1972 UFO sightings in the Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape province of South Africa was the scene of UFO activity during the year 1972, when some 25 sightings were claimed. [cite web|last = Ford |first = Luke |title = UFO DNA: Breaking the UFO Code |url= http://www.ufodna.com/geo/geo/0520.htm |accessdate = 2008-07-19] Two observations of landed craft attracted media attention.

Fort Beaufort UFO incident

On at 9:00am on 27 June, on the farm Braeside, near Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape, farm worker de Klerk observed a puff of smoke in the sky which soon turned into a fireball. De Klerk informed farm owner Smith, who contacted the police after observing the object at tree top height. Smith fired eight shots at the object with a .303 caliber rifle, but apart from an audible thud as one bullet struck, there was no visible effect. Meanwhile police sergeant Kitching and police station commander Van Rensburg arrived.

They were in time to see the craft settled in a wooded area against a hillside. It now had a glossy black, metallic colour and was shaped like a 44-gallon drum. It was three-legged and carried a vertical "aerial". Kitching fired another two shots upon which the object alighted with a whirring sound, while changing colour from green to yellow and eventually whitish. It hovered momentarily before it departed over the hillside. Three imprints were found at each of three spots where it touched down. The area was soon cordoned off by the Grahamstown army regiment. [cite news|last = Breytenbach|first = Willem|title = Fort Beaufort se VVV|page = 13|publisher = Beeld newspaper|date = 1997-06-27|url =|accessdate =]

Rosmead UFO incident

On 12 November school headmaster Truter arrived after dark at the Rosmead Junior school, at Rosmead in the Eastern Cape. He observed an unusual light hovering silently over a nearby ridge. Due to a 'flickering glow' hanging over the locked tennis court he decided to investigate. He found broken and molten tar and three symmetrically placed imprints on the court. Fragments of tar was later found strewn at a distance of 183m on a nearby ridge, while some Eucalypt trees which grew nearby, were badly burnt and died soon after. The tennis court is considered to have been a possible landing site of a UFO, while UFO sightings were also claimed for the surrounding area. [cite book|last = Spencer|first = John|coauthors =|title = World Atlas of UFOs|publisher = Hamlyn Publishing Group, London|date = 1991|pages = p. 149|isbn = ] [cite book|last = Spencer|first = John|coauthors =|title = The UFO Encyclopedia|publisher = Avon Books, New York|date = 1993|pages = p. 297|isbn = ]

Notes

ee also

* UFO sightings in South Africa