Australian sighting reports - the final post

Hi all,

Between September 2014 and September 2015, Melbourne colleague Paul Dean, and I published a series of detailed monthly blog posts. These posts provided any reader with that month's summary of 30-40 Australian sighting reports and sources.

Following this 12 months, we then reverted in recent times to only reporting and analysing Australian sighting reports which seemed to occupy that 5% of all incoming raw reports which, at first glance, do not appear to have a mundane explanation.

Now, however, we need to again review the best use of our time. Paul specialises in using both the Australian and the American Freedom of Information Acts, to obtain hard to get documentation, as his recent blog posts will attest to.

I have been spending my time on two major projects. Last year I started, and completed stage one of, Project Newsprint. This Project aims to seek out both current and past sightings from rural and remote Australia. I am about to commence stage two in the new year.

My other Project is "Magonia Down Under," which aims to collect, catalogue and analyse Australian pre 24 June 1947 observations. The research results are published at http://magoniadownunder.blogspot.com.au

Therefore, due to this workload, Paul and I have decided that we do not have the time to continue searching for, and analysing Australian sighting reports on an ongoing basis.

We are therefore terminating our second series of monthly Australian sighting reports.  Naturally, we still appreciate readers sending us copies of any documented, investigation reports they might prepare.

Argentinian official study group releases report

Hi all,

The Argentinian Air Force announced in 2011, that they were establishing an official government UFO investigation unit, to study reports. Its name is the Commission for the Investigation of Aerospace Phenomena (CEFAe).

Their website is sparse.

Recently, on their website they advised that they had published a report on cases investigated in 2015. Details of ten cases are provided, mainly reported in 2015. Nine cases included either photographs or videos. All cases were satisfactorily explained as due to mundane causes which included stars; aircraft navigation lights; the international space station; a small ball thrown into the air; the planet Jupiter; a bird; and the Moon.

Index of cases.

Research into Australian pre 24 June 1947 UAP

Hi all,

I have become increasingly re-interested in researching Australian pre 24 June 1947 UAP reports. As you may have noticed, of late,  I have published a number of blog posts about this research area. However, I appreciate that some readers do not share my interest in this area. So, I have decided to start up a new blog devoted to just this research. You will find it at:

http://magoniadownunder.blogspot.com

I hope you might stop by, take a look, and see if this interests you. If so, you might care to recommend it to others. If not, then  I hope you will continue reading this blog.

Keith Basterfield.

"A supposed escaped balloon crossing the centre of Western Australia" - 1893

Hi all,

Introduction

In an earlier post I wrote about a "balloon" seen over Western Australia in 1894. I now have additional information about this incident.

I originally received an email from Peter Bridge of Hesperian Press in Western Australia. Peter told me that in 2004 he had reprinted L R Menzie’s book “A Gold Seekers Odyssey” first printed in 1937. Peter read a number of old newspapers for biographical details of prospectors and found the following account, and added it as an appendix .

It comes from the “Australian Advertiser” newspaper (a precursor to the “Albany Advertiser”) dated 15 October 1894. It is to be found on page 156 of “A Gold Seekers Odyssey.”

The account

“A correspondent signing himself “Eye witness” writes to the Victorian Express as follows from the Murchison goldfield:- Although rather late, I beg to inform you that about the second week in October, Mr Menzie, the manager of The Star of the East mine, was fixing the tram work of the battery, and when placing one of the uprights he caught sight of a large balloon passing along the line of sight.

Naturally, such an extraordinary visitor caused an ejaculation of surprise from Mr Menzie. All hands (some ten of us) looked up and perceived the object that so surprised Mr Menzie to be a large balloon travelling at a terrific rate from north-west to south-east. Although at a great altitude, the balloon could be distinctly seen in every outline and was travelling at such a rate of speed that the body of the balloon was considerably in advance of the car.

The ariel (sic) visitor created more than surprise at the time and every man was going to write to the paper about it but the old-old story every body’s business invariably turns out to be no body’s business and thus the matter was never published.

Joe Clarke and Quinn who are now shareholders in the Lady mine and myself were among the men working at The Star of the East with Mr Menzie and witnesses the sight described. It would appear probable that the balloon escaped from any port of the Indies or The Strait settlements as it came from that direction.

The general opinion at the time was that possibly it was being prepared from some experimental military work or probably for exhibition purposes when it broke adrift. It would indeed be interesting to know if it had been seen in any other part of the world and where it came from and where it has gone to.”

Research notes

1. I visited the National Library of Australia’s TROVE digitised newspaper collection. Unfortunately they do not have copies of the “Australian Advertiser.”

2. I wondered if the reference to the Victorian Express was a reference to another newspaper?  Indeed TROVE revealed that there was a paper of this name. The “Victorian Express” was published in Geraldton, Western Australia between 1878-1894. TROVE did have copies. A search located the account in the Friday 28 September 1894 issue, on page 3. Here there was one slight difference in the account.

