Buzz
Who doesn’t love a thrilling mystery?
Some can be explained through logic, of course, but others seem to defy any explanation. Even a small island nation like New Zealand (where I live, alongside a guy named Jamie Frater), about the size of Colorado, appears to have its fair share of unsolved mysteries.
Here are ten puzzling mysteries from the Land Down Under that might leave you wondering.
10. The Crewe Murders
On June 22, 1970, Len Demler entered the farmhouse of his daughter Jeanette and her husband, Harvey Crewe. The couple was nowhere to be found, but there was blood—an alarming amount. Then, Demler heard his 18-month-old granddaughter calling from her room. He rushed to find her in her crib, dirty and hungry, but otherwise unharmed.
Nearly a month later, Jeanette’s body was discovered floating in the Waikato River. She was wrapped in a bedspread, with signs that the body had been initially weighed down. Several weeks after that, Harvey’s body was found in the same river, caught in weeds a few kilometers away.
Police arrested Arthur Allan Thomas, a local farmer who knew the Crewes, claiming he was obsessed with Jeanette. Thomas was convicted and spent nine years behind bars, until a Royal Commission of Inquiry revealed that a cartridge, supposedly linking Thomas to the murders, had been planted by two officers to secure a conviction. Thomas was later compensated with $NZ 950,000 for his wrongful imprisonment and the loss of his farm.
To this day, the murderer(s) remain unidentified. The evidence suggests they were familiar with the Crewe property and the surrounding area. For over fifty years, someone has evaded justice for these murders.
9. The Kaikoura UFO Sightings
On December 21, 1979, shortly after taking off from Wellington, New Zealand's capital, the two pilots and four passengers aboard a Safe Air flight reported spotting an unusual light in the sky.
Among the passengers that night was freelance cameraman David Crockett. Crockett quickly grabbed his camera and began filming the strange light. On the return leg of the flight later that evening, the light reappeared. It also showed up on the aircraft's radar, indicating an object at a distance of about 29 kilometers (18 miles). When the plane turned toward the light, it seemed to move away in response.
A week later, a TV crew tried to capture footage of the light and managed to film several lights for a few minutes. Journalist Quentin Fogarty later described the experience: 'We saw this string of lights; it started as a small pinpoint of light then grew into a large pulsating globe with hues of orange and red.' He continued, 'We were told afterward it was about the size of a house.'
Various theories were proposed to explain the mysterious lights, including Venus or Jupiter, brightly lit Japanese squid boats offshore, or even light reflected from cabbage fields below. However, it remains difficult to explain how any of these could have been detected on the radar.
8. The Zuiyo-Maru Carcass
In April 1977, the Japanese fishing vessel Zuiyo-Maru was trawling for mackerel about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the coast of Christchurch when its nets became entangled with a large, decaying carcass. The rotting remains, estimated to weigh over 1,800 kilograms (3,950 pounds) and measuring around 10 meters (33 feet) in length, were hauled aboard.
Crew member Michihiko Yano, who had some background in biology and research methods, sketched the bizarre, foul-smelling carcass and took several photos. Yano also had the foresight to collect tissue samples before the creature was thrown back into the sea, to avoid spoiling the mackerel catch.
The evidence was analyzed by a team of scientists at the Science Museum of Tokyo. They all agreed that the creature was a plesiosaur, a large marine reptile from the Jurassic period that was believed to have gone extinct about 65 million years ago.
French researchers later reviewed the findings and concluded that the creature was not an ancient marine reptile, but rather the decomposing remains of a basking shark, a species found in colder southern waters. Although the photos and sketch appeared to depict a creature with a long neck, small head, and no dorsal fin, they suggested this was due to decomposition and predation.
Shark or sea monster? With the biological samples now lost, the sea will keep its secret a bit longer.
