Six days after the flap in Brasilia, a solitary UFO appeared in
the early morning sky over Pretoria, capital of South Africa. The
story broke on August 28 in a news report by the South African
Broadcasting Co. (SABC-TV) in Johannesburg.
The UFO appeared over Erasmuskloof, a suburb of Pretoria,
at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, August 28, 1996. Police Sgt. Johann
Becker told SABC-TV that the "light was floating in the air. When
we went outside to investigate, we realized it was something from
another world." He described it as "a disc-shaped object slightly
glowing. We also noticed what looked like a red triangular light
on the disc."
The sighting took place near the Adrian Vlok police station.
At first, when the witnesses called for backup, they were laughed
at. But then, as more reports came in from Centurion, South
African police responded in force, sending in their Flying Squad
(SWAT team), canine unit and mobile units from all over Pretoria.
The police watched the hovering UFO for 90 minutes. One
officer, Nico Stander, reportedly shot videotape of the object.
Meanwhile, the police sent a helicopter to investigate. The
chopper was piloted by Col. Fred Vijoen and had four officers
aboard. Col. Vijoen was afterward interviewed by SABC-TV.
Col. Vijoen said he spotted "a bright light above Mamelodi,
a township near Pretoria, about 70 degrees above the horizon."
"It is the first time in my life I've ever seen anything like this,"
Col. Vijoen said, interviewed by Rapport, the leading South African
Sunday newspaper. "At first I thought it was a joke when I was
called out, but soon came to realize that this was something I had
never experienced before. We were going after it full speed, and
it still outran us."
"What was very unusual were the undulating motions of the
craft," he added. "I followed the white disk with the unusual flight
patterns in the direction of Cullinan. It travelled at a high speed.
We could not keep up with it, and eventually had to give up when
lack of fuel became a problem."
Add South Africa to the list of southern hemisphere countries
that have been visited by UFOs during 1996.
And many thanks to Mike Lindemann and CNI News of
September 1, 1996 for forwarding this story to us.
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