 

The date of the event is said to have been “…about the second week in last October.” As the item appeared in the 28 September 1894 issue it can only refer to October 1893, and not 1894 as I first assumed.  The story was headed “A supposed balloon crossing the centre of Western Australia.”

3.  Another search through TROVE revealed that a shortened version of the story did appear in the following newspapers:

a. “The Telegraph.” (Brisbane, Qld 1872-1941) on Saturday 5 January 1895 p.2.

b. “Warwick Examiner and Times.” (Qld 1867-1918.) on Saturday 12 January 1895 p.4.

c. “Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate.” (NSW 1876-1954) on Thursday 27 December 1894 p.5.

 

 

d. “The Daily Northern Argus” (Rockhampton, Qld 1875-1896.) on Thursday 10 January 1895 p.2.

4. An Internet search revealed that Leslie Robert Menzie was a prominent figure in the search for gold, both in Australian and overseas. He was indeed the Manager of The Star of the East Mine. This mine was located 620 kilometres north-north-east of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. The nearest town to the mine was Meekatharra, some 40 kilometres away, the latitude of Meekatharra is 26.6 degrees South and its longitude is 118.5 degrees East.

Image courtesy of Google maps.

5. Having established that the location existed, and that the main witness' details are consistent with an historical figure, can we say anything about the object itself? Unfortunately, we do not have an exact date and time. All we have is "about the second week" in October 1893. Presumably the observation occurred during daylight hours.

We do know that the object travelled from north-west to south-east. However, without recourse to weather details we cannot even say whether or not the object was travelling with the wind, across the wind or in what direction the wind was blowing at the time. In fact, the article makes no mention of the weather conditions at the time.

The object's appearance was such that it is described as a balloon, and it is noted that there is mention of a "car" presumably referring to the idea that a large balloon would have a gondola. However, then the account says it "...was travelling at such a rate of speed that the body of the balloon was considerably in advance of the car." I am not sure what to make of this. No sketch is provided to clarify this.

6. In summary, I think that the best I can do is record what I have found, and leave the reader to deduce any further information that they may be able.

New book alert - "Return to Magonia."

Hi all,

I have been reading a new book "Return to Magonia: Investigating UFOs in History" by Chris Aubeck and Martin Shough. The book was published in 2015 by Anomalistic Books, San Antonio, Texas, USA. Its ISBN is 978-1-938398-54-4.

The authors

Chris Aubeck lives in Spain, and in 2003, founded an historical research group titled "Magonia Exchange." Chris gives presentations on the evaluation of UFOs as cultural history, and has co-authored a book titled "Wonders in the Sky" with veteran researcher Jacques Vallee. Chris recently advised me that a revised edition of this book will be out soon. Chris was also the organiser of the recent conference "The Inhabited Sky" held in Madrid, Spain.

Image courtesy of Amazon books.

Martin Shough, who lives in Scotland, has been a frequent contributor of technical articles on the website of the National Aviation Reporting Centre for Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP) in the USA.

Return to Magonia

"Return to Magonia" takes a look at numerous historical sightings with a date range between 1991BC and 1947 AD (with mention of sightings as late as 2012.) Its geographic spread takes in countries such as the USA; UK; Germany; Turkey; India, and Australia.

It provides details of each sighting from as close to the original source as possible, and then to my delight, attempts to analyse the event to find a cause. Along the way we learn a lot about astronomy; mirages; other meteorological phenomena; human observational skills, and, of course, UFOs.

Image courtesy of Amazon books.

Australia

Two representative cases, will illustrate the authors' methodology in each sighting presented in the book. As I live in Australia, I will use two from my country.

Firstly, from November 1862 is an observation by one O E Middleton, from near Morpoth, New South Wales, published in November 1866.

Middleton reports that "...early one morning" he heard a very peculiar rushing noise "...and that looking immediately overhead I saw distinctly a large meteor travelling with amazing rapidity in a southeasterly direction. Its apparent size was that of a large cask of a dark colour, the surface irregular..." which led Middleton "...to conjecture it was revolving on its axis." (p.168.)

The authors located an Osman Edward Middleton who matched the known details of the observer. Having established that the witness existed, they next looked at what conventional explanations might fit the observation. They suggest that "...the "dark color", surface detail, and absence of any trail appears to rule out a fireball meteor or any other astronomical explanation." (p.170.)

They then consider, and reject, the possibility of a dust whirl or a tornado funnel. They did not think the explanation lay in a dense flock of birds, or a swarm of insects. An early powered airship was also considered and rejected.

Their final conclusion was "We cannot suggest any mundane phenomenon that tallies perfectly with this sighting." (p.173.)

