National Archives of Australia and the New Year

National Archives of Australia

For over 15 years now, on the first of January each year, I have checked the website of the National Archives of Australia (NAA,) for newly released Australian government files relating to UAP.

This annual activity followed the years between 2003 and 2008, when the Adelaide based Australian UFO Research Association (AURA) conducted its major exploration of Australian government UAP files. During those years, a large number of UAP related files were located via the NAA's search engine. Once a file was located, a digitized copy was ordered, paid for out of the pockets of AURA members. In those days each file cost between $25-50 to have digitized, as opposed to around $200 for a large file, today. 

Once AURA's work was completed as much as possible, annual inspections of the NAA website by myself and Melbourne based researcher Paul Dean, continued to locate a small number of UAP related files, each year, up to the year 2022. A list of files located up until May 2016, may be found here.  A reading of the files listed, reveals that there were an unexpectedly large number of different Australian government departments that kept UAP related files. A sense of what was on these collective files may be read here.  

An NAA document referring to the 1978 Valentich incident

The 2025 NAA search using various keywords

Were any newly released Australian government UAP files located in my 2025 annual search? Unfortunately, not. However, there still remain a few files which I located in previous years, and which I had the NAA examine and open them but have not had them digitized due to their cost. These are:

1. File series A9755, control symbol 9, title "[RAAF No. 92 Wing, Headquarters, Edinburgh, South Australia] Unusual Aerial Sightings [UAS] [UFO - Unidentified Flying Objects]" Date range is 1992-1994. Item ID 3533451. Held in Canberra. Formerly, a file of the Department of Defence.

2. File series A9755, control symbol 23, title "[RAAF Headquarters No. 82 Bomber Wing, Amberley, Queensland] Unusual Aerial Sightings. [UAS] [UFO - Unidentified Flying Objects]" Date range 1992-1994. ID 3533584. Held in Canberra. Formerly, a file of the Department of Defence. 

3. File series B610, control symbol 315/1/425 Part 1. Title "Airways Operations - Miscellaneous Rockets, Missiles, Space Craft and UFOs. AO Aspects." Date range 1977-1985. ID 24947317. Held in Canberra. Formerly a file of the Department of Civil Aviation.

4. File series P2864, control symbol Maatsuyker 1973. Title "Navigational Aid Station [Light station] Log book - Maatsuyker Island [UFO sighting]" Date range 1973-1974. ID 33094195. Held in Hobart. Formerly a file of the Australian Maritime Authority. 

5. File series C1342m control symbol 5/2/AIR Part 8. Title "Unusual Aerial Sightings [RAAF Williamtown] Correspondence Box 3." Date range 1983-1984. ID 24102990. Held in Sydney. Formerly a file of the Department of Defence. 

Two other 'Open" files waiting for someone to pay to have them digitized, relate to the possibility that flight 292 of the joint Australian/USA HIBAL radioactivity sampling mission, might be the explanation for the mass sighting at a school in Westall, Melbourne on 6 April 1966, are:

File series B595, control symbols 99/66/105 Parts 1 and 2. Title "US Project 'ash can' 'hibal' for sampling radioactive content of stratosphere." Both files have a date range of 1953-1977 and both are held in Canberra. ID are 23801655 and 23801656. Formerly files of the Department of Civil Aviation.

The current situation

The current attitude of the Australian Department of Defence is that they have no interest in the subject of UAP, hence they are creating no new files on the subject. Therefore, it is doubtful that any more Australian government UAP related files will be located in the NAA. So, it is likely that we have found all such files in the NAA. However, it should be noted that from time to time, the AURA project did come across a few files that were not in the NAA as they should be but were still held by Departments themselves. So, it is possible that diligent research utlising the Freedom of Information Act might just turn up a few more files. The trouble with this is that one would have to submit FOI requests to all current Australian government departments, a daunting task. 

Civilian air safety and UAP

 Introduction

Over the years, two key aspects have been emphasized in UAP studies, namely 1) they are a threat to national security and 2) they are a threat to the safety of aircraft. In this blog post I wish to address point 2.

Australian context

In Australia there are three government agencies which have a remit for involvement in civilian air safety. These are the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA); Airservices Australia (ASA), and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).

CASA's role as defined on their website is:

"The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is a government body that ensures the safety of aviation in Australia. We license pilots, register aircraft, certify aerodromes, oversee aviation safety and promote safety awareness. We do this by setting standards and safety outcomes that cover maintenance, airspace, aerodromes, licensing and all types of operations."

Airservices Australia's website states: 

"Airservices Australia is a government-owned organization responsible for the safety of 11 per cent of the world's airspace. We are responsible for the safe and efficient management of Australia's skies..."

 Whereas the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's site says:

"The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) improves safety and public confidence in aviation, marine and rail transport through our independent 'no blame' investigation of transport accidents and safety occurrences..."

UAP research results 

As far back as June 2012 I was writing blog posts about the potential link between UAP and air safety in Australia. The ATSB and ASA had databases of aviation incidents and occurrences which could be keyword searched for references to UFO and UFO-like reports. In 2004 I had already conducted searches and a number of hits came up from the then OASIS ATSB aviation occurrence database. These were dated between 1969 and 1998. 

In October 2012, I reported upon the results of FOIA requests to the three Australian government agencies. From then Air Services Australia I received a number of documents. There were queries from the media, UFO groups, individuals and interestingly an occurrence dated July 2004 where a QANTAS flight filed a report concerning an unidentified object travelling at 150-200 knots not with the wind. Nothing was obtained from either the ATSB or CASA.

