Westall research - this blog's contribution to the debate.

Introduction

From time to time, I receive comments from people, that they believe I have a negative approach to the subject of the 6 April 1966, mass sighting at Westall, Melbourne, Australia.

I inform such people that, like themselves, I have the right to my opinion as to the cause of the sighting that day. Unlike some individuals, I base my own opinion on having conducted research on the event. I was not there on the day, and ultimately, my opinion is based solely on what I have been able to find out, by communicating with Westall witnesses as long ago as the 1990's; by visiting the site, prior to the playground installation; by an examination of all the original source material I could locate; an examination of Australian government files; by looking for potential non-UFO explanations; by exploring topics such as memory recall in people; and applying all that I have learnt from many years of interviewing witnesses to sightings, all over Australia.

One of the few witness documents available from 1966 - image courtesy VFSRS

This blog's contribution to the Westall debate

Quite a few posts on this blog, have explored the Westall sighting. I have provided the following links for anyone who wishes to explore material relating to the event; much of which, you will not find anywhere else.

Photo by author

Blowing in the wind

Back in 2010, a series of posts appeared about the possibility that stratospheric balloons might cause some UAP events. Research found that certain Australian sightings did indeed, seem to have been caused in this way.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/cold-ufo-cases-stratospheric-balloons.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/cold-ufo-cases-stratospheric-balloons_16.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/cold-ufo-cases-stratospheric-balloons_19.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/cold-ufo-cases-stratospheric-balloons_20.html

In 2011, some research was then undertaken on one specific stratospheric balloon project in Australia.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/cold-cases-project-hibal.html

HIBAL launch - Image courtesy of National Archives of Australia

The Corona spy satellite program and 'broken arrows'

Later, when information surfaced about the US Corona spy satellite program, there was a reference by Stanton Friedman, about that program, and the possibility of an association with Australia.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/corona-spy-satellites-and-westall-link.html

An even more remote possibility, that a USAF aircraft (which were flying in Victoria at around that time) had accidentally lost an atomic bomb, was explored, given that Westall witnesses reported individuals with Geiger counters examining the area.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/more-speculation-on-westall.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/westall-and-possible-broken-arrow.html

Aircraft chasing UFOs over Victoria

In 2012, there was a tantalising report about another (1967) Victorian sighting involved multiple aircraft chasing UFOs. This second sighting had several common factors with the Westall incident, and just had to be explored. No one had previously published about this.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/westall-sequel.html

Later in 2012, a post looked at other potential explanations for Westall.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/westall-answer.html

Enter the former Australian Department of Supply

Westall researcher, Shane Ryan received information from the family of a former high up member of the former Department of Supply, which led Shane to understand that that employee knew the answer to what was seen at Westall.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/the-former-australian-department-of.html

Image courtesy of the author

Another 1966 mass sighting from an Australian school

Details about another April 1966 Australian school sighting was located, and was reported for the first time on this blog.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/another-australian-april-1966-school.html

Did radar pick up anything at Westall?

Researcher Paul Dean located an Australian government file concerning the reported observation of a UFO on radar, three days before Westall. No-one outside of the government prior to Paul, had seen this file.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/another-australian-april-1966-school.html

A search was then conducted for other 1966 Melbourne sightings involving radar.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/was-there-radar-observation-of-westall.html

A link between Westall and the Balwyn photograph?

The Balwyn, Melbourne photograph was taken on 2 April 1966, and many have speculated as to the possibility that here was a photograph of the object which was seen at Westall, four days later.

Image courtesy of Jim Kibel

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/was-there-connection-between-westall.html

The HIBAL hypothesis

Extensive work was undertaken to explore the hypothesis (simply an idea to be discussed, confirmed or rejected based on the evidence) that the Westall object(s) was/were associated with the HIBAL program.

HIBAL launch - Image courtesy of National Archives of Australia

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/project-hibal-answer-to-westall-files.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/westall-hibal-further-information-you.html

Sighting on morning of Westall event - HIBAL balloons were filled using a long hose which remained with the balloon on the flight - image courtesy Shane Ryan

Please read all the original source material before speaking out!

