UFOs and Aliens in Southern Africa Before Ariel School

UFO Afrinews

At the beginning and end of each edition of UFO Afrinews, the biannual Newsletter that Cynthia Hind was the creator and editor of, she writes an update to her audience about the various UFO international conferences she has attended¹, and what she sees are the current trends in UFO investigations.

The cases featured in the newsletter, beginning in 1988, are mostly accounts of mysterious lights in the sky around Zimbabwe and neighbouring Southern African countries. There’s the occasional “flying saucer” illustration, or descriptions of close encounters with strange figures. Figures who, for the most part, conform to the benign Adamski era of handsomely dressed Space Brothers², rather than the terrifying cold Grey aliens from the works of Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs. Although after the 1987 rash of abduction literature had made the rounds more sinister tales began to appear in Hind’s mailbox. 

Hind’s editorials strike a mixed tone, at times she’s a strident truthseeker, at others somewhat defensive, even a little goofy. Like the TV creation Hyacinth Bucket she makes snobbish references to how the business she ran before ufology had become a “Top concern”, name drops “Top UFO experts”, or “Top clinical and governmental psychologists”, whom she “KNOWS” and who confide in her³ as a central figure on the dark continent of ufology. At other times she’s quite self-deprecating with attempts at humorous poems about her naive dailliance with skepticism, or little green men. She expresses a certain sadness that she’s dedicated her time and money to the study of a phenomenon that she has no personal experience of. In this respect she is similar to Dr. John Mack, whom she revered, and who also never encountered a UFO or alien being, but was convinced about their reality by the testimony of others.

UFO Evangelist

Hind was a self-described UFO evangelist. As she describes it her mission was to educate the Africans about UFOs and aliens. She was a pamphleteer for ufology hoping to attract more UFO reports to her publication. “WE ARE WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU!” is the Kitchener-esque rallying cry in the blurb to the first edition of her newsletter. She writes,

“Whenever I can, I make a point of travelling in southern Africa, giving talks to various groups, mainly to ‘spread the word‘ about UFOs.”

_{UFO Afrinews #5 January 1992, p.40}

In this interview she’s keen to point to the “unsophisticated”⁴ African native’s tendency to view UFOs and aliens as ghosts or spirits, rather than as technological marvels. 

She allows clumsy colonial-era language to speak for her mission. She quotes fellow ufologist Bob Girard, agreeing with his idea that the purpose of the mission is to,

“tell the rural people of Africa, who are so troubled about UFOs intruding into their world (physical and emotional) the difference between physical effects and non-physical causes. If that’s beyond their capacity to grasp, then it’s unfortunate. Let them strain upwards, towards understanding. You will have to put the challenge to them, and it will be theirs to accept it or let it drop, for it involves work: the difficult work of thought.“

_{UFO Afrinews #3, May 1990 p.4 [Emphasis added]}

Hind took her UFO message to select schools looking to inspire a new generation of ufologists. She writes, 

“In those days I was choosy about my speaking engagements. I always felt the schools at the upper levels were a breeding ground for new UFO enthusiasm and never refused an invitation to address their Science Clubs or the Upper Sixth (17 year olds). I then found that often 12 and 13 year olds would creep in and I had to choose my words and revelations [i.e. those about alien abduction/hybrid breeding] more carefully. Nonetheless, I stIll received agitated phone calls from parents: “Since listening to you, Mary won’t sleep without a night light on’, or ‘I don’t know what you told our Chantal, but she never goes upstairs after dark anymore.’”

_{UFO Afrinews #8 Sept 1993 p.1}

Reading this we can it see how perfect a fit the Ariel school was. A new expensive Catholic private primary school with tennis courts and a swimming pool was certainly a school “at the upper level”, so what fortuitous timing for her it was that they were about to expereince a “Top” UFO event.

Despite downplaying the influence of media in Africa Hind sought its utility in getting her UFO message out.

“In 1988, together with Zimbabwean broadcaster Jill Darke as producer, I wrote a series of eight programmes for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation [ZBC]. As a result of that, a number of sightings came to light, most of which would never have been recorded had the witnesses not listened to the programmes. I try to make a point of visiting the various centres in Zimbabwe at least once every year if I can, or once every two years, so that the citizens of my country at least can be kept informed of what is happening in the UFO world.”

