Night Ledger
Archive

File 32673 · June 26-27, 1959

Boianai UFO Contact

Boianai, Papua New Guinea

Opened 9/10/2026

Sighting photograph. Image pulled from the public post. — Cruttwell Report

OccupantHynek CE3multi-witnessArchive38 witnesses

Standing

Unidentified

On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.

Reverend Cruttwell's 1960 report 'Flying Saucers Over Papua' compiles 79 sightings including 25 signed witness statements for the Boianai events.

What was claimed

Anglican priest Father William Gill and 37 other witnesses, including teachers and medical assistants, observed a hovering disc with humanoid figures on deck for several hours over two nights. Witnesses signed statements.

What is on the record

This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.

On the evenings of June 26 and 27, 1959, at the Boianai Anglican mission in Papua New Guinea, Reverend William Booth Gill along with approximately 38 witnesses (25 of whom signed a formal statement) observed a bright disc-shaped object hovering nearby. The craft had a deck on which four to six humanoid figures could be seen moving about, illuminated by a blue beam. The figures appeared to be working on something on the deck. When Gill waved, one of the figures waved back. The object moved closer at times and was joined by smaller objects. The sightings lasted several hours each night. Father Gill immediately documented the events in letters and collected signed statements from the Papuan teachers, medical assistants, and other credible local witnesses. The case was later investigated by the Royal Australian Air Force.

Could this have been ours?

The known sky, that night.

Satellites were already up. The station was not. Starlink was not.

Always

Aircraft, balloons, meteors

Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.

The known sky

None of the above land

Stations, trains, and planets do not set down in a field or leave a body. This file is a ground report. The known sky still has to be named. It does not answer the claim.

Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.

Sources

Related files

Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.

Occupant

Same craft · Same place · Same year · 26–27 June 1959

Father Gill, Boianai

Boianai, Papua · Papua New Guinea

Unidentified

An Anglican missionary and dozens of mission people watched a disk with humanoid figures. The figures appeared to wave back.

Occupant

Same craft · Nearby · Same year · June 26–28, 1959

Boianai / Father Gill CE3

Boianai Mission, Goodenough Bay · Papua New Guinea

Unidentified

Anglican priest Rev. William Booth Gill and up to 38 named Papuan witnesses (teachers, medical assistants) observed a hovering platform-like object with four human-like figures on its deck over two evenings. Witnesses waved and received responses; documented in signed statements and missionary reports.

Occupant

Same craft · Same years · 19–20 September 1961

Betty and Barney Hill

White Mountains, New Hampshire · United States

Unidentified

A couple driving south from Canada reported a craft, missing time, and — under hypnosis — an examination. The first widely published abduction file.

OccupantFrom the net

Same craft · Same years · April 18, 1961

Eagle River Pancake Encounter

Eagle River, Wisconsin · United States

Unidentified

Chicken farmer Joe Simonton observed a disc-shaped craft land near his home and interacted with three human-like occupants, one of whom gave him pancakes after he provided water.

OccupantFrom the net

Same craft · Same years · April 18, 1961

Joe Simonton and the Pancakes

Eagle River · United States

Unidentified

Chicken farmer Joe Simonton observed a silvery disc land in his yard and three short humanoid beings inside. One appeared to be cooking; Simonton provided water and received four pancakes in return. The craft departed. The pancakes were analyzed by the U.S. Air Force and NICAP. Investigated by Project Blue Book and J. Allen Hynek; Simonton's character vouched for by local officials and neighbors.

Occupant

Same craft · Same years · 18 April 1961

Joe Simonton and the pancakes

Eagle River, Wisconsin · United States

Unidentified

A chicken farmer said a silvery disc landed in his yard and three short figures handed him pancakes. The cakes were real; what they were is not settled.