As it was found that few people had ever read all the original source material on Westall, a comprehensive document setting out these sources was published.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/westall-read-original-documentation.html

Further material on HIBAL was published

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/hibal-westall-hypothesis-under-test.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/project-hibal-two-previously-unreleased.html

HIBAL launch  - image courtesy of National Archives of Australia

Further research uncovered details about the Victorian 1967 event which had similarities to Westall.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/a-westall-aside-previously-unknown.html

A copy of a 1966 audio recorded interview concerning an interview with Westall witness Andrew Greenwood was discover and reported upon.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/andrew-greenwood-and-westall-1966-audio.html

Paul Dean and I returned with  a detailed look at the 1966 Balwyn photograph.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/return-to-balwyn.html

Finally, I took a look at the mystery of the missing Channel 9, Westall news film

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2017/07/westall-on-track-of-missing-channel-9.html

In summary

This blog, has since 2010, explored a variety of aspects of the Westall sighting; provided a summary searchable text of all the original source material; uncovered new data; clarified other pieces of  existing information, and put forward a testable non-UFO hypothesis for the event.  

I point out that there is almost no hard data available. There is no analysis of reported ground traces. There is no evidence of radar detection of the object. There are no documents about the sighting to be found in any Australian government file. The witnesses' observations are not well documented from the era, e.g. there are no entries from a 1966 diary. Much of the shared information only came to light since around 2006. Researchers have failed to acknowledge that human memory is prone to errors. No government employees have come forward to say they were involved in a cover up of the incident. Even the legendary US researcher, James E McDonald, following a personal investigation of Westall, never promoted it as an example of the 'core' phenomenon. 

J E McDonald's Westall interview notes with Andrew Greenwood 1967 - image courtesy Michael Swords

Follow ups to previous posts

Hi all,

I am emailed from time to time asking me whether or not there has been any further information  on a particular post. I thought I would take the opportunity to update you all on a few developments.

1. The 1942 "Tromp" case:

In 1957, an individual named William Jan Methorst of Melbourne, reported a fascinating and oft Internet quoted ( e.g. click here) observation to the Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society. In a letter to the Society, Methorst told how he had been on board the Dutch cruiser "Tromp" when he had sighted a UAP circling the ship. Click here to read my original post with more details.

I wondered if by any chance Methorst was still alive and whether any original documentation from 1942 could still be found. An electoral roll check at the State Library of South Australia did indeed reveal that one William Jan Methorst lived in 1957 at the address shown on the 1957 letter. However, I failed to be able to trace him beyond 1959 when he and his wife disappeared off the Victorian electoral rolls.

Recently, I managed to locate William Jan Methorst in Preston East, Melbourne in the 1954 electoral rolls; then in Reservoir East, Melbourne in 1957 (already found,) then to Fortitude Valley in Brisbane in 1963. At each address up to that date, he was accompanied by a Ruth Methorst, and his occupation was shown as a carpenter.

In 1972, he and Ruth appear in the in the North Brisbane electoral roll with his occupation then listed as caretaker. There is also a Berend Jan Methorst shown as living at the same address as William and Ruth.

I couldn't track either William or Ruth beyond 1972 using the electoral rolls. However, Berend Jan Methorst turns up as late as 1980 in the electoral division of St Lucia, sub-division of Ryan in Brisbane, Queensland.

Using the electoral rolls for 2009, I located Berend Jan to an address is Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT.) I also found that he was listed in the Telstra electronic white pages. I decided to send a letter rather than telephone him. It has now been four weeks since I despatched the letter. Although I put my return address on the back of the envelope, and it has not been returned to me suggesting that he has indeed received it, I have had no reply from him. So, the trail has gone cold on this tantilising 1942 event.

2. 1964 Gum Creek, South Australia entity case:

A classic entity case was reported by a South Australian woman, Doris Player, in February 1964. Click here for my original detailed post. Recently, while watching a You Tube video (click here for video) I found to my amazement that there was a segment on Doris Player and  a sketch of the 1964 entity at about the six minute five second mark in a segment mistakenly labelled "Tasmania 1964."

