A Catalogue of Australian Physical Trace Cases
compiled by Keith
Basterfield & Bill Chalker
(updated October 1997 & February
1998)
Compiled and ©1998 by Bill Chalker
The author can be contacted C/-
P.O. Box W42,
West Pennant Hills, NSW,
2125,
AUSTRALIA.
Phone: Sydney, Australia + 9484 4680
Email: billozfiles@tpg.com.au
The catalogue of Australian physical trace cases compiled by Keith
Basterfield and Bill Chalker lists 147 cases covering the period from 1927 to
1997. Physical trace events with probative UFO correlation, i.e. 38 possible
type 1 physical traces cases (Chalker, 1979 & 1987), are listed here to draw
attention to cases of potential significance:
001 - 1927 - Fernvale NSW (Nr Murwillumbah)
004 - June 1963 - North Parramatta (Sydney) NSW
005 - 24 May 1965 - Eton Ridge QLD
008 - 19 Jan 1966 - Euramo QLD
012 - 4 Apr 1966 - Burkes Flat VIC
013 - 6 Apr 1966 - Westall VIC
014 - 22 May 1966 - Corndale NSW
017 -16 Mar 1967 - St. George, Qld
018 - 2 May 1968 - Heyfield VIC
019 - 18 Nov 1968 - Hill River SA
034 - 17 Apr 1969 - Bungawalban NSW
(035 - Harwood Island NSW)
036 - 12 May 1969 - Casino NSW
037 - 22 May 1969 - Glenorchy TAS
038 - 3 Nov 1969 - Windsor SA
039 - 7 Dec 1969 - Windsor SA
040 - Jun 1970 - Emerald beach NSW
045 - 22 may 1971 - Norwood TAS
050 - Dec 1971 - Tooligie Hill SA
055 - 4 Feb 1972 - Tooraweenah
057 - 5 Jul 1972 - Mt Arrowsmith TAS
076 - 16 June 1973 - Bostobrick NSW
078 - 21 Jun 1973 - Tyringham NSW
087 - 7 June 1974 - Goulburn NSW
090 - Oct 1974 - Maitland NSW
101 - Late Feb 1976 - Kettering TAS
102 - 12 Apr 1976 - Penrith NSW
104 - 25 Sep 1976 - Karawinna VIC
107 - Feb 1977 - Mt Garnet QLD
109 - 26 May 1977 - Orange NSW
110 - June 1977 - Oberon NSW
121 - 7 Mar 1978 - Echuca VIC
126 - 30 Sep 1980 - Rosedale VIC
130 - 25 Jul 1988 - Jamestown SA
132 - 9 Oct 1989 - Endeavour Hills Vic
139 - 8 Aug 1993 - near Narre Warren North, Dandenongs, Victoria
141 - 8 Jun 1995 - Harwood Island, NSW
147 -12 March 1997 - near Portland, NSW
Out of these cases 10 stand out as being particularly impressive examples of
UFO
physical trace episodes:
008 - 19 Jan 1966 - Euramo QLD
012 - 4 Apr 1966 - Burkes Flat VIC
040 - Jun 1970 - Emerald beach NSW
101 - Late Feb 1976 - Kettering TAS
109 - 26 May 1977 - Orange NSW
126 - 30 Sep 1980 - Rosedale VIC
130 - 25 Jul 1988 - Jamestown SA
132 - 9 Oct 1989 - Endeavour Hills Vic
139 - 8 Aug 1993 - near Narre Warren North, Victoria
147 -12 March 1997 - near Portland, NSW
I have included some further details of these select cases:
THE 1966 TULLY SAUCER
"NEST"
1966 was again a major year for UFO activity in Australia. The
classic UFO landing at Horseshoe Lagoon near Tully, far north Queensland, and
witnessed by farmer George Pedley, entered the term UFO "nest" into popular
UFO parlance. The locality was the centre of an extended UFO milieu that
continued for many years, particularly in 1969, 1972 and 1975. The area was
also the site of controversial and fascinating experiments in UFO detection
through remote sensing and filming.
Farmer, George Pedley's sighting at Horseshoe Lagoon and the physical
evidence found there caused a media sensation. The Tully "UFO nest" affair of
1966 is one of the best known accounts of an apparent UFO landing report. It
has been mentioned extensively in the UFO literature over the years,and yet
surprisingly many inaccuracies and misconceptions have developed. These
problems became more critical when the famous Tully incident of January 19,
1966, once again became the focus of attention, this time due to the English
"crop circle" controversy. The prominent schools of thought on the crop circle
formations adopted the 1966 Tully incident as a classic example of their
percieved explanations for the circle complexes. Their claims about the
relevance of the Tully incident as an example of the currently perceived crop
circle phenomenon were flawed and generally unfounded.
