Date
of sighting: September 16, 1965
Location of sighting: Pretoria, South Africa
On
the night of September 16, two Pretoria, S. Africa, constables
came upon a disc-shaped object resting on the highway.
The headlights of their police van illuminated the copper-colored
object which appeared to be about 30 feet in diameter.
On top of the UFO was a small dome. In seconds, the UFO
suddenly lifted off the road, emitting tongues of flame.
Source:
NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon)
During
an extensive wave of sightings in 1965, police officers
in Exeter, N.H. and Damon, Texas both had close-range
encounters with UFOs - structured objects with body lights
- on September 3. (See separate report on Texas encounter).
On the night of September 16, two Pretoria, S. Africa,
constables came upon a disc-shaped object resting on the
Pretoria-Bronkhorstspruit highway. The headlights of their
police van illuminated the copper-colored object which
appeared to be about 30 feet in diameter. On top of the
UFO was a small dome.
Constables
John Lockem and Koos de Klerk had been patrolling the
highway just after midnight when they suddenly drove up
on the object. In seconds, the UFO suddenly lifted off
the road, emitting tongues of flame from two tubes or
channels on the underside. "Its lift-off was quicker
than anything I have ever seen," Constable Lockem
reported later. Flames from the macadam (tar and gravel)
road surface shot up three feet in the air as the UFO
departed, blazing long after it was out of sight. Later
investigation showed that part of the road was caved in,
evidently from a heavy weight, and gravel had been separated
from the tar in a severely burned area about six feet
in diameter.
Constable
Lockem drew a sketch of the UFO with the aid of a staff
artist of the newspaper Die Vaterland. The District Commandant
of Pretoria North, Lt. Col. J.B. Brits, told the newspaper
that the event was considered "as being of a highly
secret nature and an inquiry is being conducted in top
circles."
Samples
of the damaged road surface were analyzed by a leading
scientific agency in South Africa. NICAP has been unable
to obtain copies of the analysis reports.
Source:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case555.htm