3. American contactee Valerie Ransone:

I ran as series of posts (click here, here and here) about a fascinating individual named Valerie Ransone who was involved with a number of people in he USA including the late US astronaut Gordon Cooper. I located her current whereabouts and sent her messages via Facebook and by direct email asking her if she'd be willing to update us on her research since the 1980's I never received a response.

4. Westall follow-up:

Following up on information given by Canberra based Westall researcher, Shane Ryan, at the May 2012 seminar arranged by the Australian UFO Research Association (AURA) I have been looking for some time for information on American projects which were based in Victoria, Australia in 1966. The purpose of this was to determine any relevance between such projects and the 6 Apr 1966 Westall case.

I recently located  file in the National Archive of Australia, file series M1148 control symbol USA-General, barcode 31415823, located in the Melbourne office of the National Archives of Australia (NAA.) The file title was "USA- General (includes correspondence, articles, draft article, and photographs, draft articles include 'Australia's role in the tracking of satellites, and deep space probes; Project Hibal; Operation Crowflight and the significance of American scientific projects in Australia.  Regretfully, nothing on the file throws any light on any American project which might have relevance to Westall, except for one possibility, Project Hibal.

This was a joint project between the US Atomic Energy Commission and the Australian Department of Supply; launched high altitude very large sized balloons; and had a chase aircraft which followed all flights. The several hundred kilogram scientific payloads which gathered radioactive particles in the stratosphere, came down under a 40 foot diameter parachute. Launched from Mildura, Victoria, these balloons sometimes drifted as far as Nowra, New South Wales; Canberra, ACT; Eyre Peninsula, South Australia,; and Bendigo, Victoria. A Project Hibal balloon, flight 292 was scheduled for launch on 5 Apr 1966, the day before the Westall incident. I attempted to learn the fate of flight 292, by interviewing five former members of the Department of Supply, Hibal launch team.  However, none of them was able to tell me what happened to flight 292. Mysteriously, the chase aircraft's log book, which I located, contained details for flights 291 and 293 but none for flight 292. Was flight 292 somehow implicated in Westall?

Operation Lost-ball, GHOST balloons and Detective Meskell

Hi all,

National Archives of Australia (NAA) file series A703 control symbol 580/1/1 part 7 has now been digitised, courtesy of Melbourne researcher Paul Dean, and is now available for viewing at the NAA website.

Contents:

The digital version of the file consists of 371 pages, and covers the years 1966 and 1967 (for readers who are aware of the 6 April 1966 Westall event, no it does not have any documentation on this case!)

However, inter alia, it does have:

* A 27 Nov 1966 observation from Eildon Weir, Victoria where an orange/yellow light was reported travelling in a north-west direction. The RAAF attributed the cause of this report to either "ball lightning" or a "plasma." It should be noted that very few of the thousands of UAP reports made to the RAAF received this "solution."

* A 30 Dec 1966 sighting from a ship at sea, of UAP travelling ESE at supersonic speed, parallel to the horizon. At least four groups, of several objects per group, were seen. Each object was circular and showed light streams astern.

* On 15 Feb 1967 a man in a car north of Townsville reported seeing a dark triangular object in the sky travelling SW to NE at an estimated height of 20,000 to 30,000 feet, in a straight path. The RAAF found that the only known aircraft in the area was a Pan Am aircraft which wasn't the object seen.

* A mention of a mystery "Operation Lost-ball." A man found an unusual object on his property in a paddock. A file note states that the material was handed to "...a Mr Mills at the Department of Supply Perth who was nominated by NASA as the W.A. Handling Authority for Operation Lost-ball." A search of the NAA website and the Internet, found no information at all about an Operation Lost-ball. Have any blog readers ever come across it? See below for an update.

* A copy of a telex dated 18 Apr 1967 from "External Canberra" which I take to be the Department of External Affairs, Canberra, to the Department of Civil Aviation, Melbourne; the Melbourne Bureau of Meteorology, and the Department of Air. It was headed "Ghost balloons." It read "Further launching on 27 March -no. 91022, code DDD, transmitting on 15022 kc/s." As I had not previously heard of "Ghost balloons" I checked the NAA for files. I found only one, file series A432 control symbol 1971/15 barcode 9009307, Canberra office, status "Not yet Examined." Its title is "Agreement with United States Government for release of "ghost" balloons from Darwin." The file belonged to the Deputy Crown Solicitor's office, Canberra.