Flying eggs

My second example happened in my own state, when on 6 February 1947 (documented at the time) an event occurred at Port Augusta, South Australia. Three workers of the Commonwealth Railways workshop, including a Mr Ron Ellis, reported seeing five, white or light pink coloured, egg shaped objects, pass over them. They "...appeared to be quivering;" were in formation and "...were casting shadows" as they travelled form north to south.

Chronicle (Adelaide) Thursday 13 February 1947 p.6.

Another sighting from Lock, South Australia, earlier that same day, reported five, oblong shaped objects, "floating" through the sky from north-west to south-east "...and caused a shadow."

Research established that the named witness at Port August, Ron Ellis; and the named witness at Lock, existed in historical records.

As to cause, Aubeck and Shough, considered the possibility of a superbolide unlikely (no other reports from other parts of South Australia); a flight of birds; balloons; aircraft and military operations at Woomera.

In conclusion, they wrote "...this is a striking case, and is certainly of great historical and cultural interest. Simply put, this is a modern UFO..." (p.350.)

For details of my own research on this case, click here.

Cold cases

As an individual who loves "cold case" analysis, I was in my element with this book. Some cases are shown to have mundane explanations including planets; fireballs; volcanic eruptions; ball lightning; and mirages. However, there are others which defy a reasonable explanation. The authors therefore remind us that some pre 24 June 1947 historical report have much in common with modern UFOs. 





The "Inhabited Sky" conference

Hi all,

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have an interest in pre 24 June 1947 reports; as my recent catalogue shows. It was therefore nice to recently, (although belatedly,) come across details of a conference, looking at such older reports.

The "El Cielo habitado" conference, was held in Madrid, Spain over two days, 27-28 May 2015, and was organised by Chris Aubeck.  Included in the event were presentations by Jacques Vallee; Chris Aubeck; Nigel Watson; Theo Paijmans; Jesus Callejo; and Juan Jose Sanchez-Oro.

On the 27th

 

Jacques Vallee spoke on the social impact of reports of anomalous phenomena through the ages. 

Nigel Watson reviewed the media reporting of advances in aviation and space travel and its shaping of cultural responses.

Theo Paijmans examined the early twentieth century cultural impact of comics and other forms of literature, in relation to the phenomena.

There was then a question and answer time with Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck.

On the 28th

 

Juan Jose Sanchez-Oro, examined medieval art in search of clues to reports of that era.

 

Chris Aubeck covered the idea of a populated universe from Ancient Greece to the beginning of the modern era of "flying saucers."

 

Jesus Callejo, a journalist and author of over twenty books on history and folklore, spoke about the idea of flying machines before these were known in orthodox history.

 

Books

Image courtesy of Amazon Books.

 

For those blog readers interested in reading more on these topics, you might like to take a look at "Wonders in the Skies" by Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck.

Image courtesy of Amazon Books.

 For any blog readers who can read Spanish, take a look at "Ooparts: Objetos fuera de su tiempo" (Objects out of time) by Juan Jose Sanchez-Oro and Chris Aubeck.

 

 

Videos

 

A number of conference presentations are available on Youtube, including the following:

Jacques Vallee.

Chris Aubeck.

Nigel Watson.

Alternative view

 

Jason Colavito, is a US author, editor, and blogger, who refers to himself as a "sceptical xenoarchaeologist." After the conference, Colavito posted a review of some of Jacques Vallee's presentation. Colavito has previously published pieces, critical of Vallee's work in this area, which may be read here and here. Other pieces about Vallee's work, by Colavito appear here , here , and here.  



 





Project Newsprint - stage one concludes

Hi all,

The initial stage of my year long project to collect sightings reports, from rural and remote Australia, is drawing to a close in Western Australia. It is now time to take a look at what I found in this state.

Courtesy Google maps.

Older sightings

Firstly, I collected a lot of older sightings in the time range 1890's  to 1997. A representative list follows:

Undated
“My family used to camp a lot and I remember dad saw a UFO. He actually reported it to the authorities. There were no reported planes in that area that night. Nothing ever came of it.” Source: Exmouth Adventure Facebook page 6 June 2014.

Undated
“My late bro in law used to see a lot of night activity at Waroora station. He saw the Min Min light a lot and other strange stuff early hours of the morning. Too weird to tell.” Source: Exmouth Adventure Facebook page 6 June 2014.

Undated
“My late brother Ray and wife Lorna didn’t believe in UFOs ... and had to drive a concrete mixer truck to Perth once for repair. Both went together and as they approached Three Springs about 2am they saw a light shining on the moonlit night from way up. It was a beam shining down on the cemetery in Three Springs that scared the life out of Ray and Lorna so much that he put his foot down on the truck and Lorna laid on the floor of the truck until they got out of town. They became believers of course.” Source: Exmouth Adventure Facebook page 6 June 2014.

