The Mindalore Incident And Persistent UFO Activity South Africa

While we know UFO sightings happen all over the world, some places, as we have written about before, are seemingly a magnet for such activity. Perhaps it is unfortunate then that we don’t delve into the plethora of sightings from South Africa more often. Since the early 1970s at the very least, the country has a steady stream of UFO sightings and alleged alien abduction cases to its name.

We have previously examined the Kalahari Incident which, according to Tony Dodd, was one that several of his sources confirmed to be legitimate (despite the documents sent to Dodd being obvious forgeries). If that case is authentic, then not only do the South African military have an active interest in UFOs and extraterrestrial visitors, but there is also involvement with the US government. It would further suggest the legitimate existence of Camp 13, a top-secret military base where some claim recovered UFOs and even alien entities reside.

As a side-note, if we look at the claims in the Ancient Astronaut Theory that the Anunnaki once “mined the belly” of South Africa for gold, then perhaps it is not too much of a surprise to note the number of other-worldly encounters in this part of the world. The short video below is a news report regarding a multiple witness sighting in 1998.

Strange Activity At The New “Link” Road

As Meagan Quezet was reading just before midnight on 3^rd January 1979, in her home in Mindalore, Krugersdorp, South Africa, her 12-year-old son, Andre, entered the living room claiming he couldn’t sleep. Getting up to make the two of them a drink, each could hear their dog, Cheeky, barking excitedly outside. Meagan would open the door to their house expecting to see Cheeky waiting to come in. However, it soon became apparent that he had somehow ventured out of the gates of the property.

Fearing his barking would annoy their neighbors, she went to the front gates, calling her dog to come back. He continued down the road, seemingly so interested in something that he ignored the commands to return. Meagan called to Andre to help, as he was the closest to Cheeky out of all the family.

Both would venture up Saul Jacobs Street until they came to the T-junction at the top named Tindall Road. Beyond Tindall Road was a new “link” road for transportation of goods from the increasing factories of the Chemdor and Lupaardivel Industrial estates. Cheeky, along with several other dogs from the area, stood barking, more and more frantically at a “bright pink light”. ^[1]

At first, Meagan thought that lights had been installed on the new road, but Andre stated this wasn’t the case. Both looked again at the pink glow, now believing it to be a light aircraft coming in to land. Fearing that Cheeky may be injured they moved towards the new road and the pink lights. Strangely, they could hear no sound, and as the made their way over the ditches and embankments, each could clearly see the pink lights were not a plane of any kind.

A Metallic Craft Encased In Light

The shape of the craft was “odd” and it seemed to be “encased in light”. As it came closer, they could see that two individual lights at each end of the craft appeared to project this strange glow. As they moved closer still, and with nothing to impede their view, they could see the object land on the road.

It was a distinct egg-shape, aside from the underside, which had the appearance as though the bottom had been sliced off so creating a flat edge. From the underside were four “spider legs” that appeared to support the weight of the craft as it stood. The color was of dark metal and the entire surface was smooth with no joins or seams. Believing the object was an “experimental craft” of the South African military, each was more intrigued than afraid. Then, six men emerged from the craft and stepped to the ground. Each adorned a one-piece coverall which, aside from two of them, covered their entire heads.

They would split into three groups, each seemingly examining a certain part of their surroundings.

Meagan and Andre could clearly see and hear the two nearest to them. They examined the ground, picking up sand and watching as it slipped through their fingers. One of them spoke substantially more than the other and had a high-pitched voice that, at times, sounded akin to singing. By contrast, the other spoke only occasionally and did so in monosyllables. They couldn’t hear the words, only the sounds. Both agreed, however, it was a language completely unfamiliar to them. Meagan would later state that the closest language she could match it to would be Chinese.

A Feeling Of “Something Not Right!”

Each of the men began to inspect the tarmac surface of the road, bending down and pressing on it with their hands. One of them, in particular, seemed to compare the difference between the tarmac and the sand at the side of the road.

It was then they noticed Meagan and Andre and began to walk in their direction.

One of those heading in their direction had his head uncovered. Meagan would later state the “man” had “thick, dark hair, which was curly, and a beard!” The color of their coverall was white, according to Meagan, but the glow from the craft made it look pink when they stood in its light. As they neared them, Meagan also noticed that she was considerably taller than them. She would estimate their height to be around five feet, at least half a foot shorter than her. When the pair were in front of Meagan and Andre, the bearded man bowed and said words they didn’t understand but seemed to be a greeting. All the while, he sustained direct eye contact with Meagan.

