Zanthus, WA 1968 aircraft encounter - another newspaper article located

Hi all,

Until September 2011 there was no known contemporary newspaper account of the 22 Aug 1968, Zanthus, Western Australia aircraft encounter case. It was only in September last year that I located an article from the Saturday 24 Aug 1968 "The West Australian" newspaper (click here.)

Recently, while reading an old UFO newsletter in the South Australian State Library, I came across a second such newspaper article. According to page 11, of volume 7 number 4 of UFOPIA's magazine "Panorama" published in Adelaide, South Australia, it appeared in the West Australian newspaper "The Daily News" on Friday 23 Aug 1968, the day after the event.

The story:

"Pilot tells of strange UFO.

An unidentified flying object seen by two commercial pilots about 130 miles east of Kalgoorlie yesterday was so vivid that they immediately notified the Civil Aviation Department to safeguard any other aircraft in the area.

Gordon Smith (33) of Wesley Street, Tuart Hills, said he and Walter Gardin of Mill Point Road, South Perth were also concerned about the safety of their own aircraft.

Mr Smith said he was resting in the rear of the cabin at 5.40pm when Mr Gardin called him forward to look at a strange object about 10 miles ahead of them. Mr Gardin had followed the path of the object for about 10 minutes. It first appeared as  a white glow and travelled ahead at the same time and speed as their aircraft. Mr Smith said it was hard to distinguish the shape and size of the object but he likened it to the size of a Boeing 707 at 10 miles.

The main object continued to spilt into two halves and small cigar-shaped objects continually left what he called the mother ship.

The smaller objects, about 6 of them, flew out 3 or 4 miles and then merged back on to the two main parts of the mother ship.

After about 20 minutes the main object took off with the speed of a rocket.

Mr Smith, who has been flying for about 13 years had never seen a UFO before."

Comment:

I checked the Western Australia electoral rolls, and found a Gordon William Smith at 48 Wesley Street, Tuart Hills. He and his wife lived there between 1965 and 1972, but do not appear in any Perth electoral rolls in 1973. I also checked the Perth electoral rolls for 2000 and 2009 but could not locate anyone of this name.

Did the RAAF investigate the 24 May 1965 Eton Ridge case?

Hi all,

The spectacular Eton Ridge CE2 case:

In a previous post (click here) I located some original material on the 24 May 1965, Eton Ridge, Queensland case. In that post I also pondered the questions as to whether or not, the RAAF investigated the event.

The 27 May 1965 "Ipswich Queensland Times" newspaper article I found on RAAF UFO files, concluded its piece on the event by stating "The sighting would probably be investigated by the Air Force as were other sightings." There was no reference cited as to who might have said this.

This mystery was solved in the 27 May 1965 piece which appeared in the "Brisbane Courier Mail" which stated "The sighting would probably be investigated by the Air Force, as other sightings were, Mr Seymour said." Seymour was the Queensland Regional Director of the federal Government's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA.)

NICAP's "The UFO Investigator", June-July 1965, edition, carried details of Australian investigator Paul Norman's on-site investigation. On page 22 it reads "The evidence and the reports are being evaluated by the Royal Australian Air Force." However, there is no source cited for this statement.

RAAF UFO files:

A check of the RAAF's UFO files in the National Archives of Australia revealed that the only mention of this case was the referral of the above two newspaper articles to the Department of Air. The covering memo to the articles, told that the clippings were from RAAF Base Amberley (Queensland) and that RAAF HQ Operational Command said "No action has been  taken on the matter at this headquarters." This is all suggestive, in fact, that the RAAF did not actually investigate the case.

State Library search:

While at the State Library of South Australia the other day, I decided to check copies of the Brisbane "Courier Mail" newspaper for dates after the 27 May 1965 article, to see if there were any follow up articles which had been missed by past researchers. Indeed there was one. This appeared on page 11 of the "Courier Mail" dated 28 May 1965. The article was titled "Probe into the 'thing,'" and read:

"Mackay - Police Constable B Self of Nebo, yesterday inquired into the reported landing of a mysterious 'thing' on Eton Ridge, 40 miles from Mackay, on Sunday night.

