Cold case investigation - Frankston, Vic - July 1972 - Part one

Hi all,

My last couple of cold case investigations have both involved single witnesses in a motor vehicle, when an unusual object has approached them, as opposed to cases where a witness comes across a landed object.

In the 15 Nov 1967 Yerecoin, WA event, Alan Pool was in his land rover when a grey, 3.6m diameter, 1.5m high object rapidly approached him and hovered close by his vehicle. It left vertically, at speed. There was no effect on the vehicle and Pool reported his encounter to police.

The 30 Oct 1967 Boyup Brook, WA event involved a man on his own, in a motor vehicle. His vehicle suddenly stopped and all electrical systems failed. A tube of light shone on him, from a 9m diameter, oval shaped object, some 30m above the car. The object left at speed. The witness told the police about the encounter.

When researching these two cases I immediately thought back to a similar event which happened in the state of Victoria in 1972. Here, the witness in this case reported two encounters and some really unusual side events. She reported the incidents to the police and to the RAAF. However, at the time of the events no researcher had ever seen the material which lay in the RAAF files until many years later. In this post I report on the case; including the RAAF material, which will be new to most readers.

The first encounter:

On 3 Jul 1972, 37 year old Maureen Puddy, a resident of Rye, in Victoria, Australia, was driving her station wagon near a railway crossing on the Mooraduc Road, between Frankston and Dromana, when an unusual event occurred.

The following details were provided to me by investigators Garry Little (now deceased) and Bill Stapleton of Melbourne who conducted a number of interviews with Mrs Puddy at the time the events were happening to her.

At 9.15pm local time (GMT plus 9hrs) Maureen was driving home alone in her 1963 Holden station wagon, after visiting her son who was in hospital in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg.

Just after she had passed the railway crossing, a blue light lit up the road. At first, she thought the light was coming from a helicopter, of the sort which had airlifted her son to hospital. So, she didn't take too much notice of it, though later, she recalled that she had heard no noise which was strange if it had been a helicopter. Even so, it was  too low for a normal flight, so she became alarmed and accelerated trying to get ahead of the light. This didn't work,  so she tried slowing down thinking that the light would be lost in this way. Instead, the light stayed with her.

Eventually she stopped the vehicle, reasoning that the helicopter pilot might have been trying to attract her attention for some reason. Maureen later said that stopping in the isolated locality is something she would not have normally done.

The object:

Shielding her eyes against the light, she looked up to see an object in the sky which was not a helicopter. She panicked, for it was shaped like "two saucers placed lip to lip." It appeared stationary, some 20-30m behind the car, at an estimated height of about 20-30 metres, thus making it at a 45 degree angular elevation in the sky.

At this location, the road is some 8m wide. Using this as an estimate, she thought the object was 32-40m across and 5-6m high. It had no seams, windows, aerials or other protruberances of any kind. A silver-blue iridescent light radiated from it and it was  this that had lit up the road. When Maureen got out of the car she said she heard a low volume, humming noise, which she likened to a moving elevator (lift.)

Her immediate reaction was to get away from it as fast as she could, so she got in her car and drove off  at high speed. As she was driving away, she noted that the object was visible through the driver's window and also through the top of the windscreen. In fact, the object appeared to be keeping station over the car. This situation continued on for 12 kilometres, after which the object moved backwards; there was a "streak" of light, and the object was lost to view.

Police:

As the Rosebud police station was nearby, Maureen drove there and reported seeing the object. The next day she called the RAAF and reported the encounter to them. They sent out a report form to her which she completed and returned.

RAAF form:

The form which Maureen completed can now be found in the National Archives of Australia on file series A703 control symbol 580/1/1 Part 7 pages 26-28.  I have never seen this detail published before so it is well worth recording here.

The form identified the witness as Maureen Puddy, age 37 of Rye, Victoria. She gave her occupation as "housewife." The date is shown as 3 Jul 1972, and the time as 9pm. To the question "How accurate is the time of start?" she wrote "10 mins either side." The duration is given as  "15 to 20 minutes." The location is stated as "Mooraduc level crossing (train)." Maureen wrote she had an "excellent" familiarity with that location.

The weather at the time is described as "Very good. Weather clear." The object was first sighted "Above car, 20ft forward." "Approx 45 deg angle." Her attention had been first attracted by "Irrodescent (sic) blue light." The object had  been "Light blue" in colour. It was "exceptionally bright." Apparent size at closest approach is given as "Approx 100ft up. Size 2 stories high. Wide than the road."  "No" was the answer ro "16. Was any method of propulsion obvious.?"

Asked about sound, she wrote "Light sound. Similar to elevator." It was "Approx 100ft off the ground." "Hovering." To "Give duration of any stationary phase" she wrote "2 minutes." Then "followed car." There was no trail, exhaust, vapour, or light seen. It was last observed at "Junction Mooraduc & Nepean Highway."

The form asked "What natural phenomenon...would be nearest to explaining your observation?" Maureen wrote "Nothing." "Nothing known like it or seen like it."  A sketch is then provided showing an oval object - height "Approx 20ft." The form was signed M Puddy and dated 7 Jul 1972.

Page 29 of the RAAF file is a handwritten note by Maureen, which reads:

"First indication was blue light across road. Thought it was helicopter landing speeded to pass out of light. Kept up with me. I then slowed to approximately 20mph. It slowed down too. I speed up again light followed. I then pulled to the side of the road thinking helicopter was in trouble. Got out and there it was approx two light poles high off the ground and the only noise was a light purring sound like a lift.

I froze for about 2 minutes then got into the car and  took off at high speed to escape. It followed me approx 8 miles according to the police at Rosebud to whom I reported it at aprox 9.15pm Monday 3rd July 1972.

Enclosed is a drawing I did on arriving home while it was still very clear in my mind. No portholes or windows only a very bright light."

Page 25 of the file is a sketch. Its shows an oval shaped object, 16-20ft high. There are hand written notes which say "Noise sound like moving lift. Not loud." Also, "static blue light. No smoke. No flashing lights. No portholes or windows."

Page 30 is Part 2 of the form headed "Unit evaluation." This is for the RAAF's investigating officer to complete. It shows there were no military or civilian aircraft in the area at the time. The observer's locations is given as about 38.13S, 145.04 long E. A meteorological balloon had been launched from RAAF Laverton at 2300hrs. Wind profile is shown as ' N6000 W1000 - WSW 10000. Maximum height tracked 10,000ft at 2300+."

Page 31 is a hand written note by Flt Officer R O Gibbs dated 11 Jul 1972. HQSC which reads "No military helicopter operating. Checked with DCA and local helicopter operators. Only traceable IFR helicopter based at Sale. When Mrs Puddy made initial sighting report by phone she expressed a wish not to be interviewed."

Page 23 is a memo dated 11 Jul 1972 from HQSC to DAFI which reads:

" Attached is a report received from Mrs M Puddy of Rye, giving her impressions of an alleged object sighted in the Mooraduc (Vic) area on 3rd July 1972.

2. This headquarters has no further comments to add to the information ssupplied at part 2 of the questionnaire." The memo was signed by Wing Commander W C Keritz.

(To be continued.)

Posted on behalf of Keith Basterfield due to posting problems.