Israel’s Ambassador to New Zealand, Itzhak Gerberg, told the Herald, when asked if Israel was responsible for the explosion: “Simply a ridiculous assumption that does not hold water.”

Newly uncovered data from radioactive sheep has provided “robust” evidence that a “double flash” detected nearly 39 years ago from a remote island group was a nuclear explosion.

The Minister for Arms Control, Winston Peters, has asked officials to brief him on the findings after they were highlighted by Wellington health researcher Professor Nick Wilson.

Since soon after the flash was detected by optical instruments from a US “Vela” satellite high above Earth in September 1979, there has been debate about whether it was a nuclear explosion – and speculation that it was a weapon test by Israel. Some believe it was simply a meteoroid hitting the satellite.

The flash was located in the vicinity of the tiny Marion and Prince Edward islands in the South Indian Ocean, about halfway between Africa and Antarctica…

Read the full story on the NZ Herald website here.