Saturday, January 29, 2011

Cold case - Port Augusta - 5 February 1947

Introduction:

As you will know from reading this blog, one of my current research projects is looking at old Australian cases. In this post I investigate an event which occurred in 1947 in my home state, several months before the Kenneth Arnold sighting.

I had known about this event for several years, ever since an Adelaide contact, Darryl Tiggeman, supplied me with details. I visited the State Library in Adelaide and confirmed that the following accounts did appear in the papers of the time.

Newspaper accounts:

(1) "Strange objects reported in sky"
Port Augusta 6 February.

"While working in the yard at the Commonwealth Railways workshop yesterday morning Mr Ron Ellis and two workmates claim to have seen five strange objects in formation pass across the sky from north to south.

"The objects were white or light pink and shaped like an egg. Mr Ellis said that he could not give an accurate estimate of the size of the objects, but they were casting shadows and judging by his experience with aircraft in the RAAF during the war he considered they were about the size of a locomotive.

"Although the objects kept on a direct course at a height of about 6,000 feet they appeared to be quivering he said. Owing to their great speed they were out of sight within a few seconds.

"Any question of the phenomenon being an optical illusion was dispelled by the fact that a few minutes later both Mr Ellis and his companion gave an identical description of what they had seen. Their description was verified by another member of the workshop who said he had also seen the objects."

Source: "Adelaide Advertiser" newspaper. Friday 7 February 1947, front page. Viewed in the State Library, Adelaide on 27 January 2011.

(2) "Objects in sky not meteorites."

"Commenting yesterday on a report from Port Augusta that several men working in the yard at the Commonwealth Railways workshop at about 9am on Wednesday had seen five strange egg shaped objects in formation pass across the sky at a height of about 6,000 feet the Government astronomer (Mr G F Dodwell) said that the phenomenon did not fit in with anything astronomical and was a complete mystery to him.

"Mr Dodwell discounted the probability of the objects being meteorites. He said that meteorites being so small and travelling at such high speeds did not cast shadows whereas the report stated that the objects had cast shadows about the size of a locomotive. The presence of falling meteorites would have been accompanied by a deafening roar."

Source: "Adelaide Advertiser" newspaper. Saturday 8 February 1947, front page. Viewed in the State Library, Adelaide on 27 January 2011.

Research:

1. I visited the State Library, Adelaide and confirmed that the above accounts had appeared in the respective newspapers. They had.

2. I then searched for additional information about the event. I checked other newspapers. The "Adelaide Advertiser" between 1 and 19 February; the "West Coast Sentinel" (based at Streaky Bay 320km W of Port Augusta) between 5 and 19 February; "The Recorder" (based at Port Pirie 80kms S of Port Augusta) between 7 and 14 February; Adelaide's other daily newspaper "The News" between 5 and 11 February; the Adelaide weekly "The Mail" for 8 February; and "The Quorn Mercury" (based at Quorn 22kms NE of Port Augusta) between 6 and 20 February.

3. I found that "The Quorn Mercury" of 13 February 1947, page 3, carried the exact same story as the 8 February 1947 "Adelaide Advertiser" quoted above. Interestingly, "The Quorn Mercury" of 20 February 1947, page 3, also carried an additional sighting.

"Writing in the Advertiser, Mr F W Flavel of Lock, Eyre Peninsula states: "I saw objects in the sky between 7 and 8 o'clock the same day as you record a report from Port Augusta. I was walking in a north-westerly direction to the house after feeding the pigs.

"There were five of the strange objects and they seemed to be coming up out of the sea like a shadow with smoky greyish color around them. They were oblong with narrow points. I saw them quite plainly. They seemed to be floating in the air from north-west to south-east and caused a shadow."

4. I then checked the "Adelaide Advertiser" and found a letter to the editor in the 17 February 1947 edition, page 2.

"Strange objects in the sky."

"I saw objects in the sky between 7 and 8 o'clock the same day as you record a report from Port Augusta. I was walking in a north-westerly direction to the house after feeding the pigs.

"There were five of the strange objects and they seemed to be coming up out of the sea like a shadow with smoky greyish color around them. They were oblong with narrow points. I saw them quite plainly. They seemed to be floating in the air from north-west to south-east and caused a shadow."

"I called the wife to have a look at them and she did so. It was a sight. I wish I had watched them longer as others had seen them and Port Augusta men did so an hour later. I have never seen anything like this before, and after reading what others saw I thought I would let you know that my wife and I both saw these objects."

5. I checked the weather forecast for Wednesday 5 February 1947. The state forecast was "Unsettled, with scattered rain and thunderstorms. Cool on part of the coast, elsewhere warm to hot and sultry. SE to NE winds. " The weather chart was shaded over Port Augusta indicating that rain was expected that day.

Sunrise was at 0539hrs. Moonrise 1925hrs. Full moon was 6 December 1947.

Adelaide's actual temperature (300kms S of Port Augusta) for 5 February 1947 was minimum of 73.8 deg F at 0545hrs; maximum of 98.3 deg F at 1245hrs.

6. Lock is 225kms SW of Port Augusta and is inland, at latitude 33deg 34mins S, longitude 135deg 45mins E; whereas Port Augusta is at latitude 32deg 30mins S, 137deg 46mins E.

7. As it was mentioned that Port Augusta witness Ron Ellis had been in the RAAF, I checked for service records for such a person in the National Archives of Australia. I found there was a Ronald Ernest Ellis, born 5 November 1920 in Port August. This is most likely the same person.

I checked for records for an F W Flavel, the Lock witness' name but found nothing.

Comments:

1. The fact that there are two separate reported observations on the same morning of five strange objects in the sky which cast shadows, would indicate the observations were of the same set of objects.