She felt herself “drawn to him” and although his eyes were quite normal, she believed them to be “translucent, as if she could look through” them. It was then, for reasons she couldn’t explain, that a sudden feeling of dread began to wash over her. Almost through instinct, she said to Andre to “go and get Daddy. And run, please run!”

The two men spoke to each other, again using short monosyllables. Meagan continued to stare at them, not moving her eyes from the pair. It was because of this that she found it strange that within what seemed a second, all of the crew were back on board the craft and the previously open door was now shut.

Condensed Time?

Moments later, a buzzing sound like “bees in a hive” pierced the night air, and the four “spider legs” underneath the craft grew to around three times their length. Meagan began to back away as the craft stepped forward, looking like some strange metallic insect. As she was about to give in to the panic welling up inside of her, the craft stopped for a moment. The legs began to withdraw into the “body” of the object and it hovered over the ground for several seconds. Then, again without warning, it would shoot up vertically into the sky, appearing to be nothing more than a bright pink light as it vanished from view. The clouds above glowed pink for several minutes following.

Andre also witnessed the disappearance of the craft. He had turned back towards his mother upon hearing the commotion prior to its launch. As they made their way back towards the house, Meagan made the decision not to wake her husband. There were no signs anywhere on the road of the object’s presence, and there was nothing he could do. She would make a report of the encounter the following day.

UFO researchers (including MUFON) would examine the case. It would appear at least one other sighting was made that evening by an anonymous husband and wife who were driving in Mindalore at the same time as Meagan first noticed Cheeky barking. They would report a “gray cone-shaped craft with four legs”. They would also report “humanoid figures” around the outside of the craft.

Whether the occupants of the egg-shaped craft that January evening in 1979 were military personnel or cosmic visitors is open to debate. South Africa, however, has had a wealth of UFO sightings. And they appear to be increasing.

Police Witnesses

Before we look at some of the more recent sightings, including a well-documented event on social media in 2015, it is worth taking note of some of the others incidents on record. In 1965, for example, two police constables witnessed a “copper colored” craft land in the middle of the Pretoria-Bronkhorstspruit Road. As their car approached the shining object it cut out and came to a stop. Each man watched as the craft then burst into life, lifting into the air while projecting bursts of flames from its underside.

The object was visible for several minutes afterwards, while the road itself was “ablaze” for some time. The Lt. Colonel of the station would issue a press-release confirming the report of his officers. Despite this, and the distinct charred and ruined mess left on the road itself, scientists from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) would publicly refute the officers’ accounts. They didn’t, however, offer an explanation of their own and the incident is still unexplained.

As the 1970s unfolded, UFO sightings and encounters in South Africa exploded. One of the first would be featured on news stations around the world.

In early-1972, farm owner, Bennie Smith, would fire several shots at a strange object hovering over his farm ^[2] in Fort Beaufort in the eastern cape region. Furthermore, when police arrived at Smith’s request, they too opened fire on the object. Neither theirs or Smith’s bullets had any effect. The object was the shape of “a drum” with three legs on its underside that changed color several times before it shot off into the sky. The incident would cause waves in the International media for a time, with intense coverage of the area from UFO researchers and tabloid journalists.

1972 UFO Wave?

Perhaps one of the most bizarre encounters on record is that of Doris Muthwa in Roosboom on 21^st August 1972. While drawing water with her 12-year-old daughter, she saw in the distance what she thought was a “man in a white suit” ^[3] smoking a cigarette. As she looked closer she noticed “the smoke became like a big fire” and there was bright light coming from the man. This blue and pink light was “shining from his chest!” The man began to lift from the ground, allowing Muthwa to estimate the figure to be around 11-feet tall. It then “shot into the sky” and vanished. Both witnesses would state they felt a “jerkiness” throughout their bodies as if they had received some kind of electric shock.

Five days earlier, on 16^th August, also in Roosboom, Elias Khosa claimed to have seen “a monster” with “small flames burning around its feet!” ^[4] He would attempt to communicate with the strange figure but it sped away “emitting flames and smoke!”

