The 1st report that hit the media from the South African Press Association (SAPA):
RESCUE-MYSTERY
JOHANNESBURG May 20 Sapa
UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT "CRASHES" INTO SEA
Port Shepstone rescuers are monitoring a mysterious situation in which "numerous" eye-witnesses reported an unidentified object crashing into the sea, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI)said on Saturday. Eddie Noyons, NSRI Shelley Beach Station Commander, said eye-witnesses reported that an unidentified object, possibly an aircraft, had crashed into the sea behind the breaker line off-shore of the Port Shepstone High School. Police, rescue craft and a fixed wing aircraft were alerted to the scene to investigate. "Following a full-scale search of the area covering 12 square nautical miles nothing has been found. "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported to be overdue or missing," said Noyons. He said numerous eye-witnesses -- including teachers and pupils attending a sports event at the highschool, and other by-standers including local fishermen -- were convinced they had seen an
aircraft go into the water, including seeing smoke and water exploding. Interviews with the witnesses revealed that some also reported seeing flames.
"Some reported seeing something, an unidentified object, splash into the sea causing a ripple effect of waves, " Noyons said. Due to the number of eye-witnesses with similar reports, it was presumed that weather activity in the area at the time might have given the impression of something falling into the sea. " We will continue to monitor the situation which remains a
mystery," he said.
UFO 'crashes' into KZN sea 20/05/2006 22:12 - (SA)
Port Shepstone - The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is monitoring a mysterious situation on the KZN south coast. "Numerous" eye-witnesses reported an unidentified flying object crashing into the sea on Saturday. NSRI Shelley Beach station commander, Eddie Noyons, said eye-witnesses had reported an unidentified object - possibly an aircraft - crashing into the sea behind the breaker line off-shore of the Port Shepstone High School. Police, rescue craft and a fixed wing aircraft were alerted to the scene to investigate. Noyons said: "Following a full-scale search of the area covering 12 square nautical miles nothing has been found. "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported overdue or missing." He said numerous eye-witnesses - including teachers and pupils attending a sports event at the high school, by-standers and local fishermen - were convinced they had seen an aircraft go into the water. They said they saw smoke and described "water exploding". Some also reported seeing flames. Noyons said: "Some reported seeing something, an unidentified object, splash into the sea causing a ripple effect of waves." Noyons said it was being presumed that weather activity in the area at the time might have given the impression of something falling into the sea. "We will continue to monitor the situation, which remains a mystery," he said.
No sign of 'UFO' - NSRI 21/05/2006 22:40 - (SA)
Port Shepstone - There is no sign of an apparent "UFO" that was reported to have crashed into the sea off Port Shepstone on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon says nothing has been found yet, despite an extensive search over an area covering 12 square nautical miles. The mysterious object that "crashed" into the sea behind the breaker-line off-shore of Port Shepstone High School about 12:20 on Saturday, has raised a frenzy of interest worldwide. The number of readers who have clicked on the report carried by News24 reached more than 30 000 by 18:00 on Sunday afternoon. Lambinon said on Sunday evening: "Witnesses said they thought they saw an unidentified object, possibly an aircraft, crash into the sea, but absolutely nothing has been found. "Police and the NSRI offices in Shelley Beach and Port Edward responded to the call that something had crashed into the sea. Some even saw flames. "Margate air traffic control also searched the area with a fixed-wing aircraft. Numerous witnesses, including pupils and teachers at a school sports event, and fishermen were convinced they saw an aircraft go into the water. "They saw smoke and water exploding. Some even saw flames. "Some reported seeing an unidentified object splash into the sea causing a ripple of waves," said Lambinon. "A reliable source, who was on a hill overlooking the sea about 2km away, said he saw something crash into the sea. "The object trailed smoke behind it, and even after it had crashed the column of smoke hung in the air for several minutes. "It caused a big splash when it hit the water and bobbed up and down," said Lambinon, quoting one of the witnesses. 'It might have been the weather...' "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported to be overdue or missing. "The number of witness reports leads us to presume that weather activity in the area at the time may have given the impression of something falling into the sea. "We will continue to monitor the situation, which remains a mystery," said Lambinon, adding: "If there ever was something...".
And then came the official NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) Media Release on 21 May 2006:
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Media release:
Port Shepstone, 20 May, 2006. Search for unidentified object called off.
Eddie Noyons, NSRI Shelley Beach Station Commander said: "At 12h20 eye-witnesses reported seeing an unidentified object, possibly an aircraft, crash into the sea behind the breaker-line off-shore of Port Shepstone High School.
