Air incident - Adelaide - 27 January 2014

Hi all,

Introduction:

In a recent post on his blog (click here), Melbourne researcher Paul Dean, reported on 13 pilot and air traffic control observations he obtained from Air Services Australia, (ASA) using the Freedom of Information Act. As I commented in my own blog post on this release (click here), many of these were of illuminated garbage-bags, chinese lanterns, and other such mundane objects. However, there were three which were more interesting, particularly an incident documented to have happened over Adelaide, South Australia in January 2014. Paul challenged us all to provide a "plain english" version of these events, rather than the technical language used in the ASA release. Here then is such a description of the Adelaide event.


Adelaide incident:

1. At about 9.45am central standard time, on the morning of the 27 January 2014, Tiger Airline flight number 484, from Melbourne to Adelaide, an Airbus 320, was inbound on the last leg of its journey. It was to land at the 05 Adelaide runway, following the Alexi 5 Victor Standard Arrival Route. Alexi is the name of a fixed reference ("waypoint") at latitude 35deg 39mins south and longitude 139deg 04mins south.

2. At some uncited point in its final approach, flight 484 reported traffic at its 12 o'clock position, 5 nautical miles (NM) distance, i.e. in front of the aircraft.

3. Adelaide approach reported there was no observed traffic in that vicinity.

4. Flight 484 then requested a turn onto heading 210 degrees. 484 then reported the traffic was now in their right 3 o'clock position, 2.5 NM away. It was apparently seen visually. 484 then advised that it was turning back for its visual standard approach to the runway.

5. 484 then asked Adelaide approach had they any traffic on radar at their 3 o'clock position at 4NM?

6. Adelaide approach replied that they had an Airbus 320 past the 3 o'clock position at 6.8NM. Adelaide approach asked 484 if this was the traffic 484 was referring to? 484 replied that they were not sure. They had their traffic showing at 2.5NM, same level.

7. Shortly after this a Jetstar aircraft flight 774, another Airbus 320, flying Melbourne to Adelaide reported that their traffic collision avoidance system showed "something" at the waypoint named BATIP, (latitude 35deg 00.4mins south, longitude 138deg 26.9 east) "hovering" at 2000 feet, then it disappeared.


Additional information:

At 9am that morning the Bureau of Meteorology observations for Adelaide airport were:

Temperature 27.4 deg C. Relative humidity 23%. Cloud cover zero. Wind direction north. Wind speed 9 km/hr. MSLP 1014.8.


Helpful diagrams:

1. A diagram showing standard arrival route Alexi 6 victor STAR into Adelaide airport runway 05, may be viewed at, click here. Note the waypoints marked Alexi and ANVAC.

2. A diagram overlaid on a map of Adelaide (click here) shows the route aircraft take to runway 05 using the Alexi route (the Air Services Australia website does not have an Alexi 5 victor STAR route on it). Note this route goes through the waypoint ANVAC (see diagram above). This second diagram also shows the location of waypoint BATIP where "something" was said to have "hovered." This waypoint is actually out over the ocean, off the coast of Adelaide.

I hope this "plain english" material will assist readers understand what happened that morning.

Note added 5 February 2015.

Melbourne researcher Paul Dean submitted another FOI to Air Services Australia, who released further information on the incident:

The incident was reviewed on 5 February 2014 by ASA employee, Paul Hart who wrote:
"Requested radar replay to ascertain location of traffic. PH 5/2 review of replay suggests this was not a spurious return as following aircraft experienced similar, there was no breakdown of separation. Not ATS attributable." Then there are some radio buttons which indicate close occurrence (No Inv or LL). This stands for no investigation and no lessons learned.

Air safety issues in Australia, and UAP

Introduction:

Since the 1950's, aircraft pilots in Australia have periodically reported observations of unidentified aerial phenomena  (UAP.)  My catalogue of the more interesting UAP reports from Australia ( click here) contains dozens of such reports, including the following two from 1997.

28 September 1997 Jacobs Well, Queensland 2359hrs
Pilot Rob Hill and passenger were flying between Brisbane and Lismore in a helicopter when they sighted an unusual object, with three lights on it, spaced evenly along its side. It tilted like an aircraft banking, and disappeared. Brisbane air traffic control advised him that there was no other traffic in the area. (The Northern Star newspaper, 3 October 1997.)

1 December 1997 Kangaroo Island, South Australia 2330hrs
Mr Kym Koch, flying at 4000 feet between Adelaide and Kingscote reported seeing an object low on the horizon. He described it as a very bright, round, orange coloured object at 20 degrees elevation. He was then contacted by Adelaide approach radar who told him they had received a report from Kangaroo Island Police about the same object. A police officer had been watching it for 9 minutes as it travelled westwards. It was also reported that it was detected by radar. (Channel 7 news, and Sunday Mail newspaper 7 December 1997.)


Observations versus air safety issues:

Most of the reports from pilots, are simply observations of something they considered unusual, similar to many such visual observations from the ground. However, a number of the reports represent a potential air safety issue, where they appears to be the possibility of a near-miss or a collision. Examples of this are:

19 March 2014 Perth, Western Australia 0913hrs
A Skippers aviation aircraft with passengers onboard was about to land at Perth international airport, when the crew sighted an approaching object. A green coloured, cylindrical object passed the aircraft at close range, after the command pilot changed course to avoid what he thought would be a collision. The full report on this event may be read here.

30 August 1975 Off Townsville, Queensland 1233z
The crew of a RAAF Neptune patrol aircraft were flying at 3000 feet. A group of three white/yellow lights approached the aircraft, and the pilot made a left turn to avoid what he believed to be an imminent mid-air collision. Click here to read my full report.


Australian aviation authorities:

In Australia there are three separate agencies involved at government level. These are:

1. Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Click here for their website.
2. Australian Transport Safety Bureau. For their website click here.
3. Air Services Australia. Click here to read about them.


2010 - who receives reports of possible UAP?

In 2010 I submitted Freedom of Information requests to all three agencies asking them for any documents they held on the subject of "unidentified flying objects." I received responses from all three agencies. CASA essentially said they held no such documents. The ATSB and ASA provided an amount of documentation. I reported on their responses in a series of blog posts,  ATSB click here; ASA click here.


2015 - ask again

This year, Melbourne colleague, Paul Dean, wrote to Air Services Australia under the FOI Act and asked them for documents concerning:

“….any incidences where flight crews have reported any:

 

1) Unusual, Unknown, or Unidentifiable Aircraft or Objects;

2) Suspected Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles;

3) Meteoric Events, fireballs and the like;

4) Especially unusual weather phenomenon;

 

which are held on ESIR or CIRRIS database(s)."

The ASA searched their database and retrieved 13 pilot and ATC reports, fitting Paul's request.


The documents:

Some of the ASA reports have mundane observations, for example:

ATS-0071534 26 October 2008 7:44 Canberra tower.

