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Home / New Zealand

Mystery UFO in Queenstown Remarkables identified as plane

Otago Daily Times
1 May, 2020 10:25 PMQuick Read

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Smoke trail over Queenstown possible meteor
Queenstown resident Matt Wilcox was lucky enough to witness what was probably a meteor on Wednesday evening. Video / Matthew Willcox ...
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      Queenstown resident Matt Wilcox was lucky enough to witness what was probably a meteor on Wednesday evening. Video / Matthew Willcox
      NOW PLAYING • Smoke trail over Queenstown possible meteor
      Queenstown resident Matt Wilcox was lucky enough to witness what was probably a meteor on Wednesday evening. Video / Matthew Willcox ...

      It was not a meteor, but it is no longer a UFO.

      A strange object spotted in the sky over Queenstown on Wednesday night was actually a plane.

      Yesterday, the Otago Daily Times reported Matt Wilcox saw something odd in the sky.

      Catching it on camera, he said it was visible for about a minute before it went behind the Remarkables and out of sight.

      Read more: Smoke trail over Remarkables, Queenstown, may be meteor

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      Mosgiel resident Bruce Smaill — a crew chief at Dunedin Airport — said it was actually a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operated by LATAN airlines, flying a repatriation flight from Sydney to Santiago, Chile, flying at 37,000 feet.

      He used binoculars to get a closer look at it and could see the anti-collision light flashing.

      "I found it [the plane] on Flight Radar straight away, and then there was another one about an hour later, on the exact same flight path."

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      Southland Astronomical Society astronomer Mike Bailey had initially examined Mr Wilcox's footage and believed the object to be a meteor.

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