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.

Project Newsprint receives a Victorian report from 1990

Project Newsprint

Quite some time ago, I undertook a project I called "Project Newsprint." I contacted dozens of newspapers in Western Australia and Victoria, and asked readers to let me know of any past or current sightings they knew of. I was pleasantly surprised at the large response I received. I wrote a number of blog posts based on the details of sightings sent in to me. For example; to read about a spectacular Western Australian case,click here; and for details of three Victorian vehicular close encounters, click here.

A recent email

Just a few days ago I received an email from an individual, about an incident near Wangaratta, Victoria, around June 1990. His account reads:

"...shifted out to Wangaratta at the start of 1990 to do a cooking course at their TAFE. Towards the end of the course (around June 1990) I got a job cooking counter meals at a pub in the Whitfield/Cheshunt area.

Image courtesy of Google maps

I was at a loose end on a Sunday night and decided to drive down there, just to check out how long it would take to drive from Wangaratta ( I did not want to be late for the first shift.)

I drove down to the pub and saw that it took around 30 minutes or so and so I headed back. When you drive from Wangaratta to Whitfield it is along a winding country road and with no lights at all. On both sides of the road you have flat fields, mostly used as cow pasture, but to your right you have the occasional hills which are heavily wooded, set far back at the end of the pasture.

As I was driving back, with the hills to my right, I noticed a cluster of lights high up on a hill in the distance. As I got closer, more details became clearer. The light seemed to be almost at the top of a hill and nestled amongst the trees. I parked parallel to it, stopped the car and got out to take a closer look at it. The actual description of it now  is a little vague, given that it was nearly thirty years ago.

Image courtesy of Google maps

It seemed to be a large white light/cluster of lights, very white and bright, with possibly a peak at the top of it, imagine something like a carousel/merry go round/circus tent top in appearance.

I honestly could not give you an accurate idea of its size, but it might have been as high as the trees in the area, maybe around 20 or so metres high.

I stood there for a few minutes, just looking at it and debating what to do. I thought of walking towards it but then some common sense kicked in. It was around midnight, in the middle of nowhere, no torch, nothing. I would have to park the car, on the side of the road, no one to watch over it, if someone passing along decided to break into it (a bit unlikely but you never know.) Also, to get to the light I would have to walk ten minutes across a large paddock, to reach the base of the hill, plus another twenty minutes to walk up the hill. Once again, with no torch and up a heavily wooded hill in the midnight dark. At that stage I decided to play it safe and move on.

Even today,when recalling it, I know I was not looking at just a cluster of lights like a farmhouse lit up or a string of decorative lights in someone's backyard, or someone going out spotlight shooting. This was something else and it unnerved me something bad. I got in the car and drove back to Wangaratta, seeing the light recede in the distance.

The next Friday I did my first shift at the pub and got on well with a couple of the ladies working in the kitchen, so I thought it safe to raise the subject with them at the end of the shift. I started off by asking them if they had seen any strange lights in the area or up in the hills around the area. They got quiet, looked at each other, smiled and asked me what I had seen. I recounted what I had experienced and they told me a couple of stories they had been told by the locals.

1. Some of the locals had been diving back to Wangaratta when a disk like pinwheel hovered over their  a while, and then vanished.

2. A couple of the local men were on the back roads late at night, doing some spotlight shooting. Their lights went dead and a large silvery disk flew over them and over the forest without making a sound. They reported to others that it scared the you-know-what out of them and the two locals were not known for lying or exaggerating.

This was all they could tell me in regards to local sightings and the like. I worked at the pub for another month and drove there and back at night for around a dozen times, but no sign of anything again, not even house lights in the hills. The last time I went back there would have been 1993 or 1994. I drove up there at night and went up and down the road but still nothing. I slept for a few hours in the car and then spent some time carefully going over the road during daylight looking into the hills for any sign of houses that might have been lit up back in 1990, but nothing. To his day, I still do not know what it was, but,to the best of my knowledge, I doubt it was houselights or something similar. The size, location, timing and the like just do not point in that direction."

Research

I looked through the 1989, 1990 and 1991 issues of the Victorian UFO Bulletin, published by the Victorian UFO Research Society, but found nothing about sightings in this area. However, it is nice to know that, several years later, Project Newprint is still bringing in anomalous sightings.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who may have any details about sightings in this general area, via keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au.

