DOMINION 8 NOV 1955
AIR FORCE BELIEVES VENUS WAS SOURCE OF “FLYING LIGHT”
“Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are,” runs an old nursery rhyme which is almost applicable to the investigations made by the Royal New Zealand Air Force to find the origin of a strange light seen by the crew of a N.A.C. airliner between Ohura and Raglan a week ago.
Now the Air Force is satisfied that the light could have been from the planet Venus, but it cannot explain how the planet apparently moved away from its normal orbit.
Although it cannot establish definitely that the light was from Venus, it thinks that this was so.
These latest conclusions were released by the acting Minister of Defence, Mr. Halstead, last night after weekend inquiry by the Air Force. He said that various published reports did not come from official sources.
The report released by Mr. Halstead also makes brief mention of vapour trails seen in the sky on the same evening. These, he says, were caused by Vampire aircraft from Ohakea trying out high-level cross-country exercises.
The strange light was seen low in the western sky between 8.06 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Monday, October 31. The Air Force has reported to the Minister that after a careful examination concludes that Venus could have been observed in the approximate position of this light when it was first sighted from an aircraft flying 8000 feet between Wanganui and Auckland.
Effect Of Cloud
“Since the captain of the aircraft (Captain W. T. Rainbow) states that the direction of flight of the aircraft was not altered during the time the light was in sight, the R.N.Z.A.F. cannot explain the apparent movement of the light or establish definitely that it was Venus,” says the Air Force report.
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LIGHT MAY HAVE BEEN VENUS, BUT ...
N.Z. HERALD 8 NOV 1955
Staff Reporter
No “firm and simple” solution has yet been offered to the mystery of the strange light seen in the sky by the crew of a National Airways Corporation airliner between Ohura and Raglan a week ago.
But the Air Force now thinks the strange light may have been the planet Venus, although earlier reports maintain that calculations had ruled out this possibility.
The Air Force is not sure. It proves that the light could have been Venus, but it cannot establish this fact definitely.
These latest conclusions were released by the acting Minister of Defence, Mr. Halstead, last night following the inquiry over the weekend by the Air Force. He insists that various published reports did not come from official sources.
The report that Mr. Halstead released yesterday also mentions vapour trails seen in the sky on the same evening. These, he says, were caused by Vampire jet aircraft from Ohakea carrying out high-level, cross-country exercises.
(Similar vapour trails were also seen over the West Coast later last week, and at that time they were described as “mysterious flying pencils.”)
The light was reported by the commander of the N.A.C. airliner, Captain W. T. Rainbow, between 8.06 p.m. and 8.11 p.m. In its arguments for the planet Venus, the Air Force says that after a careful examination it concludes that Venus could have been observed in the approximate position of this light when it was first sighted from an aircraft flying at 8000 feet between approximately Wanganui and Auckland.
“Since the captain of the aircraft states that the direction of the flight of the aircraft was not altered during the time the light was in sight,” says the Air Force report, “the apparent movement of the light cannot be explained, nor can it be established definitely that it was Venus.”
The occulting or apparent flashing of the light could be caused by the presence of cloud between the light and the moving aircraft. It is common for planets low in the sky to scintillate.
At 8000 feet in position 38 degrees south, 175 degrees east (the rough position of the aircraft when the light was last seen), the setting time for Venus on October 31 was 8.19 p.m.
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MOVING “LIGHTS” IN SKY
MARKATO TIMES
4 NOV 1955
When Ministers of the Crown are informed that a strange “flying light” object has been observed for five minutes from a passenger aircraft, and by a witness of the calibre of the Inspector-General of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Air Commodore R. J. Cohen, and other experienced airmen, it is necessary that official notice should be taken. Accordingly, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Shand, and the acting Minister of Defence, Mr Halstead, have called for detailed reports on the whole matter from the heads of their departments. It would be interesting if New Zealand should produce the first explanation of phenomena which have been reported from many countries.
It is futile simply to inform such reliable witnesses that they are dealing with nothing more than a fragment of the imagination. There can be no doubt that they see something, even if it is only an optical illusion, and it is in the interests