At approximately 0744 z, 3 large black objects were
observed rising from the vicinity of Mt Mugga,
ascending and drifting south. Probably home made
hot air ballons using black plastic and a flame
source at the base. 2 RPT acft on final RWY 35 were
advised about the objects and that tower
considered the objects to be far enough west of
final to not impinge on their approach to land. One
of the objects then caught fire and disappeared,
whilst the other 2 continued to climb and drift to
the south east across final for RWY 35. QFA805 was
vectored to the west of final for a rejoin from the
west to avoid the objects. Objects last sighted
about 6 nm to south east of Canberra around 3000 to
5000 feet

and:

ATS-0072538 4 December 2008 9:35 Cairns Tower
Unidentified lights, believed to be floating lanterns,
released from one of the beaches (assumed to be
Holloways or Machans Beaches) . 2 lots of 3
'lanterns' released 10 mins apart, and floated up
just east of final. Qld police notified. Qld police also
received public reports of same. All relevant
aircraft on final notified.

Three of the ASA observations are of more interest. These are:

 

ATS-0075593 10 April 2009 1:53 TOPS
ANO332 tracking DN‐KU on descent, reported an
'airprox' with an unknown aircraft approximately
opposite direction, at approximately A090.
Subsequent questioning of the crew elicited that
the aircraft was observed approximately 3‐4 NM
east of the flight planned track and followed on
TCAS, but there was no RA, nor was the aircraft
sighted. Weather conditions were VMC. ANO332
reported unable to raise the aircraft on VHF.ATS
surveillance is not available in this part of the
airspace so the report was unable to be
corroborated by ATC. No flights matching the aircraft 
were known to the ATS system.

ATS-0098025 26 September 2012 2:11 Sydney TMA
TGW581 reported a red cylindrical object passing
the aircraft in the opposite direction when climbing
through FL200 aproximately 20 nm miles south of
Sydney.

ATS-0126807 26 January 2014 23:19 Adelaide TMA
At 2315Z TGW484, inbound on the ALEXI 05V STAR
reported having traffic at 12 o'clock, 5NM. AAE
reported there was no observed traffic in that
vicinity. TGW484 then requested a turn onto
heading 210. TGW484 then reported the traffic in
their right, 3 o'clock 2.5 NM "visual", and were
turning back for the VSA. TGW484 then asked if
AAE had the traffic on radar, 3' o'clock at 4NM. AAE
replied they had an A320 past the 3 o'clock at
6.8NM. AAE confirmed whether that was the traffic
they had reported, which TGW reported they were
not sure, they had had traffic showing 2.5 NM
same level. Shortly after JST774 following TGW
reported TCAS showing something at BATIP,
"hovering" at A020, which then disappeared.

Paul has now submitted a further FOI request to ASA asking for any further documents they hold about three specific observations provided by them in response to Paul's initial FOI request. It will be interesting to see what emerges.

Cold case review - Moe, Victoria - My analysis

Introduction:

This is the fourth in a four part series of posts about the classic 15 February 1963 incident near Moe, Victoria. In this post I attempt an analysis of the observation.


Comments and analysis:

1. This is a very puzzling case. I have, for some reason, always had the impression that the event lasted some minutes. It is clear that it did not. At most it lasted 15 to 16 seconds (McDonald 1967). The only other estimate of duration available, is that when it hovered. Brew himself said, this phase lasted 4-5 seconds. (VFSRS 1963.) It is therefore  a short duration event.

2. The absolute size of the object is given by Brew as 25 feet by 9-10 feet. These estimates appear to have been made when the object was at its closest approach, estimated at 75 feet. An angular size of some 18 degrees is implied by these figures. This is equivalent to 36 full Moons side by side in the sky. However, these estimates of Brew's, may, or may not be accurate. Maybe it would be better to say that the more certain information is that the ratio of the object's diameter to its height (minus the top "antenna") was roughly 3 to 1.

3. The shape of the object, as shown in both the RAAF and VFSRS investigations, does not agree with the shape expected to be seen if the RAAF's tornado-like phenomenon suggestion is adopted. A tornado, in whatever form, would be expected to be taller than wider, shaped like a cone or rope shape.

4. The sound heard is another interesting aspect, variously described as  "swishing, burbling-type sound" (RAAF); "swishing" (VFSRS) and "diggerydoo" (McDonald.) Both Charles and Trevor report hearing this loud and unusual noise at the same time.

5. A further unusual aspect is the possible correlation of a headache to Brew when "gazing at the perspex canopy." (VFSRS).


Is the RAAF's explanation viable?

6. What then are we to think of the RAAF's suggested tornado-like phenomenon? At first glance, the reported structured object; the headache; the noise and the shape, all appear to disagree with this suggestion. The RAAF report states that the CSIRO meteorological people were in some agreement with such an explanation.

7. The fact that the object descended from the cloud base; was moving in the direction of the wind (as stated by Brew but different from the RAAF); and was rotating in part, anti-clockwise; and went back into the cloud base in a few seconds, at first had me thinking "funnel cloud."


Funnel cloud?

8. A "funnel cloud" is a funnel shaped cloud of condensed water dropletes associated with a rotating column of air. This funnel extends from the base of a cloud and does not reach the ground like a conventional tornado. Photographs of "funnel clouds" which I perused on the Internet reinforce the fact that the funnel is linked to the clouds and it does not detach from the cloud.

9. Brew described his object as descending from the clouds to a  height of 75-100 feet and then going back up into the clouds. His estimate of time for the stationary phase is 4-5 seconds.

10. Two hours later, the weather observer at Yallourn stated the type of clouds visible then and there were "Fracto-Stratus." "These low gray clouds are small, thin, unorganized tatters that typically condense in the moisture beneath nimbostratus or cumulonimbus clouds." (Click here). The bases of these clouds are usually found near the ground to around 6,500 feet." Funnel clouds are usually associated with cumulonimbus or cumulus clouds.

11. A check on the Internet revealed a general concensus that sounds associated with funnel clouds are "similar to buzzing bees, or a rushing waterfall-like sound, roaring sucking sound." (Click here.)


12. Points favouring a funnel cloud as an explantion for the object seen at Moe, are:

1. They form in similar weather to that reported at Moe.
2.They do rotate.
3. They do appear grey in colour.
4.They have associated sounds similar to that described by the Brews.
5. They are of short duration, seconds to minutes.
6. They move in the direction of the prevailing wind.
7. They are most likely during the summer months, e.g. February.
8. White or blue glows have been reported in association with them.


Points against a funnel cloud:

1. They do not detach themselves from their associated cloud base.
2. Their description in the literature, does not match that reported by Brew.

However, you can see why the tornado-like phenomenon appealed to both the CSIRO and the RAAF .


Another possible meteorological explanation?

13. Interestingly, my review of the meteorological information on tornados and tornado-like phenomenon revealed that there might be an even better fit for the object seen at Moe.

