The Australian Space Agency and UAP

Introduction

Of all the Australian government Departments and Agencies which might be expected to have an interest in UAP, the main ones in my opinion would be the Department of Defence (DOD), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and the Australian Space Agency (ASA). 

Department of Defence

In response to any queries about the subject of UAP, the DOD has for many years consistently stated:

"Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording and reporting of UFO sightings." (June 2019.)

"Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of unidentified aerial phenomena..." (June 2019.)

The former Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Mel Hupfield said "...he had not seen any reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or UAPs - in Australian airspace." (Oct 2021.)

An internal DOD briefing paper used at Senate Estimate Committee hearings included:

"...the United States nor any other nation or ally has requested or offered to collaborate on any UAP reporting or investigation." (Early 2022.)

The CSIRO

The CSIRO is Australia's national science agency. Included in a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in August 2022, was a statement by the CSIRO used to respond to queries about UAP. Dated June 2021, in part it read:

"We're expecting to receive media inquiries into whether CSIRO has been researching UAPs...CSIRO doesn't investigate or research UAPs...CSIRO won't be commenting on the release of the report (KB- ODNI June 2021 UAP report.)

ASA

So, neither the DOD nor CSIRO have any official interest in the reporting, recording or investigation or research into UAP. What about the ASA? 

On 27 August 2022 I wrote an article titled "Two Freedom of Information requests and the Australian Space Agency." In that piece I reported on the response by the ASA to two FOIA requests. One by an unnamed individual in April 2019, and one by another unnamed individual in September 2021. I also submitted my own FOIA request to the ASA in August 2022, which failed to locate any relevant documents.

On 25 February 2024 I submitted a new FOIA request to the ASA after reading the results of Defence FOI 386/23/24 which contained a copy of an email dated 16 October 2023, from the Defence Space Command to the Royal Australian Air Force Ministerial Liaison Office, which in part read:

"I'm seeking information regarding details pertaining to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena that was mentioned in a Senate Estimate by Air Force. I'm unsure of how long ago. The Australian Space Agency is requesting this information for a brief."

As I had never seen or heard of the ASA having a briefing document on UAP, I submitted my second FOIA request seeking a copy of said brief.

On 15 April 2024, I received a response from the ASA which included two versions of their briefing paper. The response was signed by Christopher DeLuis, Genral Manager, Office of the Space Regulator and dated 9 April 2024. FOIA request number LEX74644. Two individual documents were located, titled "Briefing EC23-002464-Unidentified Aerial Phenomena-23 October 2023" and "Briefing EC24-00131-Unidentified Aerial Phenomena-1 February 2024." 

Comments:

1."The Office of the Space Regulator is responsible for regulating and oversight of Australian space and high power rocket activities for safety, security and national interests."

2. The EC in the document names, indicates they were both prepared for ASA individuals attending the Australian Parliament's Senate Estimates Committe. Thanks to the work of Melbourne based researcher Grant Lavac, we already have copies of similar briefing papers prepared for individuals from the Department of Defence attending Senate Estimate Committee hearings. 

What do the ASA briefing papers tell us?

Both papers are very similar. Firstly, from EC23. 

Enrico Palermo

"Lead Enrico Palermo, Head of Agency.

"The Department has noted recent United States Congressional inquiry into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), also known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs.) The Department has no information on this, and any queries should be directed to representatives of the United States government."

"The Department also noted that NASA recently released the final report of its independent study into UAPs. The Department or the Agency did not contribute to the study. Any inquiries should be directed to NASA."

"The Agency does not monitor UAPs, or UFOs in Australia, nor seek to resolve these issues."

 "The Agency has no records relating to UAPs or UFOs in Australia - although we have received enquiries and FOI requests relating to such."

"Military reporting on UAPs and UFOs. Questions relating to military reporting of UAPs and UFOs are a matter for the Department of Defence."

From EC24.

"The Australian Space Agency (the Agency) does not monitor Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), also known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), or seek to resolve these issues."

"The Agency has no records relating to UAPs or UFOs in Australia, nor does it support UAP research."

"The Agency has no information on the 2023 US Congressional hearings into UAPs and did not contribute to the 2023 NASA report on UAPs."

So, there you have the official positions of the Australian DOD, the CSIRO and the ASA.

Comments:

1. Despite saying that they have no interest in UAP, someone in the ASA had to make time to research the topic of UAP in preparing these briefs. The same within the DOD (Space Command?). 

2. As of April 2024, we still haven't located the individual from the Australian DOD who attended the May 2023 Five Eyes briefing on UAP, by former Director Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or what they did with the information that they received at said briefing. You would imagine that a report on the content of the briefing would have been reported back to the DOD in Australia. However, despite efforts to find out, Australian UAP researchers are none the wiser for certain, although a case can be made that it was an individual from the DOD's Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO). Unfortunately for us, the DIO is one of several intelligence agencies exempt from the Australian FOIA.

3. If any reader has a suggestion as to any other area of the Australian government to look into, as regards UAP, I would be delighted to hear from you. 

Questions to the Australian Minister of Defence re UAP

Background

In June 2019 I posed a set of UAP related questions to the Australian Department of Defence, via its media section. Then, in June 2021 I posed a further set of questions via the same process. On 19 June 2022 I wrote a piece about the DOD's response to my FOIA query about "unauthorised aircraft movements." Finally, on 8 July 2022, I wrote an article providing details of Melbourne researcher, Grant Lavac's FOIA request to the Australian DOD which disclosed an internal multi page "briefing paper" on UAP. The purpose of my media questions, and FOIA requests has been to determine, what interest, if any, the Australian DOD has regarding UAP. Grant Lavac has been on the same track, looking to ascertain the Australian  DOD's interest in the topic. 

Emails to the Minister Of Defence

Grant has also been attempting to engage the political process, by communicating with the Office of the Minister for Defence. 

His first email, dated 6 June 2022 read:

"Dear The Hon Richard Marles MP,

I hope this email finds you well and wish to congratulate you on Labor's recent election win, and your recent appointment as Minister for Defence.

Following last October's Senate estimates hearing where Senator Whish-Wilson had the courage and gumption to raise the issue of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and press RAAF Chief Air-Marshal Mel Hupfield on his knowledge of UAPs in an Australian context, I thought I would take this opportunity, as your constituent, to write to you and respectfully request your direct involvement with the UAP issue, and ask that you follow Senator Whish-Wilson's lead in getting the public answers about what really is going on in regard to this phenomena in Australia.

Although politicians and UAPs mix together like oil and water due to the stigma attached with the topic; I am here to say that should not be the case. I urge you not to fall victim to what has seermed to be the norm over the more than past seven decades, which would be a total disregard for the issue based solely on erroneous "facts" and undeserved labels that have plagued the topic.

That needs to change.

Based on official and verifiable evidence alone, the United States government has seemingly misled its citizens, allies and the broader global community about UAPs and the absolute truth behind it for decades. Although it sounds like conspiracy-talk, it is downright proven with declassified documents obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from agencies including, but not limited to, CIA, NSA, DIA, DoD, Navy, Air Force.

These documents along with recent revelations by renowned Australian investigative journalist Ross Coulthart prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is an ongoing cover-up and deception about the topic. The question I have, as a both concerned Australian and global citizen, is why? And my government has never adequately answered this question.

