Dunedin man Tony Plant is adamant he stood just a metre away from the Fight Club star, who just happened to be watching a brass band practise at the Harbour Basin in front of the HMNZ Otago on Friday afternoon.
• Jolie says Pitt is a 'wonderful father'
Mr Plant said he left his nearby engineering workshop and joined his 15-year-old daughter to listen to the band practise, but was stunned to turn around and see the famous face just a metre behind him.
"I thought I knew him," he said.
Familiar with the Hollywood A-lister's films, Mr Plant said he turned back again to take a second look at the man who "stood out like a sore thumb".
"He was just standing there, watching the ship."
The man was clean-shaven, wearing expensive new clothes and a red baseball cap.
While his daughter did not believe they were in the presence of the actor, his work colleagues were having to rethink their initial scepticism after Pitt was also spotted in Wellington on Sunday night.
It was reported the actor ate a chicken korma, butter chicken and garlic naan at an Indian restaurant in the suburb of Miramar, which is near the film studio owned by New Zealand film-maker Peter Jackson.
Pitt's partner Angelina Jolie was photographed in Japan yesterday.
