On December 21 and 30–31, 1978, pilots and a Channel 0 television crew filmed luminous objects tracking their cargo aircraft above New Zealand's Kaikoura ranges. Wellington air traffic control tracked unidentified radar targets simultaneously, and the RNZAF, DSIR, and Carter Observatory launched a formal investigation.

The December 21 encounter involved Safe Air pilots Vern Powell and Ian Pirie, with Wellington WATCC detecting three unknown radar returns, one estimated at airliner size moving 60 nautical miles at high speed. On December 30, reporter Quentin Fogarty and cameraman David Crockett filmed a luminous orb tracking the aircraft for fifteen minutes. Declassified Archives New Zealand files released in December 2010 show DSIR analysts were unable to debunk the TV1 footage, formally classifying the objects as UFOs in a January 1979 UN report.