An Internet search found that "The Global Horizontal Sounding Technique (GHOST) program was an atmospheric field research project for investigating the technical ability to gather weather data using thousands of simultaneous long-duration balloons." 231 GHOST balloons were launched between March 1966 and December 1969. The balloon s were only flown around the southern hemisphere, and one flight lasted over a year. For more on this program click here and here.

* A copy of a memo, dated 18 Mar 1967 from the Police Station at Goolagong to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) about "mysterious happenings" centred around a satellite re-entry.

* A report of an object sighted on 22 Apr 1967 by a Detective Meskell c/- the Police Station at Coolangatta, Queensland. He sighted a light travelling North which then changed direction.

Detective John Meskell, was the central character of the reported Bougainville Reef aircraft, photographic case of 28 May 1965. To read about this case and Meskell's part in it, click here and here.

* A memo dated 27 Jul 1967 from RAAF Headquarters Supply Command to the Department of Air including  copy of a lecture given by James E McDonald in Washington. The memo noted "Professor McDonald has recently been in Melbourne for discussions with the CSIRO on meteorological problems, and at the same time, took the opportunity to present an address to members of associations interested in UFO activity." To read this paper click here.

End notes:

There are always interesting bits of information to be found on any of the RAAF file series A703 control symbol 580/1/1 files. Currently we are waiting for parts 12, 27 and 33-35 to be digitised, courtesy of  a request by Paul Dean.

Update 5 August 2021

With the passage of time comes new data about Operation Lost Ball.

1. In a publication titled "NASA Historical Data Book: Programs and Projects 1958-1968"  there appears the following:

Biosatellite 1: "The launch and orbital phases of the Biosatellite 1 mission were successful, but the retrorocket system failed, and the capsule did not reenter as planned. Although teams searched the area of Australia and the Tasman Sea where the spacecraft should have reentered when its orbit decayed in January 1967 (Operation Lost Ball) nothing was found and no data were returned from the flight."

2. In the archives of WA Today 

"1967: US Spacecraft missing in the Australian outback."

"Light aircraft are being charted to search an area in Western Australia for the missing U.S. spacecraft Biosatellite 1.

The Department of Supply is chartering the aircraft at the request of  the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The Minister for Supply (Senator Henty) said yesterday the search area was about 300 miles north-east of Perth.

Centre of the search area is a 40 by 100 mile area between Lake Barlee and Lake Moore. 

An initial search on Wednesday was called off after U.S. Air Force planes had fruitlessly crisscrossed thousands of square miles of the Australian continent and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The direction to resume the search was made after scientists had made  further analysis of signals from a radio beacon picked up by a U.S. aircraft flying over Australia about the time the capsule should have been making the final stage of its descent by parachute."

Gone with the wind - balloons and UAP

Hi all,

Introduction:

Balloons of all kinds can cause reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP.) Long term readers of this blog may recall that I wrote a series of posts about the stratospheric balloon program known as HIBAL. In Australia, HIBAL was a joint program between the US Atomic Energy Commission and the Australian Department of Supply, launching large balloons from Mildura, Victoria. For newer blog readers, you might wish to take a look at these posts, click here; here ; here ; here and here

Early reports:

In June 1948, US pilot Captain Thomas Mantell died while attempting to intercept a UAP. However, later data suggested that the UAP was most likely a US Navy Skyhook balloon (click here.) Writing about James E McDonald, in her 2003 book "Firestorm" Ann Druffel wrote "McDonald was satisfied that Moore's balloon-flight data explained the Mantell incident..." (Druffel. Wild Flower Press. p.72.)

Another US Skyhook balloon, in October 1953, crossed from the US to the United Kingdom (UK)  and on 3 Nov 1953 was spotted near London by a Royal Air Force aircraft. However, it wasn't until "2004 that British Intelligence concluded this UFO was a Skyhook balloon." (Clarke, D. 2012. "The UFO Files." Bloomsbury. London. pp 57 and 163.)

