Tributes to Harvey Cooke

Tribute to Dr. F. Bateson

A Tribute to Harvey Lynton Cooke, 26 March 1918 – 2 December 2005

Prominent New Zealand UFO researcher and investigator.

By Suzanne Hansen, UFOCUS NZ network.
Copyright S. Hansen 2005

On December 2, 2005, New Zealand lost a leading light in UFO history and research.
Harvey Cooke, pioneering ufologist and a ‘true gentleman’, passed away peacefully on December 2, 2005 in Tauranga Hospital, following a short illness. Harvey is survived by his wife Clem, sons Richard, Peter and Andrew, and his four grandchildren.

Harvey was always interested in all-things-airborne, having served in the RNZAF (Ground Staff) as an airframe fitter, stationed in the Pacific during World War 2. He said that at that time, he heard of the experiences of fighter pilots flying over Europe who had seen the mysterious ‘Foo-Fighters’, and was curious about them. In later years Harvey supported the Classic Flyers Club in Tauranga and keenly followed the latest developments in aeronautical and space technologies over the years. Quite by chance in his thirties, Harvey would eventually come across books about strange unidentified flying objects and encounters with alien beings that would irrevocably change his life and thinking, leading him along a path of discovery, leadership and prominence in the UFO field in New Zealand.

Harvey was in his 88th year and had been continuously involved in UFO topics and pursuits for 52 years. He was still actively running the monthly meetings of his group TUFOIG, ‘The Tauranga UFO Investigation Group’. However, recently Harvey decided that age had been catching up on him somewhat, and he had made the decision to retire from the group. A special celebratory evening was planned by the group to be held on December 5th, to honour Harvey’s leadership, contribution and enthusiastic commitment to the group and to New Zealand ufology. Sadly, Harvey passed away just three days before the planned evening, which became a memorial gathering at which presentations were made to two of Harvey’s three sons, and members gave personal speeches of tribute to Harvey. In his tribute to Harvey, Murray Bott, NZ Director of MUFON described him as “one of nature’s true gentlemen.”

Harvey’s interest in UFO’s, which of course were known in those days as ‘flying saucers’, was sparked in 1953, when he and his wife Clem purchased a bookshop in Wellington. Having perused some of the new UFO books coming out at that time, such as ‘Flying Saucers Have Landed’ by George Adamski and Desmond Leslie, Harvey’s interest in the subject was hooked! He began discussing these books with his customers, and soon found that there were plenty of people willing to tell him about their own sightings of UFO’s. Harvey eventually made contact with fellow pioneering NZ UFO researchers Henk and Brenda Hinfelaar in Auckland, and Fred and Phyl Dickeson in the South Island, who had formed ‘George Adamski Correspondence Groups’, and began receiving their newsletters containing questions put to George Adamski, and his responses.

In 1954, Harvey and Clem sold their business and moved to Tauranga. Some time later, Henk Hinfelaar approached Harvey to start up his own branch of the correspondence groups, providing Harvey with a list of local interested people. Thus the ‘Tauranga Adamski Correspondence Group’ was formed in 1957 with Harvey as it’s leader, and this group has continued until this day under his leadership, having been renamed in 1970 as ‘The Tauranga UFO Investigation Group’. Over the years the focus of the group has changed and broadened to encompass the many new topics contained within the vast field of UFO research. Membership has waxed and waned reflecting public interest in major periods of UFO activity in New Zealand, and in later years, the advent of the internet. Harvey has been assisted over the years by his wife Clem, committees, and willing helpers. TUFOIG has the distinction of being the longest continuously running group of its kind in New Zealand – and possibly the world. Harvey recently told me that he might have missed only three of the monthly group meetings, over the entire 48 year period! A tremendous commitment. He and the group would have celebrated 50 years of existence in 2007. The group will continue to meet, run by a small committee.