My research of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) files uncovered the
original police report on the incident. As these are the earliest documented
sources they will be quoted in detail:
At about 9.00 a.m. on 19th January, 1966, Mr. G.A. Pedley, a
banana grower of Tully, Qld, observed a light grey non reflecting dull
object, reported to be about 25 feet long and 8 feet deep, rise vertically
then climb on an angle of 450 from a height of about 30 feet above marshland
which was situated about 25 yards away from his position. There was an
associated hissing noise which descreased as the 'object' rose. The apparent
shape was described as 'two saucers, face to face', but no structural detail
was observed. The duration of the observation was approximately 15 seconds
and it disappeared in mid-air whilst receding into the distance (not
assessed).
A clearly defined near circular depression remained in evidence in swamp
grass at the point from which the object was seen rising, and measured about
32 feet long by 25 feet wide. The grass was flattened in clockwise curves to
water level within the circle and the reeds had been uprooted from the mud.
There was no scorching of grass or surrounding trees and the observer stated
that there was no smell of combustion..."
My research of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) files
uncovered the original police report on the incident. As these are the
earliest documented sources extracts of it are included here of details not
included in the above statement made in 1973 in response to an enquiry from
the "Australian" newspaper.
George Pedley reported his experience to Tully Police at 7.30 pm, on
January 19th. At 7 am, January 20th George Pedley and Sgt. A.V. Moylan went to
the site of the incident. Sgt. Moylan, then contacted Townsville RAAF Base by
telephone, on the morning of January 20th. Flt. Lt. Wallace advised Sgt.
Moylan that he would forward a proforma questionaire for completion by George
Pedley. On Friday, January 21st, Flt. Lt. Wallace confirmed despatch of two
copies of the sighting proforma by mail that same day and also requested Sgt.
Moylan obtain "a sample of the grass from the scorched area." At 3.30 pm, on
the same day, Moylan returned to the site and took a sample "of the grass from
the depression in the swamp grass at the site. The proforma was filled out by
Moylan based on his interviews with George Pedley and was dated 26/1/66. Sgt.
Moylan despatched the report and the sample on 26/1/66.
The following details are extracted from the RAAF "REPORT ON AERIAL
OBJECT OBSERVED:
Name of Observer: George Alfred PEDLEY aged 28
years.
Occupation of Observer: Banana
grower
Date and Time of Observation: 19/1/66 at about
0900 hours
Period of Observation: About 15
seconds
Manner of Observation:
Travelling on
a tractor about 1/2 mile from farm house of Albert PENNISI, Rockingham Road,
Euramo. Attention attracted by hissing noise, clearly heard over noise of
tractor-similar to air escaping from tyre; checked tyres and was looking
about for source of noise when he saw object about 25 yards ahead. No
optical instruments used in sighting.
Where was object first observed: Object about 25 yards
ahead at height of about 30 feet rising vertically.
What first attracted observer's attention: Loud hissing
noise.
Did object appear as a light or a definite object:
Definite object, no light visible. One object (only seen)
What was the colour of the object: Light grey;
dull-non-reflecting.
What was its apparent shape: Two saucers -- face to
face.
Was any detail of the structure observable: Object about
25 feet long and 8' to (9') deep. No structural detail observed.
Was any method of propulsion obvious: No.
Was there any sound: Loud hissing noise which seemed to
diminish as object rose.
Height or angle of elevation: First seen at treetop
height 30'. Rose vertically to about twice that height, then departed,
climbing at about 45 degrees.
Speed, or angular velocity: Extremely fast; No estimate
of speed, but much faster than an aeroplane. It was near treetops and these
gave observer a good basis for estimating height.
Direction of flight with reference to landmarks or points of the
compass:Rose vertically to about 60 feet and departed south west
climbing at about 45 degrees; appeared to be rotating for full time
observed. (object appeared to remain on) straight climbing path.
Was any trail of exhaust, vapour or light seen: No
Where did object disappear: Mid air; receded into
distance.
Existence of any physical evidence:
Clearly defined
near circular depression in swamp grass at point from which object seen
rising, about 32' long and 25' wide. Grass flattened to surface of 4' of
water lying in xxxx-clockwise curves. [Sgt. Moylan, in
his report, had typed in anti-clockwise initially and then corrected it to
clockwise, by overtyping 'anti' with 'xxxx'. The direction of the swirl
at the site of the 19 January 1966 incident was to become a matter of ongoing
confusion. The correct direction was clockwise - B.C.]
Weather conditions experienced at time of
observation:
Clear sky; Hot sunshine.
Location of any air traffic in the vicinity at the time of
sighting: Unknown but checked by RAAF Garbut.
[Flt. Lt. Wallace of Townsville RAAF base in a covering minute paper
confirmed that "there were no service or Civil aircraft operating in the
area... at the time of the sighting..." - B.C.]