A team from Bristol University in the UK launched 300-400 foot diameter balloons, in a cosmic ray research program which landed in such diverse places as Ireland and France. In July 1954 one balloon flew over London and caused flying saucer reports. (Clarke p.63.)

In February 1956 reports of a flying saucer flooded in from South Wales and England. A naval aircraft took off to investigate and flew to 35,000 feet. However, the object ws still higher than this. The pilot's log book notes that the object was "...probably a cosmic ray research balloon." (Clarke pp64-65.)

Russian balloon:

Sometime in the 1960's US Oxcart (click here) aircraft pilot Ken Collins was sent on a mission to locate "...a Russian reconnaissance balloon was flying across the United States, floating with the prevailing winds in a westerly direction...on direct orders by the Pentagon to 'hunt and find' the Soviet weather balloon visually and using radar...flying somewhere over the middle of the continent, Collins briefly identified an object on radar about 350 miles away...he never saw the balloon with his own eyes." (Jacobsen, A. 2011. "Area 51." Orion. London.)

Madrid:

In 1968 Madrid was the scene of report by hundreds of people who saw tetrahedron shaped UAP crossing the sky. Photographs (for one click here) were taken of the object. Research later determined that the object(s) were French research balloons (click here.)

Australia:

Here in Australia, also in 1968, persons in Sydney reported a UAP in the northern sky, travelling along at a rapid pace. It turned out that the University of Adelaide had launched a balloon with a telescope attached, launched from Mildura in Victoria. (McCraken. K. 2008. "Blast Off." New Holland Publishers. Sydney.)

The following year, numerous reports were received from people around Amberley, Queensland, on 29 August. Witnesses stated that they saw a "balloon-like" object to the south. A RAAF Canberra aircraft located the cause of the sightings as a balloon over Milmerran at 6,000 feet. Later it was revealed that the balloon launching station at Mildura had launched a balloon on 25 August which failed to self-destruct and floated over south-eastern Queensland. (National Archives of Australia (NAA) file series A703 control symbol 580/1/1.)

On 19 May 1988, a witness was travelling by car near Bandendone, Queensland and at 1.25pm saw an object in the sky, reflecting "metal-like" in the sunlight. There was no associated sound. It appeared to be hovering before rising steadily as it travelled east. An Excite x-ray telescope had been launched by a balloon from Alice Springs, NT that day and appears to have caused the report. (NAA file series A703 control symbol 580/1/1.)

Smaller balloons:

Thousands of meteorological balloons are launched from airports and other sites every day to obtain details of the atmospheric conditions. If you live near one of these sites you may, from time to time, see these balloons and their associated equipment ascending into the sky, or the equipment descending if the balloon itself has burst.

Since the mid 1990's hundreds of reports have been received by Australian UAP research groups, which describe either single, or multiple in formation, orange coloured lights travelling across the night sky. These observations have come from most Australian capital cities and many regional centres.

Investigation of thes reports indicate that the source are hot air filled garbage bags launched by individuals trying to cause UAP reports. The reports tend to come in clusters, e.g. around the Narre Warren area of Melbourne, Victoria in June 1996 ; Townsville, Queensland in July 1998. People have been seen launching these bags; and remains of bags have been found. These kind of UAP continue to be reported today. The latest known to me was observed from Mawson Lakes, a northern Adelaide suburb in early March 2013.

In the UK hundreds of UAP reports are believed to have been due to Chinese lanterns being launched into the skies, in recent years (for video click here.)

In conclusion:

When analysing UAP reports, the possibility that the cause might be a hot air garbage bag; a meteorological weather balloon or a stratospheric large diameter research balloon should always be considered.
 

