You are on page 1of 19

*l,Nbrtft

Australian

MA Y , , . 1 9 6 4 .
No. I

;:.;; ; ; 1;"
-v?i
"+ i ct 3"1
o rij;an,t lff,* sm;3:"'
au.c er 1"
$i : :?I i:'?#ffi :,i: r";':ff + l; it ir" " " " u t in -' ' V ic t o:llil
ria ' T h e
S ocietyr P ' O..
Re se a rch
is "-"
to.'coliate
f and-di'sserninate information
function of this soiiety tl"ia."tl_riea Flvinl objects'
about the subiect of flyirrg
"ro"#ji"!
( U .g .O's) ., : -. , . ' ' .

v ; F . S.-R 'S ' OF E IC E B E A RERI" '


1 T )' R
Y' Pr esident '
r r ^- - i- L ' L
P et er E. I\o rrl s
(te r' ?z z50z Vice -Pre sident & . P ro g ra m
J u d i t h M. Ma g e e , O f f ic e r "
'
(Tel. 95 r659 SecretarY -
Svlvia Sutton 'Tredsurer' : :' '
DorothY Gillrnan . . ''' ,. .'].]
: ii;;";; & rylagi1i1e.Editor
Ian Godden frrvu"tig"fions & Sightings
(tet. Kallista.
Geoff' RumPf 'Off ic e r
98442) n
Investigations SiFlt:*'
Paul Norrnan
technical Advisor
HarrY Aitchison zuUii" Relations Officer
(Tel. 52 3275)
David Brown:'ng
lette rs and news -
welcornes articles for Publlication' comrnunlc-
The Review ' Addre"-:.
to sishting
";5"-;i,- ".U
".po"t"Mt"r1blin, victoria,
ciipPing
" -ltt :d*i'ion S' p'.5'. -
atibns to V. F.' S' R'
in this p;ori.flror, *ty ut r"p"orluced wittr
Material aPPearing
rpp"oPtiate'credit: ' . ..-::.'. .
the
u r r v PoIicY of the
neces sarlry rreflect
errtiuL rv--
not
Contributions Prrblished-do
V.F.S.R.S.
EDITORIAL.

The recent publication of the u. s. A.'s National Aero-


n_autical and Space Adrninistrationrs "Peaceful Space Activities for
Hurnan Affairs'r suggests that there is a legitimate basis for the
governrrrental policy of silence on uFo andrelated fields.

The report recomrnends that "since the consequences of


such a discovery (of extraterrestrial life) are presently unpredict-
able because of our lirnited knowledge of behavlour under even an
approxirnation of such drarnatic circurnstancesrr continuine studies
should be undertaken to deterrnine emotional and intellectial
attitudes of society to the problern.

This question leads, continues the report, to a consider-


ation of "how rnight such inforrnation, under what circurnstances be
presented to or withheid frorn the public for what ends? what
rnight be the role of the discovering scientists and other d.ecision
rnakers regarding release of the fact of discovery?
"
This revealing discussion of the psychoiogy of silence by
t_he u. s. A.rs pararnount space agency gives weight io ttru ufologist's
frequent assertion that inforrnatibn on uFO's has in fact been
subject to governrnental censorship (to a greater or lesser degree)
since UFO's first clairned public attention in 1946

To alter current governrrrental policy, would require


convincing the authorities that apprehension concerning the irnpact
on society of the revelation of the full facts about uFois is ili-
founded, which is unlikely in the iight of the NASA report.
Aiternatively, it would be necessary to educate socieiy to the extent
that the possibility of the existence of extraterrestriai beings will
no longer cause unreasoning fear.

whichever way rnay be the easier (and the und.ertaking of


both should not be.incornpatible) a heavy responsibility rests on all
interested in uFo's, to act and speak reasoriably and with discret-
ion, Iest the cause of the rJFo's should be retarded through
their
excess of zeal.
WONTHAGGI SIGHTING REPORTS.

On Thursday, 19th Septernber, 1963 at approxirnately


8 p.r^r.r. a telephone call carne frorn a lTlan living at Mt, Eliza,
reporting thaf he and his farnily had watched an unusual object in the
a littlle earlier that night. He was not sure of the exact tirne'
"6
The object, about zo degrees to 30 degrees above the horizon,
.pp""" "d blood red and was blinking on and off. It seerned larger
than a star about the size of two stars. It rnade no sound.
The red object was different frorn the red of plane iights and,even if
it had been an extra big plane, it would have been near enough to be
heard. The object disappeared in a slightly easterly direction.

No other reports calne in to us that day, nor the next.


However, on Saturday, zlst Septernber, 1963' the Melbourne news-
paper,'The sun,r, reported that at Dudley south, near wonthaggi in
ift" Cipp"Iand district, an object like an orange ball th6 size of a
beach ball rnoved slowly across the sky out to sea, on the night of
Thu rsday, 19th SepternLer, 1963 . It was flashing on and off like an
aeroplane, but it was many tirnes bigger and brighter, rnoving rnuch
slower than a Plane,

Duri.ngthe25rninutesthattheobjectwasoverhead,
picture (the
televi sion sets in budley South and Wontlt"ggi lost their
effect was felt within a rnile wide radius).

