Conspiracy theorist David Icke bailed on a planned interview with Newshub's cross-platform Paul Henry programme on Thursday morning, storming out without explanation.
Icke is in New Zealand to promote his World Wide Wake Up Tour, and is scheduled to deliver a 12-hour soliloquy at Auckland's Logan Campbell Centre on Saturday.
But his abrupt departure from the MediaWorks building this morning has left fans and the show's crew struggling to crack the mystery.
So what happened? What sparked the self-proclaimed son of God to walk out? The series of events we've pieced together so far takes in a freaked-out security guard, Transport Minister Simon Bridges, a blowdrier and political operator Michelle Boag.
David Icke's visit: The timeline
Icke arrived at MediaWorks' building in Eden Terrace at 7am, as planned. Security guard Paul knew something was up right away.
"When they came in, the man himself David Icke, honestly, he freaked me out - he just stood there and had this real freaky stare. I looked at him and I said, 'Are you alright?' And he goes, 'I'm on the show.' And then I clicked who he was."
Paul signed Icke and his son Jaymie into the building.
"It takes a bit to freak me out, but this guy had a real freaky stare about him, you know?"
Paul Henry reporter Aziz Al-Sa'afin took the pair and Mr Bridges (on the show to do an interview about road safety) downstairs to the studio.
David Icke in 1992, soon after he made his first controversial comments (Getty)
Icke went to the loo, and that's when things got a bit weird.
"David's son stopped me," says Aziz, "and he goes, 'This is not going to be another Today show repeat, is it?' I was like, no, no."
Icke clashed with Australian TV show hosts Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson a few weeks ago, calling their questions "an absolute joke" and rubbishing the "ludicrous childish alien video nonsense" they said he believed in.
Jaymie asked Aziz what the "tone" of Paul's questioning would be.
"I said, 'Look, honestly, I can tell you one thing: Paul is Paul. He will say what he wants, but he will never throw him under the bus.'
"He goes, 'Well, you can't explain the moon landing in five minutes. That's just impossible… you can't explain conspiracy theories in five minutes. It always happens like this on TV.'
"I just turned around and said, 'To be fair, Minister Bridges is here and he's just about to explain himself in four minutes, isn't that right, Mr Bridges?' And Mr Bridges ended up giving a pep talk to David's son. I turned around to Simon and said, 'Great pep talk, mate.'"
Mr Bridges says he found Jaymie "shifty".
"When I was talking to him, I just thought, 'You're the kind of guy who records conversations - I'm not talking to you.'"
Being a polite man, Mr Bridges tried to help the son-of-the-son of God anyway.
"I said yeah, it's just about simplifying it down without being simplistic, the best you can. Think about it before you go on. He said to me, 'So what political party are you with?' And I could just tell when I looked at him, I'm out of this. I just said, 'I don't know,' and walked off."
Icke emerged from the men's bathroom and asked Aziz if he could have his hair blow dried.
"He goes, 'Before I go on I need a hairdryer because my hair's wet.' I was like, 'Yep, we've got a hairdryer.' He said, 'Are you sure you've got a hairdryer?'"
Slightly confused, Aziz showed him into make-up.
"He came in and he'd just had a shower, so his hair was wet," says make-up artist Danielle. "We dried his hair, powdered him, sent him through to the green room…. then they disappeared."
Mr Bridges agrees that Icke vanished.
"He disappeared at that point in time - he probably planted chips in your newsroom… weirdness, mate."
So what prompted Icke to go AWOL?
"I went upstairs to the reception, and the security guard goes, 'they just walked out'," says Aziz.
Only 10 minutes after he let them in, security guard Paul was watching the Ickes walk straight back out.
"I'm thinking, 'What are they doing leaving the building? No word, no nothing. I said to them, 'Hey, you guys alright?' And they didn't acknowledge me - that's when I knew something wasn't right here - he's doing a runner!"
Why did Icke leave?
"He obviously knew that I was going to challenge him," Henry told Newshub after the show.
"I find it extraordinary that he wasn't up for the challenge. This is his life, this is what he makes money out of."
Former National Party president Michelle Boag, on the show to discuss Icke's beliefs - among other things - had a theory.
"He's clearly been abducted by the aliens."
Assuming he left of his own accord, Henry's not sure what exactly got Icke fired up - but he has his suspicions.
"I did make it clear that I thought he was part of the rich tapestry of his life, which is absolutely true. That's arguably favourable. I applaud the fact he has some theatrical ideas. I believe he's crazy, and I think I may have called him crazy."
Mr Bridges thinks he might be.
"The GCSB or something's been in there and been bloody tampering with this guy."
Paul the security guard's leaning that way too, but wants to find out more.
"I'm a Christian you know, so I'm quite intrigued by a lot of these guys who claim to be the son of God."
Henry says Icke missed a golden opportunity to convince him the Queen is indeed a lizard.
"Absolutely happy for him to come back on the show… but I'm not happy to meet him in any other forum."
Friday's show is all booked out though, so unless the aliens abduct a guest, Icke will probably have to wait until next time.
His Australian publicist has since apologised for the inconvenience.
Paul Henry's favourite David Icke theory
"While I am particularly attracted to the colourful idea the queen is a reptile, it's that the moon is hollowed out and we are being monitored by people within it - that perhaps is my favourite one."
Newshub.