2. Based on the information given, I cannot see a mundane explanation for the observations.

3. Note that this was about four months before the US based Kenneth Arnold sighting which started the "modern" UFO phenomenon.

Over to comments from readers.

6 comments:

  1. Did anyone see the light in the sky last night. We viewed it from port augusta shacks, brilliant red, then green to silver then vanished. I have never seen anything like it, fortunate to call out to a mate who witnessed this event

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was very intrigued by the two sightings reported on 7th Feb 1947. In particular because they predate the Kenneth Arnold sighting by a few months. Indeed, following the Arnold sighting discs were reported in groupd of 9, 4 and 5 such as the group in South Australia. One is tempted to imagine they are connected. Also, these sightings cannot be influenced by the intense excitement and anxiety engendered by the Arnold sighting in America. Indeed, apart from the sighting listed above on 6th January 1923 in Tasmania (and listed in this blog site), These observations in South Australia might be the first in the world, and are indeed the first, to mention solid bodies, following the second world war.

    For completeness, a third observation of 5 bodies travelling at speed in Australia comes from the Murrumbidgee Irrigator 8 July 1947: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/156166556/15444515

    This is very soon after the Arnold sighting was reported in the city papers, to which the author reports in the article, but also harks back to the month of May, before any other mention of discs in America was announced, and before the well-known public frenzy began.

    One problem was that I initially read Mr F W Flavel's comment as being that he viewed the objects coming out of the sea. I was sceptical as to whether the sea was visible from Lock, which is situated in the centre of the Eyre Peninsula. What he wrote was in fact that the objects "seemed to be coming out of the sea." If one was a local one might judge where the sea was, even if out of sight, and that the objects were rising from that place?

    Also I made a little more of discovering who F W Flavel might be. I find that in 1935, F W Flavel tendered for work in the Hundred of Ulyerra via Lock, Eyre Peninsula: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/168326757?searchTerm=%22F%20W%20Flavel%22%20eyre%20peninsula

    ReplyDelete
  3. My comment that the South Australian disc sightings might be the first in the world is of course hyperbolic. I meant to say that they might be the first sightings of solid, metalic looking discs in the world since WWII, or since the Atomic bombs at the end of WWII. There are no other reports of such arial phenomena in the Australian newspapers in that time, though other unusual lights were mentioned, even as far as Sweden. My search was conducted on Trove - the ANL database, and included the terms, Sky objects, Flying sauces, Apparitions and Foo fighters.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Further details re Pt Augusta sighting. The Transcontinental published a rather differently written account of the sighting above:

    Trove: Transcontinental, Friday 7 Feb 1947 page 1

    "C.R. Workmen See Phenomenon

    FIVE STRANGE OBJECTS PASS OVER PORT AUGUSTA

    While working in the yard at the Commonwealth Railways workshops between 9 o'clock and 9.30 on Wednesday morning, Mr. Ron Ellis and a workmate saw five strange objects, in formation, pass across the sky from north to south.

    In the rays of the sun, the objects where of a white or light pink color and were shaped like an egg. When interviewed, Mr. Ellis said that he could not give an accurate estimate or the size of the objects, but they were casting shadows and judging by his experience with aircraft during the years he was serving in the RAAF, he would say they were of similar dimensions to the locomotive near where they were working.

    Although the objects kept on a direct course at a height of about 6,000 feet, they were moving erratically, but owing to their great speed, were out of sight within a few seconds.

    Any question of the phenomenon being an optical illusion was dispelled by the fact that a few minutes later, both Mr. Ellis and his companion, without any hesitation, gave an identical description of what they had seen."



    ReplyDelete
  5. Another oddity about Pt Augusta 7 Feb 1947, reported in the Transcontinental:

    Trove: Transcontinental 7 Feb 1947 page 2

    "QUORN "Ghost" Encountered in Hills

    UNSUCCESSFUL CHASE BY PICNIC PARTY

    After almost a week of Intense heat many residents took the opportunity to visit the Port Augusta beach on Sunday. When near Mr. H. French's property in the hills on the return journey, members of a party noticed a white object, with lights giving the appearance of eyes, near the side of the road.

    A chase was quickly organised by the younger brigade, but although the lights of the vehicles were used, the ghost could not be located. It is believed that when the chase commenced, the ghost quickly crossed to the other side of the road, and watched the fun.

    Some 12 months ago there was a ghost scare in Quorn. Many of the travellers on the lorry claim that the object they saw on Sunday night definitely was not a piebald cow."





    ReplyDelete
  6. To compliment the weather reports from the time of the Pt Augusta siting report: The Transcontinental weather report:

    Trove: Transcontinental 7 Feb 1947 page 2

    "Port Augusta in Grip of Heat Wave

    CENTURY FOR SIX CONSECUTIVE DAYS

    Port Augusta, in common with the greater part of South Australia, is in the grip of a heat wave and latest reports from Adelaide indicate that apart from a light coastal breeze in isolated areas, Mr. Bromley cannot promise any immediate relief. The records at the post office disclose that the mercury exceeded the century mark for the last six days, with the peak 105.6 on Thursday. On several days thunder clouds developed and the humidity made conditions most unpleasant.
    -
    Registrations for the week were
    Sunday, Feb. 2 103
    Monday, Feb. 3 100
    Tuesday, Feb. 4 103
    Wednesday, Feb. 5 .. 104
    Thursday, Feb. 6 105.6
    Friday, Feb. 7 (at 11 a.m) .. 101.6

    Although no rain fell in the immediate locality, a flood came down over Mr. C. Michael's property on Tues day. Motorists travelling between here and Quorn reported on Monday that near Saltia water was running strongly on both sides of the road."

    ReplyDelete

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