First I did not “make the statement in bold” – it was YOU who added the emphasis and you should have acknowledged that… but of course dirty tactics I expect by now…
Second, you simplify into obscurity the actual case. There were TWO nights the object was observed on (and in fact there was MORE that one object).
a) The first night the sighting began at around 7 pm and this would have been dark, but the second night the sightings began around 6 pm, and this, according to the witnesses was not yet dark. Now we know that sunset was around 5:30 pm and the witness statements do not give a
time when the sighting began, but if they say it was begun in daylight… then the time MUST have been BEFORE 6pm (and I think no amount of handwaving about “misinterpretation and delusion” by the UFO debunkers can make day into night!) Considering also that on the second night the witness statements indicated that it soon WAS dark - the reasonable interpretation is that the sighting actually began somewhat BEFORE their estimate of 6pm.
“7:10--7:20 P.M. Sky now overcast at about 2,000 feet.” … “8:50--9:30 P.M. Clouds forming again. Large UFO stationary, others (about three) like disks coming and going through clouds, casting a light halo on the clouds. Large UFO moves away rapidly across sea toward Giwa.” … “11:04 P.M. Heavy rain.”
Ah yes…planets that can come and go through the clouds casting halos on the clouds as they do so… of course!
But to refute “planets” I think that I should just post the transcript of the interview with father Gill – there are MANY clues as to why “planets” are NOT a plausible explanation:
Tape recorded interview by
The Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society &
The UFO Investigation Center of New South Wales.
Transcript of Father William Gill interview.
Q: Father Gill will you be kind enough to let us know the nature of your activities in recent years in Papua?
A: I have been on the staff of the Anglican Mission in Papua for thirteen years - my many interest up there has been educational work, and I have been working mainly on the north-east coast of Papua, in Goodenough Bay area, about ninety miles from Samaria Milne Bay.
Q: Father Gill, we understand you, or your mission folk, had a series of interesting experiences during the month of June -when, and on what days did these occur? Also what did you think about unidentified flying objects before your experience?
A: Until my sighting I thought UFOs were a figment of imagination or some electrical phenomenon. Well, the first sighting occurred over Waimera about twenty miles from us. It was observed by Dr. Ken Houston at a place called Waimera, near Tagora, and that was late November of last year. At Boianai itself, where I'm working, the first recorded incident was on the night of Sunday, 21st June. My own observations began on 26th June and extended over a number of days.
Q; Take them, then in date order, when did the first sighting that you saw occur?
A: That was on the 26th June, at 6.45 pm, and it continued until 11.04 p.m.
Q: Over which direction was the object seen?
A: Milne bay district, over Boianai.
Q: Did the object - appear solid? Metallic? Gaseous? Transparent?
A: Well, it appeared solid, certainly not transparent nor gaseous; we just assume it was metallic from our own experience of things that travel and carry men.
Q: Was any sound perceptible?
A: No.
Q: Did the object change colour?
A: yes, it changed from a brilliant white light when it was far off, to a dull yellow, or perhaps pale orange, when it was close.
Q: Did the object hover, or remain motionless at any time?
A: It both hovered and remained stationary.
Q: What was its speed in flight?
A: Much faster than a passenger plane.
Q: The height you mentioned was a couple of thousand feet.
Which of the following objects held at arm's length would you described as apparent size? - grapefruit?
A: Yes.
Q: describe the weather?
A: Well, the weather varied over the four hour period. I have recorded here. At the beginning, at 6.45 pm, there were patches of low cloud over Tagora and Menapi, that is west and east of us, and clear overhead. At 7.10 it was recorded that cloud ceiling overhead was at about 2000 feet... I may mention that at this time the object was under cloud over the west at Tagora. At 8.50 cloud was forming again overhead, and for the next hour or so there were patches of cloud over the sky, then at 10.50 we recorded we had heavy rain at 11.04 - that's when we finished the recording.
Q: What were you doing at the time you saw the object, and how did you happen to notice it?
A: I came out of the dining room after dinner and casually glanced at the sky with the purpose, I suppose, of seeing Venus. Well, I saw Venus bit also saw this sparkling object which was to me peculiar because it sparkled, and because it was very, very bright, and it was above Venus and so that caused me to watch it for a while, then I saw it descend towards us.
Q: Were there any witnesses to this?
A: yes, there were thirty-eight of us.
Q: What further remarks would you make regarding this first sighting of yours?
A: Well, of course, the whole thing was most extraordinary; the fact that we saw what appeared to be humans beings on it, I think, is the important thing. It is certainly the important and exciting thing to us. They were not noticeable at first - they came down, the object came down at about, I should say, 400 feet, maybe 450 feet, perhaps less, maybe 300 feet. It is very difficult to judge at that time of night and not having experience in measuring elevation, it's purely guess- work, but as we watched it, men came out from this object, and appeared on top of it on what seemed to be a deck on top of the huge disk. There were four men in all, occasionally two, then one, then three, then four - we noticed the various times that men appeared, and when one, two and three appeared and one and two, and then numbers one, three, four and two and so on. And then later all those witnesses who are quite sure that our records were right, they agreed with them, and saw these men at the same time as I did - they were able to sign their names as witnesses of what we assume was human activity or beings of some sort on the object itself.
Another peculiar thing about it was this shaft of blue light which emanated from what appeared to be the center of the deck. Now from time to time men, these men, seemed to be working at something on the deck; they'd bend forward and appear to manipulate something on the deck, and then straighten themselves up occasionally, would turn around in our direction, this blue light - rather like a thin spotlight emanated skywards to stay on for a second or two, and then switch off. I recorded the times that we saw that blue light come on and off - for the rest
of the night. After all that activity it ascended and remained very high.
Q: What did the craft look like?
A: Like a disk with smaller round superstructure, then again on top of that another kind of superstructure - round rather like the bridge on a boat. Underneath it had four legs in pairs pointing diagonally downwards these appeared to be fixed, not retractable, and looked the same on the two nights - rather like tripods. On second night the pencil beam came on again for a few seconds, twice in succession.
Q: Do you have any clues to the dimensions of the object?
A: I'm very poor mathematician but I, at time, dared to say that it was about thirty-five to forty feet at the base and perhaps twenty feet at the top.
Q: Did you try to establish contact with the pilots of the craft?
A: We did. As one of the men seemed to lean over as though over a rail and look down on us, I waved one hand overhead and the figure did the same as though a skipper on a boat waving to someone on a wharf. Couldn't see the rail but he seemed to lean over something with arms over it... could see him from just below waist up. Ananias, the teacher, waved both hands overhead and the two outside figures seemed to wave back - no doubt that movement made by arms was answered by the figures.
Q: What was the reaction by the native at signals?
A: Surprised and delighted. Small mission boys called out - everyone beckoned to invite the beings down but no audible responses....no expressions discernible on the face of the men - rather like players on a football field at night.
Q: Did the machine cause any noise?
A: No engine noise heard at any time by anyone during the whole series of sightings.
Q: We understand you tired to signal; the beings with a torchlight?
A: Yes, we flashed the light and the object swung like a pendulum, presumably in recognition. When we flashed the torchlight towards the ground and we actually thought it was going to land but it didn't. We were all very disappointed about that.
(
http://www.ufocasebook.com/gillinterview.html)
you claim the weather was overcast and stormy… your simplistic assessments are erroneous and misleading. Read the above transcript! Also Father Gill’s diary entries at (
).