The group membership continued to expand in the early days. Harvey’s contagious enthusiasm for the subject, his sense of humour and very personable style of relating to people no doubt enhanced this, and he has been a popular ‘public face’ in NZ ufology ever since. In 1972, Harvey and his group decided to ‘take the plunge’ and organize New Zealand’s first-ever UFO Convention. Speakers included ufologist Bryan Dickeson, and NZ author and magnetic healer Colin Lambert. The programme leaflet came complete with a list of local grill bars and takeaway outlets on the back for the hungry followers! The convention was a roaring success attracting a crowd of around 650 people from all around New Zealand and even from overseas; in fact the night before, while setting up the hall, they came across a “HOUSE FULL” notice. Ever the optimist, Harvey jokingly said, “We’ll need that tomorrow!” and put it aside. Much to their delight, they did! The convention was well supported by TVNZ as well, to the extent that the crew came back the next morning while the committee was cleaning up, and requested more footage. This involved everyone trekking to the harbour, where a disc-shaped UFO was filmed moving over the water - suspended from a long pole and filmed from the back of a launch!

Buoyed by their success, the group continued to run major conventions and seminars in Tauranga. The second convention in 1975 was entitled, ‘Come alive! The 2nd New Zealand Convention on UFO’s’. This was followed by further seminars in 1978 and 1982. These seminars featured such well-known personalities and speakers as Bryan Dickeson, pilot and author Bruce Cathie, Capt. Bill Startup (of the Kaikoura sightings), and Harold Fulton, former NZ director of MUFON. A special lecture evening was organized in 1978 for visiting author and researcher of ‘Ancient Astronaut’ fame, Erich von Daniken. Harvey also had the opportunity to personally meet and converse with famous contactee George Adamski on his speaking tour of New Zealand, as well as contactee George Van Tassel, and author Dan Ross, while they were on private holidays down under.

In more recent years, the group has hosted a number of speakers, amongst them Australian speakers Rex Gilroy, Robert and Diane Frola, and Glennys McKay. In1997, Harvey and I were invited to speak at the New Zealand International UFO Symposium at Auckland University, in a line-up of national speakers including Bruce Cathie, Daisy Kirkby, and Alec Newald, and international speakers including Col. Wendelle Stevens, Jaime Maussan, Stan Deyo, and David Icke. This was the first major conference of it’s kind in New Zealand, since Harvey’s conventions in the 70’s and early 80’s, one of the restrictive reasons for this being the cost involved in flying speakers such long distances to our country.

One of the major and most significant contributions Harvey has made to NZ ufology is in the area of active investigation. Harvey was closely involved in investigating or researching major periods of UFO activity including the ‘Ngatea landing site’, the ‘Kaikoura lights’, and the ‘Gisborne flap’, all of which attracted worldwide attention.

In 1969, what appeared to be a burnt landing site of a UFO was found on farmland near Ngatea. It was thoroughly investigated by Harvey and other colleagues, as well as being examined (a week or so later) by the NZ DSIR (Dept. of Scientific and Industrial Research). Officialdom treated the findings as a joke and released disinformation to the public. Harvey has always assumed that this was a ‘cover-up’. However, since then further evidence has come to light that does indeed indicate that a UFO created the elongated patch of burnt scrub.

The ‘Kaikoura lights’ incident of 1978 virtually became a household name, such was the tremendous worldwide interest and scrutiny, and it ranks as one of the most credible UFO sightings in the world. An Australian television crew captured vivid UFO footage over Kaikoura, South Island, from onboard an Argosy aircraft captained by Capt. Bill Startup, and the activity was registered by the control tower staff at Wellington Airport. Once again, officialdom played a major role in discrediting the evidence to the public of New Zealand, as being lights reflected from squid boats or the flight of muttonbirds. However, overseas scientific experts have stated that the film is of great value to research and that the lights ‘could not be explained by conventional means’. NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena) USA, following lengthy research by civilian scientist Bruce Maccabee, made the unprecedented step of declaring the film as ‘showing a genuine unidentified flying object’.