The aircraft involved in the 2014 Perth near miss

On 19 March 2014 there was a near miss between a passenger aircraft and an "unknown object" near Perth international airport in broad daylight. The incident was investigated by the ATSB and they issued an official report. Paul Dean and I also conducted an investigation and reported on this in September 2015. 

In 2015 Melbourne researcher Paul Dean sent an FOIA request to Air Services Australia. The request turned up 13 pilot and air traffic control incidents, which included a January 2014 incident near Adelaide airport. 

In around 2022 I submitted an FOIA request to ASA asking for a search of their databases for information on UFO/UAP. When they cited a fee of around $500 I withdrew my request. 

2024

In 2024 ATSB maintains a National Aviation Occurrence Database A keyword search of "UFO and UAP" locates the October 1978 Valentich disappearance; an aircraft registered as VH-UFO; and a March 2015 FOIA request for "unusual; or unidentifiable aircraft or objects i.e. UFOs." On the latter, documents were released but not now available through the database. A similar search of the ASA website revealed no documents; same with CASA. 

On 12 January 2024 Melbourne researcher Grant Lavac reached out to CASA to mention the proposed US Congressional bill re introducing UAP reporting for US Civil aviation pilots and asked;

"1.  If the proposed legislation is passed, what are the implications for CASA in the event US aircraft operating in Australian airspace (unbound/outbound) observe UAP and are required to report to the FAA?

2. Will CASA commit to reviewing its current reporting protocols and consider implementing comparable UAP reporting/recording mechanisms?"

The CASA media team responded with:

"The following can be attributed to a CASA spokesperson. CASA's role as a government body is to regulate Australian aviation safety. The reporting of UAP is currently out of our remit."

The American context

Although there has long been an interest in the air safety aspects of UAP in a US military setting, e.g. near misses off the east coast of the US in 2014 and 2015, in the rest of this blog post I'd like to report on recent events re US civilian aviation safety and UAP.

In February 2022 I reported on the formation of a "Community of interest" (COI) of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) the world's largest aerospace technical society, led by former US Marine pilot Ryan Graves. During the AIAA's 2021 annual gathering a panel discussion spoke to the potential aviation safety issues of UAP. The charter of the COI was:

"To improve aviation safety by enhancing scientific knowledge, and mitigating barriers to, the study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."

The COI held its first technical session as part of the AIAA Aviation 2022 forum on 29 June 2022. 

In November 2022, the AIAA "...recognized our UAP community of interest as a fully empowered AIAA UAP Integration and Outreach Committee dedicated to scientific study of UAP." This committee presented at the Aviation23 AIAA conference. 

In 2023 Ryan Graves went on to co-found an organization called "Americans for Safe Aerospace" with co-founder Brad Crispin. Graves, as the Executive Director of the organization went on to speak at the 26 July 2023 US Congressional hearing on UAP.

2024

On 11 January 2024 US Congressional House of Representatives members Robert Garcia and Glenn Grothman introduced a bill, H.R.6967 titled "Safe Airspace for Americans Act." H.R. 6967:

"To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish procedures and reporting requirements for incidents relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena, and for other purposes." 

Under this Act, if passed, the legislation would apply to US civilian pilots, FAA air traffic controllers, flight attendants, maintenance workers, dispatchers and airlines. Reports would initially go to the FAA and then onto the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

Where can I find a database of Australian UAP sightings?

An Australian database? 

Recently I was asked if there was a database of Australian UAP sightings, a sort of one-stop shop for these? I had to admit that there wasn't such a thing. Then I began to wonder where I would go to look for a comprehensive listing of sightings from my country? The answer became quite complex. Here are my thoughts.

National Archives

1. The National Archives of Australia's website has a search engine named RecordSearch. If you type in keywords such as "flying saucer," "UFO," "UFOs," and " Unusual aerial sightings," up pops a list of dozens of UAP related files, generated by a range of Australian government Departments and Agencies. Each file contains details of a variety of Australian sighting reports from 1951 to 1996 when the RAAF ceased its interest in the subject. In total there are many hundreds, if not thousands of reported sightings.

My catalogues

2. Over the years this author has compiled a number of UAP related catalogues which summarize Australian observations. Many of these catalogues are available on the website for Project 1947. These include:

* "Unusual aerial sightings: a search through the Australian government's records systems."

* "A catalogue of pre-24 June 1947 Australian Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."

* "Balwyn stage one report."

* "Balwyn stage two report."

* "A catalogue of Australian trace cases."

* Text source material for Westall High School UFO April 6, 1966."

* "A reference catalogue of UAP reported from the Nullarbor Plain region of southern Australia."

* "A catalogue of UAP reports from Victoria, Bass Strait, and Tasmania around the time of the Frederick Valentich disappearance on 21st October 1978."

* "A catalogue of the more interesting Australian UFO reports."

* "A re-examination of the Zanthus, Western Australia aircraft encounter of 22 August 1968."

* " Listing of reports from Woomera, South Australia."

* "A catalogue of Australian abduction cases."

* "A catalogue of South Australian UFO reports."

Blogs

3. Three Australian blogs have carried reports, and often personal investigations. These are written by:

Bill Chalker; Paul Dean, and Keith Basterfield.

Books

4. Over the years, there have been a number of books written about UAP, by Australian authors. Many of these give details of Australian sightings. One of the more recent ones is "Australasian Encounter: UFOs Down Under-The files revisited," by Barry Watts, published by Pegasus Education Group, PO Box 223, McCrae, Victoria, 3938, 241pp. Another prolific Australian author is Moira McGhee of the Independent Network of UFO Researchers. Her books are listed on their website. 

Civilian UAP organisations

5. Since the mid 1950's a number of Australian civilian UAP organisations have come and gone, in Australia. In the age of the internet, and with the ageing of their leadership, most have closed down. Two largish organizations continue, namely UFO Research (Queensland) and UFO Research (New South Wales,) UFO Research (NSW) maintains a website, which has a sub-section labelled "sightings" with details from 1958-2017.  

