From: UFO UpDates - Toronto <ufoupdates.nul>
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2006 07:51:56 -0500
Fwd Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2006 07:51:56 -0500
Subject: Is It A UFO Or A Flying Saucer?




Source: Stuff - Wellington, New Zealand

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3851459a11,00.html

06 November 2006

[Picture at site]


Is It A UFO Or A Flying Saucer?
By Hank Schouten
The Dominion Post

More than 40 years after an official Defence Force photographer
snapped an image of the navy cruiser Royalist, debate is raging
over the unidentified flying object in the background.

The print is believed to have languished since being taken in
February 1965, but a plan to display it by the Devonport Navy
Museum has sparked speculation about the mystery object. UFO
expert Peter Hassall, who wrote a book on the subject in New
Zealand, is excited by this previously unreported sighting.

The image was captured by the photographer on large-format black
and white negative film shot from the cruiser's wing bridge as
it approached what looks like Cape Brett in Bay of Islands. The
Royalist was on its way back from Waitangi celebrations in
February 1965.

It was first spotted by museum staff member Paul Restall as he
was assembling images for the museum's new website.

He checked the negative on a light table and called in digital
imaging expert Hans Weichselbaum to perform a high resolution
scan. This established that the object was part of the original
image.

Museum director David Wright said there was nothing to explain
what it was.

The object appeared to be some distance in front of the ship and
none of the sailors working on the bow was taking any notice, as
would be expected if something was going on.

He said it looked to be too distant to be a dinner plate thrown
from the bridge and the same would apply to a clay pigeon used
as a shooting target. The angle of the object and absence of
visible lines suggested it was not a parachute. So what is it?

"We're not saying it's a UFO," Mr Wright said. "It is just one
of those interesting things we came across."

Museum staff did not have the time to hunt down former crew
members who might be able to solve the mystery but "if people
are interested in it and want to pursue its provenance we'll
assist them", Mr Wright said.

Mr Hassall said it was an intriguing photo. His first thought
was that it might be a flaw on the negative but, if that was the
case, it was an unusual one.

"It is a very interesting image and the classic dome shape
that's often reported." However, he is mystified that the
photograph has never been reported before.

The object looked to be in front of the ship and at least as big
as a rubbish tin lid =96 too heavy for somebody to have thrown it
that high.

He was also intrigued that nobody on the deck was looking up =96
"If somebody had thrown it up you'd expect everybody to be
looking up at it."

However, Carter Observatory senior astronomer Brian Carter
disagrees.

He said that when the object was enlarged it had a sharp edge to
it. Under the same enlargement, the edge of the cliff on the
right and the bow of the ship were not that sharp, he said.

That suggested the object was quite close and therefore quite
small.

He believed it was something thrown from the bridge or some
other part of the ship.


[Thanks to Stuart Miller of Htttp://uforeview.net for the lead]