That is, a "gustnado", which is short for a gust front tornado. Gustnados were not know about in 1963.  The Australian Bureau of Meteorology describes them as follows:

"The gustnado has been accepted as a 'type of tornado' but is really a brief, intense vortex that forms on the leading edge of gust fronts. Scud and debris or dirt may be seen but a condensation funnel is usually absent. They will last from a few seconds to several minutes and are strong enough to cause minor damage. They are distinguished from a true tornado by their location under an advancing dark cloud bank, or shelf cloud ahead of the rain core. Although the air is rotating, this event is grouped more appropriately with straight-line winds (downbursts and microbursts)." (Click here.)  The BOM website has an interesting photograph,, which shows a gustnado, taken in Melbourne, Victoria. The gustnado, if tipped on its side would appear as a grey, rotating, discoid form. (Click here for photo.)

The column is not connected to, nor has it developed from the cloud like a tornado or a funnel cloud. A gustnado lasts for from seconds to a few minutes.Unlike a tornado the rotating column of air does not extend all the way to the cloud base. They may only extend to 10 to 100 metres  above the ground with no apparent connection to the cloud.

The Bureau of Meteorlogy's website Storm spotters Handbook says they have an anti-clockwise rotation. Like other funnels they may generate noise and light.


What did Brew see?

14. After reading all four posts in this series, which provides detailed information on the event, and the information provided on tornado-like phenomenon, you will have to make up your own mind what it was that Charles Brew saw on the morning of 15 February 1963.

Cold case review - Moe, Victoria - McDonald investigation

Introduction:

This is the third in a four part series of posts about the classic 15 February 1963 incident near Moe, Victoria. In this post I present details of the investigation conducted by the US researcher, James E McDonald.

James E McDonald.

James E McDonald interviewed Charles Brew and his son Trevor, in 1967 during a visit from America to Australia. Courtesy of Dr Michael Swords I obtained a copy of McDonald's handwritten notes. McDonald's handwriting is difficult to read , so I will simply summarise the relevant notes, in three categories. Firstly, points of information which agree with that given by either the RAAF or VFSRS investigations; then points of difference, and finally information which I did not come across in either of these investigations.

Points of agreement:

1. Object came down from the east.
2. It was raining heavily at the time.
3. It was not dark.
4. Colored tin top. Bottom flat. Top was glass, something transparent.
5. Took off to the west, uphill from shed.
6. Climbed out at 45 degrees.
7. Spun anti-clockwise from above.
8. Headache that day.

Points of difference:

1. Time was 0700.
2. Hovered 10 seconds at tree top height.
3. Dome was not completely clean. Murky. Frosty. Thinks may have seen figures. Head, shoulders - no movement, not small.

New information:

1. Trevor was at the south end of the shed, blocked view.
2. Drop in milk for a week or so.
3. For 6 months couldn't get them past the spot.
4. While hovering, revolved, but no rocking motion.
5. Saw no jets or flames.
6. More than a second per revolution.
7. Trevor - sound not like engine noise. Loud. Like a throwing stick. Magnificent sound. Pleasant.
8. Total time of sighting 15-16 seconds.
9. Came out of cloud base, perhaps half a mile away.
10. Trevor did not get a headache.

It should be noted that these notes were made nearly four years after the event, with whatever might have been the effect on Brew's memory, with the passage of that amount of time.

Although we do not have access to an investigation report by McDonald, we do have the text of a talk which McDonald gave to the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute Astronautics Symposium on 12 March 1968 titled "UFOs-An International Scientific Problem." This talk features a section on the Moe case.

"Case 10. Moe, Victoria, February 15, 1963.

To maintain a certain international tone, in keeping with the title of my remarks, I close with another interesting sighting made in a distant area. With the aid of the Melbourne VFSRS group, I was able to interview Australian farmer Charles Brew and his son Trevor last summer. They operate a small dairy farm east of Melbourne, near Moe, Victoria. My interview was carried out in the milking shed where Brew and his son Trevor were working at about 7am Feb 15, 1963 when an unusual object swooped down nearby.

It was already light on this summer morning, although rainclouds lay overhead. Trevor was working in a part of the milking shed where his view of the eastern sky was obscured and he did not see the object during its short duration passage nearby.

Charles Brew however, was standing in an opening, with a full view to the eastern sky when the object descended towards his shed and cattle-pens at an angle that he put at about 45 degrees. The object might be loosely described as a domed disc, estimated by Brew at 25 feet in diameter, gray in color except for a transparent dome on top. Around the circumference of the object he saw an array of scoop-like or bucket-like vanes or protruberances.

As the object swooped down, almost as if to land on the hillside nearby, the cattle and horses reacted in a violent panic which Brew described in his own words as unprecedented  It descended to an altitude that he judged to be 75-100 feet, as estimated by the height of a tree near its point of  minimal altitude. Then, after seeming to hover near the tree for a few seconds, it began a climb of roughly 45 degrees continuing on its westward course and passing into the cloud deck again.

The dome was not rotating, but the central section and  bottom section appeared to be rotating at about once a second, Brew judged. The spinning motion caused the protruberances (Brew thought) to generate the swishing noise, somewhat like a turbine noise, that was clearly audible not only to Brew but also to Trevor, located inside the shed and not far from a diesel unit powering the milking machines. The sound was even audible over the latter local noise sources, Trevor said.

 It took some time to recover the animals that had bolted, and those already inside the fenced area were strongly disturbed for some time. Brew stated to me that it was many days before any of his cattle would walk over the point of the hillside over which the object had momentarily hovered. Brew himself reported that an uncommon headache persisting for a number of hours after the incident, but whether this was fortuitous cannot be concluded.

Brew has been interviewed many times by Australian investigators without any reason being found to discount his unusual sighting. My reaction to Brew was similar.

It is unfortunate that the son was not in a position to confirm the sighting but he confirms the unusual sound ("like a diggerydoo" as Brew put it.) The object is similar in its general features and size to that seen by a witness I interviewed in New Zealand, Mrs Eileen Moreland. Her July 1959 observation, like Brew's, and like that of many other UFO witnesses is extremely difficult to explain in present-day scientific or technological terms."

In Michael Swords' digitised files, is a copy of the July 1963 APRO Bulletin report on the case. It has been annotated by McDonald in his own handwriting. In part, it reads:

"Berson regarded his story as beyond reproach, but stated in his analysis that the only (two words unable to be read) explanation was "some weather phenomenon" and this was taken up by RAAF as the explanation, and case was called 'closed.'"

Part four of this series will present my analysis of the incident.

Cold case review - Moe, Victoria - the VFSRS investigation

Introduction:

This is the second in a four part series of posts about the classic 15 February 1963 incident near Moe, Victoria. In this post I present details of the investigation conducted by the Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society.

A prime piece of original documentation, which few researchers have ever seen, is a transcript of a "Tape recorded interview with Mr Charles Brew by Mr Peter Norris, President, Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society."



 A snip of part of the VFSRS transcript.

It reads:

"Question. What time did you make the sighting, Mr Brew?
Answer. It would be about 10 past 7, it was. Yes, 10 past 7, definitely.

Q. What were you doing at the time?
A. We were milking and half way approximately half way through, I'd say.

Q. Yes , how did you first notice the object come down?
A. Well I was lookin' out over the cows as I referred to you a while ago and it came down very steeply out of the east, oh, I'd say at about 45 degrees.