The classic Canberra Airport sighting of 1965 - UFO or Venus?

Barry Greenwood

I am continuing my examination of the scanned copies of material, arising from Boston, USA, researcher Barry Greenwood's recent visit to the archives of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies in Chicago.

Classic 1965 case

One Australian case from 1965, which features time and time again in the UFO literature, happened on 15 July 1965, where a number of staff at the Canberra Airport reported watching an unidentified light in the sky during broad daylight.

In a series of blog posts dated 29 September 2011; 11 December 2011; 9 January 2013; and 15 December 2013, I reported on the information on this sighting gathered from a number of sources; both from Australian government files and newspapers.

Sydney Morning Herald article

Within Barry's CUFOS material I located items which I had not seen before. Firstly, there was a Sydney Morning Herald article dated 18 July 1965 and titled "I talk with the men who saw "that thing," by reporter Graham Gambie. I will quote from this article:

"Everyone I spoke to here said they were certain that flying saucers don't exist, but they would sleep a little more easily at night if someone could prove what "the thing" was."

"The officer-in-charge of Civil Aviation in Canberra, Mr A B Lindeman, said: 'I wish Mt Stromlo would tell us it was a planet. I don't like something in the back of my mind I can't understand.'"

"Dr D B E Westerlund of Mt Stromlo's observatory said that if the light was coming from the north-east it would almost certainly be the planet Venus."

"Mr Lindsay said: 'I've been in the job for two and a half years and I've never seen anything like it before...It wasn't Venus as has been suggested. I'm sure of that from the position..."

Global newspapers

A large range of international and  newspaper also carried reports of the sighting. It must be recalled, that in 1965 there was a wave of sightings in Australia, so interest in the topic was already high.

"Rhodesian Herald" - 21 July 1965. "Three flying objects reported at Canberra."

"The Times and Democrat" (Orangebury,  SG, USA.) - 16 July 1965. "Could it be Martians?"

"San Jose Mercury" - 16 July 1965. "Mystery glow seen at airport."

"Atlantic City Press" - 16 July 1965. "UFO hinders Mariner signals."

"New Zealand Herald" - 21 July 1965. "Mystery of flying object remains unsolved."

"Seattle Times" - 17 July 1965. "'Object' reported over Australia."

"Vancouver Sun" - 16 July 1965. "Mariner men goggle at glowing creepy."

"San Francisco Examiner" - 16 July 1965. "Mystery of UFO spreads."

Barry's work shows that literally dozens of articles about the sighting appeared in other international newspapers.

Potential explanations

After the initial wave of newspaper articles, only a few carried the results of the official RAAF investigation of the sighting. I will quote two newspaper articles below, which feature opposite and contradictory view points. In one, the object is identified; in the other there is failure to identity the origin of the object.

"Telegraph" Brisbane, Queensland dated 30 July 1965.

"Object is identified.

Canberra - An unidentified flying object seen high in the sky near Canberra on July 15 is understood to have been identified as a large weather balloon. An investigation by a security team from the Royal Australian Air Force is believed to have dismissed the likelihood that it was an intruding aircraft."

"Advertiser" Adelaide, South Australia dated 31 July 1965.

"RAAF report on object

Canberra - July 30 - An RAAF investigation team has failed to identity a mysterious object seen hovering north-east of Canberra airport on July 15.

The RAAF report released today, suggested it was probably  a high altitude meteorological balloon of a type periodically released at Wogga in NSW. The balloons could be seen from a considerable distance, often had a halo like appearance and sometimes appeared  to change colour. Other explanations offered by the investigation team are that the object was a brief condensation trail from a high flying jet, or the planet Venus."

I checked with the National Archives of Australia and on file series A703, control symbol 554/1/30 Part 2, page 72 I found that the RAAF report was in the form of a press release from the Minister For Air and dated 30 July 1965, which I image below:

Thank you again to Barry and CUFOS for this historically invaluable material.

The 1969 Devon Park - photographs - additional information

The Devon Park photographs

Since the late 1960's I have been aware of a series of four UFO photographs (three of which I have images of) said to have been taken in Adelaide in 1969. I also recall seeing a completed UFO report form, compiled by the photographer; in  the collection of the now defunct Australian Flying Saucer Research Society, although a search of my computer files failed to find a copy of this form.