Facebook

6. There are several dozen UAP related Australian Facebook pages, with membership from single digits to many thousands, which daily report upon local sightings, including photographs and videos. In 2018, a survey was conducted to determine how many FB groups there were at that stage.  

International databases

7. There are at least five international databases which input cases from Australia. These are:

* Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) - if you are a MUFON member then you can access the organization's Case Management System and read details of cases from Australia. 

* National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) - in the USA. Go to the NUFORC database where there are thousands of global cases including ones from Australia. 

* National Investigations Commitee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) - Check out the chronology tab for thousands of global cases which have been reported, including local cases from here. 

* The PhenomAInon website also provides access to Australian MUFON and NUFORC cases; as does the UPDB database. 

Periodicals

8. Quite importantly, the various civil UAP organizations published a range of periodical Newsletters, Journals and other publications. Thanks to the efforts of such individuals as Isaac Koi in the UK; Barry Greenwood in the USA, and a number of individuals here in Australia, including myself, digital copies of many Australian UAP periodicals have been preserved in the Archives for the Unexplained (AFU). Copies may be downloaded. 

YouTube

9. A range of Australian events are included in videos on Youtube. Try keywords such as "Knowles family" for the 1988 Mundrabille car encounter; "Kelly Cahill" for her 1990's abduction events; or "Amy and Keith Rylance" for details on the 2001 hoaxed Queensland "abduction."

In summary

Due to the large number of places to which anyone can report a sighting from Australia; you can start to see why no one has the ability to compile a master listing of UAP sightings from anyone country, including Australia. Even if one did there would remain the fact that many of the sources cited above do not carry out any form of investigation as to the nature of what was seen, i.e. was it an identified object or an unidentified one? Thus, a database would be an unknown mix of IFOs and unknowns.

My own methodology has been to look at the original source of the details of the sighting; and conduct wherever possible, a virtual forensic investigation to determine IFO or UFO; or sometimes an in the field investigation. My various catalogues are the result of such diligent research, and I would recommend that blog readers who are interested in Australian material perhaps look at these catalogues as a first port of call. Then perhaps look for original material at AFU; or visit the NICAP website to see if PDFs of original documentation exist there. 

A change of direction

Since the inception of this blog in 2009, it has provided much information, including on the contents of Australian government UAP files; the UAP interests of employees of aerospace companies; Australian sightings; and details of the findings of numerous global UAP researchers. In particular, it has focussed on what is known about AAWSAP, AATIP and BAASS. Todate, the blog has published 1,238 individual posts, ranging in length from 100 to 10,000 words. However, blog posts take time to prepare. Firstly, there is a need to research a topic of interest, and then time to write, and edit each blog post, hoping to produce an informative and factual article.

Over time, other aspects of my own UAP interest have been neglected, in order to keep publishing blog posts. Today, keeping across the wealth of information about UAP coming in through various inputs, is simply beyond one individual's available time; a complaint I hear many of my Australian colleagues making. 

So, after 13 years, I have now decided it is the right time, to re-focus my available time on some of these other aspects. For example, I want to make time to go through my extensive electronic files on Australian sightings, such as Westall (1966); Valentich (1978); and Mundrabilla (1988) plus more recent events. I want to make time to review classic global UAP cases, for which we have various bits of unexplored data. I intend to then share these files with other interested researchers. In addition, I will take time to carefully and slowly re-read/listen to, a number of books; article, podcasts; and other blogs, taking more than the superficial glance which so many of them originally received. Most importantly, there is a need to simply spend time thinking about the topic, away from the distraction of time sensitive blog posting. 

So, effective immediately, I will be closing the blog to new posts; although, naturally the existing blog posts will remain accessible to readers. I wish to thank both long-term, and more recent, blog readers for their support; and hope that you will understand my decision. I am not certain when I will return to blogging, as these other aspects of the subject will be time consuming in their own way.

Best wishes,

Keith. 

A UFO film - "The Nullarbor."

Introduction

There are two Australian UFO cases, of which almost all researchers have heard. The first is the 1978 disappearance of Victorian pilot Frederick Valentich. The second, is the 1988 Knowles family encounter on the Nullarbor Plains of Western Australia, which is the subject of this post.

Background

In the early morning hours of 20 January 1988, members of the Perth based Knowles family, were travelling by car from Perth to Melbourne, driving through the night over the isolated Nullarbor Plains near the Western Australia/South Australia border. They reported seeing an unusual light, near ground level, which they believed then attempted to lift their car off the ground, during an extended encounter.

Their story made headlines around the world, and locally was investigated in depth by members of UFO Research of South Australia. Now, the story is to be told in a full length feature film.

IMDb

The International Movie Data base shows that a film titled simply, "The Nullarbor" is in pre-production. It is scheduled as a 90 minute, "action, drama, sci-fi." The plot given there is, "On a dark and lonely road an ordinary family encounter something extraordinary. This is their story."

The IMDb provides the following information regarding cast and crew.

Main cast

Jane Badler plays "Helen Fields," Jane is an American actress who relocated to Australia and is best known for her role as the evil reptilian Visitor leader "Diana" In the NBC mini series "V.""

John Brumpton plays UFO rsearcher "Keith Basterfield."

Katherine Grinlaw plays "vic."

Paul Todd plays "Patrick Knowles."

Marty Rhone plays truck driver "Porky."

Tony Markulin plays truck driver "Graham Henley."

Adam La Rosa plays police Constable "Dean Matthews."

John McCullough plays "Professor Glen Moore."