Q. And what did the object look like when you first saw it? What were your reactions?
A. Well I thought it was a helicopter at first.

Q. What made you think that?
A. On account of it being round and I've naturally never, ever seen one of these turnouts before. That would be asking too much!

Q. Yes, and what did you see when the object came fairly close to you?
A. Oh well, I noticed first of all the colouring, and after that the top 2/3 when it came down and hovered, was stationary and the lower section was turning in an anti-clockwise direction - noticed that - and also as I pointed out, those scoop-like protrusions around the side which I think was making the noise-the swishing noise, that is.

The VFSRS sketch.

Q. And at this stage, how far was the object from you?
A. Oh, I'd say 75 feet away - perhaps a little further - and about the same distance up in the air.

Q. How did you calculate the height of the object?
A. Well I calculated the height by those trees. I'd say they were approximately 75 feet high. It might have been a shade higher that those, of course.

Q. Yes, that would be quite right I would say. Now once again, getting back to the general appearance of the object, can you describe the top point of the object?
A. Well, the top, the very top section, the dome section, that is, was sort of what we would call perspex or glass material or whatever you like but whatever that was, I couldn't say. The middle section, that is the middle section between the perspex and the part that was rotating, was sort of battleship grey and looked to me like some sort of metallic material. I couldn't say for sure, of course, and the bottom is I said, was rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. Well, I couldn't say what sort of material it was definitely made of but the Air Force chaps asked me that too. As near as I could say, it seemed something the same material as motor cars. Just by lookin' at it, you know.

Q. What was the size of the object?
A. Well I'd say as near as I could judge about 25 feet across - perhaps a little more - if anything a little more.

Q. Well what about the height?
A. Oh I'd say overall, about 9 feet as near as I could judge. Might have been a bit more of course it's hard to judge when you only see a thing for a few seconds, but I'd say 9 or 10 feet.

Q. You didn't actually seen anybody in it through what appeared to be a glass portion on the top. On the dome?
A. No, on a clear day you may have but as I said, it was raining heavy, and no, I can't honestly say I did see anybody although I was lookin' hard enough.

Q. Looking at the object from the underneath part, what could you see there?
A. Well when it was hovering, I could see the scoop-like protrusions, or whatever they were, which seemed to be making the swishing noise. After that, when it took off, it was the blueish or sort of pale blueish colour underneath. That's as near as I can tell you, as much as I can tell you really, about the lower section.

Q. And when it took off, what did you notice? Well first of all, of course it did hover, for some little time?
A. Well, I'd say for a space of 4 or 5 seconds, which is  not long I know.

The VFSRS sketch of the scene. 

Q. Yes, and then after that it took off, did it, and if so, at what speed would you calculate?
A. Oh well, we reckon, Trevor and I reckon, a jet would probably have to add up speed to match the speed.

Q. And it took off instantly?
A. Yes, flying from a flying start - you know, not a flying start but a standing start - and very fast and very steep.

Q. It went straight up did it?
A. I'll say it came in and went out at about the same angle at 45 degrees, as near as I can judge.

Q. Getting back to the appearance of the object. I think you said you noticed something on top of the dome?
A. Yes, it seemed to be an aerial sort of thing - I'd say about 5 or 6 feet long and it did seem to be either chrome or some lightish metal thing. Whether it was the aerial or not, I couldn't say. I was speaking to the other chap and he said it was.

Q. I know there were some cows and other stock in the yard at the time of the sighting, Mr Brew?
A. Yes, we had half done. We were half-way, half of them are milked out and the other half still had to go through.

Q. What was their reaction to the sighting?
A. Well, as I said to your other chap who was here, they done everything bar turn somersaults. They put in the paper that they did turn somersaults but that's carrying it a bit far! They certainly played up. I've never seen cows play up like that before and they never take any notice (quite happy before) of an ordinary jet. A jet can go over and they just take not notice at all but they really played up this day.

Q. Did you have anyone helping you milk the cows?
A. Yes, we had Trevor there and as I said, unfortunately he never seen it but he did hear it and he said "What was that?" and I said "A flying saucer" and he said "Don't be so and so silly, you know those things don't exist" or something to that effect and I said "Well this was a flying saucer, definitely." He said "Well it certainly moved off the mark, it travelled twice as fast as a jet." I said "Well it certainly went away fast, just like somebody had it on a blooming Yo-yo or something. Really went off with a bang."

Q. So he didn't hear it until it actually moved away and then of course, it was too late?
A. No, he didn't see it, unfortunately, but he certainly heard it go.

Q. Have you been interviewed by any representatives of the Government?
A. Yes, as I said the CSIRO were here and number one question as far as they were concerned - he asked me did I get a headache. I said "Well, it's strange that you should ask me that because I thought it was too ridiculous I would never have mentioned it. But I did get an awful headache just behind the eyes. I never suffer from headaches normally and I took a Bex and I went in but it didn't seem to have any effect. It just wore off itself towards night - took all day long to wear off.

Q. When did you first get the headache?
A. Oh when I was sort of gazing at the perspex canopy business I noticed it.

Q. It came on immediately, did it?
A. Yes, more or less. Yes. Yes.

Q. What did the CSIRO man say? Incidentally, do you know his name? What's his name?
A. Er, Mr Berson. Yes Mr Berson was his name.

Q. And what did he say about the headache?
A. "Well" he said, "that ties in with what our theory, we always had the impression that it was (what would you say?) he gave me the impression it was electromagnetic or something to that effect - that's beyond me - but he said that would more than likely cause the headache and it certainly took all day to get rid of it, anyhow. I know that.

Q. What else did the CSIRO do?
A. Well, as I said he took away samples of rock - they were very interested in that - because he said being a sort of an ironstone, it may have some attraction for it. And there is the reef as I said and it winds right though here and it came over that reef, more or less parallel with it.

Q. How long after the sighting occurred, did the CSIRO come down here?
A. They were here about 4 days after and the Air Force about a week or near the best part of a week after that.

Q.  Oh, the Air Force came down as well did they? Who came down from the Air Force?
A. Well Mr Murdoch was one of them, the only name I can recall.

Q.  Was he in uniform?
A. Yes, they were all in uniform.

Q. They were officers, were they?
A. Yes, I would say high officers, high ranking officers, anyhow.

Q. What did they do?
A. Well they photographed the surrounding country, that was the Baw Baws, Mt Macdonald. Long distance cameras and took light cloud and cloud plus, you know, how much blue was showing in the sky - all that sort of thing. It's a bit beyond me, some of the things they done but all those things.

Q. Did they have instruments?
A. Yes, they had the cameras and they tapping the rocks and took particular notice of the rock formation also. Don't know for what reason but they did. Yes, they said that after I drew them the sketch, that it was similar to other sightings to what had been seen in other countries. It tallied also exactly with what's been seen over there, but they didn't think it was quite as big as that. Yes, they said it was approximately, to the best of their knowledge, the lowest it had been and the best sighting.