Imagine my surprise upon going through copies of documents scanned by US researcher Barry Greenwood, to find a copy of the original report form, from Barry's recent visit to the archives of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies in Chicago.

On the form, the photographer David Bryant,  gave his age as "21;" his occupation as "butcher;" and his then address as "5 Alan Avenue, Campbelltown" in Adelaide, South Australia. However, he stated that the place of the sighting was "Devon Park, Western part of Adelaide." Weather conditions at the time were given as "misty cloud." The date of the sighting is given as "Early June 1969" and time as "6 to 7am."

The object was first seen at an angular elevation of 35 degrees. It's light attracted his attention;  as well as its movement. The object appeared as a "solid object - glowing as a series of light bulbs." It was in view for three minutes. Asked for an "opinion on propulsion,"  he wrote, "No idea but lights revolving very fast." To "Details of structure and shape" he wrote "A mass of spinning lights."

Speed was described as "very fast." Height "35 degrees up" and size "10 to 12 feet." Distance "300 feet." Sound: "None what so ever." Colour "A glare of lights." Object disappeared: "seem to be receiving (sic) rapidly." Do you have any fragments, photographs? "Photos." Name and address of any witnesses: "As above. My wife." A sketch shows the object was to the south-west of the observer.

Under additional information: "Dog was barking in house. Let dog out but shot back in quickly to the house and turn in instinct to look up and there it was. I thought it was just a hangover but I had not been drinking so took the photos which I didn't think there was any results."

The form was dated and signed on 30 July 1969.

I am not aware of any detailed investigation report on either the series of photographs, or the sighting.

UFO photographs from a B-52 aircraft over Australia

Barry Greenwood

Boston researcher Barry Greenwood recently returned from a two week visit to the archives of the J Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies in Chicago, in the USA. Barry kindly forwarded copies of scans of documents relating to Australia, to both myself and also to Melbourne researcher Paul Dean. Paul and I are spending time looking through all of these documents to determine if there is previously unknown material in them. I wish to thank Barry for his untiring efforts in the preservation of these invaluable historical records.

B-52 aircraft case

Looking through the contents of one file folder I noticed an uncited Newsletter article, titled "Photographs taken of an unusual object over Australia." Handwritten above the typed text, were the words "Australia," "NL'" and "Spring 1965." I have never come across this sighting. A search via the Internet and also a search of the NICAP 1965 chronologies failed to find anything about this sighting.  So if any blog readers can add further details I would be most appreciative. The text of the article reads as follows:

"A very good friend in Sedalia informed me last November (1968) that his uncle had taken photographs of an unusual object during the spring of 1965. The observer was flying in a converted B-52 aircraft on an international aerial mapping project. The aircraft was flying over Australia. The aircraft was flying at a slow rate of speed and the bomb-bay doors and the side doors were open.

There were cameras mounted in the bomb-bay section to photograph the terrain below. The observer saw the object approach the B-52 from slightly behind. It appeared less than a mile away and started pacing the aircraft. It did so for about 2 minutes.

During this time the observer snapped 3 photographs with a small camera he had to hand. At least one other crew member saw the object also. The object disappeared at a high rate of speed.

My friend, mentioned above, saw the photographs about 4 years ago, just after they were taken.

On 4 inch by 5 inch prints, the object appeared to be a disc, white in color, not reflective, a raised area was visible on the top section. On the 4 inch by 5 inch print the object was about 3/4 inch in diameter. It is not known if the print was enlarged a great deal.

As of this date, June 7, 1969: the observer is still in the Air Force and is stationed in Illinois. My contact asked the observer about releasing the negatives to us January 1, 1969. At that time the observer was still in the process of moving from Puerto Rico to Illinois and said that as soon as he had the negatives he would send them. Shortly after this he became ill and was in hospital in St Lois, Missouri for several weeks. The observer's furniture was shipped to St Lois. The observer then did move to Illinois and as of May 30, 1969 was still trying to track down his personal effects. He will be here in Sedalia July 4 and it is hoped that he brings the negatives at that time. The observer does not want his name used."