Isaac Still plays "Sean Knowles."

Serge De Nardo plays police "Seargent Trebilcock."

Director is Matt Poidevin.

Writers are Kerryn Markulin and John Smithers.

I am unaware of when production will commence.

"Westall the movie"

While on the subject of UFO cases from Australia; what news on a possible full length movie film based on the 6 April 1966 Westall incident?

I am aware of at least three individuals, all Victorian based film makers, who have shown interest in this subject.

One such film maker, who coincidentally was born in 1966, who is also a film director and film producer, has long shown an interest in making a "Westall the movie." I understand that a script has been finalised.

The second individual, a Melbourne based film maker, is looking for their next project, after completing a series for pay television.

The third individual is Matt Poidevin, director for "The Nullarbor." A search of the IMDb found that Matt's "Westall" is "In development,"

Does any blog reader know of other Australian films being made, based on local UFO cases? If so, please share your knowledge with us by sending an email to keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au

Update 25 June 2018

I decided to check the IMDB using the word "Valentich" and was surprised to find that a 14 minute short story titled "The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich was made in 2017 by director Luke Robson.

The websites of two Australian UFO groups

Dear readers,

As I write this my home City's temperature is sitting on 23.3 degrees centigrade, which is rather comfortable, compared to a hot week ahead for my former home town of Adelaide which is bracing itself for several days around 38-39 degrees centigrade. 

Overseas, you hear of Australia's beach culture, and one of the reasons is indeed our hot climate, especially during February - traditionally our hottest month.

So with a glass of Victorian chardonnay at my side, and hubby looking after the kids, I sat down to take a look at the websites of two of the biggest UFO organisations in Australia. Here are my observations.

1. UFO Research (New South Wales) Incorporated.

Up front I must say that I am far more interested in the quality of information provided on a website, than how it looks to the viewer. I found this website to be extremely easy to navigate, having just four main areas, namely 'events;' 'sightings;' 'membership;' and 'archives.' It opens up to the 'events' page.

Here we find current events - details of the group's upcoming monthly meetings, with speakers and a summary of what they will be talking about. Over the last few years, under the leadership of Mariana Flynn (recently retired as President) a large range of overseas speakers have appeared at the group's meeting, together with a diverse range of Australian researchers. Here you can also sign up for notifications of events by email. 

The 'sightings' area opens up to (a) report a sighting; (b) UFO sightings guestbook and (c) UFO sighting reports. Individuals wishing to report a UFO sighting can choose to either complete an on-line report form, or write a guestbook entry. When I checked out the guest book, I found reports dated between 1958 and 2017. Many of these appear to be of mundane objects, and it would have been nice to see an analysis of the sightings plus a probable cause listed. 

The membership area sets out terms, conditions and fees.

A pleasant surprise for me was the 'archives' area. Here there are lots of original source materials (something I learned to appreciate from Adelaide researcher Keith Basterfield!) There are old Newsletters and Journals; plus a large newspaper archive. While newspaper accounts must always be treated with caution - sometimes they get facts wrong - they are occasionally the only record which exists of a sighting. 

One very valuable piece of archive work is the Dr James E McDonald archive. In it there are around fifty summaries of McDonald's audio interviews with Australian witnesses, back in 1967. An excellent piece of work on this by Sydney researcher Anthony Clarke, and Adelaide researcher Keith Basterfield.

This archive area also has a few articles on such topics as the Frederick Valentich disappearance back in 1978, and 'alien abduction.'

On the Wilson scale for assessing UFO websites, this one rates a 5 out of 5- an excellent source of factual material.

2. UFO & Paranormal Research Society of Australia.

An interesting concept. Here is a website of a group which has an interest in both UFOs and the paranormal. The opening screen has 14 areas, including 'membership;' 'report sightings;' expeditions to local 'hot spots;' and Journal archives. I don't intend to bore you with details of each, just a few which took my own interest.

As you would expect there are on-line copies of the groups' periodical, 'Phenomenon Times' going from 18 months ago back to 2009. A valuable on-line resource.

You can report a sighting via an on-line report form; or check out the database of New South Wales close encounters. As with the UFOR(NSW) Inc. website, I would like to see some analysis of the sightings, rather than just the witness telling you what they saw. Otherwise it implies that 100% of these reports are of genuine UFOs.

Another good area is 'misidentifications' which is a short list of some of the things which are commonly mistaken for UFOs.

On the Wilson rating scale for websites, I'd give this one a 4 - well worth spending time reviewing the information they present.

Well, that's your lot for today. Hubby has fired up our barbeque and is waiting with some sausages and patties, plus of course, another glass of chardonnay! Cheers until next time. 

A new Australian UFO ebook - 'UFOs Down Under'

Introduction

'UFOs Down Under' is the title of a new ebook, by Australian Barry Watts. Barry Watts, B. Ed. was born in 1936 and attended LaTrobe University. He is now a retired teacher of adults, and lives on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. In 1999, Barry and his partner started 'Pegasus Book Orphanage,' an online secondhand book business, which continues today. Between 1975 and the present, Barry has published seven books. 'UFOs Down Under' is his first self-published effort (ebook and paperback [coming next month.]) While 'Pegasus Book Orphanage' books cover a wide range of topics from Aviation to UFOs, Barry has had a specific interest in the subject of UFOs for decades.

The book

The full title of the book is 'Australasian Encounter: UFOs Down Under - The files revisited,' published by Pegasus Education Group, PO Box 223, McCrae, Victoria, 3938; 241pp.

Image courtesy of Barry Watts

The introduction includes 'In this book I have re-examined over thirty UFO encounters in Australia, New Zealand and Papua-New Guinea in detail...some of these are well known...Others are old or obscure, but are nevertheless provocative mysteries.'