If you are not familiar with Australian investigative journalist Ross Coulthart's work on this topic, I would encourage both you and your fellow Senators to review his book, "In Plain Sight" and supporting documentary, "THE UFO PHENOMENON," which first aired on Australian TV channel 7's SPOTLIGHT program in late May. The documentary is readily accessible via YouTube and can be viewed via the following link...

My trust in the government has regrettably waned as a result of the ongoing deception and based on the evidence I've taken the time to review todate. I feel strongly there is not enough being done about this topic, and it is my hope that this is where you can come in.

I hope both you and Senator Whish-Wilson can help by pushing for open, public, parliamentary hearings on the UAP issue and follow our US ally and Five Eyes partner's lead to tackle the topic seriously and treat it with respect and scientific scrutiny it deserves. I believe you will find  overwhelming documented evidence presented, but more so, you will likely hear directly from men and women in the Australian Defence Force that have had firsthand encounters with objects - whether formally reported or not - that cannot be explained by conventional means. Case in point: The still secretive Australian Navy communications station - Harold E Holt is the site of numerous past and ongoing strange sightings of anomalous craft, including but not limited to, that of a glowing orb observed in October 1973.

While there is now a concerted effort within the U.S. Department of Defence, under the auspices of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), along with the recent US public congressional hearing on UAP (the first U.S. public hearing on the topic in more than 50 years), designed to formally investigate and identify UAPs; secrecy is still paramount and the public is left in the dark. Answers are few and far between, and the June 2021 report (Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) provided to the US public and international community about this issue produced more questions than answers.

I trust that you will succeed where your predecessor, the Hon Peter Dutton MP failed in taking this issue seriously in an Australian context, and hope you will take my name and add it to the countless others writing to their electoral leaders to continue to ask questions and demand answers on UAPs.

Thank you for your attention and I look forward to your response."

Response

R J Denney https://www.airforce.gov.au/our-people/our-leaders/head-air-force-capability

A letter dated 7 July 2022, from R. J. Denney, Air Vice-Marshal, Head of Air Force Capability provided a response. It read:

"Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

Thank you for your correspondance of 6 June 2022 to the Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles MP, concerning Unidentified Aerial Phenomema (UAP) and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). I appreciate the time you have taken to bring this matter to my attention.

Defence does not have a protocol for the reporting and researching of UAP and UFO sightings. At this point in time, Defence will not be pursuing research into this matter.

I understand that the Uinted States Congress recently held a hearing on UAP and UFO sightings. As this is a matter from a foreign government I am unable to provided you with any further insights.

I understand that this may be disappointing to you, however, I thank you for your ongoing interest and passion in this matter."

Follow up email

Grant sent a further email, dated 26 June 2022:

"Dear The Hon Richard Marles, MP

I hope this follow-up email finds you well.

As it's coming up on 3 weeks since my initial email (refer below) and I've not yet received a response from you, I thought I'd take this opportunity to follow-up and enquire as to when I can expect to hear from you.

I also thought I'd take this opportunity to remind you that both of Australia's Five Eyes partners, the US and Canada are now taking the issue of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) very seriously. In addition, the government of Brazil has also voiced its concern by formally holding a public congressional hearing on the topic in just the last week.

The landscape around the UAP topic has changed considerably since the Australian Department of Defence formally terminated its Unusual Aerial Sightings (UAS) policy back in 2013. As such and following your recent series of meetings with various international leaders and Department of Defence counterparts, I would greately appreciate your response to the following pertinent questions.

1. In your capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and/or Minister for Defence, have you engaged international leaders and/or your Defence counterparts respectively on the UAP issue?

2. Have you been formally briefed on the UAP issue?

3. Have you formally reviewed the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence's "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena"?

4. In the light of the stance our US ally and Five Eyes partners has taken on the UAP topic, will the Australian Department of Defence, under your leadership finally review its position on the UAP topic in 2022 and communciate this to the Australian public?

I eagerly await your response."

Second DOD response 

On 26 July 2022, R. J. Denney, Air Vice-Marshal, Head of Air Force Capability, responded to Grant.

" Request for Open, Public, Parliamentary Hearings on  UAPs

Thank you for your correspondence of 26 June 2022 to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Richard Marles MP, concerning Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs.) Your correspondence has been passed on to me for response.

In response to your first and second question, I wish to inform you that Defence has not briefed the Deputy Prime Minister with regard to the topic of UAP or UFO. Whilst the Deputy Prime Minister has been engaging with his international counterparts on a range of topics in his capacity as both Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, this has not included the topics of UFO or UAP.

The Deputy Prime Minister has not been provided the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial phenomena for review.

The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Air Force does not lead on these forums. Air Force does not consider this the appropriate platform to discuss the topic of UAP or UFO.

I understand the Air Force has previously responded to your queries regarding this topic on a number of occasions. I am satifisfied we have sufficiently addressed your query and as a result, this will be our final correspondence relating to this matter.

Any new questions or concerns will be addressed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or the Department of Defence, should the matter fall into our scope of responsibilities."

Grant has submitted a further set of questions, which I will report upon when a government response becomes available. 

Update: 16 September 2022

Twitter user @glensamson86 contacted his Australian parliamentary representative Senator Katy Gallagher. Senator Gallagher forwarded the representation to the Mnister for Defence.

On 13 September 2022, Richard Marles, Minister for Defence, rsponded to Glen Samson. The letter read:

"Thank you for your correspondence of 25 August 2022 to Senator the Hon. Katy Gallagher about Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP.) Your correspondence has been forwarded to me for response.

As you are aware, the Air Force ceased the reporting and recording of UAP in 1996. Defence continues to assess that there is no scientific or other compelling reason to divert resources to the recording and investigation of UAP. They align resources with the priorities, mission and objectives of Defence. 

The United States' approach to UAP, including its international engagement, is a matter for the United States. As a close partner and ally, Australia and the United States consult regularly on a range of shared security and strategic interests.

I appreciate your vested interest in this topic, and I trust this information is of assistance."

A 2022 Australian Department of Defence Briefing Paper on UAP

Background

On 14 April 2022 I wrote a blog post about the establishment of Australia's new Defence Space Command, and that the initial Commander was Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts. This prompted Melbourne researcher Grant Lavac to submit the following Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Australian Department of Defence (DOD.)

Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts

“I kindly request a copy of all emails, sent to/from | bcc/cc’d Defence Space Commander Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts for the period 25 June 2021 to 15 April 2022 (inclusive), that contain any of the following keywords: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; UAP; Unidentified Flying Object; UFO; Unidentified Flying Objects; UFOs;, Unauthorised Aircraft Movement; UAM; Unauthorised Aircraft Movements; UAMs; Unusual Aerial Sighting, Unidentified Phenomena.”

DOD response 

The DOD assigned the request as FOIA 459/21/22, and then responded on 7 June 2022, releasing 14 pages of documents. These were:

1. An email from [redacted] to Roberts, Catherine, AVM, cc'd [redacted]; dated Friday 11 February 2022, Subject Senate Estimates Briefs. Text "As discussed please find official Senate Estimates Briefs." It mentions there are two briefs.