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.

The 4 December 1980, Perth, radar/visual case - new data

Ray Brooke

In a previous post I mentioned the passing of South Australian UAP researcher Ray Brooke, and the fact that Ray's daughter Louise had given me some of Ray's UAP papers. Buried in these papers were details of the Perth radar/visual case of 4 December 1980, some of which I had never heard of before.

Background

It turns out that five years after the event was briefly summarised in "The ACUFOS Bulletin" of January 1981, Peter Zehmeister of the group South-West UFO Research & Investigations (Tasmania) had quietly conducted an investigation into the incident. Ray Brooke had acquired a copy of Peter's investigation papers.

Media articles

One of the things which Peter had done, was to contact the West Australian Newspaper Limited and obtain relevant press clippings from them. namely:

1. The "West Australian" dated 5 December 1980.

"Mystery objects tracked.

Unidentified Flying Objects were tracked on radar at Perth airport yesterday. Air traffic Controllers made two or three visual sightings between 8am and 11am. Danielle Russell (12) of Jennings Way, Lockridge saw four objects moving quickly across the sky from north to south about 11am. She said "When I first  saw them through the lounge-room window I thought they were birds or a plane. They were changing colour from red, blue and green."

The Regional Director of transport, Mr Ellis Kell, said last night that the silver tumbling discs were tracked on radar at a height of more than  8000 metres until they disappeared at more than 20,000m.

There were no aircraft or weather balloons in the area to explain the sighting.

A spokesman at RAAF Pearce, Wing Commander Ian Lindsay, said last night that an object picked up by radar at the base between 1pm and 1.30pm turned out to be a weather balloon. It had been released after the airport sightings. A Macchi jet had gone up after Perth Airport reported the first sightings, but had seen nothing."

2. The "West Australian" dated 6 December 1980.

"Riddle of UFOs unsolved.

The mystery of the Unidentified Flying Objects that were seen and tracked on radar on Thursday may never be solved. The RAAF is handling the investigation but is concerned only with establishing that there were no aircraft or obvious objects such as weather balloons in its air space.

Two or three sightings of the objects were made at Perth Airport by air traffic controllers between 8am and 11am. They were tracked on radar at a height of more than 8000 metres till they disappeared at more than 20,000 metres. 

It has been established that there were no aircraft in the area. An RAAF spokesman said that the atmospheric conditions were unusual on Thursday and this could have accounted for the sightings."

3. The "Western Mail" dated 5 December 1980.

"Mystery objects baffle RAAF

Four unidentified flying objects, sighted over Perth, have the RAAF baffled. The UFOs were seen by Mr Graham Moyle, an air traffic controller at Perth Airport. And the Department of Transport confirmed that they had been tracked on radar from 8000 metres to 20,000 metres. Then they disappeared.

Wing Commander Ian Lindsay, Administrative staff officer at Pearce Air Base, said the RAAF had "eliminated all sequences of events" in their air space and could not account for the UFOs. They also sent up a Macchi jet after Perth Airport reported the first of three visual sightings. But the pilot saw nothing.

The airport sightings were made between 8am and 11am yesterday and a 12 year old girl also reported seeing four objects speed across the sky about 11am. Danielle Russell of Jennings Way, Lockridge said they were changing colour from red, blue and green. "At first I thought they were birds or a plane."

A spokesman for the Commonwealth Department of Transport in Perth said the objects may have disappeared from the radar screen at 20,000 metres after moving into a "cone of silence" a sort of radar blind spot, or because they were out of range of the equipment being used to track them. Or they might have just disappeared."

Air traffic control "daily journal"

Another item which Peter was able to secure was a copy of the Air Traffic Control "Daily Journal" which recorded details of events from that day. This was supplied to him by Duncan S. Asquith-Ellis, of the Department of Aviation, Perth Airport. 

2338 [GMT 3 Dec 1980 - KB]  UFO Reported by TWR. First sighted by RFF 15 min ago glinting in sun. Sighted by TWR. Radar had a paint for 5 mins (From 097 degrees/6nm -  into cone of silence of radar). Tower also lost sight of it then (5min ago). Radar estim G/s 120 kts in S/E direction (against wind). Painting quite clearly seen until cone of silence. PE FPO advised PR radar not yet manned. 

