Southern Africa Unexplained

Case · UFO Afrinews No 17, February 1998 (cover); masthead printed as January 1998

Lake Kariba / Harare object of 14 September 1994: Crowley letter and editorial reply

1994 · Lake Kariba and Harare, Zimbabwe

What was reported

Andrew Crowley of Frankston, Australia, wrote about the object seen over Lake Kariba and Zimbabwe on 14 September 1994, arguing it was the Silent Vulcan, a stealth-type UAP reported over Belgium, the UK and Australia since 1989, and linking it to 1995 cattle mutilations in New South Wales; he asked whether Zimbabwe had suspicious animal deaths or missing persons and whether his sketch could be shown to the Kariba witness. In reply Hind rejects the American Stealth bomber outright: dozens of witnesses said the craft flew slowly enough to walk with, appeared on fire and came in very low over Harare, and descriptions fit either the ejected Russian nose cone or an unidentified craft resembling a Boeing 737. No animal mutilations are known in Zimbabwe apart from ham-stringing of bulls in the 1972-80 war, and no persons went missing.

What Hind made of it

Hind flatly rejects the Stealth-bomber identification and the cattle-mutilation link; she notes no mutilations (checked with veterinarians), no suspicious wildlife deaths beyond poaching, and no missing persons around Kariba in September 1994, and says a full reply went to Crowley.

Explanation offered
Silent Vulcan / Stealth (Crowley, rejected); ejected Russian rocket nose cone or unidentified 737-like craft (editor)

In their words

  • it appeared to be on fire and came in very low over Harare

    Cynthia Hind (editorial reply), spread 21

  • Since 1996 the spate of sightings has ended. I believe they left us but might be back in 8 or 9 years time.

    Andrew Crowley, spread 20

Cross references

  • earlier UFO AFRINEWS coverage of 14 September 1994 event
  • VUFORS Victoria UFO Report booklet
  • New South Wales cattle deaths 1995
  • Ballarat 18 February 1992 sighting (this issue)

Connected

  • Zimbabwean Flap of September 1994: Lake Kariba houseboatCase fileSame window

    Both explicitly concern the object of 14 September 1994. 17-20-2 is plotted at Kariba but its content is half Harare, it reports the low pass over the capital and Hind's checks for animal deaths and missing persons around Kariba.

  • Lake Kariba reports: fishermen, warden, video and the Cutty SarkCase fileHind follow-up

    Hind's editorial reply revisits the Kariba material years later, answering a correspondent in Australia. She reports active follow-up she does not describe in the original entries: veterinarians consulted about mutilations, wildlife deaths checked, missing-person enquiries made, all negative.

  • Zimbabwean Flap of September 1994: Lake Kariba houseboatCase fileHind follow-up

    The two entries contradict each other in Hind's own voice. In 14-10-1 she says the rise over the hills and descent over the water 'rather explodes' the Russian nose-cone theory; in 17-20-2 she offers the ejected Russian rocket nose cone as one of the two readings she is prepared to entertain. The nose cone is both refuted and proposed by the same investigator on the same event.

  • Lake Kariba reports: fishermen, warden, video and the Cutty SarkCase fileSame behaviour

    Both carry the slow reading: night-fishing crews and a pilot describing slow silent travel, and Hind's reply insisting dozens of witnesses said it flew slowly enough to walk with and appeared on fire. This is the direct opposite of Taylor's fifteen seconds from the same night.

Source

Cynthia Hind, UFO Afrinews No 17 (February 1998 (cover); masthead printed as January 1998), spread 20-21

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