On Sunday rnor:nin g ZZnd Septernbe r, 19 63 t sorrle


cornrnittee rnelr lbers of this Society rnotored about B5 miles to
wonthaggi. The first call was rnad to the wonthaggi Police
'We r,vere advised to cali
Station,-ivhere the report was ccnfirrned.
on Mr. Torn Gannon, the editor of the local weekly paper "The
Express". He also confirrned the report and gave us directions to
traiel another 2 rniles to where we could interview Mr. Torn Lyrner,
PMG linesrnan, of Dudley Street, South Dudley, as he was the person
who had first rnade the rePort.

we found Mr. Lyrner very co-operative, and he assernbled


several other local residents who likewise confirmed the story'

Mr. Lyrner had this to say: It was a clear night with no


clouds. chiidren playing outside first saw the object and drew his
attention to it. He saw in the west, about a rnile away, a large deep
or.ange colored object about the size of a beach ball, which appeared
to bJperfectly round and blinked on and off at regular inter-"als of
about-1 second. It was at an angle of 45 degrees, was rnotionless
andrnade no sound. Mr. Lyrner watched for 3 - 4 seconds. Then
a bright flash carTle frorn the front end and the object disappeared.
Mr. Lyrrt"r searched the sky but could not find it again until the
children picked it up over near the hotel, close to his horne, frorn-
whence it travel led slowly away in a south-west direction towards
the sea. Biinking ITIore faintly, it disapPeared, taking 4 - 5
rninutes. The object gave the irnpression of having travelled in a
-i -
great arc. T.V. sets went off at approxirnately 6.50 p.rn. and did
r-ot corne on again until 7.15 p. rn. , but a further l0 rninutes
elapsed before viewing was back to norrnal. No T. V. channels
rnade any reference to picture failure.

Frorn the other residents we gleaned this further inforrn-


ation. On Tuesday, 1?th Septernber, 1963, Des. Pugh, aged l5
years, saw a quick green flash at 9.30 p.rn. when he was out
searching for a lost cow. He was quite startled and thought sorne-
thing rnust have blown up. There was no noise and no thunder.
The flash was in a north-east directi on. Later enquiries revealed
that sometirnes a type of flare is let off in this area, which could
have accounted for the flash. However, Des. P.rgh also saw sky
objects on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Brian Pogh, 12 years of age, who was the first to see the
object on the Thursday night, said that he had also seen thern for
4 nights -- Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Joyce Rrgh, aged 7 years, said she saw ? objects on


Saturday night.

Mr. Chris Jolly, retired farrner, said that at approx-


irnately 7 p. rn. on Saturday night, he saw an orange-colored
blinking light. It did not travel fast, and he would like us to check
for navigation lights for fishing boats. He thought it appeared to be
an aeroplane light, but only one Iight blinked and he could not see
red or green li ghts. It seerned to go away at an angle. Mr. Jolly
said that his T. V. did go off on Thursday night.

A relative of Mr. Lyrnerrs reported seeing an object on


Saturday night. The children said it was even bigger than
previously, but not having seen the other objects, this rnan was
unable to rnake a corrlparison.

Johnny Water, a student about l7 years of age, said he


saw two objects on the Saturday evening. There were a few
clouds. This object appeared bright red above the horizort,
travelled in an arc and did not stop. It seerned to glow orange as
though pulsating, but did not actually go off . The second object
carrle over a bit higher, the sarne in color and following the sarne
trajectory as the fir st. He wondered if they we re satellite s ,

In al l these reports, the tirne is about the sarne - 7 p. rn.,


just before and after. We were told that rnalfunction in the T. V.
sets varied considerably, There were white screens, Brey screens,
snowflakes, streaky or with lines and two pictures in one, of the
sarne picture (duplication). We did not hear that radio sets were
affected, nor did we hear if anyone had the radio set tuned in at the
parti cular tirne,

Another witness was Torn Ruby, 48, truck driver, who


reported to the local editor that the strange object, after hovering
-z*
and flashing on and off brightly, rnoved over to the sea and. dis-
appeared.

Later this society rnade extensive enquiries frorn the


R. A. A. F. and also the special departrnent of the R. A. A. F.
which
investigates UFO reports; also the civil Aviation, the Moorabbin
Light Aircraft and the weather Bureau, in order to ascertain if
were any norrrral explanations for the object having been
8""9 seen.
talt1r departrnent gave details of types of talloons, tirnes
]le re,leased, they
are and also the wind directions for the whole of that
particular week. with all this, no further light could be shed on
the subject. we have since heard that about Z0 people saw the
object at Dudiey South.

on Thursday, z6th september, foilowing a conversation


with a reporter frorn'rrhe sunr, ihat paper printed another short
a-rt-icl e, saying that this society thinks tire ot3e.t was probabry
a
flying saucer.

On the afternoon of 3Ist October, 1963, Mr, Gannon


(editor of "The Express") excitedly telephoned through
a report of
another sighting which had occurred at 4.ts a.rrr. thit rnorning
and
at Dalyston' near Wonthaggi. He intirnated that there was no need
for us to make another long trip and that he would write
up the event
in full the following week.

Accordingly, on zth Novernber, the rocal paper carried


a block-sized heading on page 3 - ',A FLyiNG oBJECT sHocKED
BREADCARTER" - and continued to this effect:

In pre-dawn darkness, breadcarter Jirn Davidson, ZB


years, of Hagelthorn street, \Monthaggi, noticed a slight
glow in the
sky to his left, which increased in size as it carrle towards
hirn.
when it reached hirn, it turned and took up his course,
staying 100
yards ahead and-80 feet up. It was B feef to rz feet to.rg arra
orange, except for two tail fin sections at the rear whict !to*.a
glowid red.
In Mr. Davidsonrs own words: 'rrt was weird, rt was not rnetallic
or any substance like rnetal; it was rnore like a cloud.
But it was
not a cloud". Mr. Davidson followed it for two rniles, at tirnes
closing his eyes hard to rnake sure he was not seeing trrings.
It
gave. hirn a fright when it rnoved across the road. to
liis rigit ana
continued to pace his bread van. Then it rnoved further io trru
right, accelerated up a hill and. started to d.escend.
Mr. David son
went on to say: 'rr was frightened. I stopped for about 10 seconds,
I did not want to go on. Then I realised I-had bread to deliver to
Nyora and drov" I expected to see it on the ground over the
9n.
other side of the hi[, but nothing was there. I looked. around and
several rniles out to sea I could just make out
a moving orange
glow".

