Case No 119 · UFO Afrinews No 14, July 1996
Soundless Jets in N. Cape (South Africa)
1976 ยท farm Damhoek, district of Olifantshoek, near Upington (printed 'Uppington'), Northern Cape; border gate with the farm Zuidzande, South Africa
What was reported
Paul Maritz wrote in about his father's 1976 daylight sighting on the family farm Damhoek; Marie van Staden translated and followed up. Driving south on a nearly cloudless morning, Maritz senior reached the gate on the boundary with the neighbouring farm Zuidzande and saw three objects crossing from left to right about 500 metres ahead and some 100 metres up. They were dull brown, cigar-shaped, about the length of a Mirage but lacking its pointed nose, with no wings, no windows and no sound, flying fast one behind another from west to east until they faded into the distance. He assumed secret military aircraft. Hind regrets he never checked with the Air Force at the time and warns that sun glare and unfamiliarity with military hardware can distort perception. A sketch of the shape is printed.
What Hind made of it
Believes he reported honestly but stresses that alternatives must be checked; possibly military hardware or perception marred by sun brightness.
Explanation offered
Secret military aircraft (witness); sun glare
In their words
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We believe implicitly in some form of 'alien' visitation to our planet Earth, but it is also essential that one checks on possible alternatives