Q. That was in Australia, was it?
A. Yes, from what I could gather, here.

Q. Did anyone else come down from the Government?
A. Yes, I had the Aeronautical expert from, I think liaison officer, I think that was the Sale Air Base. He asked similar questions and he wanted to know if there was any engine noise but we never heard any engine noise, not as we know engines today.

Q. To get back to the object itself, did you notice any light coming from the object itself at any time?
A. No. There was no light, no light in the dome business and no light underneath."

That is the end of the transcript.


CSIRO letter:

On 8 April 1963 Dr F A Berson of the Division of Meteorological Physics, CSIRO responded to a letter from the VFSRS,  which included:

"I visited Mr Brew in company of a friend of mine, but we did not take any rock sample. But I know that somebody else did."


My comments:

1. Given the data in the VFSRS transcript, at one point Brew states that the object was 75 feet away from him, and it was 25 feet in diameter. It is now possible to work out an estimate of angular size. An object of 25 feet across at 75 feet distance subtends an angle at the observer's eye of 18 degrees, which is equivalent to placing 36 full Moons side by side in the sky. This is a very large angular size indeed.

2. Trying to estimate a sense of the total duration of the event, we have Brew's three stages, initial descent, hovering point, and fast departure. Brew estimated it hovered for  4or 5 seconds, so we are left with a total duration for the event of greater than 4-5 seconds.

3. We can estimate its angular elevation at one point. Brew states that it was 75 feet away and about the same distance up in the air, ie 75 feet. Trigonometry shows that at this point, it was therefore at 45 degrees elevation from the ground. This appears to be at the point it hovered.

4. However, Brew did not state in which compass direction this point of hovering occurred. Can we work it out from the sketch of the property, assuming the traditional method of upwards being north? If so, then the point of hovering was to the north of Brew.

5. In my post about the sketch attached to the RAAF's report, I concluded that there was no way to be certain who actually drew that sketch (even though in the VFSRS transcript Brew says,  "they said that after I drew them the sketch..." but which sketch is this referring to?) and therefore no way to judge how accurately the RAAF sketch reflected the object Brew saw.

Now, looking at the sketch in the VFSRS material, are we any the wiser? Unfortunately, I don't think we are. The VFSRS sketch is not  signed "Drawn By Brew;" or "Drawn under the direction of Brew." It contains handwritten notes. The handwriting on the sketch appears the same as the handwriting on the sketch of the property, but again the sketch of the property is also not signed "Drawn by Brew" or "Drawn by Peter Norris." However, one clue is that the sketch of the property says in one place "Mr Brew's house." If Brew had done this sketch, you would imagine he would have used the phrase "My house." This suggests to me that neither the sketch of the object, nor the sketch of the property were drawn by Brew himself, but by others.

In summary, if Brew did not draw the VFSRS object sketch, I have to ask how accurately does it represent the actual object Brew saw?


Part three of this four part series will present the investigation by James E McDonald.

Cold case review - Moe, Victoria - The RAAF investigation

Introduction:

A classic Australian UAP case is the observation of an unusual object, by farmer Charles Brew, near Moe, Victoria on 15 February 1963. The event features in early UAP literature, including:

* The Australian Flying Saucer Review no. 8, p.10. June 1965.
* The English Flying Saucer Review, vol.16 no.5, p.19
* Holledge, J. 1965. "Flying Saucers Over Australia" pp14, 7 86-88.
* APRO Bulletin, July 1963, front page.


Cold case review:

As with my previous "cold case" reviews, I sought out  the most original sources of documentation about this case, and not the currently distilled secondary and tertiary sources found on the Internet.

There were at least three independent investigations of which I am aware. One by the Royal Australian Air Force at the time; a second by the Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society (also at the time); and one by US researcher James E McDonald in 1967. I secured copies of all this original documentation. I will be providing an in depth look, and "cold case" analysis in a series of four blog posts.


The RAAF investigation:

A digitised copy of this documentation is available from the National Archives of Australia, file series A703, control symbol 580/1/1 part 4, pages 373-390.

The RAAF documentation includes:

1. A covering letter, dated 18 March 1963, from J S Gooch, Wing Commander, Headquarters Support Command, Melbourne, to Secretary, Department of Air, Canberra.

2. A two page investigation report.

(National Archives of Australia (NAA) file series A703, control symbol 580/1/1 part 4.)

3. A sketch of the object.

(NAA file series A703, control symbol 580/1/1 part 4.)

4. A map of the area.

 (NAA file series A703, control symbol 580/1/1 part 4.)
5. A letter from the Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society dated 8 March 1963.

6. A response letter to the VFSRS, dated 1 April 1963.

7. A press clipping.

 

Key document:

The key document, is the two page investigation report, signed by Flt Lt N Hudson and Sqdn Ldr A F Javes. It reads:

"Report on investigation of an un-identified flying object at Moe, Victoria

1. Flt Lt N Hudson and Sqdn Ldr A F Javes were detailed to investigate an un-identified flying object which was reported in daily papers on 16th February 1963.

2. Contact was made with the observer (Mr C Brew) and he was visited at his property on Monday 4th March 1963. The location of the property is shown on the attached map.

Description of object sighted:

3. The following is a description of the object by Mr C Brew:

(a) At 0710hrs on Friday 15th February 1963 whilst milking cows, he noticed an object descending from an easterly direction to about 75 ft (estimated against height of adjacent trees). Hovered for a brief period of time and then accelerated away at high speed to the west.

(b) The structure of the object appeared to be man made. It was about 25ft in diameter and about 9ft high (sketch attached). The lower portion, about 3ft high, was rotating in an anti-clockwise direction and was of a blue-ish appearance. The upper portion appeared to be stationary, battleship grey in colour with a transparent dome. Protruding out of this dome was something which resembled a broom handle. No figures were visible in the dome. Then Mr Brew stated "It looked like a flying merry-go-round"! "There was a swishing and burbling-type sound."

Personal observation of observer:

4. Managing property at Willow Grove for Cr Kilpatrick. Aged about 50-60 years. Has been a farmer all his life and has never served in the forces. Doesn't read books or write very much. Did not ascertain whether he reads comics. Appears to be genuine because story continues to be repeated without any detectable variations. Property is some 1,500 acres and runs only 150 cows of which he milks 80-85 a day. He also stated that he is teetotal and does not suffer any abnormalities to his health.

Meteorological conditions:

5. Mr Brew stated that it was raining heavily and continuously with very low cloud and poor visibility. He did not observe any thunder or lighting. The wind was fresh and easterly in direction.

6. The Meteorological Department provided the following Yallourn observer's report for 0900 on 15 Feb 1963:
(a) Wind direction - Westerly at 8 knots.
(b) Visibility - 4 miles.
(c) Moderate rain (19 points recorded in 24 hours 0900 145h to 0900 15th.
(d) Cloud. 6/8 cloud. Fracto-stratus.