Any additional information: (Sgt. Moylan wrote)
Observer reported this matter to Tully Police at 7.30pm on 19/1/66 and at
7am, 20/1/66 went with me to the site of the depression in the swamp. His
version then included the information that the object rose vertically,
appeared to dip slightly and then went off in straight climbing path. He
then said...further that there was no smell of combustion and no scorching
of grass or trees visible; that the the flattened grass or rushes was quite
green when he first saw the depression; on his return that afternoon the
grass had turned brown. (Sgt. Moylan further added:)
In this matter I formed the opinion that the depressed area in
the swamp grass had been caused by a small helicopter and that the observer,
in the early morning bright sunlight shining on the rotor may have mistaken
the shape. His description of the takeofflent some strength to my opinion.
However there was cleared land to the east for about 200 yards where such an
aircraft could have more safely landed instead of the position indicated by
the observer, close to trees. Later I was informed by Wallace Evans of
...Tully, an electrician that he has seen similar markings in a swamp at
Kurrumine Beach and is quite certain that it was caused by a whirlwind,
sucking up water into a waterspout, uprooting the grass and laying it out in
a similar pattern. At 3.30pm, 21/1/66 I took a sample of the grass at the
site and have forwarded it under seperate cover on even date.
Flt. Lt. T.D. Wright, for Air Officer Commanding, Headquarters
Operational Command, RAAF, Penrith, New South Wales (NSW), on-forwarded police
Sgt. Moylan's report on George Pedley's UFO sighting and Flt. Lt. Wallace's
covering minute paper, to the Department of Air, Russell Offices, Canberra.
His communication classified RESTRICTED, which was channelled to the
Directorate of Air Force Intelligence (DAFI), also indicated,
"This headquarters believes that the depressions of the swamp grass were
caused by small isolated waterspouts."
In response to an enquiry, dated 2nd February, 1966, from the Commonwealth
Aerial Phenomena Investigation Organisation (CAPIO), the
Secretary, Department of Air, Mr. A.B. McFarlane, wrote on 11th February,
1966:
"Investigations of the area surrounding the reported "Nests",
testing of samples taken from around them and interrogation of persons
involved in the report failed to reveal anything of significance.
"However, during enquiries a number of local residents stated that the
reported "nests" are fairly common during the onset of the "wet".
Furthermore, the University of Queensland stated that there was nothing
unnatural in the samples submitted and assessed that the "nests" could have
been the result of severe turbulance, which normally accompany line squalls
and thunderstorms prevalent in NORTH QUEENSLAND at the time of the year.
"There is no explanation for the visible phenomena reported but it could
have been associated with or the result of "down draughts", "willy willies"
or "water spouts" that are known to occur in the area.
".. for information ....in January of this year from an airfield in the
tropics (a number of photographs taken give) a fine example of the type and
growth of a cloud formation occuring with a severe "down draught"
This whirling mass of tropical air associated with thunderstorm activity,
on reaching the earth's surface may dissipate and subside or persist giving
rise to dust eddies, water spouts, etc, and leaving a telltale circular
pattern on the ground.
Should it occur over a swampy reed bed the effect would be to flatten the
reeds with a circular pattern. resultant photographs and investigations of
the "nests" seem to fit in with this theory and is accepted as a possible
cause of the phenomena."
It is fascinating to note how Secretary McFarlane's cursory explanatory
exposition, no doubt inspired by "the tornado-like metereological phenomena"
infested skies over Willow Grove, Victoria and Vaucluse Beach, NSW,
anticipated by almost 2 decades Dr. Terence Meaden's early theoretical
attempts to explain the English "crop circles" of the 1980s. Dr. Meaden would
mistakingly assume that George Pedley saw his "vortex" at 9 pm, not 9 am,
which is a fatal flaw in the mechanism he put forth to explain the report.
The only other significant official statement on the Tully sighting I found
in the RAAF files was included in a letter by Mr. G.J. Odgers, Director of
Public Relations, Department of Defence (Air Office), dated 17th December,
1973, directed to Charles Wright, a journalist working on a article for the
national newspaper, The Australian.
George Odgers' Air Office public relations department had clearly gleaned
from the 1966 DAFI files details of an explanation of what George Pedley seen
that the original RAAF officers and Department officers back in 1966 had not
determined:
"Although a conclusive determination could not be made, the most
probable explanation was that the sighting was of a 'willy willy' or
circular wind phenomenon which flattened the reeds and sucked up debris to a
height of about 30 feet, thus forming what appeared to be a 'flying saucer',
before moving off and dissipating. Hissing noises are known to be associated
with 'willy willies' and the theory is also substantiated by the clockwise
configuration of the depression. Mr. Odgers further added, more
generally,
"All to often unusual occurrences are reported in sensational
terms with little or no attempt made at rational assessment. The general
subject is 'newsworthy' and lends itself to sensationalism and guesswork,
but in most cases logical explanations follow from careful investigation.