Comments: At the 27 October 2021, Senate Estimates Committee hearings, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson addressed a number of questions regarding UAP to then Chief of Air Mel Hupfield. My blog article dated 28 October 2021 provided a transcript of these discussions.   Grant Lavac located two written DOD responses to follow-up questions from Senator Whish-Wilson. Copies may be read here and here. They were dated 1 February 2022 and 6 December 2021, respectively. Thus this email to Air Vice-Marshal Roberts attaching Senate Estimate Briefs should be seen as prepping Roberts for any further questions on UAP.

2. A page headed "Space Domain and Policy. CAF Brief. Questions on Notice. Estimates QoNs." There are two broad topics referenced, namely UAP at the 27 October 2021 Estimates Hearing; and Space Policy at a 1 June 2021 hearing. 

3. A document headed "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. CAF Brief." There is no indication as to who prepared the briefing document.

The contents listed are - Notes; Key Messages; Strategic Narrative; Talking Points; How are UAP reported to Defence?; As an ally, have the United States offered to or asked to collaborate on UAP investigations? With the US calling UAP a potential threat to national security, should Australia be concerned too; Timeline of Significant Events/Decisions; Relevant Media Coverage; Relevant Media Enquires; Relevant Ministerial Comments; Questions on Notice; Estimates QoNs; Other QoNs; Freedom of Information; Contact and Clearance officers. 

Notes

Area is blank (not redacted). 

Key Messages

"* Defence does not have a policy governing the reporting or recording of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) by either members of the public or Defence members

* The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) ceased the handling of reports of UAP in 1996 after determining there was no scientific or other compelling reason to continue to devote resources to the recording and investigation of UAP

* Defence safety of flight incidents, including those potentially posed by UAP are handled by the Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA), with civilian safety of flight incidents the purview of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)."

Comments: Point 1 has been the consistent response from the DOD to all my enquiries, and those by the media, eg. the ABC. Point 2 is indeed the reason given by the RAAF for cessation of UAP investigations. All their Base UAP files were bundled up, and sent to the National Archives of Australia, where, today, they are available for public viewing. 

On point 3, I don't think I have ever seen a statement before, that potential UAP flight safety incidents could turn up in DASA records. As far back as 2017, Melbourne researcher Paul Dean referenced DASA's predecessor, in an article about UAP. In March 2022 Grant Lavac submitted an FOIA request, assigned number 443/21/22 by the DOD. He asked for all DASA reports, between 2017 and 31 March 2022, which referenced UAP or various other similar keywords. There was a "Nil responsive documents" answer, from the DOD, dated 2 May 2022. 

Strategic Narrative

"UAP are likely to be one of three things:

* natual or other benign phenomena

* anomalies with sensors, or

* (human-made) technologies

UAP could be other nations systems, either contemporary or advanced. Information regarding the collection and investigation of these systems is the remit of the Intelligence Community and is classified."

Comment: I don't understand the statement "natural or other benign phenomena." Yes, "natural" but what does "benign phenomena" mean in this context? 

Background

"On 25 June 2021, the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (the Report) to provide an intelligence assessment of the threat posed by UAP and the progress the US Department of Defense Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) has made in understanding this threat.

* The Report does not draw conclusions on what UAP are and most remain unexplained, mainly due to lack of data

* The Report finds no evidence that UAP are extra-terrestrial in origin

* The Report did reach the following conclusions:

** In a limited number of incidents, UAP reportedly appeared to exhibit unusual flight characteristics. These observations could be the result of sensor errors, spoofing or observer misperception and require additional rigorous analyses

** There are probably multiple types of UAP requiring different explanations based on the range of appearances and behaviours described in the available reporting

** UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security. UAP would also represent a national security challenge if they are foreign adversary collection platforms or provide evidence a potential adversary has developed either a breakthrough or disruptive technology

** On 23 November 2021, the US Director of National Intelligence directed the establishment of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronisation Group to coordinate reporting across US Department of Defence and other US agencies with the gaol to minimise flight safety and national security concerns

* Defence has no plans to replicate a similar mechanism. DASA and CASA already serve this function across flight safety issues and apparatus exist for concerns regarding national security

* Historically the RAAF was responsible for handling UAP reports, however that ceased in 1996. If civilians wish to report UAP they should contact their local police authorities, or get in contact with civil UAP research organisations

* The Defence Instruction was cancelled in November 2000 and not replaced

* UAP may also be referred to as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) or Unusual Aerial Sightings (UAS). UAP is the contemporary term for such phenomena."

Comments: Finally, someone in the DOD, has had to do some research on the topic to provide this briefing paper to Air Vice-Marshal Roberts. It's a fair summary of the ODNI report and RAAF involvement. Naturally, there is no indepth review of the material, which the RAAF collected between 1951 and 1996; in which, areas of the DOD itself said there was enough evidence to require an indepth study, by some government agency, such as the then Department of Supply. 

There probably is no-one in the DOD who has reviewed their own UAP related files, which are now in the National Archives of Australia. This does raise an interesting question as to how does someone in DOD knows the RAAF interest ceased in 1996 and the Standing Instruction was cancelled in 2000, if all their files are in the NAA? It would appear that some new recording system, eg an electronic file has been created to store this knowledge. Another topic for an FOIA request?

Talking points

"How are UAP reported to Defence?

* Defence does not have a policy for reporting or recording UAP

* Historically, the RAAF was responsible for handling UAP reports on behalf of Defence, however that ceased in 1996 after determining there was no scientific or other compelling reason to continue to devote resource to the recording and investigation of UAP

* Defence safety of flight incidents, including those potentailly posed by UAP are handled by the Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA), with civilian safety of flight incidents the purview of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

As an ally, have the United States offered to or asked to collaborate on UAP investigations?

* No, the United States nor any other nation or ally have requested or offered to collaborate on UAP reporting or investigation

* Defence has no desire to seek collaboration on this issue."

Comment: This last section answers a question I had, as to whether or not, the US had approached Australia to seek information or offer collaboration on UAP investigations.

With the US calling UAP a potential threat to national security, should Australia be concerned too?

* UAP are likely to be one of three things, natural or other benign phenomena, anomalies with sensors or (human-made) technologies. Information on the human-made technologies is classified and the remit of the Intelligence Community

* Countering capabilities spanning the maritime, land, air, cyber and space domains that could threaten our national security is a core business of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), any threat to national security is a concern but also a priority for Defence."

Comment: Looking at the agencies which make up the Australian National Intelligence Community, the one most likely to be involved in any collection and analysis of "human-made technologies " per UAP; is The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO.) Its role is as the Department of Defence's all-source intelligence assessment agency on countries and foreign organisations, looking at military capabilities, weapon systems, and defence-related technologies. So, if, for example, some UAP are foreign adversary drones, then the DIO would be interested. It would therefore appear reasonable to suggest, that if any portion of the entire Department of Defence were to take an interest in UAP, the DIO would be it. I have mentioned before that I suspect that some analyst in the DIO has a watching brief on the UAP topic. 

"Are UAP a risk to flight safety?

* Flight safety is a high priority for ADF aviation. Any risks to flight safety are considered serious, but Defence is not aware of UAP being the cause of an aviation safety incident or featured prominently in a safety investigation."

Comment: On the last point re flight safety, I doubt that ADF aviation has read any of the available NARCAP data, or looked into incidents such as the near-miss between a passenger aircraft and an "unknown" object near Perth on 19 March 2014 as reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau? 

"Are these likely to be extra-terrestrial in origin?

* There is no evidence to suggest that UAP would be extra-terrestrial in origin."