Although the exact date is unknown, the experience of an anonymous woman in Sizabantu in late-1972 suggests alien abduction. As she lay in bed one night she noticed a helicopter flying overhead although it appeared to be very low. Suddenly gushing winds began to enter the room and the next thing she knew she was inside a room with “several robots” ^[5] who were examining her. The robots spoke to her through telepathy and the procedures they performed were painless. Once the procedure was over she was returned to her room.

Strange Lights Over Junior School

As the principal of Rosmead Junior School, Harold Truter, approached the complex on 12^th November 1972, he could see a strange “greenish-white” glow above the school tennis courts. ^[6] He pulled his car onto the school grounds, and exited his vehicle, all the while keeping the lights in his sight. He noticed no engine noise of any kind. In fact, there was a disturbing silence.

As he neared the tennis courts he could smell “burned oil” in the air. When he got to the chain-link fence, he could see the asphalt of the courts were cracked and turned to ash. There were “gaping holes” on the court as if caused by something of considerable weight. He could also see the shimmering of molten tar which reflected the light from the moon.

Police would investigate the court and take a statement from Truter. According to them, “many UFO sightings were reported that evening!” No explanation was reached, and the incident remains a mystery.

Around eighteen months later in May 1974, Peter and Frances MacNorman were returning from Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on their way to Beit Bridge at the South African border. At around 2:30 am, Frances witnessed a strange light “keeping pace with them” ^[7] at the left side of the car. The vehicle’s lights began to fade, but all around them remained light. Each would notice a very sudden chill envelope them.

Peter suddenly noticed they were moving at over 90 mph so he eased his foot from the accelerator. It was then he realized he was not in control of the car. He pushed down on the brake, but nothing happened.

Missing Time And Unanswered Questions

By the time the pair reached their destination, they noticed the clocks at the border control read 8:30 am. Checking their watches and the clock in the car, they realized it was 7:30 am. There was an hour of time that they had no recollection of. They also couldn’t account for why following a 200-plus-mile journey, their petrol tank was almost full. Furthermore, neither could actually remember the journey to the border, aside from vague memories of a long straight road. The route they had taken was full of hard to negotiate twists and turns. Even stranger, was the four, brand new tires on the vehicle, all of which showed only the very minimal amount of use on them.

Shortly after the experience, Peter would seek hypnotic regression therapy, desperate to recover the missing time from their journey. What he revealed was fascinating, to say the least.

According to the session records, shortly after setting off on their journey, an alien would “beam into” the back seat. Before they could react, the vehicle was floating upwards, as if in a tractor beam of some kind. A “large silver saucer” was the source of the traction, and the car settled down on board this huge craft.

Peter then found himself in a “sickbay” where he was examined by several creatures “with large heads!” He would also claim to see his wife and other people on board the craft. All of whom appeared in a trance. He could also see his car, parked neatly in between two smaller silver discs. Four alien entities were examining the engine of the car as well as looking at the tires.

A “Very Tall Tower” Of Stacked, Glowing Discs

Although the exact date is uncertain, at some time in September 1997, Frank Valentyn was returning home to Johannesburg after a trip windsurfing on an island lake on the outskirts of Pretoria with his wife and son. Frank was driving their car, and it was a little after they pass the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research buildings that the evening took a strange turn.

Ahead of them, he suddenly noticed a “very tall tower of stacked discs”, which was seemingly stacked with larger discs at the top and smaller discs at the bottom, like a cone. It appeared to float some distance from the ground and seemed to be several miles high. The discs were each glowing with a red “evenly distributed light”, with several separate orange lights around their edge.

The tower would remain in sight to the right (and ahead) of their vehicle as they approached it – around five minutes in time – leading Frank to estimate it was approximately five or six miles from them. In order to ensure that what they were saying was not some internal reflection, Frank slowed the car slightly and then wound down the window. However, when he had done so, the tower of discs remained in place, clear for all of them to see.

As they continued to watch the strange display, they would notice that discs would “detach” themselves from the bottom of the structure, before moving off, each time in a different direction. These jettisons were seemingly at regular intervals. In total, they witnessed between 10 to 15 discs leave the main structure. They would attempt to watch these detached discs and the course they took but each time would lose sight of them. Besides, their attention was quickly brought back to the tower in front of them.

Something “Not Easily Intellectually Digestible!”