0330 [GMT 4 Dec 1980 - KB] Mrs? Russell 2796181 reported watching 4 discs "tumbling" and flashing in the sun.Moving from a very high posn near Lockridge moving towards PH AD. PE FPO will ask UFO Officer. PH radar reports 4 returns 045 degrees/5 PH AD moving SE 20 kts. Will check with PE App.

Lockridge and Perth Airport

0340 PH TWR sights 4 objects. Radar positions of 4 returns agrees with TWR sightings.

0405 PH radar advise the tracks taken by these 4 would be identical with 2338 sighting.

0422 Radar adv PE had return on QUAD radar 18nm due south of PE @ 26,000ft. TWR sighted an object vertically above Rwy 20 paralleling centreline to S. 5min later altitude now 72000 ft."

Pearce (in suburb of Bullsbrook) and Perth Airport

You need to know the following to be able to decipher parts of the above text:

All times are GMT. 

PH = Perth  AD = Aerodrome  PE = RAAF Pearce  FPO = Flight Planning Office  NM = Nautical mile  QUAD = Quadrant radar RFF = Fire fighting unit. 

Ground observers

On Friday 20 October 1985 Peter interviewed the Russells. His notes read as follows:

" Q1. Mrs Russell, I was wondering if you could tell me the events of 4 December 1980?

 A.  I was sitting in the lounge, and my daughter was looking out the lounge room window north towards Broome, and she said, what's that up in the sky, and we didn't take much notice of her, you know, we made the usual small remarks about  "Superman" and what not, and the look on her face was pretty intense so we looked  and sure enough there were these four objects there. And they seemed to b changing colour, they went from red, to green, but they were spinning you know, and as they were spinning the colours where they were catching the light or not, but the colours were changing. They actually did a ballet up there with very intricate passing and maneuvering. They were up there for quite some time.

I came in and phoned the airport, and they said they were tracking them. I phoned the airport and they phoned Pearce. Apparently  Pearce did have a plane up, but we did not hear any more about it, because the media chose to use my daughter's name. She was only twelve at the time. But apart from being told that they were tracking and they did have a plane up, nobody said yea, we saw it too. We have got a six foot wall around our home, we had a barbecue and we  watched them, for, it must have been for a good 2-3 minutes after I made the  phone call. But the strange thing about it was, that it was a beautiful day, it was not hot, everything was deadly quiet! There wasn't even a bird! No birds made any noise it was just no noise at all, everything seemed to stop.

Q2. Are there usually birds in the area?

A2. Oh yes, we are a part of the bush. There wasn't a sound. We all remarked on that.

Q3. What were the shapes of the objects?

A3. They were circular.

Q4 Did they seem to change shape at all?

A4. No, no change of shape at all, only this sort of a "ballet dance": and going round each other. It was very disciplined very disciplined. And at terrific speed, and then they sort of came over the house, and stopped above us. They just sort of stayed there, and we said we have got a boarding kennels for cats here and as I said oh perhaps they have some monkeys on board they want to drop off. They hovered there for about three or four seconds and then they went at terrific speed south. 

Q5. Was there any physical reaction at all?

A5 No, nothing.We were awed, just completely fascinated by this.

Q6. How did you feel when all this was going on?

A6. Ah, we were interested and fascinated,but no displacement, we talked about it a lot afterward. No we did not have any adverse effects at all. I always said I was a skeptic, from seeing that I definitely agree that there was something.

Q7. So obviously you have not seen anything like this before?
A7. No, but about six or seven months later we were at the drive in and this thing hovered around the screen and shot off north. But that particular road is known for that sort of thing, there is always sightings there.

Q8. What actually caught your attention to these craft in the first place?

A8. Just my daughter looking out the window, she just looked up and said what that up in the sky? We didn't rush but we eventually looked out the window and they they were. It couldn't have been a plane coming down from the north because there were four of them to start with and it was the change in colour in them all the time, they were silver, green, red, blue and they were spinning, they seemed to be spinning.

Q9. Do you think there may have been an aura or blurry layer around these craft?