Timeline of significant events/decisions

This lists three events:

* 25 June 2021 - Release of ODNI report

*13 November 2000 - DI(G) ADMIN 55-1 outlining ADF policy cancelled

* 27 August 1996 - DI(G) 55-1 amended.

Relevant Media Coverage:

This lists the following media reports. 10 Nov 2021 The Sun; 9 Nov 2021 GQ UK; 29 Oct 2021 The Australian; 28 Oct 2021 ABC News; 25 Oct 2021 Remo News.

Relevant media inquiries:

Nil.

Relevant Ministerial comments:

Nil.

Questions on notice:

Whish-Wilson 27 October 2021 Senate Estimates.

Other QoN:

Nil.

Freedom of Information:

Nil.

Contact and Clearance Offices:

Clearing Officer AVM Catherine Roberts.

Consultation:

Mr Colin McKenna, Assistant Secretary Strategic Capabilities Policy Development.

Brig. Warren Gould, Director General Systems and Integration - Army.

Mr Rod Smith, STaR Shot Leader - Resiliant  Multi Mission Space , Defence Science and Technology Group. 

Comment: A search of the daily summaries of the Australian Senate Budget Estimates 2022-2023, for the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, for hearings held on 1, 6 and 7 April 2022, failed to locate any mention of UAP. A search of the Hansard transcripts for those three days also failed to locate any mention of, or questions about, UAP. It would therefore appear, that the DOD brief was not used, as apparently no parliamentary questions were asked about UAP. 

Rest of documents

4. The rest of the documents released, deal with the Space Policy brief.

In summary

The Australian DOD has no interest in UAP. There are existing processes for any concerns re air safety or adversarial technology. 

Acknowledgement:

I wish to thank Grant Lavac for sharing the details of his FOIA requests, and the DOD responses. These documents should shortly be uploaded to the Australian DOD FOIA Disclosure log page. For the moment they may be accessed via this Dropbox link. 

The continuing search for Australian government documents concerning the 6 April 1966, Westall event

A report by Paul Dean, Shane Ryan, and Keith Basterfield 

Background

Many UAP researchers have spent time searching for references to the 6 April 1966 UAP event at Westall, Melbourne, Australia, in the files of the Australian government. The only reference we know about, was in a lengthy letter from a private individual to the Australian Department of Defence (DOD). In that letter, the individual posed a number of questions, and one was about Westall. The resultant response from the DOD did not answer many of the questions, and did not refer to Westall at all.

What researchers have more recently been looking for, is an official report which sets out what really happened that day. From numerous witnesses who were there at the time, we know that government officials told students and at least one teacher, not to talk about the event. We also know from members of the family, of a then senior officer of the former Australian government Department of Supply (DOS) that he wrote an official report on the incident. No one has ever found a copy of this report. In short, we can say that no-one has ever been able to locate any Australian government document that tells us exactly what occurred that day.

Department of Supply

An example of a DOS UAP file cover

Because of what we have learnt from our own research,  and what Australian investigative journalist Ross Coulthart wrote in his book "In Plain Sight," the recent focus of the search for references to Westall in Australian government files, has been on files generated by the DOS; in particular the Division which dealt with aircraft, and guided weapons. None of the known, and available, DOS files has been found to mention Westall. 

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

A three year search

Three years ago, we decided to look for previously unknown and unreleased DOS files, held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA.) We found a file series, MP1899/1  which seemed likely to have relevance to our search. However, none of the individual files from the series was listed on the NAA's database, called "RecordSearch."

A trip was then made, to the Melbourne office of the NAA, and there we located a hard copy "finding aid" listing the files in the series MP1899/1. This list of file control symbols and titles, was generated by the DOS when they transferred the files to the NAA. We looked through this list, and selected a small number of files which seemed the most relevant.

Time went by, during which there were a series of emails and telephone calls exchanged with the NAA. However, no files eventuated. After a couple of years of focussing on other research matters, we decided to return to the question of these DOS files. We determined that these files were still in existence and held at the NAA Burwood storage facility. During this process one of us got within 100 metres of the files, but were not allowed to look at them because their status was "not yet examined." Arrangements were then made, with the NAA Melbourne office, for the files to be "examined," and in late 2021 they were registed on RecordSearch. In January  and February 2022, one by one, their status changed to "open." This meant one could order a digital copy of the files (an expensive business) or view the files, in person, at the Melbourne NAA office.

The eight files

1. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G162/105/10. Barcode 1406735. Titled "Monthly report for Minister - 1966."

2. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G454/101/4 PART 2. Barcode 14406753. Titled "P.E.R.T. [Programme Evaluation Review Technique] Monthly reports from regional offices."

3. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G401/104/2. Barcode 14406739. Titled "Miscellaneous classified correspondence removed from project files."

4. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G454/101/4 PART 1. Barcode 14406733. Titled "Programme evaluation review techniques [PERT] Monthly reports from regional offices (1965-1969) A.G. W. & E.S. [Aircraft,  guided weapons and electronic supplies] comments."

5. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G433/106/10. Barcode 14406734. Titled "Australia/USA logistics arrangements estimates of expenditure requirements - A.G.W & E.S. Division aspects."

6. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G162/105/11 PART 1. Barcode 14406736. Titled "Department of Supply - Monthly report 1966."

7. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G162/105/11PART 2,. Barcode 14406737. Titled " Department of Supply - monthly report -1966."

8. File series MP1899/1, control symbol G177/107/3. Barcode 14406738. Titled "Guided weapons and electronic section - AGW&E Division (All states) - organisational matters."

The files are viewed

Credit: Shane Ryan

Due to a number of issues, such as COVID, family matters, and the days when the Melbourne NAA office is open; it wasn't until mid June 2022, that arrangements could be made for us to physically view the above files.

An examination of the above files was conducted on 22 June 2022 at the Melbourne NAA office. No material, relevant to the Westall incident was noted on any of the files. This further deepens the mystery of why no-one is able to locate any official documentation on this event.

Even though this latest search, has proved negative; we wished to document it, to indicate the thoroughness of our government files search for Westall related material.

FOIA response from the Australian Department of Defence re questions from Senator Whish-Wilson

Senate Estimates Committee hearings

At the 27 October 2021 Australian Senate Estimates Committee hearings, Tasmanian Senator Peter Whish-Wilson posed several questions concerning Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), to Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfield. 

https://www.airforce.gov.au/our-people/our-leaders/chief-air-force

I posted a copy of the transcript of these discussions in a previous blog post. During the hearings, Senator Whish-Wilson indicated that he would pose further questions to the Australian Department of Defence (DOD) about UAP. 

The next day, in a radio interview with host Brian Carlton, of Triple M Hobart, the Senator revealed that he had a friend, who, over 20 years ago was on a military exercise on a ship. The ship was followed by a metallic "tic-tac." It was a recent meerting with this friend which caused the Senator to ask questions at the Senate Estimates Committee hearings.

Department of Defence FOIA request

On 27 January 2022, I submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the Australian Department of Defence, as follows:

"I wish to obtain a copy of any correspondence, e.g. letters and/or emails, between Senator Whish-Wilson and the Department of Defence, including Air Marshall Hupfeld or his office, between 27 October 2021 and 27 January 2022, regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."