Included in the well-known category are:

* 5 February 1947, Port Augusta, South Australia. Five, egg shaped objects in formation pass over the town

* May 1954, East Malvern, Victoria. Six people report a giant football.

* 31 August 1954, Goulburn, New South Wales. Radar/visual sighting.

* 22 August 1968, Zanthus, Western Australia. Aircraft encounter with a formation of one large and several smaller objects

* 21 October 1978, Bass Strait. The Valentich disappearance.

Among the lesser known cases we find:

* 14 January 1969, Childers, Queensland. A family see entities

* 23 March 1975, Nebo, Queensland. A group of people report an encounter to both the police and RAAF

* 20 October 1979, Wonthaggi, Victoria. A motorcyclist encountered an object on the ground.

Barry draws on a variety of sources, including Australian government files; books; magazines; blogs; and newspapers.

Each sighting is well researched, and references used are cited. The work is easy to read; and provides the reader with an excellent overview of each case.

In appropriate places, Barry draws attention to pieces of data which appear incorrect, or in conflict, e.g. some of the recollections of O'Farrell in the 31 August 1954 radar/visual event, and errors in newspaper reports of the 4 October 1960 Cressy, Tasmania observation.

The ebook is an excellent summary of over 30 Australian cases of interest. Barry has obviously done his homework in compiling information about each incident.

The work of Australian researchers including Bill Chalker; George Simpson; Paul Norman; Ben Hurle; Peter Norris; Ray Brooke, and myself, are cited and referenced.

This ebook (and paperback when available) is recommended as an excellent source of detailed information on some of the best Australian UFO cases. Barry is to be commended for all his hard work in drawing this material together.

Copies of the ebook are currently available through Amazon.

Well done Barry!

The APRO Bulletin - references to Australian material

Hi all,

My previous post, spoke of a recent little project of mine,to document references to Australian material, in the English Flying Saucer Review, between 1955 and 2004. Following this, I decided to do the same for all the issues of the APRO Bulletin. I found several dozen such references.

Some well-known Australian sightings were promptly reported to the Bulletin by such individuals as Peter E Norris, Bill Chalker, and myself. Among them were:

* Moe, Victoria, 'Saucer panics cattle.' (July 1963 p.1)

* Balwyn, Victoria, 'The Balwyn photo.' (September 1966 p.1)

* The Valentich disappearance, 'Australian pilot missing.' (October 1978 p.1)

* Tully, Queensland, 'Those "saucer nests."' (March 1966 p.4)

Other interesting items, were articles, including:

* 'ANZAAS UFO Symposium' (November 1971 p.1)

* 'Australian scientist on extraterrestrial life.' (May 1973 p.2)

* 'RAAF statement on Gill sighting.' (March 1960 p.2)

* 'What did Cooper see?' (November 1963 p.1)

* 'Australian mystery rings.' (May 1973 p.5)

I am happy to provide readers with an Excel spreadsheet of my findings, upon receipt of an email request to keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au

Australian references in the Flying Saucer Review - 1955 to 2004

Hi all,

Given the paucity of interesting, current UAP sightings in Australia, I have been spending some time buried in the past. Specifically, I have been going through several hundred digitised issues of the English Flying Saucer Review, published between 1955 and 2004. Almost fifty years worth of articles, sightings, book reviews, readers' letters, and speculation, are available for anyone to read.

Naturally, as I reside in Australia, I was keen to view sightings, investigations, and articles,written from this part of the globe. All in all, I came across over 100 such references.

On the sightings side,the FSR contained material on such classic Australian incidents, such as:

* The 1965 QANTAS aircraft sighting between New Zealand and Australia (Vol. 11 No. 2 p. 29.)

* The 1963 Salisbury, South Australia CE3 (Vol. 9 No. 4 p. 25.)

* The 1960 Cressy, Tasmania 'mothership and discs' event (Vol. 7 No. 4 p.32.)

* The 1978 Valentich disappearance (Vol. 24 No. 5 p.6.)

* The 1988 Mundrabilla 'UAP lifts car off road' (Vol. 33 No. 2 p 4.)

On the articles side, you find find interesting reading about:

* Submarine craft in Australasian waters (Vol. 12 No. 4 p.31.)

* Unidentified submarine object off Papua (Vol. 18 No. 3 p. 20.)

* UFO reports from Lake Eyre (Vol. 35 No. 2 p. 24.)

* Australia's Aborigines have long known about UFOs (Vol. 39 No. 3 p.25.)

*Animal mutilations in Australia in 1987 (Vol. 44 No.2 p.27.)

* Missing time in Australia (Vol. 49 No.1 p.6.)

I have compiled an Excel spreadsheet of these references, a copy of which, readers may receive; simply drop me an email request to keithbasterfield @yahoo.com.au

"Cover-up" or "foul-up?"

Hi all,

Introduction

The late Professor James E McDonald often debated the issue of whether or not there was a UAP "cover-up" or a "foul-up." By this, he meant was there an orchestrated campaign by officialdom to withhold information from the general public? Or, was there simply lack of care within government administrative processes? Put simply, "their left hand did not know what their right hand was doing."

Australian examples



Since the days of McDonald, many other researchers, including myself, have pondered the same question. I'll provide some Australian examples, from my own experience. Are they deliberate actions of the cover-up of events; or just bureaucratic errors?

(1) In 2004, I was informed by the Australian government Department of Transport that their file on the disappearance of pilot Frederick Valentich had been destroyed. In actual fact, the file turned up in October 2011, during a routine search of the holdings of the National Archives of Australia.

