Person
Bill Startup
Also known as Captain Startup
- Captain, Safe Air (Argosy freighter), pilot on the December 30–31, 1978 Kaikōura flight
Bill Startup was a captain with Safe Air, the New Zealand freight airline, and the pilot of the Argosy freighter on the night of 30–31 December 1978, when a television crew aboard filmed the unexplained lights known as the Kaikōura lights.
Sources: Kaikōura incident record
Facts and claims
- claimed Startup was the captain of the Safe Air Argosy freighter on the night of 30–31 December 1978, when a TV crew aboard filmed the Kaikōura lights, with radar contacts reported. — Bill Startup Source: The Kaikoura UFOs - 1978 at 3:17
- claimed Interviewed the next day, he rejected Venus as an explanation, saying the object appeared on his own aircraft's radar at a range of 12 to 15 miles, and said he could think of no rational explanation. — Bill Startup Source: The Kaikoura UFOs - 1978 at 24:29
- documented The RNZAF concluded that the radar and visual sightings “are the result of natural but unusual atmospheric phenomena”, including an unusually bright Venus and spurious radar returns; an independent study in the same file disputes this for the radar-tracked object. Source: RNZAF UFO file AIR 1080/6/897 Vol. 1: investigation of the December 1978 east-coast South Island sightings (Kaikōura)
Connected files
Books
- The Kaikoura UFOs (authored)
Documents
- RNZAF UFO file AIR 1080/6/897 Vol. 1: investigation of the December 1978 east-coast South Island sightings (Kaikōura) (described in)
Incidents
- Kaikōura lights (witness)
Videos
- The Kaikoura UFOs - 1978 (speaks in)