CSIRO - Meteorological Physics Discussions:

7. On 6th March, Dr Berson and Mr Clarke were interviewed to see if clouds could give this type of phenomenon. They agreed that a tornado condition could give this effect. The direction of rotation of Brew's report was consistent with known facts for the southern hemisphere. The bluish colouring has been reported previously and is probably due to  electric discharge and there would be a smell of ozone. The only difference in Brew's report is that the object moved from East to West because all previous reports to the CSIRO Met Section of this nature have been from West to East. Mr Brew stated that the wind was fresh and from an easterly direction. However, meteorological report states that wind was westerly at 8 knots.

Aircraft movements:

8. Enquiries have revealed that there were no service or civil aircraft authorised to operate in the area at the time.

Conclusion:

9. There is little doubt that Brew did witness something and it is most likely that it was a natural phenomenon. The phenomenon was probably a tornado. There was no reported damage along its path, therefore one could assume that it was weak in nature.


VFSRS letter:

Part of the letter from the VFSRS to the Department of Air read:

"We would be obliged if you will advise us of your evaluation on this sighting." The Department of Air response, included:

"2. Our investigations and enquiries reveal that there are scientific records of certain tornado-like meteorological manifestations which have a similar appearance in many ways to whatever was seen by Mr Brew.

3. The information is however, that while we accept this as a possibility, we are unable to come to any firm conclusion as to the nature of the object or manifestation reported."


My comments:

1. It is interesting to note that I have not been able to locate any completed "Unidentified Aerial Sighting" (UAS) standard RAAF proforma on this case. It appears that non was completed. Perhaps this was due either to the fact the Brew appears to have been semi-literate, or that an interview was conducted and an investigation report prepared instead.

2. However, with no proforma, we are missing certain information, including an estimate of the object's angular size. One forms the impression from the details of the object's structure that it was far from a simple point source, and in fact subtended a reasonable angular size. However, on the information given in the RAAF's report, one cannot estimate this angular size.

3. The sketch attached to the RAAF report is not signed "Drawn by Mr Brew" or "Drawn by Flt Lt Hudson at the direction of Mr Brew." In fact, we cannot ascertain who drew this sketch, and therefore we do not know how accurately it portrays what Brew saw.

4. The RAAF's conclusion that the observation might be explained as a "tornado-like meteorological manifestation" will be discussed in a latter part of this series of posts on the case.

5. Sunrise that morning was at 0543hrs, some 1 hour and 27 minutes before the time of the event according to Brew.

6. The latitude of Moe, Victoria is 38.1722 degrees south; longitude is 146.2678 east.  Willow Grove is latitude 38.0833 degrees south; longitude 146.2000 degrees east. Yallourn is latitude 38.1833 degrees south; longitude 146.333 degrees east.

Part 2 of this series will provide details about the VFSRS investigation.

"Fireballs" and UAP sightings

Hi all,

Introduction:

I have recently noticed that there have been a number of media reports of objects in the sky, which although headlined along the lines of "UFO screams across the sky" or "UFO caught on video," (click here ) have all the characteristics of a piece of natural material burning up spectacularly in the Earth's atmosphere. I therefore, thought it appropriate to review the subject of "fireballs."

A typical Australian example, featured in the Bundaberg News Mail newspaper of 17 January 2015 (click here.)  In part it read, "As Ryan Peat glanced up at the sky on Thursday evening he was left standing in pure astonishment after glimpsing what may have been life from another galaxy."

What had Peat seen which caused this gushing of words from the newspaper reporter? He simply reported seeing a bright blue flash of light in the sky. "It was travelling much like a shooting star but not as fast." It turned green and "...little specks of light started to trail behind it before it disintegrated." In my opinion, this has all the hallmarks of a "fireball." Note, that even Peat himself is cited in the article as saying "I now think it might have been a meteorite..."


Meteors:

"Meteor" is simply the name given to a piece of natural material burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. The word "meteor" is sometimes replaced with the words "falling star" or "shooting star." These three names refer to the same phenomenon. If you have ever seen a "meteor" in the night sky, you will know that it looks like a white coloured streak of light in the sky, for a fraction of a second. It appears, travels a short distance across the sky, and disappears.


Fireball:

A "fireball" is simply the name given to a bright "meteor," "shooting star" or "falling star." In astronomical terms, the name "fireball" is given to an object which is brighter than magnitude (an astronomical term for brightness) -4, which is about the brightest that the planet Venus gets. So, a "fireball" is a bright meteor.

A "bolide" is the name given to a "meteor" of brightness exceeding magnitude -14, which is brighter than the full Moon. If the brightness reaches -17 or brighter, it is given the name "superbolide." For comparison, on the magnitude scale the Sun is -26.

A "fireball" is more spectacular than most "meteors." It often leaves a very vivid impression, that often a witness fails to connect with the word "meteor." Note that the 17 January 2015 Bundaberg witness said what he saw was "travelling much like a shooting star but not as fast." Here he was initially implying that he thought that the object he was watching was not a "meteor."

On the 4 August 2014 a "fireball" was reported by hundreds of people living in Perth, Western Australia. It appeared as a blue-green light which travelled across the morning sky about 6am. One observer, Simon, stated that the "blue light descended relatively slowly." he said it lasted two to three seconds. It was photographed by the Australian Desert Fireball Network.

Australian websites such as that of Sydney Observatory ( click here) often carry reports which appear to be of "fireballs." For example,

January 06, 2015 at 9:00 pm, Michelle said:

Hi we live in Port Augusta South Australia and we were sitting outside around midnight and we saw a large light traveling roughly in an easterly direction which then quickly turned into a fire ball with a really large tail. It was traveling so fast we didn’t have time to record it as it dissapeared over the Flinders Ranges. No sound at all, clear starry sky and full moon. We haven’t heard of anyone locally that saw it but it blew us away because of the size and how spectacular it was!

January 03, 2015 at 11:24 pm, Vikkii said:

Just saw what I at first thought was a shooting star but it was super bright and travelled across the whole sky.
Spotted it from 30k south of yass and it went from NW to SE .
Beautiful clear sky tonight
Whatever it was it was very bright & had an amazing tail

January 03, 2015 at 1:07 am, Shirley said:

Around 20 min past midnight tonight (03/01/2015)a bright yellowish ball of fire appeared at the sky falling down easterly in quite a speed. Turning into red and appeared to explode and vanished. Never seen that before.

Information you need to know:

* "Fireballs" can be seen both at night and during the day

* They can develop two kinds of trails, namely trains and smoke trails. Smoke trails have been reported to last up to 45 minutes after the "fireball" has gone

* They can show vivid colours, ranging from red through to blue

* There are two types of reported sounds associated with them, namely sonic booms, and electrophonic sounds. The latter can be heard as hissing static, sizzling or popping sounds

* The natural material which was see as a "meteor" can range in size from a few grams up to 60 tons

* Pieces of material falling away from the parent body due to the atmospheric heat, may be reported as "sparks," "sparklers" or "little stars. " Note that the Bundaberg witness reported seeing "little specks of light started to trail behind..."

