On August 23, 1953, Tom Drury, Deputy Director of Civil Aviation for Papua New Guinea, filmed a silver dart-shaped object emerging from a cloud over Port Moresby on 8mm color film. The footage was sent to the United States for analysis; when returned, the best frames had been removed. A 1966 RAAF summary could not account for the missing frames.

Drury's initial report is held in RAAF file series MP1279/1, control symbol 99/1/478. USAF Project Blue Book file 2689 contains scant documentation. A RAAF technical analysis concluded the film showed 'a blur of light' without further identification. An ASIO document dated January 15, 1973 confirms film copies were provided to the USAF and RAF. The remaining footage by 1994 was approximately four seconds long.