A9. No., They were very high and were very sharp in my vision. They really stood out. The sky was completely blue. There were no clouds. They were definite object up there. They left across us to the south. They came from the north and went south. North would be Broome. Then I rang the tower, all they said is that they were tracking, that they had picked up some interference and that they would phone Pearce. Danielle is here now, she's 17 now and she may be able to tell you some more.

Q. Can you remember what happened on the morning of Dec 4 1980?

A. I was sitting on the couch, and I looked out of the window and i said to my mum and sister what's that in the sky? And they started cracking jokes and everything and I said no, there is something up there. It's not a plane and they looked and then we all went outside. I was about 12 at the time.

Q. Could you be able to describe what you actually saw on the morning?

A. There were our or five of them. There was one in the middle and the rest were around him. They were all changing colours and going from the outside into the middle to where the other one was and coming back out again. They were sort of dancing all the time.

Q. Did they conform to any shape at all? In their maneuvers.

A. No really, there was one in the middle and the rest were dancing around him.

Q. So there was one stationary craft and the rest were dancing around him?

A. Yes."

Other sightings

Peter was able to retrieve details of other reported sightings for the relevant time period. These were:

3 Dec 1980 Wanneroo 1955hrs

Oval, brilliant white light fluctuating to grey. 2 miles east of Lanejandabup. Middle ring rotating around main body. Shining red, blue, green, flashing light causing eye strain. Seen for 20  minutes. Airliner to south-east.

4 Dec 1980 Lockridge 1035hrs

Danielle (12) saw four objects changing colour red, blue, green, rapidly from north to south.

4 Dec 1980 Burrendah 1120-1130hrs

Mrs M Gamble saw brilliant white object, oval in shape with a "dart" on top. Stopped in flight. Quivered. Rose up quickly then descended.Disappeared low to the south.

4 Dec 1980 Kelmscott 2035hrs

S Chiverton saw a red ball of light south of Kelm. Moving slowly, then hovered about 90ft above power lines near a small lake.

5 Dec 1980 Lesmurdie 1915-1930hrs

Five objects in an inverted v formation appeared to be observing a jumbo jet approaching Perth Airport. Then four left, one stationary. Took up positions around the jet. Moved into straight line, then formed 2 different v formations with the previously stationary object. 

Australian UAP from earlier years

Background

From time to time, I am contacted by individuals who tell me of UAP sightings from earlier years. Other people send me newspaper accounts of such events. These are all most welcome, as they add to our knowledge of previously unreported observations. This post describes two such recently submitted items.

Sighting from the destroyer 'Anzac'

A long time friend of mine, who lives in Tasmania, sent me a clipping from 'The Advocate' newspaper, Tasmania, dated 21 October 2017, and titled 'Possible Experience of UFO.'

This 'Letter to the Editor' read:

'Growing up I didn't believe in aliens, but that belief changed in a flash.

In the 1970's I was sitting out on deck of the destroyer Anzac just after sunrise, getting fresh air before duty. We were heading to a destination in the South Pacific, doing about 18 knots.

The sea was as smooth as glass and no-one else was on deck. A strange feeling suddenly came over me. I looked up and above the funnel was a shimmering mass the size of a medium car, making no sound. It looked like it was generating great power.

Image courtesy www.navy.gov.au/hmas-anzac-ii

I stood up and it shot away at great speed in long zig-zag motion, just above sea level, towards the horizon. From that day I knew we were not alone in the Universe.'

The letter was signed Leon Forrest, Burnie. I have referred a copy of the letter to Phil Polden, TUFOIC, Tasmania for his information and comparison with anything in the TUFOIC records.

An Internet check revealed that in 1961 the 'Anzac' was refurbished as a training vessel, and remained in service until 1974, and was eventually scrapped in 1975. This indicates that the sighting may be dated between 1970 and 1974. The ship sailed between Australia, Papua New Guinea,and various ports in the South Pacific on training missions.

An unusual encounter near Murray Bridge, South Australia

I received an email from an individual describing an encounter near Murray Bridge, South Australia. 

'The night was on a Saturday. When I was travelling along Jervois road towards Murray Bridge. Approximately 11 kms south of Murray Bridge. I observed a UFO stationary over the river Murray. This would have been about ninety meters above the water. I stopped my car. When a friend of mine drove past. I wanted him to also observe what I had seen, so proceeded to try to chase him down. However after travelling after him for about a km rethought, about what I had seen  and that I would have to chase him for a considerable distance to catch him. 