(2) Later in the 2000's, I supplied the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), through the National Archives of Australia (NAA), with a list of certain Australian UAP groups (including the Queensland Flying Saucer Research Society (QFSRS)). I sought any files ASIO held, on any of these groups. ASIO advised they held no such files. About a year later, an ASIO file on the QFSRS turned up in the NAA.

A new anomaly

Today, another such example was found. In 2004, I submitted an FOI request to the Australian Department of Defence (DOD) for a series of UAP files, for which I provided a list of file numbers.

Included in this list was a file numbered AF 84/3508. The DOD advised that they were unable to locate this file.

Paul Dean

Today, Melbourne researcher Paul Dean forwarded me the results of a recent FOI Act request which he had submitted to the DOD. Among a series of back and forth internal DOD emails, I noted a reference to 84/3508! Apparently, lost since 2004.

Here, in an email dated 16 November 2015 it clearly states that file 84/3508 is held by the DOD archives, having been renumbered as file 2007/1008750.

I have just submitted an FOI Act request to the DOD, for a copy of this Royal Australian Air Force file, citing their own 2015 email as evidence of the file's existence and location.



'Cold case' reviews

Hi all,

I have been conducting reviews of old cases, for several years. Click here for a listing of, and links to, my 'cold case' material, prior to 2013. One of the things I enjoy is taking a look at an older case, trying to locate the witnesses to re-interview; and trying to find original material which has been lost to the passage of time.

In many cases, I have been able to do either one or the other of these. In a few cases, I have achieved both objectives. Although hearing a 40 or 50 year old story from the original witness, has difficulties, such as our not near perfect memories; sometimes I have, in fact, been able to find some paper documentation which has escaped earlier researchers. Quite often though, I manage to find an old UFO newsletter, with some original data, which isn't available on the Internet. So, I have been able to add to the available information on a range of Australian cases.

Sometimes, this new evidence leads to a possible, mundane, explanation. Other times, the new data strengthens the unusual nature of the event and adds to the possibility of something truly strange.

Since 2013 I have not been undertaking so many 'cold case' reviews, mainly due to pressure of other things taking up my time. However, yesterday, I went through my blog posts looking for additions to my list of  'cold case' reviews, to add to my 2013 listing, and here they are.


North West Cape, Western Australia 25 October 1973 Service personnel sight unusual object.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/north-west-cape-25-october-1973-initial.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/time-check-for-north-west-cape-incident.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/another-anomaly-with-north-west-cape.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/raaf-base-pearce-western-australia-uap.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/north-west-cape-incident-some-further.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/new-book-alert-little-america-in.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/william-gordon-lynn-25-october-1973.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/north-west-cape-follow-up-questions.html

St Helens, Tasmania 16 September 1974 Car stop event.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/a-detailed-look-at-1974-st-helens.html

Moe, Victoria 15 February 1963 Farmer sees unusual object in sky.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/cold-case-review-moe-victoria-raaf.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/cold-case-review-moe-victoria-vfsrs.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/cold-case-review-moe-victoria-mcdonald.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/cold-case-review-moe-victoria-my.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/felician-andrzej-berson-csiro-and-his.html

Balwyn, Melbourne, Victoria 2 April 1966 Visual/photograph.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/50-years-on-2nd-april-1966-balwyn.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/balwyn-polaroid-photograph-and-visual.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/balwyn-polaroid-photograph-and-visual_27.html

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/asio-files-on-kibel-family.html

Westall, Melbourne, Victoria 6 April 1966. Large numbers of people see object near ground.

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

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

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

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

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

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

South Australian sightings which might be explained as satellite re-entries.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/satellite-re-entries-and-uap-over-south.html

The Coyle sightings/photographs of 1967, Victoria.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/the-coyle-photographs-hallam-victoria-5.html

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

Valentich disappearance 21 October 1978.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/another-australian-government-valentich.html

Happy reading.

The search through Australian government UAP records - 2012 to 2016

Introduction

After the success of the Disclosure Australia Project (2003-2008) in locating and arranging to have digitised, a large number of Australian government UAP files, I returned to the search in 2012 to locate further such files.

In 2013, I was joined in this search by Melbourne researcher Paul Dean. This blog post aims to provide readers with a summary of what  has been found in the period 2012 to 2016.

1. File series A9755

In 1994, when the Royal Australian Air Force got out of the UAP business, RAAF bases across the country closed off their UAP files and sent them off to RAAF HQ. Once bundled together, the 24 files were sent in one batch to the National Archives of Australia (NAA.)

The NAA 'top numbered' these files, and they became NAA file series A9755 part1 through to 24. During 2012 to 2016, I requested that this series be examined by the NAA, opened and digitalised. Paul Dean and I paid for this digitisation. Thus, almost all of the papers on these files, some as late as 1994, are today, available for anyone to view, via the NAA's website.

However, there were some documents on this file series, which were outside of the date range available through the Archives Act. I therefore submitted a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the Department of Defence for those papers with a date range such that they were available under that Act. I received copies of many of these files and reported on their contents in a series of posts on this blog. About 95% of all the papers in this series are now publicly available. The other 5% still sit on the files, outside the date range of the Archive Act, but inside the date range of the FOI Act. The reason I have not obtained these pages is that in 2015/2016 the Department of Defence wished to charge the fees to provide them to me, which I felt was an unreasonable amount. In due course as the years go by, they will fall inside the date range of the Archive Act and thus become available in this way.

Anyway, we already know the details of the contents of all these files, as in the mid 2000's, Dominic McNamara and I, spent 18 hours at Edinburgh RAAF base in Adelaide, going through these exact files. We reported on the contents in a series of Disclosure Australia Newsletters, published at the time.