RAAF Mirage jet intercepts UAP - 1986

Hi all,

Introduction:

The Disclosure Australia Project uncovered National Archives of Australia (NAA) file series A9755, and determined that it consisted of about two dozen RAAF UAP files for the period 1984-1996. Dominic McNamara and I visited RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia to look at these files which were brought from Canberra to Edinburgh, specifically to allow us to peruse the files. However, there were conditions applied. We could not take digital photographs of documents. We could not dictate details into a recording device. We were permitted to take notes, but not to record witnesses' names. A RAAF Military Police Officer sat in the room with us at all times, and checked our hand written notes before we left the base. We later applied for copies of all the documents on these files under the FOI Act, but our request was denied on the grounds that there were several thousand pages and this was too much of a workload for the RAAF to undertake. We recorded our notes in a Project Newsletter.

Move forward to 2013 and we now find that some of the files under A9755 are finally (partly) available under the Archives Act. I submitted an application for access to those parts of the series which turned up in RecordSearch, and two have just been digitised for me to view. This post will provide details of one file. A later post, the second file.

Control  symbol 6:

File series A9755, control symbol 6, is titled "Headquarters RAAF Base Williamtown [Unusual Aerial Sightings] [UAS] UFO - Unidentified Flying Objects." Its date range is 11 Jan 1984 to 11 Dec 1986. It is held in the NAA's Canberra office, barcode 3533436, and is open with exception (closed period.)

There are 46 pages currently available. The file's original reference is 6/44/Air Part 1 "Unusual Aerial Sightings." The blue file over has a handwritten note "RDA1013 2.2 (A) Feb 92 (D) 2067." It was opened on 18 Sep 1984 and closed 3 Feb 1987. Its classification level was originally "Restricted." 49 pages have been withheld as outside the Archives Act date range.

What's on the file?

There are a number of low interest UAP reports from the period, for example:

* 10 Jul 1984 1840hrs Mayfield, NSW. Formation of lights travelling east to west.

* 17 Aug 1984 2100k Williamtown, NSW. 10 mins. Red light travelling south to north.

* 29 Jun 1984 Time not stated. Six or seven bright white lights travelling fast in all directions.

*29 Dec 1984 2130hrs Wallsend NSW. Stationary light in the west.

Radar/visual report:

On the 14 Jul 1985 the base received a number of calls that day about UAP. Some of them referred to what was apparently the same object:

0830  Liddell Power Station, NSW. Stationary steady silver light in the sky at 10,000 feet to the west.

1315 Lauriton(?) Silver object very high. Stationary and spherical.

1345 North George. Silver spherical object north at 45 degrees elevation.

1440 Tarree. Large, round, silver object above cirrus clouds. 18 degrees elevation. NNE. Stationary.

The RAAF actually conducted an investigation of these reports. An undated RAAF minute includes "Various agencies such as RAAF Richmond Ops and the Dept of Aviation briefing office at Sydney were contacted but none had received similar reports or were aware of the identity of the object.

A second, undated, minute about the object reports "I enquired at the Williamtown Met Office and spoke to Mr Jeff Smith and then Mr Larry McGrath in Sydney.

2. Mr McGrath reported that on the 14th July he had received a number of similar reports and in response had tracked an object on radar. Since it was drifting with the wind at 15-20 kts he deduced it was a balloon. However, since it produced a significant radar paint he assumed it was a research balloon which can carry up to a 5 tonne payload. He checked a number of authorities but could not determine if it was launched by any one of them. Natams(?) did not warn of any such landing. McGrath suspected that it may have been launched at Parkes, NSW. A police witness reported seeing a "radio package" beneath the object and this trends to substantiate the balloon theory.

Mirage jet intercepts UAP:

The file contains a report by a Mirage Jet pilot, which has a handwritten notation of 1230pm 5 Sep 1986.

"Report by Despot 546 -Vector to UFO

"I was vectored under 3CRU control to a target approx 320 degrees at 170 miles reference Williamtown, TACAN. Height estimated was either FL250 to FL300 or FL900.

2. Cruising at FL300 at a distance of approx 35 miles I sighted the object in my 12 o'clock position, high. I turned 15 degrees off attack heading and climbed to FL500.

3. The target from an easterly approach appeared to be balloon shaped with some sort of appendage hanging below. However with the target approx 30 to 40 thousand feet high it was hard to detail accurately.

