|
The following report was published in "Rapport" our largest Afrikaans
Sunday newspaper today. I translate verbatim from the Afrikaans text:
WAS IT A HOAX OR WAS IT LITTLE GREEN MEN? Was it a marketing ploy for a movie or the return of ET? Nobody has up to now come forward to claim responsibility for the bright light seen in a burst of colours in the airspace over Pretoria this week. The object drifted along in the early morning over the Erasmuskloof suburb until police appeared on the scene. It then shot of at an "unearthly" speed over Pretoria until it disappeared over the horizon at Cullinan. This is what witnesses says and also what can be seen on the video shot of the object that morning. In the meantime earthlings in South Africa are looking for an explanation in movie theaters where Independence Day started showing on Friday. Vonda Morgenrood, PRO for Sterland movie distributors says that they had nothing to do with it and one can hear that she is becoming agitated by this rumour. Superintendent (Colonel) Fred Viljoen is also not to happy to have to tell his story once again. He is a veteran of many dangerous chases involving dangerous criminals and was one of the pilots involved in the heroic rescue of people from the roof of a burning office building, the SALU building, last year, and a serious man that studies historical Boer - war campaigns as a hobby. He stands by his statement of what he saw after his helicopter was scrambled at 05.25am with 4 passengers on board. "A bright light was above Mamelodi, a township near Pretoria, at 70 degrees above the horizon. I followed the white disk, with the unusual flight pattern, in the direction of Cullinan. It moved at a high speed. We could not keep up with it and eventually had to give up when lack of fuel became a problem." He stands by his statement that the disk was easily observable even in broad daylight. Supt. Viljoen says that he did not ask the air force to scramble a Mirage fighter, but had contact with the control tower at Waterkloof air force base. They told him that their radar showed "clutter" in the area in which the disk was flying. Supt. Viljoen says that it is the first time in his life that he had seen something like this and also say that he has always been skeptical about UFO's and visitors from other planets. Sgt. Nico Stander, one of the policemen who was on patrol when the object appeared, showed us the video he took of the events. One can see the steering wheel of the police car, then you see the bouncing ball of light through the front windscreen while hearing the police radio chirping in the background. Its pulsating like a little hart says one of the voices. The Sgt.'s voice says it could be a balloon, the morning star or an eclipse of the sun and moon. Whatever it was the Sgt. says it was the highlight of a boring night patrol. On Tuesday nights, very little goes on in the streets of Pretoria. "It was a full moon night with a slight breeze blowing. The conditions was very clear that morning. We were in the right place at the right time and just got lucky I suppose." Sgt. Stander has an interest in the unusual, and showed us a stack of the American magazine "Encounters". UFO's is an interest of his and he says that he believes in this sort of thing. "When I saw this object, I just knew I had to get it on video. I went to my dad and borrowed his camera." When asked what he would have done if the disk landed and little green men appeared, he said that he would have tried to communicate with them and be friendly towards them.
Cheers
|