UFO mystery in Marlborough

Rural delivery driver Mike Nesbit first saw the unidentifiable lights in the sky near Renwick heading East towards Blenheim.

And when he posted a video online of the lights, other people revealed they too had witnessed the strange sight.

Mike says he first noticed the lights about a year ago but then didn’t see them again for ages.

Then they popped back up again last month, hanging around for about an hour, vanishing and then reappearing.

“There are one, sometimes three lights in the Eastern sky around 30 degrees above the horizon.

“These lights move about and disappear for 15 seconds approximately then reappear. I first noticed them 4 months ago and obviously are not there on cloudy nights.

“I came down the valley about 3.30am to 4am and saw them. They’re quite active, especially when there’s not much cloud.

“There are between one and three lights and last time I saw them about a month ago, there was one in the centre and two started dancing around it and then disappeared.

There’s definitely something going on.”

Asking for intelligent answers” on Facebook, Mike posted the video of the lights.

More than 25 people commented, with some saying they too had seen the lights, with one saying they were the same “dancing lights” they had seen a few years ago.

From planes to drones and satellites, most people discounted the extra-terrestrial.

But Mike says he’s prepared to keep an open mind.

“I honestly believe the chances that we are completely on our own in this whole universe is unlikely.

‘One of the most plausible things I’ve heard is that they’re satellites but it would be good to find out for sure.”

The most widely reported UFO sighting in New Zealand happened in 1978 in near by Kaikōura.

Aircraft encountered mysterious lights which were also filmed on consecutive nights by news crews and tracked on radar.

Numerous other UFO sightings have been reported by the public to the police, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Defence Ministry.

UFO Focus New Zealand Research Network (Ufocus NZ) was founded in 2000 in the wake of growing public interest in UFOs.

Founder Suzanne Hansen watched the video and believes the orbs may be sky lanterns.

“In the absence of all the relevant details, we can only make the following observations: the three lights are not satellites, not aircraft and they are unlikely to be drones.

“The lights appear to be at a low altitude and likely to be closer to the witness than he realised. Realistically, we think they are likely to be sky lanterns, given the movement and visual characteristics they display in the footage, which we have seen many times over the years.”

“We would like to stress that sightings of anomalous lights in a variety of locations at a variety of times or years, doesn't necessarily equate to them being the same object or from the same source.

“Having said that, over the years we have received on a number of occasions, multiple sighting reports over a short period of time where the details/characteristics of the lights or objects etc are identical.”

Members of the public who witness UFOs can complete a General Sighting Report form. Download at www.ufocusnz.co.nz