The 1st report that hit the media from the South African Press Association (SAPA):
RESCUE-MYSTERY
JOHANNESBURG May 20 SAPA
UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT "CRASHES" INTO SEA

Port Shepstone rescuers are monitoring a mysterious situation in which "numerous" eye-witnesses reported an unidentified object crashing into the sea, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI)said on Saturday.

Eddie Noyons, NSRI Shelley Beach Station Commander, said eye-witnesses reported that an unidentified object, possibly an aircraft, had crashed into the sea behind the breaker line off-shore of the Port Shepstone High School.


Police, rescue craft and a fixed wing aircraft were alerted to the scene to investigate. "Following a full-scale search of the area covering 12 square nautical miles nothing has been found. "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported to be overdue or missing," said Noyons.

He said numerous eye-witnesses -- including teachers and pupils attending a sports event at the highschool, and other by-standers including local fishermen -- were convinced they had seen an aircraft go into the water, including seeing smoke and water exploding. Interviews with the witnesses revealed that some also reported seeing flames. "Some reported seeing something, an unidentified object, splash into the sea causing a ripple effect of waves, " Noyons said. Due to the number of eye-witnesses with similar reports, it was presumed that weather activity in the area at the time might have given the impression of something falling into the sea. " We will continue to monitor the situation which remains a mystery," he said.

And then came the 1st http://www.news24.com article:

UFO 'crashes' into KZN sea 20/05/2006 22:12 - (SA) Port Shepstone - The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is monitoring a mysterious situation on the KZN south coast. "Numerous" eye-witnesses reported an unidentified flying object crashing into the sea on Saturday. NSRI Shelley Beach station commander, Eddie Noyons, said eye-witnesses had reported an unidentified object - possibly an aircraft - crashing into the sea behind the breaker line off-shore of the Port Shepstone High School. Police, rescue craft and a fixed wing aircraft were alerted to the scene to investigate. Noyons said: "Following a full-scale search of the area covering 12 square nautical miles nothing has been found. "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported overdue or missing." He said numerous eye-witnesses - including teachers and pupils attending a sports event at the high school, by-standers and local fishermen - were convinced they had seen an aircraft go into the water. They said they saw smoke and described "water exploding". Some also reported seeing flames. Noyons said: "Some reported seeing something, an unidentified object, splash into the sea causing a ripple effect of waves." Noyons said it was being presumed that weather activity in the area at the time might have given the impression of something falling into the sea. "We will continue to monitor the situation, which remains a mystery," he said.

The 1st follow-up article on News24.com:

No sign of 'UFO' - NSRI 21/05/2006 22:40 - (SA) Port Shepstone - There is no sign of an apparent "UFO" that was reported to have crashed into the sea off Port Shepstone on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon says nothing has been found yet, despite an extensive search over an area covering 12 square nautical miles. The mysterious object that "crashed" into the sea behind the breaker-line off-shore of Port Shepstone High School about 12:20 on Saturday, has raised a frenzy of interest worldwide. The number of readers who have clicked on the report carried by News24 reached more than 30 000 by 18:00 on Sunday afternoon. Lambinon said on Sunday evening: "Witnesses said they thought they saw an unidentified object, possibly an aircraft, crash into the sea, but absolutely nothing has been found. "Police and the NSRI offices in Shelley Beach and Port Edward responded to the call that something had crashed into the sea. Some even saw flames. "Margate air traffic control also searched the area with a fixed-wing aircraft. Numerous witnesses, including pupils and teachers at a school sports event, and fishermen were convinced they saw an aircraft go into the water. "They saw smoke and water exploding. Some even saw flames. "Some reported seeing an unidentified object splash into the sea causing a ripple of waves," said Lambinon. "A reliable source, who was on a hill overlooking the sea about 2km away, said he saw something crash into the sea. "The object trailed smoke behind it, and even after it had crashed the column of smoke hung in the air for several minutes. "It caused a big splash when it hit the water and bobbed up and down," said Lambinon, quoting one of the witnesses. 'It might have been the weather...' "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported to be overdue or missing. "The number of witness reports leads us to presume that weather activity in the area at the time may have given the impression of something falling into the sea. "We will continue to monitor the situation, which remains a mystery," said Lambinon, adding: "If there ever was something...".

And then came the official NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) Media Release on 21 May 2006:

National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Media release:

Port Shepstone, 20 May, 2006. Search for unidentified object called off.

Eddie Noyons, NSRI Shelley Beach Station Command

http://saufor.com/content/view/6/2/ ;;