At the saryre tirne that Davidson rnade his sighting,


two
-3-
other bread carters in three rnile distant'\tronthaggi saw a red glow
over Dalyston. They are Frank Colernan, 43 years, of Henry
Street, North Wonthaggi, and Norrn Veal, 42 years, of Watt Street,
Wonthaggi. Mr. Veal said that he thought it was a fire, but it did
not give off the skywards glow of a fire. They watched for a while,
trying to establish what it was as it was rrlost peculiar. Ten
rninutes later when they arrived at a higher part of Wonthaggi, they
looked again, but could see nothing. When they returned to the
bakehouse they learned of Jirn Davidson's experience.

The last phase of UFO activity in the district occurred on


Friday, 8th Novernber, when a sighting was rnade at 7.50 p.rn. by
Ted Coibert, ZZ years, auction roorrt clerk, of Broorne Crescent,
Wonthaggi, and his fiancee, Jennifer Hughes, l? years, shop
assistant, of Wi shart Street, Wonthaggi.

As the young couple were driving along the South Dudiey


Road, half a rnile frorn Bass Highway, a glow over South Dudley
attracted their attention. Mr. Colbert stopped his car and the
thought crossed his rnind that No. 5 rnine brace was on fire, but
then he realised the orange to red glow was rnoving slowly.
Furtherrnore, he noticed what appeared to be Iight rays issuing from
the top of the glow. Mr. Colbert said: 'rWe sat hypnotised for a
few rninutes, before we realised it was rnoving around the coast.
We headed for Dalyston, three rniles away, for a better look. At
Dalyston we could see only a faint glow, so we drove on to Kilcunda,
4 rniles away. At Kilcunda we lost sight of the glow and hurried
back to the South Dudley Road. There we could stiil see the
orange-red glow, but it seerned srnaller and further away".
Colbert added that it was IMPOSSIBLE to explain it. He said: ',I
do not believe in flying saucers, but I do know I saw sornethinq and
would iike to know WHAT it was".

Colbert told Colin Larners, grocer, who works next door


to hirn in McBride Avenue, of ,the sighting. The following night
Larners scanned the sky for If hours with binoculars, but saw
nothing.

At Kilcunda at 2,30 a.m. on Mondayt aZl year old rnotor


rnechanic, of Wonthaggi, saw an object sirnilar to that seen by
Colbert and Miss Hughes. However, fearing ridicule by workrnates,
he was reluctant to give his narne.

Footnote:

We have since heard that 60 people in South Dudley saw


the object and r.v. sets were affected in a rnile wide radius. we
have had other reports frorn the Latrobe Val1ey area which prod.uces
one half of the electric power for Victoria. This and the rnrnes rnay
be the reason for attracting the objects to this area. It is a well-
known fact that they appear around points of scientific interest such
-4-
as power-generating stations, atornic plants, launching pads and
rnis sile centres.

Sighting s :

STRANGE LIGHT AT NORSEMAN. pe rth,


"West Australian",
w.A. 4 t h D e " .F
KALGOORLIE,
Tuesday - several people terephoned the Norsernan
police
last night with reports of po"sible disaiied air-craft after an
unidentified l ighted object "hia passed over the
town.
A nurnber of Norseman people went to the
area where
they thought the.object rnight haveianiea,
but found nothing.
A police officer who saw the object was sure
it was a
rneteor.
He said it passed over Norsernan about
9.l0 p.rn.
travelling frorn the south to the north-east.
As it near.ed. the
horizon it split in two and faded awav.
In Perth the Departrnent of civil Aviation
said yesterd.ay
that there were no 4ircrafl in the area of the
sighting at the tirne,
and no aircraft were rnissing. It assurned the object was a rneteor.
Governrnent astronorrrer, B. J. Harris, said ie had not been given
enough inforrnation to be able positivery to identify
the obSecf .-

THE ''THINGS'' ARE BU ZZLNG. "Courier Mail", Brisbane, e.


23r d De " .,ffi
LSDLEY -^ A group of rnysterious flying objects yesterday ,,bttzzed.,,
a house at surnrnerhorrne, about six rniles
north-west of Laidtey.-
The "things" we re accorrrpanied by a hissing
sound.
They just cleared the rooi of Mr. w. H.
GJirkie's dairy
and plunged towards the ground. about half
P:: -a-rniie a*ay at
/ a. tTr.
Mrs. Geirkie said she heard a loud hissing
sound an. ran
to the kitchen to-see if anything was wrong there.
Outside, her sons RonaId., ZZ, Lnd Allan, lZ, saw,,eight
or nine" cylindrical objects about I ft. in diarneter swoop low over
the hou se .
Th e brotherssaid the,obje c t s we re t ra v e llin g , , a t a t e rrif ic
tate " . thu group of ob je c t s d is a p p e a r in t o t h e g ro u n d
about "^.," Tn:L,""yaway,
nalr-a-rrtrle
An all-day search by the family yesterd.ay proved
- fruit_
lec s ' they wilI continue searching at firri iigtrt
toaay'.

N O TR ACE OF 'OB JE CTS ' Mail'r,


--- "Courier Brisbane, e.
Z 4 t h De c., l t;1.
LAIDLEY - An extensive search yesterday by the Geirkie farnily
failed to find the rnystery frying object.
*iri"rr ra"ro*ry rnissed their
house at Surnrnerholme at 6'.30"a. rn. on
Sunday,
Ronald Geirkie, ZZ, and his brother Ailan,
lZ, said they
rnetai objects plunge into a paddock
,saw about harf-a-rniie from the
nou se .
-5-
fiighting s: ( Contd . )
LAIDLEY (Contd. )
Ronald said the objects were bright, but not glowing, and
one appeared to be I ft. by 9 ins. in size, and was travelling
slightly lower thrn the other eight or nine.
The farnily plans to organise a further search for the
objects over the holidays.
Neighbours said yesterday they had not heard or seen the
objects.
Most feasible theory on the objects is that they fell frorn
high-flying aircraft.

