of little flashes of light. Afterwards the authorities told the men it had been a hovering helicopter and anti-aircraft fire, which nobody believed: no aircraft could move that fast, and the flashes were nothing like anti-aircraft fire. Nobody queried the explanation higher up.
What Hind made of it
Hind calls it a most interesting case with many witnesses, none of whom believed the official story, and remarks on how easily people are deceived; she wants to be put in touch with Johan again to research it further.
Explanation offered
helicopter and anti-aircraft fire (official explanation, rejected by the witnesses)
In their words
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It hung there for a while and then it shot off at an unbelievable speed, and disappeared with millions of little light flashes.
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How easily we are all deceived!
Cross references
- Radio 702
- South African Defence Force operations, 1987