2. Previously unknown files

During the 2012-2016 time period, Paul Dean and I located a number of previously unknown NAA UAP files. These included:

1. NAA files series J63, control symbol 5/51/Air - about radar sightings from the Townsville area.

2. K95, control symbol 1986/871 - A Western Australian Aviation Department file.

3. Uncited file - A collection of already known papers, but being collected by someone in the DOD at Woomera, up to as late as 2006 (remembering the DOD got out of the business in 1994.)

4. M1148, control symbol "Unidentified Flying Objects" - The personal papers of the Rt. Hon. R G Casey, former Australian Prime Minister.

In addition, under the FOI Act, I located a Bureau of Meteorology file, date range 1982-2006.

Previous blog posts have reported on the contents of all the above files.

3. Files concerning the disappearance of Frederick Valentich

Despite the fact that the Department of Transport had advised me in 2004, that they believed that the main file relating to the disappearance of pilot Frederick Valentich, in 1978, had been destroyed by the NAA, I found it, and two others in the NAA. The files were:

1. NAA file series B1497, control symbol V116/783/1047.

2. B638, control symbol M116/783/1047 part 1.

3. B638, control symbol M116/783/1047 part 2.

Melbourne based researcher Andrew Arnold located another Valentich file:

4. A4073, control symbol 1978/1205.

4. FOI Act requests

During the period, I also submitted FOI requests to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB); Air Services Australia (ASA); and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) asking for any documents they held on "Unidentified Flying Objects."

CASA responded that they had no such file holdings. ASA provided correspondence between themselves and various outlets, plus between themselves and a private individual seeking aircraft movements as possible explanations for sighting reports. The ATSB provide me with a number of proforma on incidents reported to them. However, I already had most of these details from an earlier ATSB FOI request. I posted about these requests earlier in this blog.

Paul Dean also submitted a number of FOI requests to the ATSB; ASA, and the Department of Defence, again, seeking documents relative to UAP. In addition, he submitted FOI requests to the DOD seeking documents about current areas of the DOD which might be concerned with tracking unknown objects over Australia. The DOD responded and provided numerous internal documents and manuals concerning tracking 'contacts of interest.' Paul has reported his findings in a series of posts on his blog.

5. A listing

An updated listing of Australian government UAP files may be found on the Project 1947 website.

6. Current situation

Paul Dean and I, and sadly no other Australian researchers, continue to look for further NAA UAP files. One I recently found was file series A4090, control symbol 529/1/16 part 1 titled 'DSTO records of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' with a date range of 1974-196. I have a request in with the NAA to have this examined, (its current status is 'closed;' 'with held pending advice'), opened and digitised.

There is no doubt, that other NAA files on UAP are yet to be located within the NAA. It would be good if other Australian researchers contributed to this work.

Update as at 26 September 2016.

No sooner had I written the above, then a new file pops up.

http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/the-national-archives-of-australia.html

Australian government UFO files - the journey

Hi all,

With the recent Internet upload of 1.7 GB's worth of Australian government UAP files, by Queensland UFO Sightings and Research, I'd like to place this release into historical context, lest people think this is something newly available.

Bill Chalker

 

Bill Chalker studying files at the Department of Defence



In the 1980's, Sydney based researcher Bill Chalker visited the Department of Defence in Canberra, to view and record details of RAAF UAP files. Bill published his findings in a series of articles in UAP magazines/journals, both here in Australia and overseas. His excellent work allowed other researchers, their first detailed look at how the RAAF had tackled the subject in this country.

 

Disclosure Australia

 

A Joint Intelligence Organisation UAP file.



Between 2003 and 2008, a group of Adelaide UAP researchers, (working under the name 'Disclosure Australia', in conjunction with AUFORN) including this author, spent their time and money, accessing Australian government UAP files held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA) . Their combined efforts resulted in the digitisation of several dozen of these files, which then allowed anyone to view them in detail via the NAA website. The group published its work in a series of 30 'Disclosure Australia' Newsletters (still available on the website of AUFORN) and in the Australian 'UFOlogist' magazine.

First page of Disclosure Australia list of Australian government files.

The final 'Disclosure Australia' report, of 120 pages, remains the most detailed document available concerning the Australian government and UAP. It is essential reading, and is available here.

 

Paul Dean

Between 2008 and 2015, Melbourne based researcher Paul Dean and this author, spent time and their own money, in locating a number of previously unknown UAP files held by the NAA. Paul and I again, paid for a range of files to be digitised, making them available for anyone to read.  Some of these files related to the 1978 disappearance over Bass Strait of pilot Frederick Valentich.  If you haven't visited Paul's excellent blog, then you should do so.

Isaac Koi

A while ago, English researcher Isaac Koi, with the permission of the NAA, turned almost 100 of their Australian government UAP files into PDFs and made them widely available, via the Internet.

Queensland UFO Sightings and Research

Finally, yesterday a Facebook entity (they have chosen to stay anonymous) under the name of Queensland UFO Sightings and Research, have taken this distribution of Australian government UAP files to another level, by uploading 80 plus Australian government UAP files to the Internet, providing easier access to them.

Other files

 

There are still more files to be processed. Paul Dean and I have a series of part files, dated later than what the Archives Act allows one to obtain, gained via the Freedom of Information Act from the Department of Defence. Most of these have never been seen by other researchers, although this author has shared details of their contents in a series of posts on his blog.

 

 

What have we collectively learnt from these government files?

 

1. No Australian government agency admitted to seriously studying Australian UAP reports. The RAAF collected sightings, and did some work on them. They did conduct interviews, but often only when political or public pressure forced them to do so. Their analyses of these sightings were mainly lacking in depth.