SPAC E IS GE TTING CLUTTE RE D. "Herald", Melbourne, Vic.


TO TFJan . , 1 964.
L ONDO N - Thur. - More than 400 rn a n -rn a d e o b je c t s - s o rn e o f
thern "junk" - are now circling the earth.
Many rnay rernain in orbit for hundreds of years, the
British Aviatiorr rrragazine Flight reported today.
Listing the world's total space launchings since the pioneer
Soviet Sputnik shot on Octobe r 4th, 1957 , the rnagazine said the
rnajority of objects - which included satellites, ernpty final-stage
rocket bodies and rnetal fragrnents - were of Arnerican origin,
Most of the fragrnents resulted frorn the break-up of the
United States Navy's Transit 4-A rocket, launched in 1961, and
frorn Soviet planetary bids.
Perhaps, at sorne tirne in the future, a rneteoroid detection
sateliite will be launched to deterrnine the chances of a rnanned lunar
space-craft being hit by a long-forgotten piece of rnan-rnade junk,
Flight said.

LIGHTS IN THE SKY. - "Herald", Melbourne, Vic. Zgth Jan., 1964.,


M*.y f.pi" telephoned the Herald and the Weather Bureau
with reports of colored lights in the northern sky about lZ'30 p. rn.
today.
Weather rnen said the effect was caused by the sun's rays
refracted through ice crystals in high cirrus clouds.

MYSTERY LIGHT A SATELLITE? "Sun", Melbourne, Vic . Date


not known.
Scores of people rang the Sun last night to report a light in
the sky above Melbourne.
For 20 rninutes frorn about 9.10 the calls carne frorn people
at East Preston, Parkville and Asl r-burton.
Most callers described the glowing light as travelling frorn
nor th-east to south-east.
Weather Bureau officiaLs said last night that they believed
the light was an Arnerican Echo satellite which usually showed a
bright light. The satellites are lsed for relaying radio signals '
Mr. R. Minion, of Beatrice Stre.et, East Preston, said:
'rlt was travelling fairly fast and seerned far too high for a plane".

-6 -
Sightings: (Contd, )
FI,YING SAUCERS SIGHTED OVER BAIRNSDALE. rrP i ctori al
N ew s" ,
Bairnsdal e, Vic . Z4th April, 19 64.
Most peopre are sceptical about reports of
Fiying objects't in the sky, and Mr. Henry Ryarr, "unidentified
of Rupert street,
Bairnsdale, was one of thern.
Now, however, Mr, Ryan is not at all sure, because he
has seen sornething quite inexplicable.
It was at 9.30 on Monday night, Apri I 13th, when
the sky
was too dull for stars, that Mr. Ryan Jirst saw a
vivid blue flash
which seerned to corne frorn two to three rniles
away in a north-
westerly direction.
He watched in arnazerrrent for a few rninutes whire
the
blue and orange lighted object spiralled towards
earth.
He observed that once the object
- for want of a better
word - carrre close to ground level, it siung swiftly
up;]"a""i"
319 to again begin its zig-zagging descent. ""
UNBELIEVABLE - NaturaiiyLnough, he could scarcery berieve his
Mr. Ryan said he carled tris wife and. two visitors,
:y""-' Mrs. E.
Henderson and her son George, both of picnic point.
Mr. Ryan did not have to tell thern what to look
for. The
first thing the three noticed was a brilliant blue
flash.
They sto-od watching for about a half-hour, and the lights
spiralled and arced regurarly rz tirnes. After a few minutes
Mr' Ryan tirned the intervals between the brue flashes,
and these
occ urred ever y l0-15 seconds. There was no storrn that night,
and the object made no noise.
It took only l2 seconds for this flying saucer (or
calt it
what you will) to disappear frorn sight, and Mr.
Ryan was
emphatic that it travelled faster than anything he has
seen.
Four jets, \rery like vapor trairs, 'tut rnuch
shorter and
in brick and orange corors, appeared behind when
the object frew
off at about a 45 degree angle, he said.
Mr. Danny Haylock, who is a representative of the Vic.
Fiying saucer Resear_ch socieiy, was pleased
to hear Mr. Ryan,s
story. He said peopre who do s-ee p.c.rliarities are usuarly
unwilling to admit it, for fear of being "uchthought
eccentric or odd.
Mr' Hayiock said the.socieiy was-trying to find
enougr,
genuine sig-htings to forrn sorne type oi pattern.
so far in Gippsland the sightings have been in a
straight
line frorn Mallacoota to warragut, tiut stlii a great deal rnore co-
operation frorn people who live in this space
a"ge is needed, he said.