The request was promptly acknowledged by the DOD on 28 January 2022. On 22 February 2022, I received a response to my request. This was a two page document headed "Defence Portfolio. Senate Estimates Question. (Question No. 90.)" It contained a series of questions, from the Senator, dated 5 November 2021; and responses from the Department.

As per the usual DOD FOIA process, my FOIA request and the Department's response will shortly be published  on the DOD's FOIA website, thus making it available to a wider audience.

Questions and answers

Below, I extract the questions and answers, and provide relevant comment.

Q1. Has the Department of Defence had the opportunity to formally review the report completed by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence titled 'Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' published in June 2021?

A1. The Department of Defence has not formally reviewed the report.

Comment: At the televised hearings, Senator Whish-Wilson asked Air Marshal Hupfeld if he was aware of the report. The Air Marshal replied "I'm not formally aware of the report. I think there was an article in the newspapers and commentary about that at some stage. But I'm not quite sure of the content of the report."

Q2. What guidance, if any, has the Department sought on the publication of the US report and the implications for Australian aerospace?

A2. The Department of Defence has not sought guidance on the publication.

Q3. Is the 'Unusual Aerial Sightings Policy' still in effect, and if so when was it last reviewed? If it is not in effect or has been superseded.

A3. The Unusual Aerial Sightings policy was last reviewed in November 2003 and cancelled 25 March 2013.

Comments: 1. This explains why the DOD continually states, today, that it has no protocol around UAP/UFO. 

2. The RAAF, when formally charged by the Australian government to look into the subject, initially referred to the term "Flying Saucers" in their early Policy and sightings files. This was later changed to "Unusual Aerial Sightings." 

Q4. In 2011, the Department of Defence reported that, in response to a FOI request from the Sydney Morning Herald it had 'discovered one file, which had not been destroyed but could not be located'. If it could not be located, how would the Department know that the file had not been destroyed? Were all the files referenced hardcopy only (i.e. not digital.)

A4. A file was confirmed in 2008 to be at the National Archives of Australia. The interest of its location was raised again in 2011, however Defence was unable to verify its location nor held record of the file being destroyed. As such and to date, the Department of Defence cannot confirm its current existence.

Comment: This appears to relate to the fact that the Sydney Morning Herald, on 7 June 2011 published a story about their own FOIA request to the DOD for UFO files. The DOD responded that they could only locate one file "Reports on Strange Occurrences and Phenomenon in Woomera'" and that other UFO files had been destroyed. In addiiton, there was one other file "which had not been destroyed but could not be located." I obtained a digital copy of the Woomera file.

Q5. A reponse from the Department dated 8 June 2011 states that members of the public making reports of 'unusual aerial sightings' are directed to their local police authority. What is the protocol for members of the defence forces when reporting such sightings during military operations and/or normal duty?

A5. The Department of Defence does not have a protocol for reporting or recording of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) or Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The Air Force ceased handling reports of UAP or UFO in 1996 after determining that there was no scientific or other compelling reason for the Air Force to continue to devote resources to the recording and investigation of UAP or UFO.

Comment: For a detailed look at the reasons why the RAAF closed down its UFO investigations, as told to me by the RAAF officer involved, click here. 

In their "Statement of Reasons" which accompanied the two page document, Group Captain Peter Davies, kindly provided publically available "further information" which provided a link to the Parliamentary televised  Senate Estimates Committee session where Senator Whish-Wilson questioned Air Marshal Hupfeld.  

Update: 1 April 2022

On 25 February 2022, Senator Whish-Wilson followed up his October 2021 questions. 

Defence Portfolio

SENATE ESTIMATES QUESTION

(Question No. 20)

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson asked the Department of Defence the following question, upon notice, on 25 February 2022:

During the last Supplementary Budget Estimates (in response to a question on notice), the Department of Defence advised that there is no protocol for reporting or recording Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or Unidentified Flying Objects.

1. In a scenario that an airforce pilot, or airforce personnel on the ground (such as monitoring radar), detects or sights an aircraft over Australian airspace, or in their sphere of operation, but is unable to identify the nature of the craft, what is the process/protocol for pilot and/or personnel to report their observation?

2. If there is an existing protocol – how many such observations or sightings have been made in the past 10 years? If there is no protocol – by what means does the air force maintain the security of Australian Airspace in dealing with unidentified craft?

3. What encouragement is given to pilots to make reports of aircraft they cannot identify?

Senator Whish-Wilson – The Department of Defence provides the following answer to the Senator’s question:

1. Any unidentified aircraft identified by Air Force pilots or personnel entering military controlled airspace or pose a safety risk to military aircraft are subject to RAAF Aviation Safety Reporting protocols.

2. Under RAAF Aviation Reporting protocols, there has been no records of observations or sightings of unidentified aircraft over past ten years.

3. There is no specific encouragement given to pilots to report aircraft they cannot identify, rather to report unusual or unexpected events through RAAF Aviation Safety Reporting procedures.

The Australian Department of Defence and UAP - the latest

Protocols

In June 2019, I asked the Australian Department of Defence if they had "...any current guidelines concerning the reporting by Department of Defence personnel of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena?" Their response was "Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of UFO sightings."

Later, on 16 June 2021, I submitted an FOIA request to the Australian Department of Defence. "I wish to obtain copies of emails generated by the Department of Defence between 1 January 2021 and 16 June 2021, which refer to the terms "unidentified drone;" "unidentified aircraft;" "Unidentified object;" or "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."  On 13 July 2021, the Department's response, in short, was "No records were found."

The latest

Chief of Airforce, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld

Today, the Australian ABC news carried an account concerning statements about UAP made by Chief of Airforce, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld. This arose in the context of a Senate Estimates Committee hearing.

Senator Whish-Wilson

The ABC reported, that Green Senator Peter Whish-Wilson asked Hupfeld a question about the June U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence's preliminary UAP report. Hupfeld responded that while he had no formal knowledge of the findings in the report he was aware of the report via media accounts. 

Air Marshall Hupfeld stated that:

"...he had not seen any reports of 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' - or UAPs - in Australian airspace."

"I'm not familiar with, nor have seen any reports or information regarding UAPs in an Australian airspace context, and there's no air-force-led task force that looks into the phenomena."

Asked whether the Jindalee radar system could detect UAP's he replied:

"It's not possible for me to determine whether the JORN would see something like an unusual airborne phenomenon, without knowing the construction materials, and other performance parameters of such an object, if indeed it was an object."

Update: 2 November 2021

A transcript of the relevant Senate Estimates Committee, dated 27 October 2021 has been published.  The relevant section is as follows:

Senator WHISH-WILSON: I'm not sure exactly who to ask to respond to these questions, because they may well not have been asked before. I was wondering if I could have someone senior from the Air Force— particularly a pilot, if that's possible. 