7. The Ngatea Mystery Circle
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
On September 4, 1968, farmer Bert O’Neil noticed an odd patch of ti-tree scrub on his farm in Ngatea, a small town in New Zealand's North Island. To his astonishment, he discovered a perfectly circular area of dead, silvery-white brush, surrounded by otherwise vibrant green native bush. In the center of the circle, O’Neil found three deep V-shaped indentations arranged like a triangle.
The news of this peculiar discovery spread quickly, attracting nearly a thousand curious onlookers to the site. Sadly, before the site could be studied by university scientists, who arrived five weeks later, many visitors trampled on the strange markings and took pieces of the vegetation as souvenirs.
As reports of similar mysterious circles began to surface from various locations around the island and headlines shouted 'Is Mars Now Taking a Look at Us?', authorities rushed to offer explanations. Theories ranged from defoliants sprayed by aircraft to plants affected by fungal growth. They suggested that the ground indentations could have been caused by rabbits or wild pigs. However, to explain the depth of the indentations, which cut through tree roots, an estimated 20 tons of pressure would have been required.
The Ngatea circle remains the most famous of the strange 'mystery circle' occurrences of the 1970s. Much like the UFO craze of the era, it eventually faded from the headlines and became a part of distant memory.
6. The Nelson Street Ripper
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
In 1914, Frederick Marshall spent a sleepless night, anxiously wondering about his wife’s whereabouts, only to be told the following morning by a neighbor, 'Your missus has been murdered.' Marshall rushed to the local police station, where he was devastated to learn that his wife of twenty years had been brutally stabbed and slashed to death.
Frances was found in a narrow alley, with numerous wounds to her head, neck, and chest. Her skull was fractured, her lungs and heart pierced, and her jugular vein slashed. It was believed that her attacker used a pocketknife to commit the murder. There were no clear signs of a struggle, nor was it a robbery, as her handbag—containing about $NZ 40 today—was found beneath her body. While her clothes were described as 'disarranged,' her small blue hat remained on her head.
Sensational media reports compared the brutal crime to the notorious Jack the Ripper killings in London, suggesting that Frances may have been murdered by a 'foul being known to scientists as a necrophilo (sic)—one who satiates his lust on the body of the dead).
Police records indicated that Frances had been working as a prostitute that evening, a claim which Frederick Marshall strongly denied. However, he did acknowledge that he occasionally struck her. Ultimately, the coroner determined that Frederick wasn’t responsible for her death and concluded that the murder was likely committed by an unknown individual.
5. Moehau Man
Across the globe, various cultures share stories and legends about massive, hairy, ape-like beings. In the Americas, it's known as Sasquatch or Bigfoot. In the Himalayas, it's the Yeti. In Australia, they talk about the Yowie.
In New Zealand, we have the Moehau Man, named after the tallest peak in the range where the creature was first said to be spotted. This mountain is sacred to the Maori and is believed to be a place where all sorts of mythical beings can be encountered.
As European settlers spread across New Zealand in the late 1800s, reports of the Moehau Man began to surface. Initially, these were stories of startled individuals who had glimpsed large, hairy, human-like figures deep within the forests. However, more sinister accounts soon followed, with settlers claiming to have been harmed or even killed.
In 1983, two hikers in the Lake Waikaremoana area reported seeing seven of these creatures, dressed in what appeared to be cowhides. They estimated one adult male in the group was about 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall. Hidden in the forest, they observed the group for several minutes as they moved along a rocky creek before vanishing into the woods.
In 2001, Australian Yowie “expert” Rex Gilroy visited New Zealand to investigate the Moehau Man himself, hoping to gather both anecdotal and possible physical evidence. Gilroy claimed to have discovered large hominid footprints along a remote forest trail in Urewera National Park. He proudly displayed two plaster-cast molds to the awaiting media.
Until definitive evidence comes forward, perhaps from a more reliable source, the Moehau Man remains in the same category as its hairy counterparts, such as Sasquatch and the Yeti. They are, for now, just stories and myths.