The family continued to watch the strange events, all the while attempting to keep what they were witnessing in some kind of perspective. Valentyn would state in his report how what they were looking at was an “unsettling and surely disturbing phenomenon” and that it was something that was “not easily intellectually digestible”.

He couldn’t determine if the discs that left the tower had actual occupants or whether they were “pre-programmed” and operating under some “sophistically robotic control”. Whichever it was, though, there was a definite intelligence behind them.

They would note how there appeared to be no electronic disturbances with their vehicle due to their close proximity to the tower. Nor was there any noise whatsoever from the tower. The family also noticed that other road users had seemingly noticed the bizarre activity from their “sideways glances” from their respective vehicles. The fact that they could see other people noticing the strange stack of discs was confirmation that they were not experiencing some kind of group hallucination.

It was due to the relatively busy traffic that Frank had to keep his car in motion throughout the incident. However, one of the last realizations they had before they left the tower of discs behind the, was that it appeared to be a “mothership” with the discs that were emerging from it being smaller, individual discs. Although this was just his opinion, it was definitely the impression the family had following the incident.

Little Interest In The Sighting

The following day after arriving home, Valentyn would report the sighting to the Johannesburg Planetarium, mainly because he had friends who were employed there. However, he had the impression that there was little interest in investigating the sighting. What’s more, he didn’t hear anything back from the organization after making his report.

He would finally make a report of the account to an online UFO reporting website. He would state that he was not looking for any kind of publicity from the sighting and would be willing to take a lie-detector test in order to show that he was being truthful (something he further claimed that all people who report UFOs should do).

How seriously we should take the account is perhaps up to each one of us. There are several mentions of it in various online sources, but seemingly few official press reports. Given that many other motorists also seemingly witnessed the strange aerial tower, we might imagine that other reports were made. Perhaps they were but were taken seriously. Only a detailed investigation and access to police records, not to mention the witnesses themselves might reveal such authenticity.

This sighting in September 1997 – if assume the absolute credibility of the witness for a moment – is certainly an intriguing one. Two years earlier, though, two further sightings involving disc-like objects had taken place. And it is to those that we will turn our attention next.

UFO Repair On A Remote Country Road?

Unlike the above account, our next incident was officially documented, in the 2^nd April 1995 edition of the Afrikaanse Sonntagszeitung Rapport newspaper under the headline “Alien flying object lands to repair hole in its hull, says farmer!”

The incident in question occurred at around 8:30 am on the morning of 30^th March in the Groot Marico region of Transvaal when 45-year-old farmer, Jan Pienaar, witnessed one of the most remarkable events of this life. He was driving his truck on a remote country road between Coligny and Brakspruit, when he noticed a man at the side of the road shielding his face.

Before he could react to what the man might be looking at, the engine of his truck came to a sudden and abrupt halt. When he happened to look out through the window, he noticed a strange, disc-shaped object overhead. Even more remarkable, he claimed to have seen a “distinctly visible hole in its hull”.  He continued to watch the apparently troubled vehicle as it proceeded to land at the roadside, eventually resting on “three landing pods”.

As he looked on, he noticed how the craft extended out to cover almost the entire road and appeared to be just short of 10 meters high. He would go on to state to the newspaper that “the entire unit was translucent and lustrous as though it had been fabricated from a type of stainless steel”, further stating that had the appearance of “two inverted soup plates with a pudding bowl on top”.

What’s more, he could also make out several windows or portholes, as well as a “red-violet-green-yellow glow” that lit up the hull of the craft. It was because of this light that Pienaar could clearly see a “dent” in the exterior that contained the hole he had noticed earlier.

A Case Of Paralysis

As he continued to watch the strange craft, he noticed that a strange buzzing sound appeared to be coming from the stricken vehicle. It was at this point that he exited the truck and began to move toward the apparent spacecraft. However, then things turned even stranger.

As much as he tried, he was unable to move forward. He would describe this as being like a “magnet held me on the spot”. He was forced to remain there for almost five minutes.

Then, without any warning, the craft “suddenly rose into the air”, slowly at first and then “sped like lightning” straight upward. He was unsure of how long he remained there following the craft’s departure, but it was several minutes before he fully regained his composure. He would step inside his truck and try the engine. Bizarrely, but much to his relief, it started with no problem. He began to look around the man he had seen earlier to see what he had seen, however, all he could see was a person peddling a bike in the distance.

