WILLIAM Shatner has broken his silence about breaking wind.

And he’s denying that a mysterious noise that shocked his fans on a new videotape was the sound of his own flatulence.

He’s even suggesting that it was not he but Leonard Nimoy who passed gas – audibly – while the two were filming a one-on-one conversation about “Star Trek” in Nimoy’s backyard on Sept. 5.

Now, it is with great pride that I remind the world that it was my column of Oct. 10 that was the first to break the news about Shatner’s alleged emission. Since then, the story has been talked about on morning radio shows from coast to coast.

But Shatner had not commented publicly on the controversy until last week, when he turned up on several talk shows – including Howard Stern’s radio show and NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” – to promote his new series, “Iron Chef USA” on UPN.

Referring to me, Shatner lamented to Conan: “Let me tell you what’s so outrageous – why would he assume it’s me and not Leonard?”

Conan had an answer to that. Said he: “You’re the first officer! I mean, you’re the captain! You outrank him! It’s your responsibility!”

My own answer is: The camera was on Shatner at the time that the offending noise is heard about 52 minutes into the videotape – titled “Mind Melds: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime.”

In the tape, Shatner addresses the sometimes rocky relationships he has had with some of his former castmates, some of whom didn’t like him as much as he thought they did.

Here’s the exact quote, in the midst of which the sound is audible. Says Shatner: “Because the incidences that I’ve read about that has [sic] caused their resentment towards me have been so minute [split-second pause and then the sound of flatulence] like maybe that did happen, but how does that affect things, really?”

Meanwhile, Conan continued his probe. “My question is,” he asked, “what do you attribute the noise to?”

To which Shatner replied: “The cameras moving by! A dog barked! Who knows? A bird sang a beautiful song in a tree! It could have been anything!”

Of this I am certain: The sound I heard was no bird!

No matter what William Shatner says, I stand by my story – only not too closely.