The Father Gill UFO Sightings at Papua, New Guinea (1959)

Father William Booth Gill was initially skeptical at reports of UFOs he had been hearing about from citizens in the vicinity of his mission. Some of his colleagues and fellow Anglican missionaries had become quite interested in such stories, and, in fact, one Rev. Norman E. G. Cruttwell had begun keeping records of such events and even interviewing witnesses himself.

Even when his assistant Stephen Gill Moi claimed to have seen an “inverted saucer” above the mission at 1 a.m. on June 21, 1959, Father Gill remained skeptical. Then, a few days later, around 6:45 p.m., on June 26, Gill himself noticed a bright light off toward the northwest. Soon some thirty-seven people joined Father Gill as a large disc-shaped object with four legs underneath it came to hover overhead. Gill would later estimate that its length was comparable to five full moons lined up end to end. Four human-like figures could be seen moving about on top of the object. From time to time, one or all of the figures would disappear below, only to reappear soon after. At about 7:30, the disc rose upwards and was lost from sight into the gathering clouds above. Then about an hour later, smaller objects appeared in the sky. Around 8:50, the larger one that Father Gill had come to call the “mother ship” re-appeared. The people watched the UFOs intermittently until about 10:50 p.m., when clouds once again obstructed the view.

The next evening, at about 6 p.m., June 27, Father Gill and about a dozen others watched in awe as the “mother ship” and two of the smaller objects returned. “On the large one two of the figures seemed to be doing something near the center of the deck,” Gill told Cruttwell. “They were occasionally bending over and raising their arms as though adjusting or ‘setting up’ something. One figure seemed to be standing, looking down at us.” At this point, Gill decided to wave, and the figure seemed to wave back! Pretty soon Father Gill and another person present were waving their arms and all four figures on the object appeared to be waving in response. As it began to get dark, Gill had someone bring him a flashlight and then he directed a “series of long dashes” at the UFO. After a minute or so, the UFO made several back and forth motions like a pendulum, and after awhile seemed to come a little closer. Around 6:30, Gill went inside to dinner. When he returned outside about a half hour later, the “mother ship” was still in the sky, but appeared to be a greater distance away, as it was smaller in appearance. Gill returned inside to lead a church service and when he came back out at 7:45, the sky was clouded over and there was no sign of any UFO activity.

At about 6:45 p.m., on June 28th, the UFOs returned for one final appearance at the mission. Eight UFOs were seen at one point aligned across a section of the sky. No occupants were seen, but at about 11:20 a “sharp metallic and loud bang” was heard on the Mission House roof. Around 11:30 p.m., when Father Gill retired for the night, the UFOs were still to be seen in the sky.