You will appreciate that there is nothing to be gained from reopening old
cases." [a sentiment I would not agree with - B.C.]
Seers, S., UFOs - The Case for Scientific Myopia, Vantage
Press, 1983, Ch.4, The Tully Saucer 'Nests'.
Chalker, B.,Tully (Australia) 'Saucer Nests', 370-371, in
Story, R., The Encyclopedia of UFOs, NEL, 1980
Chalker, B., Tully Saucer Nests of 1996,
International UFO Reporter, Winter, 1997-98 & Spring,
1998.
THE "BENT
HEADLIGHT BEAMS" AFFAIR
The Burkes Flat close encounter involved the reported "bending" of
car headlight beams and a related physical trace. A car fatality at the same
spot has been connected with the UFO incident at the site. If the observation
is to be accepted as accurately observed, in this one case we have an
experience that seemingly defies the laws of physics -- the famous "bent
headlight beam" case of Victoria.
At about 8 pm, on April 4th, 1966, Ron Sullivan, a streel construction busi
nessman from Maryborough, was travelling on a straight sealed section of the
Dunolly - St. Arnaud road, near Burkes Flat, in central country Victoria.
Ahead in a paddock off to his right, Sullivan observed an unusual light.
He first took it to be a tractor, engaged in night ploughing, but as he
drew closer, Sullivan began to see a most unusual light display, located at
ground level. The following things happened quickly as to drew closer to the
scene, and then passed it.
Sullivan was paying attention to both the light display in the paddock on
his right and the road. He observed to his s urprise that his car headlight
beams appeared to be pointing in a direction off to the right in the direction
of the strange light display and also seemed to be bending back on an axis
seemingly coincident with the objects position in relation to the paddock and
road. As he got closer the angle of bending of his car's headlight beams
became more acute! He thought his car must have been heading off the road to
the right, and immediately compensated by turning it to the left. He found he
was now heading directly towards a tree on the left hand side of the road.
Sullivan turned the car to the right and regain the direction of travel along
the straight section of road, thoroughly confused and leaving behind the
strange display in the paddock.
Sullivan observed the following sequence of light display in the strange
phenomenon in the paddock. Initially, as he approached Sullivan saw a white
phosphorous type of light on the ground, that appeared to be about 15 feet in
diameter. Sullivan told me:
"It opened up and there was another white oval on top of it,
about 30 feet (in height, coming down making the shape of a cone (with a) 15
feet bottom diameter and 20 feet to diameter - and in that cone were tubes
of coloured lights - all the lights as you see as you look through the
spectrum ("all the colours of the rainbow") ... red, blue, indigo and purple
... travelling up and down ... or they seem to be... from the small oval to
the bigger oval at the top. They were going up and down in shafts. Then
gradually the top seemed to come to meet the bottom ... They seemed to close
in ... making a transition of one light oval -- similar to first view --
everything then just disappeared."
The last thing Sullivan saw of the light display was "just a spot on the
ground -- a light spot, become smaller and smaller, to nothing."
Ron Sullivan had his car lights checked and found them to be working
properly. Back in Maryborough, he found that a young man from Carnegie, Gary
Taylor was killed in a car accident at Burkes flat on the night of April 6th.
Sullivan reported his experience to police. At the accident site, it was
determined that Taylor's car had collided with the same tree that Sullivan
almost collided with 2 nights earlier, as he fought to control his car during
the "bend headlight beam" episode. Directly opposite the tree in the paddock,
about 70 yards from the roadway, coincident with where Sullivan saw the
strange light display, a shallow depression was found in the fallowed ground.
It was a little over 3 feet in diameter and only a few inches in depth. The
depression was cleanly scooped out of the sandy soil with no apparent debris
around it. There were no human or animal tracks around the area. The property
owner indicated the depression had not been there when he had finished
fallowing. There appeared to be no explanation for the depression or the light
display.
The Victorian group, VFSRS (later Victorian UFO Research
Society) undertook some investigations at the time but published only a brief
report.
Chalker, B., The Bent Headlight Beam Case
Revisited, UFORAN, 5:3, May-Jun 1984, 17-29.
THE 1970 EMERALD BEACH
PHYSICAL TRACE INCIDENT
At about 12.45 am, one night during June, 1970, a truckdriver,
travelling from Coffs Harbour to Grafton, saw a bright light on the ocean side
of the highway in the area of Emerald Beach. He observed the apparent source
of the light, as a circular object rose from behind timber, some 500 yards fro
m the road. It rose for a few seconds, then hovered for about half a minute at
an estimated altitude of 60 feet. Relative to the trees the UFO appeared to be
about 30 feet in diameter, and what appeared to be flames were noticed along
the bottom of the object. The object then slowly returned to the ground. The
object was partly obscured by timber "while on (the) ground but still had
light rays going up at an angle from top and sides." The object was still on
the ground when fear of the unknown forced the truck driver to leave the area.