SURVEILLANCE FROM OUTER SPACE Paul. Norrnan


During the past twb decades, artificial
barriers con_
str-ucted by orthodoxy concerning outer
space have been shattered..
only a few years have gone by now since
the prevairing opinion of
as tr onorners was that our solar
hurredbv our ,;::r":"ff-X3Hld;Ti;T r"j,.,"lX"n
"" '"",,itingin
which became the planets' They reasoned this could only happen
-7-
once, consequently this solar systern rernained a sort of freak
phenornenon ---- we were alone in the universe
why, now, has this opinion changed to,
'rwe are Nor alone
in the universe? " spectroscopes and rneteorites have brought
evidence of organic rnatter frorn the stars, the study of neaiest sun
rnoverrrents reveals their rnotions can be caused only by the drag of
a
a farnily of planets.
Most professional astronorners now agree on the possibility
that billions of planets throughout the universe support intelligent
life, while a few readily accept the rnathernatica.l oaas that lif"e will
find us first, rnost cling to a pet illusion that earthly inteiligence is
not surpassed and any intelligent beings in outer space could only be
sitting around twiddling thurnbs and/or fins.
During world wr.r II there appeared in our skies disc-shaped
objects
which the Axis Powers rnistook for Allied craft; at the sarne tirne
Allied intelligence officers thought the craft were secret weapons
of
the Axis nations. The craft were too fast for either to overtake.
After the war intelligence officials realised these rrrvsterious
rnachines belonged to neither. sinc e that tirne u,r""y rnajor nation
on Earth has organised systernatic investigation projects -which,
according to General rwining, have .ng"gud., 'r rhe best scientific
brains to solve the u.F.o. -
rnystery". fhese'rbest brains,r, how-
ever, rernain under tight censorship.
At first, the ftying saucer" *.r. called ',foo fightsl.s'r 2nd
seerned to concentrate on surveillance of our rnilitary
'ilanes,
naval ships, war rnachines and battle activity. The foo fighters
were observed b{.h"llred.s of pilots and other rnilitary peisonnel.
Forrne r British Air Marshal, Lord Dowd.ing, estirnates the reports
to be rnore than I00,000 sightings. since ih" *a" the objects have
been observed by witnesses frorn every walk of Iife., including
astronorners and scientists. These rnysterious rnachines have
paced our 'planes, trains, rnotor cars and ships. They have been
observed over garrres of sport, rnilitary bases and factories, but
later seerned to concentrate on surveillance of atornic plants,
rnis sile centres and J.aunching sites. More recently the objects
have been seen pacing rnan-rrrade satellites, and rastly, our manned
space flight s .
Every one who forlows deveroprnents in fiying saucer re-
search knows ol_the pleotographs taken frorn the X-l5"experirnental
'plane over the united states, and rnore recently the enc-ounter with
a flying saucer by astronaut Gord.on cooper whilst over western
Australia during the fifteenth orbit of his flight. Due to the con_
centration of these strange objects around our space efforts it seerns
prirnary concefn of these unknown observers lies within
lhe this
field' The leading questions arrrong_offiiial governrrrent investigat-
ors are: Frorn whence do they corne? Do thJy view our expandi-ng
space efforts wi th curiosity or alarm? why are they herei what
will be their final action?
of secondary concern with world leaders is pubric interest
in and reaction to the presence of these unknown craft,
what would
be the effect on the civilisation of this planet of an official admission
that they are interplanetary space crafi? The concern of an
encounter with beings frorn outer space led the National
Aeronautics
-8-
and Space Adrninistration to spend thousands of dollars on a study o1
reactions of peoples whose civilizations have rnet for the first tirne,
The outstanding problerns with regard to the flying
saucers are atternpts to gain rnore knowledge of the rnystery and
follow a strict policy of censorship toward the general public.-
The secrecy policy is becorning lTrore and rnore difficult.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the appearance of the objects cannot
be controlled or confined to restricted areas by the censors, For
this reason witnesses are increasing. It is only a rnatter of tirne
before the secrecy lid will be blown sky high by either a ffrass
sighting, a landing or official adrnission'
Meanwhile, as the clues continue to accurnulate, more
serious private groups a1.e carrying out investigative work and
interest and activity in space rnatters is increasing ---- both the
known ef{orts of Mankind and the activities of an unknown race or
races.
The Moon, long declared dead, is now very rnuch alive and
is under observation-by our largest telescoPes. Indications of
U. F" O" bases on the Moon continue to increase. The idea of
intel ligent life on Mars (either native or alien) rneets less resist-
ance now while better instrurnents are being devised for close-up
views of these nearby bodies.
In 1961 a Russian astronorner, Nikolai Kozyrev, was
laughed at when he reported what he terrned'an eruption' on the
Moon. The sneers and srnirks are now fading frorn the faces of
the knowing as telescopes aIe being trained on the Moon to diagnose
thi s c lairn.
In October, 1963, rnysterious spots were observed near
Ari.starchus, and a close watch was ordered on this crater which is
Z7 rniles in diarneter, In late Novernber the spots were seen for a
short period again frorn Lowell and Perkins Observatory of Ohio
State Univer sity. Were the spots natural or artificial? Were they
eruptions or red dust or U. F. O.'s or what?
On Septernbe r 16th, 1953, a peculiar, bright, yellowish-
orange flash was seen on the Moon by Rudolph M, Lippert, a
rnernber of the British Astronornical As sociation, On March 3 Oth,
1950, the late Dr" H. P, Wilkins noticed a weird glow in the
Ari sta rchu s - He rodotus re gion . It was oval- shaped and st range iy
brilli ant: perhaps frorn sorrle type of rnachine hovering near the
crater floor and ernitting a powerful glow? Three rnonths later an
alrnost identical light was sighted at the salTre spot by Arnerican
astronorner, Jarnes C. Bartlett Jnr. What has been described by
astronorners as srnall white hills have been observed to corne and
go on certain areas of the Moon, which leads 6ne to wonder if the
hills are actually d1lmes sirnilar to those designed here for lunar
exploration.
Astronorners are studying with increasing interest the
peculiar behaviour of the two tiny rrloons of Mars. This has led to
speculation that Phobos and Deirnos rnay actually be space stations
hurled into orbit just prior to 1877, the sarne year as Schiaparelli
rnade the discovery of the geornetric al network of lines linking the
polar caps.
In 1937 the farnous Japanese expert on Mars, Dr. Tsuneo
-q_
Saheki reported a strange bright flare on Mars. Two years later,
Dr. Slipher of Lowell Observatory reported a rnysterious change in
the Solis Lacus region, a dark area he described as approxirnately
the size of Australia. The change, he reported, 'rindicated a new
expansionrr. In 1949, this sarrre Mars expert observed a brilliant
glow which lasted several rninutes - "To be so brightly visibie
across millions of rniles, the flare would have had to be trernend-
ousrr. Saheki suggests it rnight have been an atornic explosion.
There was a sudden increase in sightings of unidentified
flying objects during this sarne year as Mars approached its
closest opposition to Earth ---- a iogical tirne for closer surveill-
ance frorn outer space.

