More than 2000 pages of material dating back to the 1950s documents files of correspondence on apparent sightings from 1952 to 2009.
Communications about sightings began in 1952 when they were described as UFOs - unidentified flying objects. Later they were called UAS - unidentified aerial sightings.
The files contain reports by sightings of private individuals and military personnel; investigations by Defence and other departments and agencies into the reports; newspaper clippings on UFOs and letters from individuals who claim to be in touch with alien beings and craft.
The redacted files include communications about New Zealand's most famous UFO footage - filmed 32 years ago - of mysterious lights near the Kaikoura Coast filmed by a TVNZ camera crew.
"It sort of hovered along the treeline, then darted sharply up and to the left," Lloyd McFadden said.
Papers show that investigators believe a squid boat, atmospheric conditions and a possible meteor could have been behind the lights.
But UFO sighting researcher Suzanne Hansen said the lights were obviously not Venus, a squid boat or muttonbirds flying south.
"It is obviously something else we can't explain," Hansen told ONE News.
"We don't know what it is, but it is certainly something that is unidentified and non-conventional."
The complete Air Force investigation into the mystery is just one of the files among letters, theories, reports and drawings about UFOs.
The papers have been held by Archives New Zealand, which was set to make them available in February this year after requests from the public. They were originally supposed to be held until 2080.
The Defence Force said it needed to remove personal identification from the files in order to comply with the Privacy Act, and has now done that, deleting all names of military personnel.
Much of the 12 volumes contains correspondence of a fairly outlandish nature but there is also a 1961 sighting from a respected Air Force officer who insists he saw a mysterious cigar-shaped object, with what appeared to be a cockpit and undercarriage - a sighting that baffled him and his superiors.
Hansen, who has been investigating UFOs for more than 35 years, has been campaigning for the documents' release after witnessing numerous "sightings" in her life. She said the move is a step toward openness on the topic.Hansen said her first sighting was when she was eight and it was also observed by hundreds of people in South Auckland and down through Waikato.
She said the most striking sighting for her was in 1995, and this was also witnessed by a senior air traffic controller at Hamilton Airport. There were a number of sightings of "this unusual light and object" in that time period, she said.
Hansen has not yet seen the Defence files but hopes they will reveal more information on major sightings around New Zealand, especially Air Force reports from pilots and military sightings that have occurred.
She said the body of evidence worldwide from aviation, pilots, the military, astronauts and scientists confirm the reality of this phenomenon.
"It is sufficient to make us realise there is something going on that the public needs to look into more deeply and we need to try to understand," said Hansen.
Defence does not share the view that we are visited from outer space, or covertly by aircraft or machines of potentially unfriendly nations.
But as far as believers are concerned, the truth about whether this country has been visited by aliens is still out there.
Have you seen a UFO? Do you even care? Have your say on the messageboard below.
Have you seen a UFO? Do you even care? Have your say on the messageboard below
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