The driver was able to provide 3 clear and widely spaced angles of view,
enabling triangulation to locate the site.
At the site a well defined 10 metre circle in the long grass was found.
Inside the circle the long grass was almost completely absent. A less
well-defined 10 metre circle was evident close by. A further 4 circles of
smaller dimensions (between 4 and 7 metres in diameter). The site also had a
number of burnt trees. Spectroscopy and other tests revealed no significant
differences in the soil samples inside and outside the "main circle".
Personal investigation by Bill Chalker. ACOSB No 9, p21.
THE KETTERING LANDING
During February, 1976, in Kettering, Tasmania, at about 1 am, a
39-year-old man was woken up by his young child crying. He then noticed what
appeared to be a plane coming down from the eastern sky on the shore of Little
Oyster Cove. A widespread glow emanated from the area. Thinking it could have
been a plane accident, the man hurried towards the light, still in a dressing
gown. From a small rise he had an unobstructed view, some 25 metres down the
slope, of an extraordinary dome-shaped object object. The source of bright
white-to-yellow light was from windows around the object. The exterior looked
like aluminium, with ribbing or ridging from the top. Below the windows, a
small ledge led into a base, with a short vertical side. Th rough the 3 or 4
windows, the witness saw a tall cylindrical object (which he likened to a
ship's compass mounting) and "motionless grey shapes" (like car seats with
headrests seen from the rear -- "entities" some people have suggested?)
A humming noise, like an electric motor turning over, could be heard as he
drew closer. Then, the object rose from the ground, with the noise increasing
in volume as it went. It gained elevation slowly, then increased speed, moving
away at about a 60 degree angle into the eastern sky. The object receded into
a dot in the sky and was gone. The whole incident lasted 6 to 7 minutes.
The witness went back to the spot in the morning and found that the rough
grass appeared to be scorched in a circular area, consistent with where the
object had rested. This grass later died and was subsequently replaced by a
"tougher cutting grass". By April, 1977, when the Tasmanian UFO Investigation
Centre (TUFOIC) visited the site, the affected area stood out
as much greener than the surrounding area. The area, about 6 metres wide, was
then a darker olive-green colour. Investigations revealed no significant
differences in the thermo-luminescent content of the soil and mineral
particles taken from within the affected area and from outside. The results
indicated that no large doses of ionising radiation were associated withe the
objects interaction with the site. The thermo-luminescence technique allowed
the analyst, Dr. G. Stevens, to conclude:
- The death of the grasses was not caused by substantial heating of the
soil. The soil on the surface had not been heated above about 170 degrees C
and soil about 5 cm down had not been heated above about 155 degrees C.
- The death of the grass and subsequent stimulated re-growth was not
caused by large doses of ionising radiation."
TUFOIC. "The Kettering Tasmania Landing -
a study" by Keith Roberts & Geoff Stevens, FSR
24(3), November, 1978.
THE ORANGE PHYSICAL TRACE
EVENT
At about midnight, May 26th, 1977, on a farming property about 11
km east of Orange, Mrs. H. was in bed reading a book, when she heard their dog
barking and a corralled horse whinnying and stomping around its enclosure in a
most agitated manner. Thinking some stray animal or dog had wandered into the
area, she was about to get up to investigate, when her 16 year old son rushed
into her bedroom.
He too had heard the animal agitation and looked directly out his bedroom
door window. Some 90 metres away in an approximately north-west direction from
the house, he saw a very bright light complex, either on or near the ground,
but below the nearby hill line. It was ostensibly on the hill side.
The whole thing seemed to slowly increase in brilliance, then upon reaching
a brilliant intensity, began to wane in brightness, taking on an orange-red
hue just before the illumination was extinguished. The light display
originally consisted of about 4 bright white lights in a row. However, after
the display went out, the hillside was in darkness.
Mrs. H. immediately went with him to his bedroom, but could not see
anything. She then went with her son through the house to the front, from
where she was surprised to see a paddock across the road brightly illuminated.
In about a NNW direction, she made out a bright elongated rectangular object
which appeared to have about 4 "square windows" along its side. This whole
complex appeared to move slowly over and around the crest of a hill. Mrs. H.
ran back inside and out to the fence with her son. All that could then be seen
was a bright glow in the same area, but this to eventually disappeared.
Collabrative incidences appeared to include the noise heard on the property
by the mother, her son and her husband, the disturbances amongst the animals
on the property, noise over neighbouring properties, animal disturbances on
other properties, and at least two independent sightings of UFOs at the same
time by local shift workers.