 

2. A behind the scenes investigation by Bill Chalker and 'Disclosure Australia', did find written evidence that some individuals, who worked in such government organisations as the Joint Intelligence Bureau and the CSIRO, conducted private research with the knowledge of their employer. However, their efforts were never officially endorsed.

 

3. There is currently no evidence available to suggest that any Australian government agency is overtly, or indeed covertly, studying the topic of UAP.

 



 

Are there still more files to be found?

 

Undoubtedly. Only 10% of all files held by the NAA are listed on their electronic database, RecordSearch. For example, it is known that UAP files were held by the head office of the former Department of Supply (DOS). These files have not yet been located in the NAA.

 

Who will rise to the challenge to find such files?

Another Australian government Valentich file emerges.

Hi all,

Introduction

 

On 28 June 2012 I wrote a blog piece about the discovery of two Australian government files relating to the disappearance, in 1978, of pilot Frederick Valentich, over Bass Strait, Australia.

 

Last year, in September, while randomly checking the National Archives of Australia's RecordSearch database, I found a two part file which also relates to the disappearance.

 

The new file is NAA file series B638, control symbol M116/783/1047 parts 1 and part 2;  barcodes 10499635 and 10499636. Series B638 is comprised of 299 air safety, accident and incident files, where M stands for Melbourne.

I immediately requested that the files, whose status was "Not yet examined" be examined. On 18 December 2015, I was advised that both parts of the file were now "open." I then submitted a request to have the file digitised, and paid the relevant fee.

The file, when "open" is titled "Accident on C182L - Moorabbin Vic/King Island Tas - 21 October 1978. VH-DSJ [including multiple newspaper cuttings regarding incident folder contains two piles.]"

The file had just been digitised.

What is on the file?



Perhaps firstly, the question is, where did this new file originate? We know that the already known file, NAA file series B1497 control symbol V116/783/1047, was owned by the Department of Civil Aviation, Victoria-Tasmania region. However, this new file NAA file series B638 control symbol M116/783/1047 was owned by the Department of Civil Aviation, Central Office.

 

Part one of the file is 200 pages, with part two being 139 pages long. Between the two, there are:

 

* dozens and dozens of newspaper clippings about the disappearance, perhaps the largest collection of articles I have come across

 

 

 

* numerous documents where statements were taken from individuals such as aircraft refuellers; pilots; and briefing officers. We have previously seen all of these statements on NAA file series A4703 control symbol 1978/1205 and NAA file series B1497 control symbol V116/783/1047

 

 

 

* a few, previously unseen typed and handwritten official minutes between individuals. However, even these really add very little to the debate as to what caused the disappearance.

 

 

 

One interesting set of papers is a letter from Allan Brunt, Regional Director for South Australia for the Bureau of Meteorology. Allan was open to taking a look at UFO reports, and he and I had a series of discussions about specific sightings, such as the 1988 Knowles car lift case.

 

 

 

On 3 August 1982 Allan forwarded a three page letter to the Department of Transport about the disappearance. Amongst his comments was one in regards to the fact that the UFO reported by Valentich was not seen continuously but on three separate occasions. Allan wrote "This type of sighting is consistent with a multiple meteor observation or a "meteor shower" with not just one, but several phenomena in procession. From the evidence available, I am unable to rule out the possibility that the pilot of VH-DSJ was frightened by the appearance of one or more meteors and, fearing a collision, took evasive action, or being seriously distracted by the frightening phenomena, flew into the sea."

 

You can view the file

 

To take a look at the file for yourself, or to download the file's PDF, go to http://www.naa.gov.au and on the home screen type "dsj" into the "search the collection" window, and click on "go."

 

 

Finally, yet another Valentich file revealed

 

We now know of three Australian government files relating to the disappearance of Valentich. However, the latest file's inside cover reveals yet another, unknown file. This is a Department of Transport file number 123/1/30 titled "ASIB requests for information regarding accident to Cessna 182L aircraft VH-DSJ on 21/9/78." (This date of 21/9/78 is incorrect, it should be 21/10/78.) I checked the NAA's RecordSearch and this fourth file is not listed. I checked using words within its title, but found no trace of it in RecordSearch. Yet another mystery. 

Found: two more Australian government files on the 1978 Valentich disappearance

Hi all,

On 28 June 2012, I advised that I had located an Australian government file on the 21 October 1978 disappearance of pilot Frederick Valentich, over Bass Strait. During that flight, he reported seeing an unusual object in the sky. His disappearance and the associated UAP report, generated intense international interest. To read my original post please click here.

That file

National Archives of Australia (NAA)  file series B1497, control symbol V116/783/1047 was titled "DSJ-Cape Otway to King Island 21 October 1978 - Aircraft missing (Valentich.)" I arranged for a digitised copy of this file to be placed in the public domain on the NAA website. It contained 315 pages of documents.

Andrew Arnold

At around the same time, Melbourne researcher Andrew Arnold located a second file dealing with the disappearance. This was file series A4703, control symbol 1978/1205, titled "VH-DSJ - light aircraft overdue - King Island." It contained 292 pages of documents. We arranged for this file to also be digitised and placed on the NAA website for anyone to read.

Further files

I recently discovered that the NAA holds two further files on the disappearance, which have never been seen by anyone outside of the Australian government, namely:

1. File series B638, control symbol M116/783/1047 part 1, titled "Accident on C182L - Moorabbin Vic/King Island Tas - 21 October 1978."

2. File series B638, control symbol M116/783/1047 part 2, titled "Accident on C182L - Moorabbin Vic/King Island Tas - 21 October 1978."

The status of both files is "Not Yet Examined." Immediately on finding them, I requested they be examined for release. This process can take up to six months. Once the files have a status of "Open," I will arrange for them to be digitised so anyone can read them. What they might contain is unknown at this time.