Flying Disc Lands on Highway, Pretoria, South Africa, 09-16-65

Features: Vehicle encounter, confrontation, police witnesses, landing, physical traces, official secrecy.

Constables John lockem and Koos de Klerk were patrolling on the Pretoria-Bronkhorstspruit highway just after midnight when their police van headlights suddenly illuminated a domed, disc-shaped object sitting on the road. The UFO was copper colored and about 30 feet in diameter In seconds, the object 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 said.

Flames from the macadam road surface shot up in the air about 3 feet as the UFO departed, blazing long after it was out of sight. Later investigation showed that part of the road was caved in as if from a heavy weight, and gravel had been separated from the tar in a severely burned area about 6 feet in diameter.

Lt. Col. J.B. Brits, District Commandant of Pretoria North, told the newspaper that the incident was considered "as being of a highly secret nature and an inquiry is being conducted in top circles". Samples of the road surface were taken for analysis by a leading scientific agency; whose report has never been made public.

written by Richard Hall

Source: UFOs: A New Look (NICAP 1969); Associated Press, Johannesburg, S. Africa, Sept.17, 1965.