With morning, Mrs. H.'s son went up to the area where he had seen the light
source. He found nothing. Later that same morning, his mother visited the spot
and found two unusual indentations, which consisted of circular areas denuded
of grass with a covering of finely granulated soil. Mrs. H. gave up looking
because of the bitter cold. She told a family friend about the incident, who
in turn contacted my group in Sydney -- UFOIC. I contacted a local
representative, Terry Bishop, who made some preliminary enquiries on our
behalf. He confirmed the presence of 4 indentations of the type identified by
Mrs. H. at the site. It began to rain and snow. While some deterioration
occurred, the identations were clearly visible, when the UFOIC team consisting
of the writer, Anne Chalker (then Brown), Dr. G. Stevens and Terry Bishop,
visited the site on June 5th.
The indentations were each about 5 cm in diameter and arranged in a
trapezoid shape, with 5.3 m, 10.1 m, 4.3 m, and 5.8 m sides. Spectroscopic
analyses revealed no significant differences between control and imprint
samples. Thermo-luminescence testing, undertaken by Dr. Stevens, revealed that
if any ionising radiation was involved, the ground would have received less
than 100 rad and that any heating involved in forming the cleared patches
would have been below 205 degrees centigrade.
Chalker, Bill, "UFO Landing near Orange, May,
1977", UFO Newsletter No. 52, Nov. 1977.
THE 1980 ROSEDALE UFO
LANDING
The Gippsland region of Victoria took centre stage during the
latter half of 1980 with a puzzling array of events that featured the
disappearance of s ubstantial bodies of water. By far the most interesting of
these and certainly one of the most interesting physical trace cases to have
occurred in Australia was the UFO landing that took place on September 30th ,
near Rosedale.
Awakened by stock disturbances, the caretaker of a property observed the pa
ssage of an extraordinary object -- a domed object with a white top, moving at
about 8 feet above the ground. Orange and blue lights could be made out on its
surface. The UFO was apparently 28 feet in diameter and some 15 feet high. The
object hovered for a short time over an open 10,000 gallon water tank. It then
landed on the ground, some 50 feet from the tank. The caretaker approached the
object on a motorbike to within 30 to 50 feet. A whistling noise had been
heard up until the advent of "an awful scream". A black tube appeared around
the base of the UFO. There was a tremendous bang, and the object lifted up and
left the landing site. The witness was almost knocked off his bike with a
blast of hot air. At about 30 feet out from the landing site and at an
altitude of 8 to 10 feet, the object fell silent. At this point debris
(largely stones, cape-weed and cow dung) fell away from the base of the
object. The UFO was eventually lost to view in the east. The caretaker rode
onto the landing site and confirmed a ring of "black" flattened grass, some 3O
feet across.
Disorientated, the witness eventually found his way back to his house.
With daylight, the caretaker returned to the landing site and found the
ring stood out clearly in the blanket of yellow flowers then in the paddock.
The ring was near black or brown in colour, consisting of grass flattened in
an anticlockwise manner to a width of 18 inches. Inside the ring was only
green grass. The yellow flowers had been removed. The total diameter of the
site was 28 feet. Evenly spaced within the ring were 6 "spokes" of relatively
undamaged grass. Debris led out from the site, consistent with the material
seen falling from the UFO during the night. Other extraordinary effects were
reported. 10,000 gallons of water that had been in the water tank had
vanished. Muddy residue in the middle of the base of the tank was built up in
a cone shape to a height of about 2 feet. If the tank had been emptied by
prosaic means it would have shown signs of being emptied from the side of the
tank.
The witness experienced an unusual recurring headache for 7 to 8 days.
Vomiting and diarrhoea also persisted for the same period of time. For 3 days
after the incident, the witness's watch refused to work when he tried to wear
it. Before and after this period it worked without any problems.
Samples taken by the author were subjected to extensive analyses. Of
particular interest was that in December, 1980, another series of traces
(namely 1O altogether: 3 x 5 yards diameter, 1 x 4 yards, 1 x 3 yards, 4 x 2
feet, and 1 x 10 yards, all being "rings" as in the Rosedale case) were found
at Bundalaguah, near Montgomery Park, not far from Rosedale. The traces were
again associated with losses of water in a nearby reservoir. As the annulus
widths of the Montgomery Park rings were identical to those of Rosedale th ey
were seen as a possible area of comparison. The variety of ring diameters
reported at Montgomery Park also heightened the likelihood of prosaic causes
(e.g. "fairy rings"). Although similarities and differences were found in the
analyses, it was not possible to confirm any prosaic explanations. For example
Cl levels:
(RD: Rosedale, MP: Montgomery Park)
| |
| |
Centre |
Annulus |
Outside Ring |
| RD |
1535 |
4950 |
3560 |
| MP |
1690 |
5840 |
1320 |
| |
| |
|
Ratio of Cl ppm |
| |
Centre |
Annulus |
Outside Ring |
| RD |
0.445 |
0.244 |
1.827 |
| MP |
0.879 |
0.654 |
1.343 |
Like so many high strangeness physical traces the Rosedale case would have
benefited from a thorough, professional study. Our analyses were limited but
not through lack of trying. The Rosedale case still stands as a compelling UFO
landing event with inconclusive physical trace data, a situation that occurs
with virtually all high strangeness traces cases world-wide.