He said last night he would make no comment on his findings until his report was submitted today to Mackay District Police Chief (Inspector T Boyle.)

A Royal Australian Air Force spokesman last night said the RAAF had not been asked to investigate the sighting.

Eton Ridge Range Hotel licensee Mr Jim Tilse on Wednesday said he and two other men saw the 'thing' land. It was circular in shape and carried some 30 lights."

Although I checked issues of the "Courier Mail" for several days after this latest article appeared, I found no further articles dealing with the event.

Comments:

1. It would seem to me that no-one directly reported the sighting to the RAAF, so the RAAF did not investigate. The lack of any investigation report on RAAF UFO files supports this conclusion.

2. It could also be inferred that the matter was not reported to DCA. This deduction results from the fact that in the 1960's, any UFO report made to DCA was automatically forwarded to the RAAF. The fact that there is no report on RAAF files indicates that the sighting was not reported to DCA. This is supported by the fact that no such report appears on the relevant DCA UFO file.

This deduction is contrary to the 27 May 1965 "Ipswich Queensland Times" newspaper article which stated "Mr Tilse...reported the matter to the police and Civil Aviation Department." The Brisbane "Courier Mail" story did not say that the matter had been reported to DCA. However, both articles stated that Mr Seymour, the Regional Director of DCA had not "...received a report on the sighting." In addition, the NICAP Norman article makes no mention of a report to DCA.

This anomaly is difficult to understand. Either Tilse did make a report to DCA, or he did not.

3. Everyone agrees that the Queensland Police force were  contacted, and did carry out some kind of investigation. Again, common practice in the 1960's was that the RAAF often asked the police to conduct interviews with witnesses on its behalf. This happened, for instance in the 19 Jan 1966 Euramo CE2 case. It would appear in this instance that the police investigated by themselves, after the witness contacted them.

However, I know of no researcher who has a copy of the Queensland Police force report. Has any reader a copy?

An early Australian event - 1911

Hi all,

I have recently published a catalogue of pre-1947 Australian observations of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (click here.) After doing so, I came across another early case from 1911, right here in South Australia. Details appeared in volume 3 number 5, Jul-Aug 1964, of UFOPIA's "Panorama" magazine, page 18. The text reads:

"An early saucer sighting 1911.

The following incident was related to one of UFOPIA's investigators who is well acquainted with the man and vouches for his integrity. The man is keenly interested in electronics, saucers and the bible.

His story is that as a young lad in 1911, he was working on his father's farm at Gumeracha, a few miles from Adelaide and had been milking cows and then took up two buckets of milk to place them on a stand.

It was whilst he was carrying them he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head and placing the buckets down, put his hand to his head where the pain was. It was then that he observed in front of him some distance away, a disc shaped object. It was about  10 feet across and was silvery and glowing like the Moon. He watched it for some 15 seconds and then it rose into the air and disappeared at a very fast rate into the horizon.

He had no knowledge of what it could have been at the time and felt that to relate it might cause him embarrassment.

It was only after these many years when in the company of the investigator that he felt urged to tell the story for what it was worth."

Cold case investigation - Eton Ridge Queensland - 24 May 1965

Hi all,

Introduction:

A spectacular event, which happened near Mackay, Queensland in the early hours of 24 May 1965, is featured in numerous UFO publications. Three men reported seeing a luminous "machine" near the ground for an extended period of time. Physical traces were later reported. I extracted a summary of the case for my Australian catalogue, but at that time all of the sources led back to Australian newspaper articles; even UFO books cited these same newspaper articles. However, recently I located two contemporary non-newspaper accounts, so I have revisited the case.

Source one:

During a recent visit to the South Australian State Library I located the case in a copy of UFOPIA's magazine, "Panorama" volume 4 number 3, 1965, pages 17 and 18. The magazine contained a detailed report by one of the witnesses.

