mysterious flying poop in New Zealand
Mystery flying muck strikes in Waikato
24 September 2003
By TRACEY COOPER
A Te Awamutu home is the latest to be hit by a mystery airborne substance.
Hamilton roofer Peter Lowe discovered the brown substance splattered across the new roof he is working on when he turned up to work yesterday.
"It looks human to me," he said, carefully avoiding touching the dried-out splatters.
The roof has been hit by a 2m-wide strip of brown muck which crosses the house in a south to north direction.
Mr Lowe said whatever the substance was, it must have landed between 5pm Monday and 7am Tuesday.
"I've been doing this for 17 years and I've never seen anything like it," he said.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) yesterday ruled out aeroplane sewage as the cause of a similar incident in Takapu Valley, near Wellington, last week.
Chemical analysis of the substance taken from windows of the house had confirmed no trace of chemicals from an aircraft toilet, CAA spokesman Bill Sommer said.
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2669531a10,00.html
Mystery flying muck strikes in Waikato
More mystery showers of unidentified muck
25 September 2003
By LEANNE BELL AND NZPA
Victims of unidentified offensive brown muck showering people, houses and cars are popping up all over the country.
Many are blaming aircraft sewage, but no one knows what the splatter is or where it is from.
Hamilton roofer Peter Lowe discovered a 2-metre-wide strip of brown muck splattered across the roof he was working on in Te Awamutu when he turned up to work on Tuesday.
"I've been doing this for 17 years and I've never seen anything like it," he said.
He is the latest in what is emerging to be a string of victims.
Shonnie Gordon's Takapu Valley farmhouse, near Tawa, Wellington, was showered with muck on September 14.
Certain an aeroplane was to blame, she called the Civil Aviation Authority. Their tests ruled out aircraft.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said he had received seven more calls from people in Christchurch, Palmerston North, Wellington, and Lower Hutt claiming to have been showered by gunk in the past month.
A number of farmers suggested ducks were responsible and an Auckland woman said her house had been showered with what proved to be duck droppings.
Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, Ms Gordon took her own sample to a laboratory for testing. Sadly, the results came back inconclusive yesterday.
"I'm disappointed but it's just one of those things," she said.
Ms Gordon is urging the next victim to use a clean jar and get it to a bio-lab as soon as possible.
Having put off the cleanup till the test results were released, she is resigned to cleaning up her house herself.
"It's set like cement so I'll wait till it rains," she said.
Another victim, who did not want to be identified, has also come forward. His family home on Paekakariki Hill Rd was hit 11 years ago.
While his son searched the sky for the "giant seagull", he quickly removed downpipes from his roof, upon which he depended for water.
"It was analysed and they said it was definitely poo," he said.
He never saw a plane but believes one was the culprit as the substance had a chemical smell reminiscent of the long drop he used as a boy.
Wellington Zoo Trust bird and reptile curator Geert Van Eyken said it was unlikely a flock of the biggest birds in New Zealand, relieving themselves in unison, could have caused the latest messes.
"Birds do drop stuff when they fly . . . but if it were birds it would be more spattered," he said.
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