ver.
taxi
iver saw the object
said M Paul yesterday. “We
firs
wer, going down Hendon Avenue about
1 a.m. and the object was flying paral-
let with us and to the south.
“At first there was a swishing noise,
rather like a jet. It appeared to be a
long object with three or four lighted
windows, but the windows were much
bigger than usual on aircraft.
“It passed us in uncanny silence.
The most remarkable fact was the
absence of any noise. It was visible to
us for about four minutes before van-
ishing into a cloud bank.”
Mr Paul said he stayed outside for
some time in the hope of catching
another glimpse of the object. A little
while later an aircraft (later identi-
fied as an R.N.Z.A.F. Sunderland) flew
at right angles to the object’s course
with its landing lights blinking. He
said it was “completely different from
the other object.”
well south. It eventually ap-
peared behind the land mass
of the South Island.
“The light was quite bright
and pulsating. It gradually
changed colour from orange
through to yellow to a sort of
bluish-white,” the passenger
said.
The light:
AUCKLAND
No it was
not Venus
Air Force Intelligence offi-
cers have ruled out Venus
as the source of the mys-
tery light National Air-
ways crew members say
tailed their airliner on
Monday night.
They have discarded this theory
held by the Inspector-General
of the R.N.Z.A.F., Air Commo-
dore R. J. Cohen, a passenger
on the plane.
But all-day investigations includ-
ing questioning of the two
N.A.C. pilots involved, have
produced no alternative sug-
gestion.
Tape recordings of the emerg-
ency flash message the crew
sent on first sighting it have
been replayed in the search for
a clue.
More evidence is likely from
Captain W. T. Rainbow and
First Officer S. G. Trounce, the
man who saw the light first.
A pilot with 2500 hours in his
flying log, dating back to 1940,
Mr A. R. Tuckett, may also be
called.
Now air traffic control officer at
Hobsonville, he was on the
plane, too, observing the
mystery object for several
minutes.
Like the N.A.C. pilots, he hesi-
tates to label it a “saucer,” but
has no clues on its origin or
form.
Orange-red at first, it turned steel
blue as he watched and seemed
to move away quickly and dis-
appear in a moment.
“In all my flying I’ve never seen
anything like it,” he said
today.
The air commodore slept on.
When he landed, he checked
with references and decided
positively that what he saw
was Venus, low down on the
horizon. He is still sure.
In the meantime, the Minister
in charge of Civil Aviation,
Mr Shand, has ordered an in-
quiry. The acting Minister of
Defence, Mr Halstead, has in-
structed that the Air Force
co-operate.
And Air Force Sergeant H. H.
Fulton, at Whenuapai, has
promised the support of
Civilian Saucer Investigators
the saucer study group which
he leads.
ITEM 509]
150 pds./10/62-8200