UFO 'crashes' into KZN sea

2006-05-20 22:12

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.

- SAPA