'Silver disc fire trail' lit Dannevirke | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

A UFO sighted in Dannevirke, almost 12 years ago was described as "a silver, disc-shaped object" moving at very high speed, in documents released by the Government.

A group of five modellers were flying radio-controlled aeroplanes 17km north of Dannevirke on February 9, 1998, when they saw the disc moving southwest in a clear night sky with a light westerly breeze.

The encounter is described in one of thousands of documents relating to UFO sightings from 1952 to 2009 released by the Defence Force last week.

The airforce said there were no known aircraft in the vicinity of the Dannevirke incident and there was no further investigation.

Wairarapa is no stranger to UFO sightings. Not included in the Defence Force documents was an incident two years ago when a Masterton woman watched an orange, yellow red sphere hover near her home.

Retired school teacher Sally Davies said the sphere shot across the sky at "phenomenal speed", trailing fire, on January 3, 2009.

The sphere stopped dead in its tracks 100 metres from a eucalyptus tree in a neighbouring paddock when it began "jiggering and shimmering", Ms Davies said.

"Then it started spinning around in circles doing big loopy loops.

"Then it stopped and tilted and began spiralling down towards me."

Blinded by the light, she said the pitch-black sky under a waning moon created a "pretty dazzling" effect.

"Then it stopped at the base of the trees and hovered. I was in a trance and couldn't move, it was like I was transfixed to the ground.

"I didn't even think about running away it was absolutely weird, it was like being paralysed.

The encounter lasted five minutes and Ms Davies woke up the next day with a series of strange sensations in her body.

"I couldn't get up and I was all stiff around the middle and was seizing up and had a dry throat."

She also reported abnormal pains in her head "like it had been held in a vice" and "a thin pain like a pencil line round my forehead".

She said she felt a phantom loss of feeling between her knees and ankles, which gave her the curious effect of "walking on air" and a "crackling around my head like the dawn chorus".

Ms Davies reported the incident to police but said she was met with scepticism by the duty officer.

Her neighbour, Maria Morris, who lives directly across the road and has a full view of the eucalyptus tree, corrobortaed the sighting.

She said she also saw a "big, bright round light" at the same time and for the same duration.

Ms Morris said she had not discussed the incident with Ms Davies before being interviewed by the Times-Age about the event.