UFO Sighting Over Pretoria South Africa 1996 Evening News

Pretoria - South Africa - 08-28-96

SABC News:

Six days after a UFO 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 4:00 AM 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:

" ...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. 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. 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.