CHAIR: Who knows how to fly a plane! Senator Payne: We'll do our best to find you a pilot from the Air Force. I'll call the Chief of Air Force; there's a plan! 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: The Chief of Air Force would be great, if that's possible. Senator Payne: He's a pilot; I've seen him fly. 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: I am a pilot. I used to fly aeroplanes—not currently now. I think I've got the information you might need, pending your question. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: I know we have close ties with the US. We share intelligence. My questions relate to the release of the report on 25 June 2021 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Preliminary assessment: unidentified aerial phenomena. This is an issue that has been raised in Congress; the Department of Defense has submitted a report. It's become a significant matter of public interest. I suppose my first question is: are you aware of that report? 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: I'm not formally aware of the report. I think there was an article in the newspapers and commentary about that at some stage. But I'm not quite sure of the content of the report. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: Okay. Just as a matter of interest, what questions did you think I was going to ask? 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: I thought you were going to ask questions about aircraft, but it sounds like you're going to ask questions about UFOs. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: We'd be very interested to hear your views on this. Yes, it has been reported in the media extensively both here and internationally. I'll just read you a few statements or the executive summary from that report. It basically talks about UAPs as being something that the US Department of Defense is taking seriously, and that the Pentagon has a taskforce assigned to better understand the data interpretation of recent sightings. The report says: 'UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security.' Then it goes on to talk about the 144 cases that the Pentagon looked at. Only one was clearly explainable; the others remain unexplained. It says that, after carefully considering the information, the taskforce reported that UAPs largely witnessed firsthand by military aviators were 'collected from systems that were considered to be reliable.' It went on: 'Most reports described UAP as objects that interrupted pre-planned training or other military activity.' Could I ask whether the Australian Air Force or the Australian military also have a taskforce looking at UAPs? Is this something that you're familiar with at all in your brief? 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: I'm not familiar with nor have I seen any reports or information regarding UAPs in an Australian airspace context. There's no Air Force led taskforce that looks into this phenomena.

WHISH-WILSON: We don't do any monitoring of this at all? 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: There have been no reports that I'm aware of, Senator. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: No informal reports from pilots or across other military activities? 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: None from any aircrew or aviation organisation that I'm aware of. The only experience that I have in this was over 40 years ago when some reports were made and we launched Mirage aircraft. The phenomena turned out to be errors on the radar screens in our normal civil air-traffic control system, but no physical objects were detected. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: Does the characterisation of the DOD, in relation to their report, of both intent and advanced technology concern you? Basically, they're saying they can't explain what these things are, but they would like to better understand them. 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: I can't answer for another sovereign nation. That is a matter for the US and the Pentagon and the Department of Defense in the US. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: Would it be possible for you to see if, across the other services, there has been any kind of reporting system in relation to this in Australia? 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: Certainly, I can take that on notice. But I feel confident that, as the airspace control authority within Australia, if there had been any detections or items such as this, I would have been aware of them. But I can take that on notice to double-check. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: Okay. Typically, would something like Jindalee be able to pick-up fast-moving objects, or is it more designed to look at ships and— 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: Senator, the Jindalee Operational Radar Network is designed to detect aircraft and some ships. I won't go into the details of the nature of that detection, as we would then be getting into very classified areas. It's not possible for me to determine whether the JORN would see something like an unusual airborne phenomenon without knowing the construction, materials and other performance parameters of such an object, if, indeed, it was an object. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: As a pilot, have you seen any of the video footage that's been released by the US military? It's unclassified and it's been reported on by either the New York Times or the Washington Post. Even The Conversation here in Australia, which, as you know, is quite a respectable, conservative media outlet, has written a report. They're not saying they agree that these things may be more than aberrations, but they are saying, 'Finally, there's a mature conversation now happening around UAPs and we're trying to better understand them.' 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: Through professional curiosity, I did look at some of the videos that were attached to those media reports. They were interesting but not compelling to me. I don't believe everything that I read in the media. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: No, nor do I. It's certainly something we learn in Canberra. It's just interesting. Do you think it would be possible for pilots to spoof that kind of thing? 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: I'm not sure what you mean by 'spoof'. Are you talking about the— 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: Obviously the video has come from US Air Force pilots. I think there are 80 different sources, and the DOD and Pentagon are taking this seriously. 

Air Marshal Hupfeld: I'm not really able to comment on that. There are too many variables to even form a view. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: Thank you for that. If you could just take that on notice, that would be excellent. 

Senator Payne: I can say with some confidence that after over two decades of participating in the Senate estimates process this is the first occasion on which in any capacity I have had the opportunity to observe a conversation and a question-and-answer session on such an issue. So thank you so much for bringing it to our attention. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: My pleasure, Senator Payne. I do notice our key ally is taking this very seriously. Senator Payne: I heard you. 

Senator WHISH-WILSON: It is now emerging as a matter of public interest. So I'm glad you appreciate that. Senator Payne: I listened with great interest. I'm glad we could find you a pilot.

Update: 4 November 2021

On 28 October 2021, the Senator was interviewed by Brian Carlton on Triple M, Hobart, Tasmania, 107.3FM. They discussed the Senator's appearance on the Senate Estimates Committee of 27 October 2021. I noted the following points:

1. The Senator thought that as the U.S. and Australia are close allies that we may be doing something to look at UAP.

2. The Senator was surprised that the Chief of Air had not read the June 2021 Office of the Director of National Intelligence UAP report. 

3, 20 years ago, a friend of the Senator's who served in the Special Forces in Iraq and East Temor, told the Senator a story. Early one morning, he was on an exercise on a boat, at an undisclosed location. The boat was followed by a metallic object. In July 2021, after the DNI report came out, the Senator was in Western Australia and had a beer with his mate. Talking about UAP his mate asked if he remembered him telling the Senator about the UAP from 20 years back? The Senator did and then decided he would ask some questions in Australian parliament.

4. The Senator will put some detailed questions to  follow up his Senate Estimates questions.

5. He believes someone in the Australian DOD should have spoken to US sources about the subject. 

Australian Department of Defence responds to some UAP related questions

 Background

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF,)  part of the broader Australian Department of Defence (DoD,) was charged with the responsibility of investigating the UFO phenomenon, from the early 1950's to 1994. Since then, the DoD has referred anyone in Australia wishing to report a sighting of a UFO, to Police or state level civilian UFO organisations.

A project facilitated by myself, between 2003-2008 located, and had digitised, a large number of Australian government agency files on UAP. Details of these files may be read here.  For a comprehensive treatment of what these files contained, click here. 

So, since 1994 there has been no overt interest in the subject, by any Australian government agency. I say overt, because due to the nature of the phenomenon, I have always suspected that some analyst in an agency such as the Defence Science andTechnology Group (DSTG) or in the Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO,) will have a brief to quietly keep across the topic.

The DoD and UAP

In June 2019, I wanted to see what the current Australian DoD position was in respect to the topic of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP.) I therefore provided them with some context, and then sought a response from the DoD to the following questions:

1. On 23 April 2019 the U.S. Politico magazine carried a story that the U.S. Navy was issuing new guidelines for the reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

2. On 26 May 2019 the New York Times newspaper carried a story that U.S. Naval aviators had interacted with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena as recently as 2015.

My questions were:

1. Has the Australian Department of Defence any current guidelines concerning the reporting by Department of Defence personnel of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena? If so, may I obtain a copy?

2. If there are no current DoD guidelines, is there any section of the DoD which acts as a collection point for unsolicited reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena which might come from service personnel, e.g. through an aviation hazard reporting system? If so, might I have details?

3. Has the DoD any plans, based on U.S. policy changes, to issue instructions to service personnel to report Unidentified Aerial Phenomena?

The response, attributed to a spokesperson from Defence was:

"Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of UFO sightings."