_{Cynthia Hind, UFO Afrinews #2, June 1989}

Note: Jill Darke would later interview some of the pupils at Ariel School.

The Art of Interviewing

In UFO Afrinews #7 January 1993 Hind’s assistant editor wrote a section about best practices in investigating UFO cases titled “The Art of Interviewing.” In it she writes,

“One of the most important functions of the field investigator is interviewing witnesses/contactees and getting their stories on tape. These days, in fact, most interviewers have a small tape recorder for this purpose, as note-taking can take too long and a tape will play back exactly what was said – a good thing when the interviewee later claims not to have said what you reported.” Always check your equipment prior to interviewing, to see that all is in working order.” – Maria Sullivan, UFO Afrinews Assistant Editor.

_{UFO Afrinews #7 January 1993}

Hind also writes about her personal approach to interviewing witnesses,

“I use the first session as ‘confidence-gaining’ and then introduce the tape recorder. I never have only one meeting unless of course, the subject is easily identifiable, e.g. meteorites, bolides, special balloons, debris, etc.” 

_{UFO Afrinews #4 March 1991 p.38 [emphasis added]}

“The Biggest Story of the 20th Century”

So, in September of 1994 when the Ariel School events occurred right on Hind’s doorstep (she lived less than an hours drive away in Harare) it was the perfect opportunity to exercise those best practices. 

However, it is widely considered to have been a failure of interviewing technique. The principal criticism being the way the witness interviews were conducted. School finished at 1pm on the Friday, the children had the whole weekend before they were interviewed by the BBC’s Tim Leach on Monday 19 Sept, and by Hind in person on the Tue 20 Sept, almost FIVE days after their encounter. Hind interviewed children in groups in a chaotic arrangement in front of TV cameras with throngs of onlooking children crowding the doorway. 

Telephone Interviews Before Hind Visited Ariel School

But, Cynthia Hind had spoken with an unknown number of pupils by telephone over the weekend before these group interviews at the school. She writes in her book UFOs Over Africa (1996) that she spoke with Alyson Kirkman – the only adult on the scene who did not see anything from her position in the playground’s tuckshop – and with Alyson’s daughter Fifi (age 10) who did see something.

In her 1996 book Hind includes a curious sentence about “other children visiting Fifi at the time told me…” It is unclear from Hind’s writing who these children were, if this was an in-person meeting or if it was a telephone conversation with Fifi and Alyson. Were the “other children visiting Fifi” in the room with Hind or were they with Fifi while she talked one-on-one on the telephone (perhaps over speakerphone) with Cynthia?

The only time she is specific about a convesation being on the telephone is when she writes “Barry, on the same day, told me on the telephone…” (UFOs Over Africa 1999, p.223).

It’s crucial to get clarity on this because if there is a tape-recording* of these earliest conversations it would help define the extent of contamination of the group interviews that were held at school the following week. It would also be an important document of what questions Cynthia Hind asked, and whether her questions stand up to scrutiny or were in any way leading.

*Earlier this year (2022) I wrote to Gunter Hofer an investigator and contributor to UFO Afrinews, and friend of the late Cynthia Hind. He accompanied her to Ariel School in September 1994. He apparently has Hind’s archived notes. I asked him if there was a tape-recording of the telephone interviews Hind conducted the weekend of 17/18 September 1994. He has so far not responded.

Update: Gunter Hofer responded to my question on 2 October 2023 saying:

Questions

• Why didn’t it occur to Hind that, especially when interviewing children, that it was crucial to tape-record their remarks so that any later contamination effect from a group interview could be mitigated? 
• As the proud creator of UFO Afrinews did she bring copies of these newsletters with her to this meeting? If so did they distort the children’s testimony? (As we’ll see some of the drawings in UFO Afrinews are strikingly similar to those the Ariel puplis produced on the Monday).

“Bush Telephone”

Hind characterizes the rapid spreading of news about anomalous events in Zimbabwe as “bush telephone”. She writes,

“Zimbabwe is a small country in terms of international population (approx 8,000,000). Thus, when something happens, most people will hear about it; and it was as a result of this ‘bush telephone’ that I was able to take the following statement from Mr Jakob Niewergelt (a manager of a sawmill whose machine mysteriously broke down coinciding with separate UFO sighting)”

_{UFO Afrinews #2 June 1989 p. 8} 

Given this uncanny abilty for information to spread rapidly through the community, how far could a particular image or description travel in five days?