UNUSUAL C LOUD FORMATIONS

This article was written by a rnernber of V. F. S. R. S. who has been


connected with studies in atrnospheric sciences.
It is an esfablished fact that sorne of the reports of rnoving
Iights in the night sky have turned out to be the planet venus or Mars
Our vision can be subject to abberations when it is exercised in the
absence of a fixed background.
What are the chances that in daylight, or in the reflected
sunshine of the Moon at night, a saucer-shaped object can be seen
arrlong corr)trlon cloud forrnations or that a carrlera could record the
object exactly as the observer saw it, providing lighting conditions
were adequate? As we know only too well, the probability lhat one
individual sees such an object (or a'U. F. O. for that rnatter)
generally is very srnall. The value of reports of all kinds of
U. F" O. 's lies in their world-wide statistical coherence as regards
shapes, colours, rnovetrlents etc/ So that an assessrnent of the
physical nature of the phenornena or objects can be rnade, it will be
essential that the statistical data be cleansed of all irrelevant
sightings, and that also in the future no reports of irrelevant sight-
ings be classified as U. F. O. 's.
Here we shall discuss just one kind of saucer-shaped object
in the sky that could (and probably has been) rnistaken for a space
ship or the like, even by a sincere, if rnisguided person. The
object in question is a particularly well developed and perfectly
shaped specirnen arnong a group of wave clouds that in suitable
atrnospheric conditions forrn to the G;."ata;f-an obstacle such as a
rnountain top or another large cloud of the curnulo-nirnbus type .
The rnost cornmon arrlong wave clouds are those that lie in
the crests of waves produced in the airflow by hills. These clouds
are Iens-shaped (or lenticular in the terrninology of the rneteorol-
ogist). The air enters the side of the cloud fa-ing the wind and
errrerges frorn the other side. The clouds are often solitary and
they do not rrove, or very little, even in strong winds.
One can sornetirnes observe these clouds, especially during
winter and spring, frorn the Melbourne area looking in the direction
of the Dandenongs or Mt. Macedon. The wind rnust be frorn N or
NW and strong aloft. At tirnes groups of billow clouds occur arnong

-10-
is cigar-
Occasionally an individual wave cloud
the wave forrns' just after sunset and other
and if one;;;; cloud wa"..isiule i"y""s (stratus)
shaped, by ordinaty.;;;i"!
were being ob""lr"J
wave clouds get a fleeting irnpress-
clouds, the distant oi"J".ru".ot'id' cases'
or curnulus
ship' I;;;""r' in these' or sirnilsr
ion of a hoverinf wave crou.'
"pt"t -
ttre object is a standing
a close look scrupul-
are other cases-li-t"tt
-il?;J;;llh"i too, when even th! rnost
There air strearn
J"lult"a' happen that the
ous obser.r"t .J"*uJ drier layers in which
has shallo* turrrid layer" crest' In
""rra*lli"J-u.t.i'L"n of the wave
oc curs over ^'"u larninated and
condensation " "-;i;;i"t-*ave cloud can be f

such atmo"pr'"tiJ to"aitio"" I


" I
ttro"t striking forms I
"""".'t"
Photo' No' I 'Ii
was Photo-
The cloud shown here
rnernber of-the
*""pft.a by a staff search
lt"it"u"n Antarctic Re
;;;;t;i;,, to H""'d Island' It^
;;'r-;... in the lee of the. 10' ooo
i; : .; ; i ""I P e ak o f H ' r'.(s:-9 rh
e-
u
;;.;; s- z i a eg re e s P '] ft'
at too"ttt I0' 000 - an.d
base was
ft'. .This
;;" ;"P at about 20,000
at a fait
;i;"J'*as 'hovering'
di"t"rr"" frorn the Peak'

Photo ' No. 2

In this Photo. , taken somewhere

i" tft" Photo' above'


io rrr" rapidly upward
In contra
and side;,
i
- -.-*,.r,,a ntnrrris^ it was "3i
ward spr eadin g rnovernent s r"",.",t""
.ln :-1:.::::l::,pr9lab.ry.to : i or the
errect
the:t1 rn
practically

:r1*;"t_":f$i:- ?"J;f""l;J "i1::li h':


the larger
"
generally strong wind that increased tt ttti" height'
to the strong upper winds'
thunder cloud' ;";;;;;;;;;;ies

-It-
F LYING SAUCER MAGAZINES.

Readers who are interested in keeping abreast of current happenings


in the saucer field rnay find this Iist of overseas publications of
inter est. Subscriptions rnust be sent to the rnagazine conce rned,
not to us.

F ly ing S auc e r Review, 3l F u rn i val S treet, London,8,C .4'


r. r/ 6l- ( " t e ).
Saucer News, P.O. Box I63, Fort Lee, N. J. U. S. A. $2.
The A. P. R. O. Bulletin, 4145 E. Desert Place, Tucson,
Arizona, U. S. A. $3. 50.
Orbit, 4l Deanharn Gardens, Fenharn, Newcastle upon Tyne, 5,
Engiand . 8l- ( )
Flying Saucers, Ray "tg.
Palrner Ed., Arnherst, Wisconsin, U. S. A.
s 2.
The Little Listening P ost, 4811 I llin o is A v . , N. W. Wa s h in g t o n
D.C . $3.
Saucers, Space & Science, Gene Duplantier Ed. , 17 Shetland
Street, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada.
Space Review, Miss Susanne Stebbing Ed., Z Station Rd.,
Frirnley, N. Aldershot, Hunts. , England. $ S-2.