"Name: James William Tilse.
Profession, occupation: Senior commercial pilot. Hotel owner.
Time of day: 23/5/65 (Really the 24th) 12:05 (231405Z)
Duration of sighting: 40 min approx.
The circumstances of observation: Mr Burgess, Mr Judin and myself had been playing cards. Mr Burgess went out to the front of the hotel to move my truck. He called Mr Judin who then called me. It was not seen alighting by any of us.

Weather conditions: Sky practically cloudless. Moon approx 30 degree above horizon and perhaps 20 degree to left of object. Temp roughly 80 degrees.
Object watched by: Naked eye.
Witnesses: Mr Judin, C/o Hotel. Mr J Burgess C/- Main Roads Dept. Nebo via Mackay, and myself.

Photos: Photos were taken on high speed Ectachrome. These photos will be forwarded for processing under another person's name.
Situation at the time: Explained above.
The shape: No change in shape whatsoever throughout sighting it being a well defined machine solid and metallic.

Apparent size: Presuming the disc at the top to be 30 feet, thickness of disc would be 1 foot and a height of 15 foot. Mr Judin estimated disc diameter as 20 feet and Mr Burgess 6 feet.
Prominent features: None apart from large banks of floodlights in rows 10.9.8.7.6 (this may not be accurate). No sparks or vapour trails were observed, nor scorching of the ground. Tops of trees appeared to be burned.
Colour: As observed in the light of the Moon. Charcoal.

Sound: Whilst on the ground approaching and receding, none. Mr Burgess and Mr Judin said they heard a buzz (described as similar to a bee) on departure. I was closer to the Hotel generating plant heard nothing on departure.

Direction trajectory speed of travel: On departure rose rapidly to approx 300 feet then accelerated more than extremely rapidly in a N/E to E direction. Would have been flying horizontally.
Motion: A steady flight.
Signs of life: None. But obviously controlled by intelligent beings.
Effects: None. Psychologically. Fear (by observers). Electro-magnetic effects. No radios in operation. Lights OK. Our power generated by diesel. 240v.

Description of sighting: Object was observed as mentioned, and on its approach towards us, I rang the Mackay Police Station. Our phone is on a party line and a cattle property approx 1/4 mile away was contacted whilst police were on the phone. The owner, Mr B Wright had binoculars, but could observe nothing, possibly because a ridge between his homestead and the Hotel. The object remained for about 20 min after the report. During the period on the ground (or hovering) the underside of the trees were illuminated.

A circular impression was found on the ground 2 days later and was measured by the local police. The centre of the circle was untouched. The outside impression was 20 feet from the inside to inside and extended 3 feet 2 inches outwards. It was a perfect circle. Diameter did not vary. It was practically under a telephone line. No evidence of damage can be seen (to the phone lines or poles.)"

Source two:

The former NICAP groups' newsletter, "The UFO Investigator" June-July 1965 edition, pages 1 and 2 carried an account supplied by Australian researcher Paul Norman who conducted an on-site investigation. Norman interviewed Tilse.

Norman's report to NICAP relates essentially the same story as Tilse's direct account from source one. However, additional/differing information is:

* Burgess was a veteran of the second world war and wanted to get a rifle and shoot at the object
* "As the machine settled on the sparsely timbered ridge, illuminating the trees, the orange glow of the lights dimmed. But it was still too bright to tell whether the glow came from inside, through ports, or from lights encircling the craft."
* The next day Tilse photographed a circular impression on the ground where the UFO landed or hovered. As confirmed by local police and NICAP investigator Norman, it was a perfect circle - a ring three feet two inches thick, its inside diameter 20 feet. In addition, several treetops were scorched where the UFO had closely passed. This was confirmed by constable B Self, Nebo police, and by Tilse and Norman. The evidence and reports are being examined by the Royal Australian Air Force."

Comments:

This original material, to my mind, strengthens the case for it being a UFO. There is one anomaly though, not revealed in Norman's account, but by Tilse in the Panorama article. Tilse states that the Moon was approximately thirty degrees above the horizon.

