Captain Bruce Cathie was born in 1930 in Auckland, New Zealand, and was educated at Otahuhu Technical College. On leaving school, he became an engineering apprentice, then joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force to train as a pilot. After completing his flying training, he spent three years in agricultural aviation. It was during that time in 1952, that with a group of friends, he made a prolonged evening sighting of a UFO at Mangere, Auckland. This event led to 45 years of research and the publication of several books detailing his discoveries.

In 1955, he joined New Zealand’s National Airways Corporation and served as Commander on DC3s, Focker Friendship, and Viscount airliners. In March 1977, after the company merged with the overseas airline, Air New Zealand, he was cleared for command on Boeing 737 airliners.

He retired from flying in 1981 and now manages a small publishing company where he continues his research and the publication of his findings. He is married, has two sons, and lives in Auckland.

Rod Maupin

Rod Maupin was born in 1959 in Alva, Oklahoma, in the United States. In 1983, he graduated from Oklahoma State University with an Architectural Design degree and a minor in Art. During Architecture school he became interested in computer graphics and upon graduation decided to pursue a career as a software developer.

In 1988, he learned about Bruce Cathie’s work through reading two of his books. After studying the material, he felt that someone needed to write a computer program to map the grid system, as it had not been done before. He first contacted Bruce in 1988 and began working with him in 1989. This collaboration has resulted in the release of two different versions of the Gridworks software, and a mapping version of the software called Gridpoint Atlas®

He currently lives in Rainier, Washington, USA.

Software

The first version of the Gridworks software was released in 1993. It was an MS-DOS® program that calculated geometric harmonics and all the mathematical values associated with Cathie’s work. The software also had the ability to calculate grid points at any place in the world.

The first Microsoft® Windows® version of Gridworks was released in early 2001. It included more on the theory side of Captain Cathie’s work, plus updated harmonic values and mathematical tables.

The second Microsoft® Windows® version of the software was released in early 2003 and was called Gridpoint™. This product included a world-wide map database on multiple CD-ROMs and allowed a person to plot the World Grid® over a map of any area of the world.

The current Microsoft® Windows® version of the software was released in May 2006 and is called Gridpoint Atlas®. It provides more mapping capabilities and includes the most up-to-date harmonic tables and functions.