So I returned to where I had seen The UFO. On arrival at the site the vehicle had disappeared. Because of a hill being in between me and the river. I am unsure if the craft had descended below the level of sight, behind the hill down toward the surface of the river or departed from the area. On reflection I now believe they would have been going to collect water from the river.

The vessel was very big. With no noise that was discernable from my location. The size was something that particularly struck attention. It would have been larger than a normal AFL football field. The shape being that of flying saucers,with one inverted above the other. Around the outer circumference were a number of orange lights. Since that time I have observed photos of nuclear reactor core. I now believe the orange lights were in fact nuclear reactor cores from memory I recall there would have been about eight on the side of the craft that was visible from where I observed it. The craft would have weighed many thousands of tonnes,had it been constructed of earthly materials. However it appeared weightless.sitting absolutely stationary. 

I proceeded to the location of the Murray  Bridge Police station to report what I had seen. The Officer taking my statement was taking the whole thing a bloody joke  so I walked out and  have never mentioned the incident to anyone since that time.

I believe this craft would be able to travel through space at speed that would certainly make interstellar travel a very real possibility. We are not alone. These beings have nothing to fear from us. Our fastest rockets are snails in comparison to this craft. The speed of light and beyond.'

Another Murray Bridge sighting in July 1967

I found this a fascinating observation, and made more remarkable in that I already had details of a 5 July 1967 sighting from near Murray Bridge. I found details of this second event in the RAAF UAP files - file series A703, control symbol 580/1/1 part 8, page 178, and following.  This may be summarised as follows:

On 5 July 1967 at 0057hrs local time, a Mr P P Langford of Robby's Aerial Services was travelling on the main Murray-Bridge to Karoonda Road, and was about 5 miles NNE of Murray Bridge at the time.

It was a clear night sky, but there was heavy ground fog.

Suddenly the vehicle's radio became full of static, increased in intensity and became a high pitched whine. He turned the radio off. About 100-150 yards later the vehicle's motor simply stopped. The ignition key was still in the on position, but the dashboard warning lights, i.e. oil, temperature etc came on.

NAA file series A703 control symbol 580/1/1 Part 8

Langford then reported noticing a distinct break in the fog where stars were visible in the sky. A large, dark shadow was visible above the road and between two bands of fog, at a height estimated as 60 feet. Above this shadow, which he estimated to be ten feet thick, was a greyish-blue glow.

By the time Langford got out of the vehicle to investigate, both the shadow and the light had gone. There had been no associated sound at all. The witness got back into his vehicle, tried the ignition switch and the motor started. Turning on the radio he found that the static had gone.

If any blog readers can add further details to either of the above events, I would be most grateful. 

Video of the century!

State of excitement

From time to time, people ask me why I don't get excited about the latest UAP video, photograph or sighting?

Sightings

In terms of sightings, long term blog readers will recall that Melbourne researcher, Paul Dean, and I collected Australian sightings over a period of a year, and analysed the best of them. The truth was that very many of them had mundane explanations, often buried in the way the material was breathlessly presented, e.g. 'video of the century!' Very few of these sightings still looked interesting after a critical review of the information.

Despite this, I continue to review a range of sources, keeping an eye out for interesting material, looking for the small residue which reflect the 'core' UAP, i.e. sightings which do not have a ready explanation after an intelligent review. My most recent look, in August 2017, at such raw sightings was from a resident of Torquay, Victoria. This individual had a number of sightings, including an oval object, one quarter the size of the full moon in broad daylight; and one where four objects were travelling in formation, again in broad daylight. However, the bottom line was that none were viewed at close range, which would have precluded the possibility of an known object being the stimulus.

Part of my investigation report

Videos

The same applies to videos. Sydney researcher, Anthony Clarke of UFO Research (NSW) Inc., and I have just spent time looking into a video taken  in Sydney at around 7am on 8 August 2017. The surveillance video shows what at first glance looks like a very unusual object travelling across a fixed outdoor view, for about a minute.

However, after Anthony Clarke visited the location; interviewed the person who discovered the image on the video; took a look at the position of the camera and its housing; he found that a very different picture emerged.