However, a check of the Sky View Cafe star chart program on the internet (click here)  reveals that at 0005hrs on 24 May 1965, seen from the Epsom Retreat Hotel (click here) (between Eton and Nebo) at latitude 21 deg 28min south; longitude 148 deg 49min east, for Universal Time plus 10 hours (ie Tilse's 231405z), the Moon was 1 degree above the ESE horizon, and not at about 30 degrees as Tilse states.An independent sky chart program, Fourmilab (click here) , was consulted, and it too puts the Moon at 1 degree elevation in the ESE. Why Tilse, an experienced pilot and observer, should place the Moon at 30 degrees elevation, is not apparent to me.

Some skeptic's have suggested that the men in fact saw the Moon, and reported it as a UFO. Their "UFO" was by their accounts on or near the horizon. In addition, "The News" an Adelaide newspaper in its account of the Eton Ridge event, dated 27 May 1965 cites Tilse , upon first seeing the object, as saying "It's the Moon." The details of the object's shape, lights and movements would appear to rule out this explanation, in my opinion.

Concerning the physical traces. Tilse reported these as (1) "Tops of trees appeared to be burned." (2) "a circular impression was found on the ground." Although photographs are said to have been taken, according to Tilse; to my knowledge these have never surfaced for us to view.

Did the RAAF investigate the sighting?

The NICAP account stated that "The evidence and reports are being examined by the Royal Australian Air Force."

A check by me of the relevant RAAF UFO file, NAA file series A703, control symbol 580/1/1 part 4 shows no record of the RAAF ever receiving a completed UFO report form, or an investigating officer's report. However, page 140 of that file is a memo from RAAF HQ Operational Command to Department of Air (Attn: DAFI) dated 22 Jun 1965 reference 5/2/1/Air (57.) It states:

"1. Attached are two newspaper clippings of an alleged sighting of an unidentified flying object received from RAAF Base Amberley.
2. No action has been taken on the matter at this headquarters."

Page 141 of the file is a clipping from the "Ipswich Queensland Times: dated Thursday 27th May 1965 and titled "Three report seeing a 'flying platform' land."

Page 199 of the same file is a clipping from the "Brisbane Courier Mail" dated Thursday 27th May 1965 and titled "A 'thing' leaves its mark."

As both newspaper clippings indicate that Mr Tilse reported the occurrence to the Civil Aviation Department (although Mr Seymour, Regional Director of Civil Aviation is cited in both papers as stating that no report had so far been received) I checked the relevant DCA UFO file in the National Archives. NAA file series B595, control symbol 21/3/387 part 2 titled "Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon" is a DCA file with a date range 1959 to 1969. However, there is no report on this file of the Eton Ridge event.

In conclusion:

Most of the original material which I located, in my view, strengthens the case for it being an example of the "core" UFO phenomenon. However, the anomaly of the position of the Moon concerns me. In addition, the lack of a detailed report on either the RAAF or DCA UFO files, (or both), is a puzzle.

I welcome comments by readers, particularly anyone who has located a RAAF or DCA investigation report on this impressive case. I would also like to hear from anyone who has an opinion on the anomaly of the Moon's position.

"The Giant Book of Useless Information" and Westall

Dear readers,

Details of the 1966 Westall event (click here) , turn up in some unlikely places. I was browsing the shelves of my local library, when my attention was drawn to a book titled "The Giant Book of Useless Information," authored by Steve Sutton, and published in 2010 by Magpie Books, London. ISBN 978-1-84901-897-5. I picked the book up off the shelf and at random, turned to a page, page eleven as it happens. What did I see?

"The Clayton Incident. On 6th June 1966, hundreds of people in Westall, Clayton, South Victoria, Australia spotted an alleged UFO in the sky. Students and teachers at two schools in Victoria fled their classrooms and reported seeing the object in the sky for up to twenty minutes, before it descended into a nearby field. Soon afterwards the object climbed rapidly upwards and flew away towards the northwest.

Some observers later suggested that the departing object was pursued by five mysterious aircraft. Local police attended the scene, and later in the week uniformed men visited the site. These were probably representatives of the Australian Army and air force. After samples had been taken, the vegetation in the field was burnt, either to destroy evidence or cleanse the area. People who witnessed "The Clayton Incident" still gather for regular reunions."