Recording Equipment

It’s not clear exactly what equipment Hind used at her home but if recording her interviews to ensure the accuracy of her report was essential to the “art of interviewing” there were readily available and inexpensive options at her disposal. 

For example this “simplified automatic telephone recorder” as the Radioshack description says ”Just plug in to any standard telephone jack, place the unit in record mode and it’s ready to go. When any phone on line is picked up, the unit automatically begins recording both sides of the conversation.”

UFO Evangelism and the Collective Unconscious

It seems important to point out that editions of UFO Afrinews published prior to Sept 1994 contain many familiar features which also appear in the Ariel School case, including:

• skin diving-type outfits (UFO Afrinews #2 June 1989)
• silvery shiny discs or round objects (UFO Afrinews #5 January 1992 p.8)
• whistling noise [from a UFO] (UFO Afrinews #1 July 1988 p.35)
• objects flashing different coloured lights; red, yellow, blue and green. (UFO Afrinews #6 July 1992)
• figures whose faces were featureless, or could not be seen at all. (UFO Afrinews #6 July 1992 p. 14)
• beings moving in a strange way “gliding over the surface”. (UFO Afrinews #6 July 1992)
• creatures of slender build with “ordinary black hair” and “olive skin” (UFO Afrinews #6 July 1992)
• large slanting, staring eyes. (UFO Afrinews #1 July 1988 p. 45)

Similarities With Ariel School Descriptions

Here are some examples in more detail taken from various issues of UFO Afrinews prior to September 1994. Some cases have notable similarities with the reports from the Ariel School mystery. 

• “He saw what he thought was a caravan with some prospectors inside…As he came closer, he realised it was not a caravan, but a craft of sorts, standing on three tubular legs…they left behind very clear marks on the ground…the people inside…were very short and dressed in shiny white / cream overalls”. (UFO Afrinews #7 January 1993 p.18)

• ”They were completely silver and I couldn’t see any face at all they were moving in a strange way it looked more as though they were gliding over the surface. – Hugo Ferreira of Despatch, Groendal Reserve Case, R.S.A. (UFO Afrinews #6 July 1992 p. 14).

• “It flashed many different coloured lights; red, yellow, blue and green…the object was circular…(he did a drawing of it and there was a row of windows around the middle).” Incident from Nigel Espi Case No 38 Puxley, Cape Town, South Africa, 14 May 1990. (UFO Afrinews #6 July 1992 p.10).

• Nyasha Dhlinnyo had an encounter at St Augustine school in 1990, although we are not sure of the exact date. He was moving towards the dormitories round about 1830 hours. He heard a humming sound above the trees. As he turned to look, he saw an object moving above the trees. From his description, it was a ‘Flying Saucer ‘. It lit up the area. It was silvery and shining. It brightened the area and then it appeared to hover above him.” (UFO Afrinews #5 January 1992 p.8).

• “In the Groendal Reserve case (October 1, 1978 in South Africa), four boys had observed a silver object and the subsequent appearance of three men in silver suits, who appeared to glide over the surface of the land, 8ft high fynbos and small trees.” (UFO Afrinews #10 August 1994 p.4).

Similarities With Ariel School Drawings

As well as descriptive accounts the illustrations in copies of UFO Afrinews, published prior to the Ariel School mystery, bear a striking resemblance to the Ariel School children’s drawings.

The Mysterious Events at Ariel School, Zimbabwe – 16 Sept 1994

Footnotes

1. ^ In June and July 1993 hind visited the US and attended a MUFON conference in Richmond, Virginia, where she heard Dr. John Mack speak about the “reality” of UFOs. Afrinews #9 February 1994 p.1
2. ^ “He was what anyone of us would term perfect in looks, build and immaculate in dress.” Afrinews #1 July 1988 p.18
3. ^ “Professor Allen Hynek once confided to me that he felt they were from another Dimension, perhaps something which we could not comprehend.” Afrinews #7 January 1993 p.20
4. ^ “…then explain to unsophisticated, uneducated people that what they are seeing are the products of a Westernized, civilized mind”. Afrinews #3 May 1990 p.4