4. The target did not appear to be moving at any speed and I flew one 360 degrees orbit around it from north and westerly aspects. The object was unrecognisable due to the high reflection of the Sun.."

A RAAF Minute about the event states:

"1. Following a sighting of a UFO by civil ATC radar and RAAF 3CRU a Mirage was launched to investigate. Attached is a report by the pilot identifying the object as a balloon." The Minute details efforts to locate the origin of the balloon. "None of these authorities have or appear to be interested to investigate this incident more fully to determine the balloon's origin." "Since the matter is not of a National Security nature no further action is required in regard to UFO as laid down in Ref A."

Comments:

A number of questions come to my mind:

1. Whose balloons were they?

2. With the possibility that a balloon would collide with an aircraft, wouldn't the then equivalent of Air Services of Australia be very interested in this object (balloon?)?

3. How many UAP reports have been, or continue to be, caused by unidentified "balloons?"

4. Given the lack of determination of whose "balloons" they were; were they in fact balloons?

Cold UFO cases - stratospheric balloons Part 4

This post continues my examination of Australian UFO reports in the RAAF UFO files, which may be explainable in terms of stratospheric balloons.

30 Jul 1965 70miles West of Cook, South Australia 0835hrs 10mins duration

A gang of railway workers saw a UFO for ten minutes, to the South of the railway line. It appeared to be "hovering" and was silver in colour, reflecting the Sun's rays. It disappeared with a flash. There was no sound associated with the visual observation.

8 May 1966 Whittlesea, Victoria 1015hrs 10 minutes duration

A flying instructor saw an object at 30 degrees azimuth, 20 nautical miles at an estimated height of 8,000 feet. It was silver in colour. Through binoculars it seemed "...some sort of metallic substance..." In shape it was "Elliptical with dark core." There was no sound. It was initially stationary but descended to approximately 4,500 feet before being lost behind cloud.

17 May 1967 Thomastown, Victoria 1200hrs 60 minutes duration

A man reported using binoculars to watch a star-like flashing object high in the sky to the North West. It was in clear sky, had a round shape, and was noiseless. It seemed to be very high up in the sky. It was moving slowly to the South East, travelling in a straight line.

9 Sep 1967 Alice Springs, Northern Territory 1415hrs 5-10 minutes duration

Five nursing sisters, on a clear day, saw an object high up in the sky, slightly North West of overhead. Light glinted on the object. They questioned whether it was a balloon. It was silver in colour, had a round shape and was soundless. It seemed to be "hovering" then moved North North West. It was lost to view "...up into the stratosphere."

9 Feb 1969 Wulkuraka, near Ipswich, Queensland 1530hrs 180 minutes duration

A witness reported seeing a circular, shiny, white object. Initially it was observed due North moving South for 45 minutes, then moving West at very slow speed at high altitude. Total duration of the observation was three hours.

29 Aug 1969 Amberley, Queensland 1335hrs

There were numerous reports of a "balloon-like" object to the South. A Canberra aircraft located a balloon over Milmerran at 6,000 feet. Later it was revealed by the Balloon Launching Project at Mildura that they had launched a balloon on 25 August which failed to self-destruct and which then floated over South East Queensland.

10 May 1988 Bandendone, Queensland 1325hrs 20 minutes duration

A witness was travelling by car, when they saw an object in the sky, reflecting "metal-like" in the sunlight. There was no sound. It appeared to be "hovering" before rising steadily as it travelled East. An Exite x-ray telescope was launched by balloon from Alice Springs on this day.

My comment:

There certainly would appear to be UFO reports in the RAAF UFO files which fit being observations of stratospheric balloons. Interestingly, I cannot recall reading anything about this possibility in the files of Australian UFO research groups.

I would imagine that a diligent search of the reports archives of Australian groups would reveal further observations whose origin lie with stratospheric balloons. Unlike Operation Crowflight aircraft producing some UFO reports in the period 1960-1966; stratospheric balloon launches continue in Australia today.

Cold UFO cases - stratospheric balloons Part 3

Hi

This post continues my look at the possibility that some Australian UFO reports were due to stratospheric balloon launches.

In viewing digitised images of UFO reports made to the RAAF in 1961, I came across two reports which came from the same area of North Queensland only two days apart.