"The SA Police Services, our NSRI Shelley Beach 7 metre rigid inflatable 'Caltex Endeavor' and NSRI Port Edward's 7 metre rigid inflatable 'Rescue 32 Alpha' responded to the scene to investigate. Margate Air Traffic Control were alerted and a fixed wing aircraft was diverted to the scene to provide a fly-by visual of the area. "Numerous eye-witnesses were interviewed including teachers and pupils from Port Shepstone High School attending a sports event at the school and other by-standers including local fishermen - all convinced they had seen an aircraft go into the water, including seeing smoke and water exploding. Some also reported seeing flames. Some reported seeing something, an unidentified object, splash into the sea causing a ripple effect of waves. "Following a full-scale search of the area covering 12 square nautical miles nothing has been found. "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported to be overdue or missing. "The number of eye-witness reports leads us to presume that weather activity in the area at the time may have given the impression of something falling into the sea. We will continue to monitor the situation which remains a mystery."
Search for 'UFO' on hold 22/05/2006 08:24 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The search for an unidentified object which crashed into the sea at Port Shepstone on Saturday has been put on hold because of rough weather conditions, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Monday. "The search was called off on Sunday and will only resume once the sea is calm. At the moment the sea is not conducive to diving," said NSRI Shelley Beach Station Commander Eddie Noyons. "Rescue workers were unable to find oil slicks or petrol or any signs of a wreckage. We aren't yet sure what it was that crashed into the sea." The search for the unidentified object began on Saturday after witnesses reported that an object, possibly an aircraft, had crashed into the sea behind the breaker line off-shore of the Port Shepstone High School, said Noyons. Police, rescue craft and a fixed wing aircraft were alerted to the scene to investigate. "Following a full-scale search of the area covering 12 square nautical miles nothing had been found. "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported to be overdue or missing," said Noyons. He said numerous witnesses - including teachers and pupils attending a sports event at the high school, and other bystanders including local fishermen - were convinced they had seen an aircraft go into the water, including seeing smoke and a water plume. Interviews with the witnesses revealed that some also reported seeing flames.
"Some reported seeing something, an unidentified object, splash into the sea causing a ripple effect of waves, " said Noyons. Due to the number of witnesses with similar reports, it was presumed that weather activity in the area at the time might have given the impression of something falling into the sea. "We aren't sure what it was as we're still unaware of any missing aircraft, but will continue the search for the unidentified object in about two or three days. The sea was upside down yesterday (Sunday) and is still not conducive today (Monday)," said Noyons.
And then came the 1st indication that the UFO may actually not have been an object at all!
On a radio interview on RSG at 16:30 (local time South Africa) on Monday 22 May 2006, it was brought to the attention of SAUFOR that video footage of the event exists. On this footage is seen the formation of a rare, but not unknown weather phenomenon similar to what is known as a water-spout or tornado-like condition. Heavy clouds were in the area and the swirling winds started forming in the air as well as on the sea's surface.. There was no complete twister that formed confusing the witnesses who may never have seen such an event. Most witnesses reported seeing something hit the water and smoke being visible for a few minutes after the alleged impact. When questioned, all the witnesses were very vague in describing the actual object and could only recall a 'dark object'. What can clearly be seen on the footage is that some water droplets started forming into the twister near the surface of the water, causing them to see 'smoke'. This weather phenomenon also explains the ripple effect as seen on the water as reported by the majority of witnesses.
However, a few points still need to be clarified.. For instance: what was the loud sound reported as an explosion as heard by the witnesses? The footage does not clearly rule out the possibility of this loud sound as it was filmed by a spectator next to the rugby field and the background was filled with a cocophony of loud noises coming from the cheering spectators.
It is still possible that a mysterious object was spotted and we will have to continue to monitor this situation as the NSRI is planning to dive to the sea-floor in order to establish if anything may have sunk to the bottom.
SAUFOR is very grateful for the kind assistance of the NSRI and the Port Shepstone High School with the speedy release of information to the public and the professional manner in which they have committed to these communications.
In addition, we would like to add that we are very pleased with the worldwide objective interest in this case and the general interest this has stimulated in public. A small percentage of all UFO sightings are truely anomalous and these are the cases which deserve further investigation. Whether or not some UFOs are from an extraterrestrial origin or from an interdimensional existence, or something we may not yet fully understand or even have the slightest hint of, UFOs are real, real people see them and are affected by them in various ways, and we know that our governments have been lying to us for decades.. Maybe an event such as this one will help stimulate conversations around the dinner table as more and more people awaken to the remote possibility that it is OK to talk about UFOs!
We welcome any further information which may help to shed additional light on this event.