No sources of information are cited for the above text, in the book.

UAP and aircraft safety in Australia - a review

Hi all,

One of the approaches taken overseas to move away from "traditional" UFO research, has been to replace the term "UFO" with the term "UAP" (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) and link it to aviation safety (eg. click here.)

Government agencies:

In Australia, up until 1995, the responsibility for aviation safety lay with the federal Department of Civil Aviation. In July 1995 the Department of Civil Aviation was abolished and replaced by two separate Government bodies, namely Air Services Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Air Services Australia "Is a government owned corporation providing safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible services to the aviation industry." (Click here.) It has responsibility for:

*Airspace management
* Aeronautical information
* Aviation communication
* Radio navigation aides
* Aviation rescue and fire fighting services.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is an independent statutory authority. CASA's mission is "To enhance and promote aviation safety through effective regulation and by encouraging the wider aviation industry to embrace and deliver high standards of safety."

"CASA's primaru function is to conduct the safety regulation of civil air operations in Australia..."

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB):

A third player in the aviation safety area is the ATSB. "The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's national transport safety investigator." (Click here.)

"The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's prime agency for the independent investigation of civil aviation accidents, incidents and safety deficiencies. The ATSB is governed by a commission and is entirely separate from transport policy makers, industry operators, and from transport regulators such as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA.)"

Near misses with UAP:

Overseas there have been reported near misses between aircraft and UAP, thus raising concerns about the safety of aircraft. If such incidents have happened here in Australia, where would we look for details about the incident?

A search through the websites of Air Services Australia; the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau determined that the most likely answer appears to be in the ATSB's listing of "Aviation Safety investigations and reports" (click here.) This currently lists 3,929 incidents which have been investigated. Examples of items from this list are:

*Collision with terrain
* Turbulence event
* Collision with obstacle.

Of particular interest with us are items such as:

*Airprox - VH-PWQ/unknown, PA-34/unknown near Avalon Airport, Victoria, 22 May 2012.
*Airprox - Beech A36, VH-IOL and an unknown aircraft, 49kms Scone Airport, NSW, 26 September 2011.

Air prox meaning an aircraft and something else (usually another aircraft) were closer than they should have been.

Before 2004, the report headings merely listed the aircraft involved. Thus there is no way to tell, without opening every report, is the event was an airprox. The earliest report listed is from 1969.

New ATSB database:

In 2007, the ATSB introduced a new aviation safety database, the "Safety Investigation Information Management System" (SIIMS.) The current ATSB website provides (click here) weekly tables of "Occurrences entered into the ATSB Aviation Safety Database" There are 22 pages of tables going back to 2003. Each table lists dozens of occurrences, ranging from "an aircraft entering restricted airspace without a clearance" to "during the landing roll, the aircraft struck a bird." Most occurrences do not result in an ATSB investigation, meaning they do not make it to the "listing of "Aviation Safety investigations and reports" mentioned above.

Unidentified aircraft:

An examination of the "Occurrences entered into the ATSB Aviation Safety Database" found numerous examples along the lines of:

20 Oct 2006 2006/06277 20km NW Gold Coast Aerodrome, Qld. "An unidentified aircraft was observed on radar to have entered controlled airspace without a clearance."

In each instance I looked at of this kind, it was always "An unidentified aircraft" and no other wording. These instances do not receive further investigation.

In conclusion:

If a near miss between and aircraft and a UAP has happened in Australia, and it was reported as an occurrence to the ATSB, we would expect to be able to find a record of it in the ATSB's SIIMS database.

If any readers has a few hours to spare they might wish to thoroughly examine the  "Occurrences entered into the ATSB Aviation Safety Database" and see if there is any mention of UAP/UFO. I haven't found any so far. Please share if you do find such an occurrence.