The first was made on 5 June 1961 at a place called Millaa Millaa, on the Atherton Tablelands, some 70kms South of Cairns. Senior Constable W Anderson was one of a number of people in the area who reported seeing an object in the day time sky. He stated that the object appeared as a dull star to the naked eye, but that through binoculars it was "... a cone shape with half of its surface coloured red..."

He first saw it at 12.55pm. In the cloudless sky he first saw it as a silver sphere which turned slowly to show a cone shape. It finally moved to the West and was lost to sight in the haze on the western horizon at 2.50pm.

My comment:

From the data on the RAAF file, the object described by Senior Constable Anderson and others, could have been a balloon. It travelled some 45 degrees across the sky in 2 hours; was spherical to cone shaped (a cone being a perfect description for a large high altitude balloon); and appeared to be high up in the atmosphere. The RAAF sent up an aircraft which orbited the area between 4.20 and 4.35pm but found nothing to account for the sightings.

The second sighting came from the Cairns area on 7 June 1961. Many people sighted an object in the sky which was described as "...an oval shaped body glowing bright red, with three shining white triangular fins..." There was some talk of it possibly being a daytime observation of the planet Venus (it is possible to see Venus in broad daylight.) However, this was dismissed when a local photographer photographed both the planet Venus and and a separate object in the one shot.

My comment:

Again, this second set of sightings could have been the same balloon.

Cold UFO cases - stratospheric balloons? Part 1

Introduction:


I mentioned in my post dated 28 October 2010, that I came across an astronomy article describing stratospheric balloon research in Australia. The article, in part, stated that "...nearly 800 balloon flights have taken place in Australia since 1960 with over 100 being conducted from Alice Springs."


The article also revealed that as early as 1960, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission was in Australia using stratospheric balloons (in a parallel mission to the USAF Operation Crowflight) to sample the air at high altitudes for evidence from nuclear test fallout.


Crowflight:


In fact, the National Archives of Australia website digitised files on Operation Crowflight, mention that in 1960 the U.S. and Australian Governments were discussing the use of a balloon program to check on radioactive fallout.


Balloon website:


I located an excellent website at http://stratocat.com.ar/bases/balloons-australia.htm which indicated that there had been three main locations from which stratospheric balloons have been launched in Australia, namely Mildura in Victoria; Charleville in Queensland and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Mildura (Latitude 34deg 11min South, Longitude 142 deg 10min East)

Mildura was selected by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1960 as a balloon launching station as part of the global HIBAL program. This was a program aimed at collecting dust samples from between 40,000 and 135,000 feet with 20 minutes to four hours of levelled flight. 600 flights were made between 1960 and 1966. HIBAL was then extended to 1969.

Between 1967 and 1980 150 other flights were launched for astronomical purposes. Apart from Mildura, other launch sites were Longreach, Queensland; Broken Hill, New South Wales, and Alice Springs, Northern Territory.

Charleville

Only two balloon launches were made to study supernova 1987-A on 29 Oct and 25 Nov 1988.

Alice Springs

The balloon launch program was established in 1975 and about 150 balloon launches have been undertaken since then. The stratocat website provides a partial list of dates for some of these balloon launches.

UFO/balloon characteristics:

What characteristics would I expect a stratospheric balloon observation to have?

1. Daylight observation.
2. Sunlight reflecting off an object.
3. Travelling in a constant direction, subject to wind direction at various altitudes.
4. Moving very slowly across the sky -hence maybe a long duration observation.
5. Object might appear as more than a point source due to the size of the balloon.
6. Seemingly very high up in the sky.
7. Location - anywhere in Australia.
8. Seen by single person or a group.
9. Silver/white in colour.
10. No sound.

UFO reports:

I started off by looking at the Disclosure Australia project archive at http://disclosureaustralia.freewebpages.org and their listing of RAAF UFO reports.

My initial examination comparing UFO reports with my list of expected characteristics of balloon observations gave me a list of over 20 potential balloon sightings. I then went to the National Archives of Australia website to examine the actual report form on their digital files.

More in my next post.