Investigation by Bill Chalker and Keith Basterfield with Gary
Little; VUFORS investigation. See Australian UFO Bulletin,
Dec 1980; The Australian Annual Saucer Flying Review, Jun
1981, 9-10, 14, 15 ; Basterfield. K., and Chalker, B., Rosedale,
Victoria - A Close Encounter, UFORAN, 2:1, Jan-Feb
1981, 17-22; Chalker, W. and Basterfield, K., The Rosedale Landing
with Physical Traces, FSR, 26:6, 1981
BRONTE LLOYD'S ENCOUNTER
On July 27th, 1987, near Spalding, Jamestown area, SA, farmer
Bronte Lloyd and his son in law saw some possible UFOs while seeding a
paddock. The son-in-law left for town preferring not to stick around. Lloyd
had returned to his house on the property. His dogs kicked up a racket. Upon
investigating he saw an object he took to be "a car parked under trees 30
metres from the house". Bronte got to within a few feet of the object, when it
was almost darkness.
It was "parked" very neatly in a semi circle of trees. It appeared to be
12' across and 7' high, with a circular upper body tapered down to a square
base. It rested on a couple of support legs. 2 prominent ribs ran around the
outside of it. There appeared to be portholes at regular intervals and 3
"headlights". Lloyd retreated inside. There followed what appears to have been
a "CE3" episode inside his house with a vague form and what may have been a
period of missing time. Police were called who investigated. A square shaped
depression, apparently formed through qui te a lot of weight, was found. There
were also "footprints" found in wet grass. Biochemist Tom Coote undertook some
analyses of "blind" samples from Lloyd. Some electrolye level (salt levels)
anomalies were found. As these were not clearly identified and Lloyd
unfortunately died recently there was no way to determine if these differences
are at all significant.
Colin Norris of AFSRS visited the site and interviewed
Lloyd. UFOR(SA) had some involvement. Tom Coote investigated
the case in detail, plus a bizarre "paralysis" episode that had occurred a few
weeks earlier (July 6th) which may or may not have been linked with a
lupus-like condition. See Tom Coote's account in his BUFORA lecture, "The
Jamestown Incident", 17 August, 1991. Lloyd also appeared on the Couchman
debate, Sept. 1991. I took the opportunity to talk with him at the seminar.
THE CHURCHILL PARK CE2
On Churchill Park drive, Endeavour Hills, Victoria, at about 9.15
pm, October 9th, 1989, two woman in a car observed an orange-red UFO off the
road, initially at a distance of about 840 metres, situated apparently on the
ground and in trees. They lost sight of it and as they passed under high pow
er transmission tower lines, it was seen again, this time starting to climb in
altitude, up and over the power lines, then apparently crossing over th e car
as it passed over the road. It then flew away at high speed to the N E. Former
VUFORS investigator John Auchettl first started looking for any possible
traces on 13th Oct. searching a 3 sq. km area. On 17th Oct. a single 12 foot
ring was found at the bottom of the hill near the road. The surrounding ring
was about 8-10 cm wide. 4 holes were present within the ring along with other
effects.
Testing suggested that the yellowed grass in the ring was caused by
"intense or massive amounts of UV radiation".
"The Churchill Park UFO Encounter-Ground Ring
Summary" John Auchettl, Australian UFO Bulletin
(VUFORS) Mar 1990.)
THE NARRE WARREN ABDUCTION
- PHYSICAL TRACE MILIEU
A woman, Kelly Cahill, contacted me back on October 4th, 1993,
seeking assistance in understanding a bizarre experience she had near the
outer Melbourne suburban housing estate of Narre Warren North, in the
foothills of the Dandenongs, Victoria, between Belgrave and Fountain Gate,
during the early hours of August 8th, 1993.
This incident has been now extensively documented. My own account of the
complex episode appeared in the "International UFO Reporter",
September/Oct ober, 1994, in "An Extraordinary Encounter in the
Dandenong Foothills". It appears to involve independent confirmation
of a CE3 and "missing time" milieu, in that at least two, possibly 3,
independent groups of people unknown to each other have witnessed the same UFO
encounter, entities and also experienced missing time, and 2 of the groups
have been available to investigators and researchers. Perhaps for the first
time independent witnesses have been able to provide information that enabled
cross checking and correlations to reveal a striking degree of similar
information, therefore offering a compelling case for the reality of the
strange events described. The ontological status of the events is further
strengthened by a range of apparently related physical traces, including
ground traces, a low level magnetic anomaly apparently consistent with the
locality of the UFO encounter and effects on some of the witnesses.
