MYSTERY LIGHTS
THE EXPLANATION
AIRCRAFT WITH CANDLES
The mystery of the moving lights se,cn above the Tinakori Hills recently, and described in "The Post" on Saturday, is solved. A natural assumption, when the shooting star explanation is discarded as not applicable, is that the lights were carried by aircraft, and it is the correct one; but the aircraft are not aeroplanes and they are not manned. They are small balloons, each carrying a small cellophane lantern with a candle in it.
These balloons are used by the Meteorological Office to.determine the direction and velocity of winds at high altitudes in connection with the making of forecasts for the air services, and the time-table of work requires an observation at G a.m. The balloons, made of rubber and inflated with hydrogen, are intensely visible in bright daylight; but in the early morning a light is required to enable them to be followed. A candle is quite adequate. '
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19360810.2.58
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 35, 10 August 1936, Page 8
Word Count
156MYSTERY LIGHTS Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 35, 10 August 1936, Page 8
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in