Location of the video - images courtesy of Anthony Clarke

One of the cameras

Close up of camera

 The most likely explanation is that an insect crawled across the exterior of the camera cover, and its de-focused image is what was at first glance taken to be a UAP. Indeed, Anthony noted spiders web near the camera.

To read Anthony's investigation report, click here.

Still images

Still images are frequently submitted to a range of social media sources, and main stream media outlets. A person uploads a photograph, rarely providing any real data that would assist in its analysis; and then frequently fails to respond to inquiries for more information.

The white dot at the centre of the picture is a plastic bag

The coloured patch to the left of the Sun is a 'sun dog'

The Moon, planet Jupiter, and below is a lens reflection

 All, in all, almost all such images are suspect as misidentifications or hoaxes. In recent times, I have identified 'sun dogs;' internal lens reflections, and out of focus birds and insects, in images sent directly to me.

Where are the good cases?

What has happened to the classic, close encounter, involving someone travelling in a motor vehicle in a remote locality, along the lines of the 30 October 1967, Boyup Brook, Western Australia event? Are they still occurring? If any blog readers know of such Australian incident, I'd like to hear from you via email to keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au

Four months before Kenneth Arnold

Kenneth Arnold

24 June 2017, is the 70th anniversary of the birth of the modern UFO phenomenon; the Kenneth Arnold sighting of 24 June 1947. However, there were many sightings which occurred, and were published, prior to Arnold's observation. One such sighting occurred in  my home state of South Australia, and remains unexplained.

The Port Augusta and Lock sightings

Between 7 and 8 am on the morning of 5 February 1947, a Mr F W Flavel of the country town of Lock, South Australia, stated that he had observed something unusual. He said he saw five, strange objects traversing the sky. In shape, they were oblong, with narrow points. They seemed to be floating from north-west to south-east and cast a shadow. (Adelaide 'Advertiser' 17 February 1947, p.2.)

At about 9am that same morning, Mr Ron Ellis and two workmates were at work at the Commonwealth Railways workshop, in Port Augusta. Ellis reported seeing five, strange, egg shaped objects crossing the sky, from north to south. They cast shadows, and appeared to be quivering. They were lost to view within a few seconds. Their colour was said to have been white to light pink. (Adelaide 'Advertiser' 7 February 1947, p.1.)

I wrote two blog posts about these two observations (click here and here.)

Potential explanations

At the time, a  number of possible mundane explanations were put forward as to the nature of the strange objects. These were:

1. Meteors.

An amateur astronomer (Adelaide 'Advertiser' 25 February 1947, p.1) suggested that the objects were daytime meteors. However, the South Australian government astronomer, Mr G F Dodwell, was quoted (Adelaide 'Advertiser' 8 February 1947, front page) as saying '...that the phenomenon did not fit in with anything astronomical and was a complete mystery to him. Mr Dodwell discounted the probability of the objects being meteorites.'

2. A mirage.

J C Fowler (Adelaide 'Advertiser' 22 February 1947, p.2) suggested that the explanation was a mirage. The South Australian government astronomer, Mr G F Dodwell (same paper) discussed the hypothesis but concluded 'This seems to correspond with real objects and not with a mirage reflection.'

3. Birds.

In a letter (Adelaide 'Advertiser' 1 March 1947) G L Forth wrote 'In all probability the strange objects in the sky at Port Augusta and Lock were flocks of galahs migrating from the arid districts in the far north.

It is not an uncommon sight to people living in the north. Galahs usually fly in packed formations and at a high altitude. They do not screech while travelling long distances. No doubt this would also account for the pink and grey colors mentioned by your correspondents.'

4. Other thoughts.

Researchers Chris Aubeck and Martin Shough (2015. 'Return to Magonia.' Anomalist Books. San Antonio, Texas, chapter 21) discuss a number of other potential explanations. These included balloons; wind borne objects; '...perhaps even small clouds.' (p.343);' lighter than air airships (p.345); aircraft and rockets.

Ultimately though, Aubeck and Shough   concluded '...this is a striking case, and is certainly of great historical and cultural interest. Simply put, this is a modern UFO...' (p.350.)

Naturally, I welcome hearing from any blog readers who either, have additional material on these sightings, or can suggest an explanation.