2021

Given the current official interest in UAP shown by the U.S. Department of Defense I recently posed another set of questions to the Australian Department of Defence. These were:

Q1: Is the Department aware of recent global media reporting of a briefing to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Intelligence on the topic of UAP, such briefing leading to Congressional members stating that UAP represent a threat to their national security?

Q2: Is the Department aware of a forthcoming report by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, to the U.S. Congress on U.S. government agencies' knowledge of UAP?

Q3: Has the Australian Department of Defence been approached  in recent times by the U.S. Department of Defense to liaise on the subject of UAP? If so, are details of any such liaison available?

Q4: I am aware that the RAAF devoted resources in the time period 1950-1994 to the study of UAP. In the light of the above, is anyone in the Australian Department of Defence currently monitoring the subject of UAP? If not, why not? 

Today, 25 June 2021 I received a response, attributed to a Defence spokesperson:

"Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of unidentified aerial phenomena/unidentified flying object sightings.

The US Department of Defense Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force actions or reporting are outside of Defence's remit. Queries regarding that organisation should be directed to the US Department of Defense."

 My comments:

1. As you can see, there is a repeating of their 2019 position, namely that "Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of UFO sightings."

2. However, if you read my 2021 questions again, you will see that I did not mention the UAP Task Force at all. So, either my questions necessitated someone in DoD taking a look at the global media reporting and came across the UAPTF; or my suggestion that there is some analyst in the DoD who monitors the topic, may have some merit.

Update: 26 June 2021

ABC journalist Matthew Eaton, published a digital online article after contacting the Australian DoD. Eaton received the exact same response from the DoD that I did. 

Papua New Guinea newspaper items about UAP

National Library of Australia

The National Library of Australia (NLA) undertook a major project, a few years ago, to digitise a large number of Australian newspapers. These are now available to view and search at their TROVE digitised newspapers site. The project ended up digitising many of Australia's current and past newspapers, up to the end of the year 1954. A few newspapers are available up to around 1990, but most are not.

TROVE

If you go to the TROVE search area and type in the keywords "flying saucer;" "UFO;" or "unidentified flying objects" you will get a return of many thousands of entries. This blog has reported on the contents of many of these items, e.g. Australian pilot in Korea reporting UAP.

Papua New Guinea

Recently, however, I came across a digitised copy of a newspaper from Papua New Guinea in the collection. Why is this of interest to Australian researchers? Well up till 1975, Papua New Guinea was administered by Australia. During that time, sightings of UAP were referred to Australia for investigation and recording.

Disclosure Australia

During the period 2003-2008 when the Australian UFO Network (AUFORN) ran the Disclosure Australia project, members of the team were searching the Australian government's UAP files for sighting reports. Three relevant files were about Papua New Guinea:

1. File series A452, control symbol 1969/4393, titled "UFOs and mysterious happenings Papua and New Guinea. Date range was 1957-1973.

2. File series MT1131/1, control symbol A31/1/133 titled "Unidentified aircraft Papua and New Guinea." Date range 1958-1959.

3. File series MP1279/1, control symbol 99/1/478 titled "New Guinea F.I.R. - operation of unidentified and foreign aircraft." Date range 1948-1965.

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier newspaper

For the benefit of readers I thought I would present a representative sample of what was appearing in the main Papua New Guinea newspaper during its publication period of 1969-1981.

1. "UFO Probe Urged

There have been frequent sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in Papua New Guinea in recent months, Parliament was told yesterday. These sightings were confusing and worrying village people in the Central and Western Provinces and the Gusu Dumpu area of the Madang Province, the former transport minister Mr Jephcott (Madang) and Mr Kala Swokin (Western)  said during question time.

Mr Jephcott said that five UFO sightings were tracked on radar in the Gusap area by Air Niugini in December, and several others were reported in September...

Mr Swokin said the Defence Force should investigate recent sightings in the Central and Western provinces. The Defence minister Mr Duwabane told Parliament that his department will investigate and make a report..."

[Papua New Guinea Post-Courier Wednesday 21 February 1979 page 3.]

2. "Light shed on UFO."

Sightings over Gaire village in Central province about a month ago are probably explained. Between 0315 and 0430 hrs on September 24, a group, led by National Capital police commander, Assistant Commisioner Mr David Tasion reported the UFO. However, a Qantas jumbo 747 flying between Tokyo and Sydney was at that time diverted to Port Moresby for re-fuelling. The Civil Aviation Authority believe this to be the cause of the sighting.

[Papa New Guinea Post-Courier Thursday 16 October 1980 page 19.]

3. "Glowing report of Lae UFO"

Two sisters at Angau Memorial Hospital, Sr. Bennan and Sr. Glynn viewed an unusual object at 0215 hrs on 18 March 1979. It appeared as a bright golden coloured, star-like object. It travelled across the sky; stopped, then continued, and made a U turn and went back the way it had come. The women called the police, but by the time the police arrived the UAP had gone.

[Papua New Guinea Post-Courier Thursday 19 March 1970 page 11.]

4. "I saw a UFO and men."

A seven year old boy, Noel Bossiri of Baruru village reported seeing a big, bright light above a hill, at Kanudi at 2230hrs on 30 September 1980. He said that he woke to see the light and as he watched it, it landed on a hill and two human-like figures were seen. Noel said "the first to come out appeared silvery and the second was brown in colour." He was frightened by the experience and later told his parents of the sighting.

[Papua New Guinea Post-Courier Tuesday 7 October 1980 page 3.]

5. "sshh...something's scaring Lae."

On 2 May 1974 a "50 yard strip of Bougainvillea and other plants were 'burned' by something and began to die off beside Mr Arthur Strachan's house in Sturt Street...his gardener reported seeing a strange object in the sky around dusk, on Thursday night. An area of grass near the plants has also turned yellow..."

At 2200hrs on 4 May 1974, a Sally Willis reported seeing a glowing object near the top of a palm tree.

[Papua New Guinea Post-Courier Tuesday 7 May 1974 page 2.]

6. "Check on our UFOs.

The world's leading expert on UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) arrived in Papua New Guinea yesterday to investigate recent reports of sightings here. Dr J Allen Hynek...will visit the Milne Bay District to talk to people who say they have seen UFOs...

'My overall purpose in coming to Papua New guinea is to see whether there is any difference in the UFOs reported in this part of the world and those elsewhere...'"

[Papua New Guinea Post-Courier Wednesday 29 August 1973 page 3.]

7. "Goraka UFOs."

On 19 April 1974, a Mr and Mrs J W Wheeler reported seeing a bright, globular shaped light in the sky approaching them from the south side of the airstrip, at about 0600hrs. The light then departed in the direction of Lae. Half an hour earlier, a man at the airstrip reported seeing a globular light hover overhead for 25 minutes. It then split into two. One part was bright blue and moved off towards the mountains. The other part headed off towards Bene.

[Papua New Guinea Post-Courier Monday 22 April 1974 page 3.]

My comments

1. As can be seen from the representative sampling of newspaper accounts, the phenomenon being reported from Papua New Guinea was very similar to other parts of the world.

2. Item 6 from 1973 refers to the famous Boianai, Milne Bay District cluster of sightings in 1959 which included at least one CE3.