FLYING S A UCE R RE S E A R CH A T B A L L A RA T .

Under this heading, the Melbourne "Herald" recently


published the following

The Ballarat Astronornical Society will invite research


workers and scientists frorn other States to attend or contribute
papers or tapes to a public rneeting next February on flying saucers.
This was decided after a recent lecture in Ballarat on
unidentified flying objects.
The society hopes Ballarat rnay becorne a rneeting
place each year for those interested in investigating flying saucers.

Mr. Williarn H. Sloane, a rnernber of V.f'. R. S. and


the Ballarat Astronornical Society, has kindly supplied us with the
followins additional inforrnation about this rnost worthy venture.

FLYING SAUCER CONFERENCE

The Ballarat Astronornical Society has been studying


Unidentified Flying Objects for a nurnber of years. The success
of Peter Norrisrs lecture in Ballarat City Library on l5th February,
when the hall was rrrore than.filled, has encouraged the society to
rnake this an annual functjdn, and to enlarge the gathering to include
re search workers f rorn other state s.
It is hoped for sorrle co-operation frorn other astronom-
ical societies, and there is evidence of public interest in BalLarat.
Any public, or private body, or individual interested in the Flying
Saucer problern is welcome to attend, or subrnit a paper, taper or
-tz -
function' ano
all benefi't from rneeting at this our
slides. We should i" research into
t""f u" made tr tt""p";;;;""
some r eview
subject on different avenues
-*vJv--. --^-+^A
suggested rhat sroutrs concentrate
that'gt"ll:^:;;;';"k Societv
It is t"' tht Dt"*in
year.it is proposed "l\gs of "Mo3n T$em
of research, "J;fiis

n;:nlil1*R1""""T:'4'-3.1iff :'-:i"':'::ll"l:;;;ha"heo'iher
o n t h e f o llo win g
k;o*ledge' ot
r e vie w
groups "o"3e c t u re '
';
I u b j e c ts ,rOccupant s U . . O' "
Victoria -o f I to Earth"
N. s. w. 'd;;;;;
-* of
^""',T'lg
U' F' O.''
^ A "MeJhanics
of U' F' o' "
Lu?Ln"r.rra "-orisin on these I
It is rearisedttrat arffign"o""""n-r ltto*tudge I
ln
y progress
rg o a l' Bbe
s u b j ectsr na yu u 'rigt't-"-1t""*"it6tit"se-qu e " t i; " " iJ o ushould
publ" engaged
rneeting and rnaking publ -ic re t " t io , t " lo t t n o J e
-o5;i";+""-lil'"^
r e s e ar ch a n d an irnprovernent.in
scrence'
i;;i; im Por tan t branch of

B ooK RB VT E W
K ' B E NDE R'
A ND THE THRE E ME N B Y A L B E RT
F L Yi N G SAUCE RS
G O DDE N'
RE V IE W E D B Y I. H'
k':y
B a rk e r' s ^ b o o k ' " T h e yf-a mrlra r
Ttr ose who have read 'Gra'y i" 1 0 5 6 ' will b e
S ""tt-""'i'l'"iltt "
T o o M uch Ab o ut rryitg le"a"' ;;t;;;; Bar-ke" devoted several
s' B'
with what is terrrii'tr,?
r'o* Bt;J";' ti"' t""a"r of I' F ' rnen 1n
chapters to t:';;;i-or sittttced bY 'three
"t
(rnternationat o tyrt'g :"t""^t-l.t;;;i'was lnt t o h irn a n d p t e d g e d
r evealed the " t " t " rs ' on peril of
t l a c k, wh o
a" ""^"ti1;i
Am""i'J";; t; t""p the secret re p re s -
him on his rronoi"-i"t
;1" ;"3**ntllt * " " irt jt t h e s e v is it o rs k e p t h is
d i r e pu n i"h - t"J'' Bender
o"g"rri"Jiiorr or tne u.- s. g "uoo . r. " " rn t " t '
e n t ed so m e
.i'1" ii'" o^t " "t, nu
secr et untir " " "i;' i;; i * I l. " "ig:,il ?:3X"1 "
il; i*"; _rrXi[ .,ffi**tilfl J] "'",:"" :::^ with a thrili or
since been rePu
Thus the reade" t"r."" ^""_;;"",r,,'i
i.p Bender's book
on r lv. " " i"i
and eag-e J il 1?; l: iT"t:; ;"." t:tt:tJ:;
ant
a;
i c
::;,
ipati
;;|-'I:::;iJ'#i1iJ;,' -ii
i3; : J"
:lir-iil i "Lp." " I i"b u t
bttv
"."1::? :l soon,
it,]:is j":r.?
".r,':: t h a t t h is is
too-p la in lv , . " 1 : : " 1 " d ge d t:r"
enthu s ias m f9 t it "u g lunati c f ri n ""
i
:: ":";; l'"
str
ff
ou
fr: ?
;;;
:i;.'1
or t'
r'p
.i':

i** v"xl',
""--*ii"rrin
: :
i " : t?l',t-"*if" ii,"
;-''n"
ri'if; inten -
:

st rnon ;;; .. "lf


mo
s u ffe r in g
i g en ce
U
"' F ' 6l
""""t""hu"; '*,';"';"
in s h o rt ' rt 1 s

