UFO panic grips nation as government deploys navy - strange lights spotted over Hamilton

HAMILTON, NZ. UFO fever has overtaken the nation after a swift government response to the Christmas Eve near miss encounter between an Air New Zealand flight and an unidentified flying object.

After an emergency cabinet meeting the Wilhelmus government announced that all photos and videos of the unknown object will be supressed under the Publications Classification Act, citing national security concerns.

Defence Secretary /u/RMSteve issued an order mobilizing parts of the Royal New Zealand Navy and Air Force in an attempt to locate the unknown craft.

The Government has also announced the creation of no-fly zones around areas of "national significance," but the exact location and scope of such areas has yet to be announced.

The extensive government response certainly has many concerned, but not everyone is worried that these incidents have been the doing of extraterrestrial invaders. Dr. John Malkovich (no relation to the famous actor) is a professor of international studies at the University of Auckland:

Rather than "aliens" it seems far more probable that this is some kind of test of a new stealth weapon by one of our adversaries-- though they scarecely would have needed stealth technology since our Air Force is ill-equipped to deal with any kind of aerial threat. We don't have a single fighter aircraft in the inventory that could have intercepted this aircraft. The fact that a foreign aircraft was able to violate our airspace so brazenly and threaten a domestic commercial flight only highlights the inadequacy of our defence program.

Nevertheless, many New Zealanders seem ready to embrace the extraterrestrial. In Auckland, large crowds gathered in Aotea Square with banners and signs promoting "peace and harmony with the aliens."

Lights spotted in the night sky over Hamilton

As much of the nation is caught up in excitement and frenzy over the Christmas Eve incident many in Hamilton reported seeing formations of strange lights in the night sky around 11:30 PM yesterday evening. The lights were spotted by groups around the city and recorded on video by three separate people. In compliance with the Government's recent censorship order Newshub have declined to publish the footage on our site.

It is unclear whether these sightings are linked to the Air New Zealand incident, the result of some natural phenomenon, or merely wishful thinking on the part of imaginative New Zealanders posessed by "UFO fever."