1890's
An elderly lady recounted an observation of her father. “He was a bushman, his name was Jack. He worked in the north-western part of Australia and used to use a dray and four horses to cart things around. One day he was plodding along when he saw this light coming straight towards him, just before it reached him it separated into two  lights which flew separately either side of the horses. The horses were scared and started going out of control. He did not see what happened to the lights.”Source:  AUFORN compiled reports, issue 23, August 2001.

1960’s early 70’s
“My father and his friend travelled around Australia in his early years. He was in his late 20’s I think. He was able to get work at Exmouth setting up the communications, this is where he and about 200 people witnessed a craft directly above them. The Americans would set up an outside picture theatre for the staff every weekend and whilst they were watching the film the craft appeared above them. Left at an incredible pace. This is the story my father told me as a child. Would have been in the late 60’s I guess or early 70’s.” Source: Email from Kris to Keith Basterfield 2 Nov 2015.

NW Cape to Karratha - courtesy Google maps

1968-1973
“We saw many UFOs over the ranges and over the town in 1968-1973 looked like large golf shiny balls sitting on top of Charlie Knife Road we always saw them anytime any year.One night we went out to shoot a roo and came back as quick as we could when we saw something landing in the bush at night. We went flat strap back home.” Source: Exmouth Adventure Facebook page 3 June 2014.

1973
“In 1973 as a rigger on the towers, myself, ... saw a metallic object above the towers for more than an hour. We reported it to the Navy and never heard another thing about it.” Source: Exmouth Adventure Facebook page 20 Nov 2015

1974

“Geraldton to Exmouth. Early hours of morning. Driving a few kilometres after crossing Lyndon River. Unsealed road. Dad and I also out fishing one evening just on dusk and saw something much like Bill had seen. It was approximately 1974 as I remember being home from boarding school. It was at the light house beach. We were pretty excited. I remember dad calling the RAAF base to report the incident but no report of any aircraft in the area at the time.” Source: Exmouth Adventure Facebook page.

1975
“Interesting to read your post. I actually am still convinced to this day that I saw a UFO sitting on the Canyons. There was Kev, me and two others driving out to Kailis for the cockroach races. This was about 1975. I saw this huge thing sitting on top of the canyon. I mentioned it but they remarked it was the Moon. Wasn’t until we got to Kailis that I noticed the full Moon was actually over the opposite end of the gulf! I never mentioned it again.” Source: Exmouth Adventure Facebook page 6 June 2014.

1981.
While driving between Exmouth and the Naval Communication Station, an individual reported an unusual very bright light in the sky over a period of time. Source: http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/sightings-at-us-navcommsta-harold-e.html

1991.
“Don’t know if it’s the same incident but it would have been about 1991. I think we told what we’d seen – on a night mobile APS patrol, when departing HFR access road, we saw a stationary solid light to the south, “about 2000 feet up.” It paced us enroute to Exmouith, then veered off over Learmonth airfield. It stopped for about 30 seconds then it did a couple of passes over the field. Stopped after each pass (passes were in an instant) stopped, then went straight up till it was out of sight – again, in an instant.” Source: Exmouth Adventure facebook page 19 Nov 2015.

1992/1993
A spectacular nocturnal encounter involving a civilian and two Australian Federal Police officers. Source: http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/an-extraordinary-close-encounter-near.html



Satellite courtesy Google maps - NW Cape to Karratha.

Mid 1990's.

“I have seen some strange lights out by the VLF in the mid90’s.” Source: Exmouth Adventure facebook page 19 Nov 2015.

 

Newer sightings

Besides the older sightings, I also heard of a few, newer sightings. These included:

2007 near Roebourne. http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/sightings-from-north-west-australia.html

2010 Karratha. http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/encounter-at-karratha-western-australia.html

2012 Broome. http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/intriguing-report-from-broome-western.html

2012 Karratha. http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/sightings-from-nw-australia-part-two.html

 

WA newspaper websites

I took a look at a number of websites for Western Australian newspapers, and found that they had not carried many stories at all, from locations in WA,  about UAP. They carried pieces about sightings in other parts of Australia, but not local ones.

Donnybrook Bridgetown Mail 9 May 2012

 

In summary

 

1. My original aim for the Project was to investigate whether or not there existed, recent (say over the last ten years) interesting UAP reports in rural and remote Australia I believe that part one of the Project, in Western Australia shows that not only are there such reports, but that a large number of unknown older sighting reports have simply lain there waiting for someone like me to ask people to talk about them.

 

2. There is a definite shift in recent years, away from reporting sightings through newspaper to reporting through social media, particularly Facebook, as evidenced by the existence of such Facebook groups as "Pilbara UFO" and "Exmouth Adventure." No doubt there are other such pages which I didn't come across.

 

3. A concluding remark is, that I remain amazed that none of the state based UAP groups has undertaken this sort of Project that I have commenced upon.

 

4. The next state on my list is Victoria.