I referred Kelly Cahill, who proved to be central to the unravelling of an
independently witnessed CE3 event with apparent "abduction" dimensions, to
John Auchettl and his group Phenomena Research Australia
(PRA). They had 2 different laboratories confirm a number of unusual anomalies
and magnetic problems at the apparent site of the UFO landing. There appeared
to be some interesting changes in soil chemistry -- an above average sulphur
content, the presence of pyrene (which occurs in coal tar and is also obtained
by the destructive hydrogenation of hard coal) and tannic acid - in a crescent
shaped indentation. There was a triangle formation of dead grass on the
ground, spaced out in the site. The apparent physical effects at the site of
this UFO event seem to had a destructive effect on the grass. The physical
dimensions of the events in the Dandenongs on August 8th, 1993, may represent
compelling evidence for a reality behind abduction events. The case is a
striking example of the importance of focusing on the physical evidence for
extraordinary UFO events. Such a strategy will provide a compelling pivot
point of insightful research into the nature and purpose of UFO activity.
Bill Chalker, "An Extraordinary Encounter in the Dandenong
Foothills", International UFO Reporter",
September/October, 1994.
Investigation by PRA
Kelly Cahill "Encounter" (1996) Bill Chalker "The
Oz Files - the Australian UFO story" (1996) pgs. 9-16 Keith
Basterfield "UFOs - a report on Australian encounters" (1997)
pgs. 12 3-128
A CE2/ABDUCTION MILIEU
NEAR PORTLAND, NSW
At about 9.30 pm, March 12th, 1997, on a property outside of
Portland, two children (11 & 9) saw a large ball of silver blue light
hovering at about a metre above a paddock about 30 metres away from the house.
The grass be neath the object was "moving and swirling". The children saw
details on the object including something like a "door" and possible
appendages. They told their mother who was on the phone to a friend. She
verified the presen ce of the object, but she seemed "mesmerised" and
recommenced the phone con versation, with the children still outside. After
about half an hour the p hone cut out. She loaded a gun and went outside,
walked around the house to ensure there were no intruders, virtually ignoring
the UFO which was still present.
She felt inexplicably tired and just walked passed the children, back into
the house and lay down and seemingly "blacked out". Her behaviour seemed
entirely out of character. She apparently woke up around midnight, showered
and went to bed, "as if she were in a trance", without checking on the kids.
She woke up in the morning feeling terrified, her first thoughts being for her
children, realising that she had left them out there with "that thing". They
were both sleeping peacefully in their beds. She went outside and verified at
the spot where the object had been hovering "a strange 12ft diameter of
swirled grass. It was discoloured, a strange purple colour with brown areas
which appeared to be burned or affected by intense heat".
Over the next few weeks disturbing elements began to be noted. The children
could not recollect how they got to bed that night. Both childr en mentioned
"the beautiful blue light" and experiencing "a floating sensat ion. The mother
had a night, 2 weeks after the event, which featured a "dream", a loud humming
noise and the whole house vibrating.
During the next few months there was unusual activity of "unmarked
helicopters" in the area. The children began to recollect further details. One
of them had 3 strange red spots on a foot. The girl had an unusual "scar" on
the back of the neck that could not be accounted for. She also saw a strange
"person" outside her window one night. The mother contacted
INUFOR at this point. Bryan Dickeson visited with the family
verifying the basic story up to that point and the presence of the affected
area, which at that time was about 2 1/2 metres across, with an anticlockwise
swirl with no definite edge, still in evidence, and the seeding native grass
heads bent over. The grass appeared to have more purple pigment in the trace
area.
No soil samples we re taken due to the sandy nature of the soil, but grass
from the site was subjected to some basic testing, including UV flouresence,
which highlighted the swirled grass to be approximately twice as bright as
control grass. Although not remarkably different, it suggested possible
anomalies.
B.C. has discussed this case with Bryan Dickeson and Moira McGhee and
recommended further testing and sampling, with a view to determining if an
energetic event occurred at the site. In his initial investigation at the
site, the apparent strange behaviour of the mother and the suggestions of
"missing time ", Bryan Dickeson undertook some limited hypnotic inductions
with the mother and daughter. The boy could not be regressed. Out of this an
apparent abduction milieu has developed, particularly involving the children.
The mother has had the children undergo counselling with a psychiatrist. At
this stage the children seemed to be coping well with the doctor seemingly
satisfied they had some sort of "genuine experience".
(Moira McGhee, "Portland Encounter",
INUFOR Digest, Vol.3, No.2, November, 1997; Communications
from M. McGhee & B. Dickeson to B.C.)
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