* the typical duration of a "fireball" sighting is 2-10 seconds, although there are reported observations lasting 30 seconds

* their trajectory across the sky can be from any direction to any other direction. However, they are sometimes reported to travel horizontally across the sky, perhaps even from horizon to horizon

* bright "fireballs" may be observed from a single Australian state, or sometimes they pass over a number of states.


In summary:

If you receive a UAP report which matches the descriptions given in this post, then strongly suspect that the cause is a "meteor" of some kind, possibly a "fireball." Often if you search the Internet you will then find other observations reported of that same UAP. With sufficient observations scattered over a wide enough are, it might be possible to triangulate the path of the "fireball."


Resources:

1. Each Australian state has an astronomical society which welcomes reports of "fireballs."

3. The Australian Desert Fireball Network (click here)  has been successful in photographing fireballs and welcomes reports of such observations.

4. There are networks of Australian amateur astronomers who observe "meteors" including "fireballs" and who welcome reports.  One such network is the Eastern Australia Meteor Network (click here.)

New UAP files located at the National Archives of Australia

Hi all,

I have recently located four more unexamined UAP Australian government files in the National Archives of Australia. They are:

1. File series A452, control symbol 1969/4393. Barcode 32756885, titled "Unidentified Flying Objects and mysterious happenings in Papua and New Guinea." Department of Territories. 1957-1973.

2. File series A9755, control symbol 19. Barcode 3533548, titled "RAAF Headquarters no 82 Bomber Wing, Amberley, Qld. Unusual Aerial Sightings." 1988-1989.

3. File series A9755, control symbol 20. Barcode 3533553, titled "RAAF Headquarters no 82 Bomber Wing, Amberley, Qld. Unusual Aerial Sightings." 1989-1991.

4. File series A9755, control symbol 21. Barcode 3533564, titled "RAAF Headquarters Operational Support Group - Unusual Aerial Sightings."

I have asked the NAA to examine all four files for release. This process can take up to several months. I will advise readers, of their contents when they become available.

Responses to the report on the 19 March 2014 Perth near miss

Hi all,

Thank you to all who have responded to the recent publication of the report on the 19 March 2014 Perth, near miss between an aircraft and what the Australian Transport Safety Bureau called a possible UAV. The report has gone out far and wide on the Internet with exposure in a number of countries. Some interesting comments have been made; and we have been given a number of leads to follow up. One of which has been to submit FOI requests to both the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the Australian Department of Defence for any documents they may have on the incident. Paul and I will report later, on any subsequent information we may receive

December 2014 - Monthly Australian reports roundup

Introduction:

This is the third in a series of national level Australian reports listings, compiled by myself and Paul Dean, with the kind assistance of Australian groups, and other sources.

Here are the collated reports for the month of December 2014. To submit future reports for this listing, please email last months reports to keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au before the end of the third day of the next calendar month, e.g. 3 February 2015 for reports made in, or reported in, January 2015.

Case of the month:
(Reported 3 December 2014.)

11 June 1990 0208hrs Exmouth, Western Australia 14mins Raw
"I can't tell you who I am, but I have been living with this event since 11 June 1990. I am ex-Australian military and was operating out of RAAF Base Learmouth. On the night mentioned at approximately 0208am myself and my patrol section was on a recon exercise patrol when we experienced something. A rifle section consists of  9 men, we were the only patrol out that night. The triangular craft was massive, at least 2 football fields wide. I've seen a lot of aircraft in my life time but this scared the shit out of me and my patrol. The object was black with eight dull lights (white) on 2 edges of the craft with a red light in the centre. It gave off a low humming noise, like a sub woofer amp and moved slowly at first almost like a Zepplin airship almost hanging still in the sky. We were awestruck by this object, once it was spotted, my section layed low on some dunes near the beach, and watched for approximately 14 minutes when the object went from no purpose to rapidly moving south-west for possible 5kms out to sea and then vertical like a blur. We got a clear look at what we could and the area of coast is not populated, and it was a clear night. I mentioned our experience to my flight sargent when we returned to Learmouth. It was dismissed as a USAF Galaxy transport aircraft as we had a few arriving to Learmouth to resupply the Harold E Holt US Navy Base during the week. I can tell you it was no Galaxy. I confide in you as I struggle to this day to understand what it was that we saw."
MUFON Case management system.


December reports:

7 December 2014 2148hrs Kiama Downs, New South Wales 45mins Raw
Four to five lights, red and blue, static were reported. They appeared like4-5 stars bunched together. They were not aircraft. They were seen to the east by Brian Divers.
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

7 December 2014 2300hrs Boronia, Melbourne, Victoria 45mins Raw
Erin wrote "Watching the meteor shower from my backyard in Boronia and I see a bright light "hovering" in the sky. Watch closely and the light dodges a meteor. Thinking my eyes are playing tricks on me, it's 11pm and I am tired, I wake my husband. We watch the light flicked red, white. Then it dashes across the sky to reappear back where it started. The sky is clear and weather is good. Looking north-west from 11pm to 11.45pm with the light remaining in the sky, hovering, dashing  dodging the entire time. This is not debris entering our atmosphere. This is something with a mind of its own."
http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/ufo-sightings-Melbourne

8 December 2014 00300hrs Swansea, New South Wales ?mins Raw
Christopher Pollard reported seeing a "golden sky south-west. There was lots of cloud cover and an approaching storm.
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

9 December 2014 2220hrs Mid north coast, New South Wales (8-10)secs Raw
Sitting on a beach with friends, Lana reported "we all smelled a chemically burning smell and looked up (90 degrees) and saw the biggest shooting star" travelling from the south-south-west. It slowed down, "then expanded and we saw black gaps between bright fire orange glowing fissures."
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

10 December 2014 ?hrs Como, Perth, Western Australia Few mins Raw
Leonie reported a "very bright white-blue light coming towards me from the west." As it got closer it hovered above my townhouse and there was absolutely no noise. It faded and glared several times. "It seemed like it was only about 10-20 metres above me."
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

11 December 2014 2213hrs Bridgewater, South Australia 1min Raw
A massive red ball of light lit up the sky, falling downwards in "slow motion." The sky was clear.
http://syndeyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

13 December 2014 (0030-0100)hrs Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales 2mins Raw
On a clear night, Alicia Gibson reported seeing "an unusual orange light in the sky at about a 45 degree angle."
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

14 December 2014 1227hrs Sydney, New South Wales 14mins Raw
"A strange 'shape-shifting' object has been seen hovering over Sydney. The video was taken just two days ago and shows a shimmering UFO floating through the sky. The video was taken by UFO enthusiast Lazlo Novak who uses a combination of webcams and his infrared camera to capture what he believes might be suspicious activity. This particular object was captured using Lazlo's IR camera with the enthusiast putting forward the theory that this meant the UFO was only visible in IR light.
Well we have no explanation-other than that this could well be a fake so it's either that or it really is an unidentified flying object." The source features a 14 minute long video.
http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/6332098

15 December 2014 2145hrs Mallacoota, Victoria ?mins Raw
Catherine Pirrie reported that looking north, observing the star Sirius, she saw "a distinct clear white glow with red yellow colour at the base, shine for 15 seconds and then disappear" at 55 degree elevation, to the east of Sirius and 10 degrees below it.
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

15 December 2014 ?hrs Sydney, New South Wales 8mins Raw
"I was lucky again! I started filming the plane this object was pop up, passing very fast speed the plane. When  I zooming in you can see this object's rotating. Similar to what I captured yesterday."
Lazlo Novak. Video available on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8O0ze5s19o

16 December 2014 0900hrs Townsville, Queensland
Spotted a glimmer in the sky, looked like a reflection off a chrome/reflective surface. Stared at it for 5 seconds, lookded down, looked back up and it had gone.
MUFON Case management system.