4. The Wreck of the Joyita
On November 10, 1955, the small cargo ship MV Joyita was found drifting some 600 nautical miles off its intended course, completely abandoned. There were no crew, passengers, or cargo aboard. The Joyita had been expected to arrive in Tokelau, a small New Zealand dependency, but it had never reached its destination. This baffling event has earned the ship the nickname “The Mary Celeste of the Pacific.”
On board the Joyita when it disappeared 38 days earlier were 16 crew members and nine passengers, including two children. The ship was carrying four tons of cargo, including medical supplies, food, and empty oil drums, but most of it was missing. The ship’s logbook, sextant, and other navigational tools were gone, along with all three lifeboats and firearms that had been aboard. Disturbingly, there were signs of possible violence— the bridge of the ship was smashed, and a doctor’s bag was found open on deck, surrounded by bloody bandages.
The Joyita still had plenty of fuel remaining, suggesting that it may have been abandoned when the vessel began to take on water. However, with its cork-lined hull and 80 empty oil drums, it was practically unsinkable. The missing cargo may have been taken by passing ships, while others speculated about pirates or even insurance fraud as possible explanations for the disappearance.
After the wreck, eerily, the Joyita was repaired and returned to service as a cargo ship. However, after it ran aground on a reef, it was finally deemed an ill-fated vessel. The ship was stripped and dismantled, and now, no remnants of the Joyita remain. The whereabouts of those who vanished aboard it continue to be an unsolved mystery.
3. The Mystery of the Invercargill Pool Pooper
A mystery pooper, dubbed “the brown bomber,” terrorized a public pool in New Zealand’s southernmost city of Invercargill for six consecutive Fridays in 2015.
Staff at the Splash Palace aquatic center launched an investigation to catch the perpetrator of these weekly “code brown” evacuations of the pool complex. The worst incident saw the entire facility shut down after “brown bombs” were found in all three pools within a three-hour span.
Unfortunately, staff were unable to catch the culprit red-handed, as the cameras at the pool complex weren’t “high definition enough to capture the red face of someone squinting,” explained Splash Palace spokesman Pete Thompson.
Invercargill’s mayor, Tim Shadbolt, commented that the global media attention sparked by the serial ‘brown bomber’ incident was hardly the kind of publicity he wanted for his city. He remarked, ‘Phantom pooper in the pool isn’t the sort of headline you want,’ he explained.
2. Mysterious Moas
Despite New Zealand’s small size, there are numerous stories of long-extinct birds apparently surviving undetected by human eyes. Moas, New Zealand’s nine species of flightless birds, are believed to have been driven to extinction around 1400, primarily by hunting by the indigenous Maori. The largest moa stood 3.6 meters (12 feet) tall, weighing approximately 230 kilograms (510 pounds), while the smallest was about the size of a turkey.
Although moas went extinct long before European settlement, legends of these birds surviving in remote, hidden valleys continue even today. In January 1993, West Coast publican and mountaineer Paddy Freaney claimed to have encountered a moa in the Cragieburn Valley. Authorities didn’t take the claim seriously, but the international media stirred up a frenzy.
Other mysterious creatures reportedly spotted in New Zealand’s most isolated regions include otters, panthers, and even moose.
1. The Missing Dragonfly
Nearly six decades after a plane vanished between Christchurch and Milford Sound, search efforts continue in the rugged mountains of New Zealand’s South Island.
Pilot Brian Chadwick’s Dragonfly aircraft disappeared during a scenic flight on February 12, 1962, with five passengers on board. Despite one of the largest aerial searches in New Zealand’s history, the plane was never located.
Searcher Bobby Reeve pointed to the discovery of a woman’s boot in a remote mountain area, leading them to believe the plane is situated around 8,000 feet high, deep within permanent snow. ‘If it had been in the forest all this time, it would be covered in moss, but it wasn’t, which is why I think it fell from the snow,’ he said. He has requested assistance from the mountaineering community to continue searching in the treacherous, unforgiving terrain. ‘It’s too dangerous—both my sons have fallen off the side of the mountain already,’ he added.
And so, the search continues.