3. The reported radar sightings from December 1978 are not previously known to me. There was a classic observation reported in RAAF files [file series A703, control symbol 580/1/1 part 13, page 53] as follows:

29 June 1970 Sepik River area, PNG, 1720hrs.

The pilot of an F27 aircraft, VH-FNK, reported radar observations. On descent from 12,500 feet he noted echoes on his radar 60 degrees abeam to his plane. The radar was set to scan 180nm, and showed echoes at the 60nm range, from the aircraft and keeping station with him. There were five cigar shaped objects. With the radar scanner on maximum depression, the echoes disappeared. The Department of Civil Aviation advised that there were no other aircraft in that area.

I could find no record of a report by the PNG Defence Force about UAP.

Previously unseen RAAF UFO file found

Annual check of National Archives of Australia RecordSearch database

One of my tasks, on the 1st of January of each new year, is to visit the website of the National Archives of Australia (NAA)  The purpose of such a visit, is to check for any UFO files which have been added to the NAA RecordSearch database. Most years, something new emerges, and this year is no exception.

File series D3138 [RAAF Edinburgh] control symbol 6/32/AIR PART 1 is titled "Unidentified Flying Objects 1965-1969." It is a file previously unknown to me, despite the previous locating of around 150 Australian government files on UFOs.

Part of the Australian government UFO files listing

The file status is shown as "Not Yet Examined" which means no one outside the RAAF has ever seen the file. It is held at the Canberra office of the NAA, and the item barcode is 22956672. I have just placed a request with the NAA to have them examine the file for release. Following this process, then I can order a digital copy of the file which will be placed on the NAA website for anyone to read. This process can take up to six months and cost up to around $120. The date range of the file makes it particularly interesting. During these years there were many UFO sightings recorded in South Australia, including CE3 style events. It will therefore be very interesting to see just what this new file contains.

Looking at my records, I found two other RAAF Edinburgh files:

1. A9755 control symbol 9. RAAF No. 92 Wing Headquarters Edinburgh. Date range 1992-1994, barcode 3533451 location Canberra NAA. Its status is "Open" but so far no one has been willing to pay the money to have a digital copy placed on the NAA website. Any takers?

2. A9755 control symbol 12. RAAF No. 92 Wing Headquarters Edinburgh. Date range 1987-1992. Barcode 3533466. A digital copy is available on the NAA wesbsite for anyone to view. 

The Australian Department of Defence comments on my UAP related questions

In view of the recent US Politico magazine and New York Times articles concerning Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), I approached the Australian Department of Defence for a response to the following questions.

"Background to my questions

1. On 23 April 2019 the US Politico magazine carried a story that the US Navy was issuing new guidelines for the reporting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

2. On 26 May 2019 the New York Times newspaper carried a story that US Naval aviators had interacted with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena as recently as 2015.

My questions:

1. Has the Australian Department of Defence any current guidelines concerning the reporting by Department of Defence personnel, of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena? If so, may I obtain a copy?

2. If there are no current DoD guidelines, is there any section of the DoD which acts as a collection point for unsolicited reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena which might come from service personnel, e.g. through an aviation hazard reporting system? If so, might I have details?

3. Has the DoD any plans, based on US policy changes, to issue instructions to service personnel to report Unidentified Aerial Phenomena?"

The response, through the DoD media office, to whom I addressed my email, attributed to a spokesperson from Defence, was:

"Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of UFO sightings."

More documents on the Boiani CE3 case found at CUFOS

Collecting material

For many years, I have had a large collection of material on the June 1959, Boiani, Papua New Guinea CE3 case involving the Reverend Father William Booth Gill.

There are numerous Australian documents in that collection, e.g. the 28 October 1959, Melbourne, Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society (VFSRS) transcript of a talk by Gill himself; and the 25 November 1959 letter to the Right Honorable R G Menzies, signed by the heads of the five main Australian flying saucer groups of that time.

The former US government Project Blue Book had a case file, based on information forwarded by the US Air Attache for Australia, one Mance C Smith, Major, USAF.

The Project Blue Book record card

US researcher Michael Swords' digitised collection contains two Reverend Gill files, one of 65 pages, and the other of 161 pages in length. Here we find photographs of the area; sketches of the village layout; location maps; and copies of the articles which appeared in such publications as the International UFO Reporter, and the English Flying Saucer Review.

Other PNG material

To add to the information on reports from that area, and based on a search through a variety of Australian government files, I compiled a catalogue of reports from Papua New Guinea, between 1953 and 1971. In addition, I located a number of relevant Australian government agency files, namely:

File series A452, control symbol 1969/4393 titled "UFOs and mysterious happenings Papua and New Guinea," 1957-1973.

File series MT1131/1,  control symbol A31/1/133 titled "Unidentified aircraft Papua and New Guinea," 1958-1959.

Barry Greenwood and CUFOS

So, when Boston researcher and historian Barry Greenwood visited the files of the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago recently, and later advised that he was sending Melbourne researcher Paul Dean and I a batch of four PDF files relating to Boiani, I eagerly awaited their arrival. In due course along they came.

PDF 1. This consisted of two pages, which were new to me. They were two photographs of the view from where Gill stood, looking away from the ocean and towards the surrounding mountains.One was a colour photograph of the scene and on the other someone had drawn shapes and notations which read "from w. door" and "from behind store." These locations can be seen in a sketch I have attached at the end of this post.

PDF 2. This consisted of a one page artist's impression of the event, which I had previously seen.

PDF 3.Here were 131 pages of documents. New to me here were:

1. A series of newspaper clippings, which included:

 "The New York Times" 29 Sep 1959 "Flying saucer spotted"

"New Zealand Herald" 17 Aug 1959 "'Saucer activity' in New Guinea"

"Sun" (Melbourne) " 29 Oct 1959 "He saw 'mystery craft in the sky'"

"Daily News" (Taranaki, New Zealand) "17 Aug 1959 "Priest reports Flying Saucers carrying 'men'"

"Sun" (Melbourne) 17 Aug 1959 "12 saw a saucer says NG Priest."

These examples of articles about the sightings, indicate that by as early as mid August 1959, details of the events at Boiani were appearing in the world press.

2. A series of correspondence which included:

a. Letters between Peter Norris of the VFSRS and the US UFO group National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP.) I show examples below:

This shows that Norris was providing copies of relevant documents, including copies of correspondence with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and members of the Australian parliament to NICAP. In addition, he provided his views on the main witness, the reverend Gill, e.g.

"In essence, Gill is scholarly, detached and conservative and I am satisfied that his report, sensational though it is, has been understated rather then exaggerated." [Norris to NICAP, 31 Oct 1959.]


b. Letters between Peter Norris of VFSRS and members of the Australian parliament:

One parliamentarian, S P Cash, MP, asked a question in the Australian Parliament on 24 Nov 1959:

"Unidentified Flying Objects
Mr Cash - My question is directed to the Minister for Air. Do the Australian and overseas Air Forces exchange information about the frequent sightings throughout the world of unidentified flying objects usually known as UFOs? Further, have RAAF officers investigated reports of recent sightings of mysterious objects in the skies over Papua and New Guinea?"

There were other pieces of correspondence in this PDF between Norris and the RAAF, but the contents of these have been known for some time.

c. Miscellaneous letters, including between the Reverend Gill and J Allen Hynek.

3. Miscellaneous items which included:

a. Various sketches eg:

In conclusion

I wish to thank Barry Greenwood for his untiring efforts to preserve such material for us all to be able to read. The additional material, new to me, which I have outlined above, adds to our understanding of the events of June 1959.