17 December 2014 Taylors Hill, Melbourne, Victoria Raw
Witness said "I was reviewing the footage from a sky watching session recorded on the 17th of December 2014 when I noticed in a few of the frames a triangle shape formation of three UFOs flying north near Taylors Hill, Australia. The objects appear as though they could be lights from a single triangular-shaped UFO craft. The footage was filmed using a pulsar NV/infrared monocular with a 950nm pass filter."
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PTcimJXEqiw

17 December 2014 2035hrs Parkes, New South Wales ?mins Raw
A large, glowing, orange object was seen in the north to north-west, falling downwards. When it reached the horizon it disappeared.
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

17 December 2014 2100hrs Adelaide Hills, South Australia ?mins Raw
Gavin reported an extremely bright meteor in the north-east sky, "that did not burn out."
http://sydneyobervatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

17 December 2014 2130hrs Lismore, New South Wales 25secs Raw
Kingsley Gifford reported that looking north, on a clear night, he saw an "orange and red ball about the size of a one cent piece with white back and tail and green." Travelled east to west.
http://sydneyobservatory.com.au/2007/report-a-sighting

17 December 2014 2230hrs Wakerley, Brisbane, Qld
A woman was awakened from her sleep by the sound of her car meowing. She was puzzled that her cat would like take her to her food, but she decided to go. She didn't want her loud meowing to wake the baby upstairs. To do so she had to walk past the glass back door and to her surprise saw a glowing orange reddish orb, bigger than the planet Venus, possibly at plane height and distance from her. She immediately thought to get her glasses to have a proper look. She noticed the light was in a different position and thought 'you have moved to the left.' It then promptly moved back to the right, then in two seconds shot up with incredible speed vertically and disappeared.
UFO Research Queensland.

20 December 2014 2245hrs Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales
"Began by seeing bright star-like glowing object moving across the sky, coming from a northerly direction heading south in the sky in Mosman, Sydney. As a keen aviation and plane enthusiast it displayed no characteristics like a plane and moved with small erratic movements, with a fuzzy halo like glow around it. The object veered off to a westerly direction towards North Sydney.
MUFON Case management system.

26 December 2014 (0900-1000) hrs Melbourne, Victoria Raw
"Witness said: You can jump to 2:27 seconds for the very low 'object' - I felt like I was being watched. New and old footage in this video." A 4m24s video.
http://www.latest-ufos.com/2014/12/ufo-sighting-above-melbourne-australia-on-26th-december-2014

Updated cases:

21 November 2014 2123hrs Eggs & Bacon Bay, Tasmania 3mins Investigation complete.
Witness, inside home notices bright light in northern sky. Goes outside to view, then has time to go into home and collect mobile to take a video. Bright orange to yellow ball with red rim and tail, drops down sky before losing speed. After 3 minutes changes to blue flashing light, gains elevation, and goes quickly to west. About an hour later, a smaller and similar light is seen to the north. This stops in the sky for 5 seconds, flashes blue, then in seconds, moves away in an arc to the west. Investigation suggests the object on video was probably a burning hoax balloon or chinese lantern. Investigation completed.
Information collated by Tasmanian UFO Investigation Centre, 29 December 2014.


Older reports:

All groups continue to receive reports where the date is before the current month.

8 October 2014 2100hrs Gilgandra, New South Wales Several mins
"My dad's brother had passed away and I was asked to go to the funeral in Coonamble in country, NSW, which I gladly accepted. Travelling from Orange, NSW, it was about a 4 hour trip west. Hopping into the car, putting my daughter in the back seat, we left Orange at about 6.30pm. stopping in Dubbo to refuel and get some ice creams at a servo at around 8.30pm, we followed the signs to the nearest town towards Coonamble which was Gilgandra. It was about an hour away.

My daughter and I were 5 mins out of Gilgandra, we were listening to music and laughing when I pointed out to her that there was a plane in the sky and to look at its pretty lights. It had 2 bright lights on the outside and in the middle it had a flashing light. She looked at the object and said "it doesn't look like a plane." I told her it was and it was about to land because it was sloping towards the right. As I said this, it flew towards me and hovered above the car.

At this point I was curious what the "plane" was doing. Looking up outside my window I saw it definitely was not a plane. It was round/oval shape, silver in colour on the bottom and was not making any noise. And was really close to the car. My 7 year old daughter asked "is that a UFO?" I said no, trying to remain calm while driving. As I was driving into town it was following my car. I immediately sped up and drove straight into town, pulled over and called my mum, hysterical. She could not make any sense of what I was telling her. I was sobbing, scared of what I had just seen. I eventually calmed down and explained what happened. Still on the phone to her, I asked her to stay on the phone until I got into Coonamble, which was about an hour or so away.

Leaving Gilgandra, I was maybe 2kms out of town when I saw the same 3 lights in front of me landing in a paddock on the left hand side of the road. Crying and getting worked up once again, I slammed on the brakes and did a u-turn to come back into Gilgrandra. Finding a motel for the night and that's where we stayed! I still don't know what me and my daughter had seen, all I know is that it wasn't a plane. I have no explanation for it."
UFOPRSA "Phenomena Times" December 2014.

28 September 2014 1810hrs Port Macquarie, New South Wales
"I was taking clothes off the line, as I was looking up at the clothes peg, I saw a brightly coloured object in the sky. It was of a rectangular object and was heading in a southerly direction. The object was made up of three segments. The front segment was three or four bright red lights, the second segment was three or four bright green lights whilst the third rear segment was flashing red and white lights. The object was travelling slowly when it stopped for a few seconds, it then started moving again before stopping again for a few seconds. It then went in behind trees in a reserve behind my property. I moved to see if I could see it through the trees when it shot like a shooting star in a south-east direction. I have no idea how high up in the sky it was but I imagine it was pretty high. I had another  incident involving a single red light on the ocean which then rose very fast into the sky, this occurred in April 2012."
UFOPRSA "Phenomena Times" December 2014.


Contributing groups, this issue:

Tasmanian UFO Investigation Centre.
email tufoic@yahoo.com

UFO & Paranormal Research Society of Australia.
Website: http://www.ufosociety.net.au

UFO Research Queensland.
Hotline number 07 3376 1780
Website: http://www.uforq.asn.au