Pienaar would drive to a nearby farm where he would report the incident to the police. During the conversation, he was informed that they had received several reports of sightings of a similar object the previous evening in multiple locations in the region.

Following the phone call, Pienaar drove back to the spot he had seen the strange craft with another farmer, Chap Smit. When he arrived, each of them noticed the ground was decidedly hot, much too hot to touch. In fact, a person would have likely scolded their hands had they placed them on the ground for too long. They also noticed a distinct aroma similar to chloroform.

Glowing Circular Lights Over Pretoria

Whether or not there is a connection to the above case is unknown, however, several hours later, at around 2 am on 31^st March in Pretoria, another strange sighting unfolded. The anonymous witness – a young teenager – had hurt their foot late one night and was consequently on their way to the hospital with their mother driving.

The witness was laying down in the back of the car and had a clear view out of the back window. As they were looking out into the blackness of the early morning hours, they suddenly noticed a strange, glowing lights seemingly flying overhead. The more they looked at the strange glow, the more they could make out what appeared to be a “big ring of circles” followed by a “smaller ring of circles” in the middle, all of which glowed a light blue color.

Although the object – whatever it was – appeared to be a long way from the ground, it was still perfectly visible, leading the witness to estimate it was flying at a relatively high altitude. The continued to watch the object for around a minute before it suddenly disappeared.

At this point, the witness asked their mother if she had seen the object, but she was completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary had taken place. The witness would recall how they remained calm throughout the entire episode, something which they claimed surprised them retrospectively.

Was this the same craft witnessed less than 24 hours earlier by Pienaar on the country road? And might the sighting of the stacked discs two years later also share a connection?

Sightings Continue Into Modern Times

Although sightings of strange objects continued into the 1980s they were not at the same levels of the previous decade. However, these sightings would begin to increase again in the 1990s. ^[8]

Around the same time as the Belgian Wave, in April 1991, an entire family of witnesses in Baviaanspoort in Pretoria would report a triangular craft with “white star-like lights on each extremity!” It also possessed a dominant red light in the middle of its underside.

On 18^th November 1993 in Sasolburg, residents would witness a “water-droplet-shaped” craft hovering overhead before disappearing in a flash. It would return several moments later, with some witnesses claiming to see it change shape and color. In late-1994, a Warrenton farmer reported multiple sightings of a “small craft traveling at great speed” beside a “mothership”. Four other witnesses would report similar sightings.

On 28^th August 1996, Sergeant Becker would report a triangular shaped craft over Pretoria. A Johannesburg radar operator would also report the anomaly at the same location and time.

At the end of July 1997, at just before 7 am one morning, local resident Andreas Mathios managed to film footage of a “shiny cloud” in the skies above Trichardt (which is situated what is now the westerm Mpumalanga province). Furthermore, three other witnesses also saw what would appear to have been the same object.

The region also suffered from temporary power cuts during and shortly after the encounter, and, even more interesting, the location was the same location of a very similar sighting that took place just over a decade earlier in 1985.

Another intriguing sighting unfolded two days after Christmas 1998 in the skies above the town of Graaff Reinet. On the night in question, the Laubscher family managed to film several moments of footage of several strange craft of a circular but triangular shape. They would estimate the object was moving at an altitude of around 25,000 feet. The strange objects would circle around each other, changing color as they did so. Before the incident was over, a much larger craft – with a distinct shiny, gold exterior – sped by the smaller objects. Might this have been another case of a mothership-type craft over South Africa?

Around 18 months later, just before 3:30 am on 8^th May 2000 on the N3 freeway just outside of Warden in the eastern Free State province, a police officer (named Kriel) witnessed a strange, glowing object heading in his direction. Kriel would state that the object glowed an orange color and was oval shaped with two raised sections on the top and bottom. It would suddenly halt a short distance away and was large enough that it would cover four lanes of the highway. After several moments it suddenly shot back into the sky.

In July 2010 numerous Pretoria residents witnessed “a triangle of bright lights” hanging over the city for two hours. The following year in May 2011, came reports of around twenty orange lights speeding over Tierpoort. Reports of the same craft would come in the following month.

Perhaps one of the most recent sightings occurred in November 2015 over Cape Town. Reports of a “strange green light” over the city exploded. Many witnesses obtained video footage and photographs of the sighting, and social media was awash with theories and explanations. It is certain the UFO presence in South Africa is real and persistent.