Fortnight in skeptical history - January 6th to 18th

Bronwyn Rideout - 5^th January 2026

January 6th

1997 - Bogus psychiatrist Linda Astor begins work at the Nelson-Marlborough District Health Board, with glowing references from Hutt Valley District Hospital. It became clear to Robyn Byers, general manager of health and additions, that something was off with Astor, least of all that one of her professional referees was actually her car salesman husband. Astor would flee overseas while on a DHB-funded conference trip when their cover was blown by a local report, and news of their negligence that led to the murder of a woman was revealed. For more information about Astor’s fraud, read Bad Medicine: The fraudster doctors of New Zealand.

Archival photo of Linda Astor

2013 - Rob Clarke in the Bay of Islands sees unexplained lights in the sky, but surprisingly doesn’t jump to the conclusion that it’s aliens visiting!

2014 - Paramedic Sarah Goldsack witnesses a UFO and aliens, in what has come to be known as the “Muriwai Beach Encounter”.

January 7th

1973 - Black Sabbath play at the Ngaruawahia Music Festival. As part of their performance rider, they request that a burning cross be installed on the field, and kept secret until they take the stage at midnight. Funnily enough, their pre-show antics did not spill as much ink as Corben Simpson playing his set nude did.

Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne perform at Great Ngāruawāhia Music Festival. Photo by David Stone. Source: Audioculture

1977 - A new leader for the New Zealand branch of the Ananda Marga religious sect arrives in Wellington to replace two leaders who were ordered to leave in 1975. Norwegian-born Erik Fossum entered the country under a six-month visitor’s permit, but intended to work as a yoga teacher and spiritual advisor. His arrival caused consternation for NZ immigration, as it was against an agreement between Immigration and the sect’s headquarters in Sydney that written applications had to be made prior to the arrival of further teachers.

Erik Fossum, aka Acarya Arun Brahmacarii with a letter revoking his temporary visa. The Press, January 22 1977.

2014 - Shane Warbrooke submits an official information request requesting then Prime Minister John Key disprove the theory that he is a “…David Icke style shapeshifting reptilian alien ushering humanity towards enslavement”.

January 8th

1862 - Lilian Edger is born. While oft-remembered as the younger (but equally academic) sister of Kate Edger, the first woman to graduate with a B.A. in NZ, Lilian rose to prominence in the Theosophy Society. Lilian lectured extensively, toured with Colonel Olcott, and worked for many years in India in the name of Theosophy.

Lilian Edger, Source.

January 9th

1868 - Corfitz Conquist gives a talk at the Burns Assembly Rooms in Queenstown, on the topic of Phrenology and Physiognomy

1871 - Margarett Burke is murdered. Later, a mysterious bloody handprint will appear on her gravestone.

1959 - A barnacle-encrusted Australian wine bottle allegedly containing a note from a cabin cruiser, Joyita, is picked up on Whiritoa Beach. It reads: “Abandoning ship. Strange ciruclar meatllis [sic] object forcing us aboard it. Help us. Stewart. Joyita”. A small diagram of a flying saucer was included. None of the crew or passengers was named Stewart. A. W. B. Powell, conchologist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, said that the size of the barnacles indicated that the bottle had been at sea for at least two years; The Joyita went missing on October 7, 1955, and wreckage was found a month later. The note was thought to be a hoax.

Wreck of the Joyita. Source: Wikipedia

2021 - Billy TK, prominent conspiracy theorist, holds an anti-lockdown rally in Auckland with participant signs featuring a wide range of conspiratorial views - Agenda 21, anti-1080, organ harvesting, 5G scaremongering and more.

January 10th

1927 - Captain George Hood and Lieutenant J. R. Moncrieff attempt a trans-Tasman flight from Sydney, but radio signals were lost when the plane was 320 km off the NZ coast. Between the 10th and 11th, there were multiple sightings of varying credibility. No trace of them or the place was found. Their disappearance would garner interest from many corners of NZ society, including psychics.

Hood and Moncrieff’s plane prior to its disappearance, Source: Wikipedia.

2006 - The first episode of Sensing Murder, a TV show about psychics, is broadcast on TVNZ 2.

2020 - British documentarian Louis Theroux, who has shone a skeptical light on many topics, hosts his first and only ever NZ live show, in Auckland.

January 13th

1978 - Centrepoint presents an application to Takapuna City Council for conditional use and/or specified departure to establish a therapeutic and spiritual community of up to 100 people in Albany, Auckland.

January 14th

1970 - The second “Puketutu Nest” shows up at Charles Blackmore’s farm - this time the flattened reeds are accompanied by a bad smell.

January 15th

1970 - A 17-year-old male is sentenced for willful damage of a police station window and a typewriter. The young man was being questioned about an alleged rape when he threw the typewriter through the fifth-floor window, but failed to escape through it when he was restrained by officers. His lawyer told the court that the accused had become involved in satanic rites while at the Waikeria Borstal.

2012 - Bikram Choudhury, controversial founder of the eponymous school of Bikram Yoga, visits NZ to help finance the relocation of Christchurch’s Bikram Studio.

January 16th

2022 - Ken Ring claims that the Tonga tsunami, like most tsunamis, is not real, and that Jacinda Ardern is simply creating “fake news”.

January 17th

2011 - Dairy worker Graham Fraser notices a bright light in the sky just south of the Hawera subway tunnel while heading to work at 5.13am.

2022 - Apostle Brian Tamaki, of Destiny Church, is arrested at home for breaching his bail conditions by visiting an anti-mandate event in Christchurch. Upon arrest, Tamaki started to fashion himself as a political prisoner. A sizable group of supporters gathered at Mt. Eden prison where Tamaki was held.

2024 - Roger Blake, purveyor of Jim Humble’s MMS solution in New Zealand, is sentenced to 10 months in jail for 29 charges under the Medicines Act.

January 18th

1959 - George Adamski, author, UFO contactee, and FBI person of interest, lands in Auckland to commence a nationwide lecture tour.

Caption from New Dawn Magazine (Vol 12, No. 1, 2019): Bill and Isobel Miller (standing at left above) reported an extraordinary sighting of UFOs in the town of Taupo, New Zealand, the day they farewelled George Adamski. Henk Hinfelaar (right), Adamski’s main NZ organiser, drove a car for Adamski which he said was accompanied by five UFOs on its daytime journey in a rural area. This photo was taken at Auckland airport on Adamski’s departure for Australia.

1982 - The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, co-authored by New Zealander Michael Baigent, is released and becomes an international bestseller. The main hypothesis of the book is that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, and their descendants would later move to the south of France. There are also secret societies, antipopes, and Masons. Since publication, the book has been debunked due to discoveries of key sources being either forged or fabricated. Nevertheless, like all conspiracy theories, the ideas of Baigent and company still draw attention and devotees. Dan Brown admitted that the book was a major inspiration for The Da Vinci Code.

2004 - The Sri Sri Radha Giridhari temple, a new Hare Krishna temple in Auckland, is opened.

2017 - A Blenheim teenager believes that he captures video of a UFO at 9:20 pm. It is worth noting that both the Marlborough Airport and RNZAF Base Woodbourne are 5km from the teenager’s location.

2022 - Health officials debunk social media claims that five children collapsed after receiving their Covid-19 vaccination at a centre in Auckland’s North Shore.