The ‘Gisborne flap’ of the late 70’s and early 80’s was an intense period of UFO activity centred around the city of Gisborne and the East Coast region north of it. Sightings rolled in, in such volume, that investigation groups sprang up locally and seasoned investigators like Harvey played an advisory roll, as well as directly examining the reports. This onslaught of, at times blatant UFO activity, marked the emergence of what may be termed ‘classic’ abduction experiences in New Zealand (although I have recently been interviewing and researching alleged cases of abduction that occurred in NZ in the late 40’s). In 1990, following discussions with Harvey about my own sightings, and abduction and missing time experiences in the ‘Gisborne flap’, we jointly established an Abductee Support Network, which in recent years I have co-ordinated as a part of the UFOCUS NZ network.

Harvey’s record of public speaking is monumental – Probus, Rotary, service clubs, women’s groups, school children, New Age groups, retirement groups, television, radio, documentaries – you name it! His dedication to informing the public about the controversial topic of UFO’s in the most down-to-earth way possible, has been unwavering. Naturally, along the way, Harvey has at times faced skepticism about the subject. His response would invariably be to smile and say politely that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. Harvey has recounted how on one occasion in the early days, he was threatened with dismissal from his job if he persisted in talking to the company’s customers about ‘flying saucers’. So he stopped talking about them unless spoken to first, and he was surprised how many people continued to approach him of their own accord, to ask questions regardless.

Harvey was a friend and colleague of mine for over twenty years. He told me that he believed that most people who study UFO phenomena eventually undergo a change in spiritual awareness, as they are forced to examine the future of this planet and our very origins, existence and place in the universe – alongside other beings. His speeches have always encouraged and challenged people to consider UFO related topics with common sense and rational scrutiny, and not to get bogged down in programmed linear thinking; to listen and discuss, but not necessarily accept all information immediately or blindly.
Harvey saw life as a journey and an adventure, with the possibility of something new and captivating waiting just around the next corner. New members to Harvey’s group often asked him what was required to join the group. Invariably and without hesitation, his response would simply be, “An open mind!”

Bibliography:
Fogerty, Quentin, ‘Let’s Hope They’re Friendly!’, A.H.&A.W. Reed ltd.
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Sue is currently archiving the group’s history and details of Harvey’s involvement in NZ ufology. She would be grateful to receive copies of photos, written material, information, memories, memorabilia etc, from past members, speakers, or other parties, to be included in the archive.

A Lifetime Spent in the Stars

An Obituary to Dr Frank Bateson
O.B.E. (Services to NZ & International Astronomy).
October 31 1909 – April 16 2007

UFOCUS NZ wishes to pay tribute to the late Dr Frank Maine Bateson, who died recently in his 98th year, on April 16, 2007 in Tauranga, New Zealand. 
Known as the father of modern NZ astronomy, he was the driving force behind the construction of Mt St John Observatory near Lake Tekapo, Sth Canterbury.  Dr Bateson became an internationally renown astronomer for his work in finding and studying ‘variable stars’ – stars characterized by changes in the intensity of light they emit.  He developed an extensive network of amateur astronomers to observe these stars, most notably, the dwarf novae.

Dr Bateson developed a keen interest in astronomy as a young teenager, winning prizes for his observations of meteors and variable stars in 1924 while still at school; thus began his record of distinction in astronomy in NZ and worldwide.  He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand in 1963, and was a member for 80 years, only retiring just 2 ½ years ago from active involvement in astronomy.  Over his long career, Dr Bateson was honoured with many major prizes and awards including the Jackson-Gwilt Medal and Prize of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1960, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato in 1979.  In addition Dr Bateson wrote over 300 scientific papers.  In 1981 the asteroid 2434 discovered from Mt St John Observatory, was named ‘Bateson’ to honour his work.  His autobiography, ‘Paradise Beckons’ was published privately in 1989.

UFOCUS NZ remembers Dr Bateson for his courtesy, his passion for the study of astronomy, and his willingness to assist and advise us with our astronomical enquiries relating to UFO sighting investigations.

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