Cold case investigation - Heyfield, Victoria - 24 Apr 1968

Hi all,

Michael Hervey's 1967 book, "UFOs Over the Southern Hemisphere" ( click here) page 86 provides details of a case from Heyfield, (click here) Victoria on 24 Apr 1968. It reads:

Hervey's entry:

"The truck in which two sanitary collectors were travelling in, broke down, some two kilometres from Heyfield. They were thinking of getting a tow when they saw a string of red lights approaching. They stood on the bonnet of the truck to get a view when the lights didn't get any closer. It had a row of red lights and a dome with a light on the top. Next day they found an area of wilted grass."

RAAF files:

Based on the above information, in my Australian UFO catalogue (click here) I gave the case a classification of a close encounter type two. Recently, I came across a detailed account of the event in the RAAF's UFO files (file series A703 control symbol 580/1/1 Part 9 pages 214-221). This RAAF report was prepared by a Flying Officer D V Crain, and dated 2 May 1968. The report reads in part:

"At 0330 EST on 24 Apr 1968, Mr Whelan's truck broke down on the Heyfield-Maffra road approximately two miles east of Heyfield. Mr Whelan and his employee, Mr Lord were repairing their vehicle, when they looked east towards Maffra, and observed a banana-shaped object on the ground. It appeared to be like the lights of a semi-trailer coming towards them, but never actually reaching them. It then appeared to rise into the air (about 50 feeet) then moved very slowly in an easterly direction.

"It appears that the witnesses did not actually observe when the object disappeared from sight. An estimate of the time of observation varies from 3/4 hour to two hours. Both witnesses state that the object was about 45-50 degrees elevation when last observed."

Both Mr Whelan's and Mr Lord's report forms indicate there was no sound from the object.

The investigating officer's report indicates that the wind was calm at the time; cloud was 2/8 sc 4000; there was a slight inversion at 1000 feet and visibility was 20 miles.

Another sighting:

On the 25 Apr 1968, the same object was again seen by Lord, Whelan and a third witness, a Mr Hemphill, at 0430 EST from the Heyfield railway station. The weather on this occasion was calm, visibility 20 miles, patches of shallow fog, with a temperature inversion at 1500 feet. The object this time was last seen  at about 0630 EST by Mr Hemphill, who "...is of the opinion that the object could have been the Moon."

Wheland and Lord described "the object as of a red colour, changing to an orange glow. The colour in latter stages of the observation was not described by the witness."

The investigating officer's report included findings:

"On investigation, the Air Almanac, it was found that the Moon rose at 0312 EST, and 0412EST, on 24 Apr 68 and 25 Apr 68 respectively, that is the top of the Moon was coincident with the horizon. The azimuth of the Moon was 098deg T on 24 Apr 68 and 090deg T on 25 Apr 68. The Moon on each occasion was in the last quarter." The officer concluded:

" ...it is my form opinion that the object seen by the witnesses on each occasion was the Moon."

Mr Hemphill's report form in part says, there was no Moon visible at the time of the UFO sighting, suggesting that their UFO was actually the Moon.

There was no mention anywhere in the RAAF material of an area of wilted grass being found.

My comments:

A check of Sky View Cafe confirmed that the Moon was where the RAAF reported it to be.

At 0330EST on 24 Apr 68 the Moon was just slightly south of east, near the horizon.  The Moon was a thin, banana-shape, crescent. By 0530 EST on the 24 Apr 68, the Moon, and the planet Saturn, were both visible to slightly north of east. The Sun rose at about 0655 EST that morning.

At 0430EST on 25 Apr 68 the Moon was just slightly north of east, near the horizon. The Moon was a thin, banana-shape, crescent. By 0630EST, the Moon, together with the planets Venus and Saturn were all in the ENE sky.  It should be reiterated, that witness Hemphill said he did not see the Moon when he saw the UFO, suggesting that the UFO was actually the Moon, as both UFO and Moon should have both been visible. There was also no sound, and the object was at some unknown distance from them.

I therefore concur with the RAAF's conclusion in this case, that the object was most likely the Moon. I have come across other Australian cases where people have been clearly misidentified the Moon, for a UFO when it is low in the sky, and crescent shaped.