rsolutiont to t h e rn y s t e ry ? I t a p p e a rs . t h a t t h e
What is the pianet' In their natur-
i;t;-another Thev
three rnen in ui.Jk'*""t .u"''"f" o f mo n s t e r'
a l sta te ,n ., *i1-"'u-'i""tt.,r1""1;;";?* i" q . t y p ! makinq use of
forrn Uy ..""yi.'tg tff fattf' p"opit and
assurned human
-1 3 -
their bodies. Bender is taken to their base of operations on Earth,
a vast, undergr ound laboratory beneath Antarctica. Here they
engage in carry ing out their rnission on Earth. The reason they
have travelled vast distances across space to this insignificant
world is no rnore nor less than that they wish to steal large quantit-
ies of water frorn our oceans. Frorn this they rnanufacture a
product of such secrecy that Bender is told nothing about it' This
rnassive undertaking is to occupy 1 5 years (1945-60). Then they
were to go away never to return. Bender is sworn to secrecy; he
is told that if the space people are discovered they will, 'rdetonate
every bornb you have in your stockpiles all over the globe, causing
alrnost total destruction to your planet", and apparently vapourising
rnost of our invaluable sea-water in the process. There is a lot
nlore in sirnilar vein to this; there are even the usual beautiful
blondes who find it necessary to ;:ernove Bender's clothes for the
purpose of anointing his body with a cure for cancer"
What rrranner of rnan is this Bender? He tells us, early
in the book, how he set up a charnber of horrors in his step-father's
hous e in Bridgeport, Connecticut. For "table ornarnents and shelf
decorations" he us-ed, " skulls, shrunken head s, bats, spiders,
snakes and the like, " When he invited a group of friends frorn work
he rnade use of, rrsorne ingenious devices about the roorn which
dropped spiders into their (tris guests) hair. " The early chapters
contain accounts of various phenornena which Bender was subjected
to by the space people before they revealed thernselves to hirn.
These included blue, sulpherous-srnelling lights, rnysterious
visitors who stole his U. F. O. docurnents and a strange bulbous-
eyed being who played a sort of garne of rnusical chairs with hirn in
the local picture theatre and fr:ightened hirn while he was looking in
shop winciows. As if this arrant nonsense were not enough,
Benderrs story of why the space people contacted hirn is the crowrl-
ing absurdity. In Barker's book Bende:: rnade rnuch of the fact that
he had sturnbled onto the secret of the saucers and was silenced for
his pains. Frorn all the evidence Bender was not one whit closer
to solving the rnystery than ailyone else. The interplanetary
visitors jeopardised the success of their visit by revealing all to
Bender because he was an earnest, average, hard working investig-
ator. The visitors are not reticent about telling ho.rz they have
quickiy killed of f any Earth people who hindered their activities.
(fnis point i.s not elaborated and we are left pretty rnuch in the dark
about the details. Why should the visitors reveal their presence
here to Bender when neither stood to gain anything by it? A
cornparison of the rnaterial in the present book with Bender's
cornrnents to Barker in the earlier one show that he has changed his
story considerably since those day s .
u
The book is not irnproved by an asinine epilogue frorn
Barker, whose rnaj.n interest in saucers these days seerrrs confir:ed
to publishing books by people of sirnilar convictions as Bender. In
this epilogue there is rnuch double-talk; Barker says, in effect, that
Bender has indeed solved the rnystery, and also that he hasnrt
solved it; that Bender had a real experience, and also that he irnag-
ined the whole thing" Barker does not want us to doubt his own
courage, "As for the visitors f rorn other planets, I never was
-r4 -
ttffilliri,.rLxiT:ifi
?::ff :ik:t#f*?:fi;i:*tlii:T:' w rth ' \^' e
rli r
sh o u t ed
iuutio"ff
hav e
j "' -
' ?" - t , ' ; :--;
:
i h re a te n e d
i?]
TJ'n'"
, r ^L,n,rt the saucers

"ii'i : :
Hijy : ::":::-"1""
ur"*"
"""olo'

$d
ffi liilil-fu*:r:',f
wiu KNow; th.":l:ii::,? i.?:"o1

"
i:'Hq
-'i1;

i,l'J,I;,'lpp""""a'o'
i"1:i::,YJ
t he a rti cl e
II
I
a nneonnsPtenY. 1
s in therr;ii";J::ti""
., .,,.,o";;"rche r
" =i lx'"
n: ""1'
il? E'%:
i;J;".;i*":'"""*'"';x
\!"Jr" ";$li -lf;;
*#; :*i:,* ;f
i+#"#4
t"":.'1,;';i
l::::'"il;* "ii,'#ii#$**-,**T
trffi"'T:
\ **: *+:'"1u'
iHT'1,*T,tl'*Ji:+:ii:#T:*:1ry.t*i'l-
'* " \
lili,.::"il+l*
*:t"'#1yl"",v*t#i *ihi;;;3i.;,;:'
.,f:::::i:-::-?r'""t " \i
;r.:*:i_ 'nes .a,
i*iil.Ti;:t1
in,eu,*"3ii""lJlr'.U*"'"'H"!T"T"ryi
i?""o'"
t""h T"'il31
: 1:r,T:;k
1#*;a "
fil"i ::t""
H"r#,-""r ffi :" \
tlm: ::l,t "
}il:"'J,::';,r*il:*-l*'l-;",r,r?l:-
Ig*
f l.i,:1'1"'J',-1''tr;fl
-l{,':':"'""{l*;5
3$1tl#,"-""'i-i*;
!k-,'".r,ffi
r'"'" - tJ:: ;;*#:?i'* i;' ""=="'::"Jii';;:1
i"-Hi' m ay r l d v ' -" i ;;.1
i at
l;i1i'J"i'"
tfoo''.1',ft"'"
: 11" " -:---:-;
a n d t his
*u
t;;; ;;" "''? - o o iit "
rc e s b ehi nc
iil:"tfft-.tt'J til-- : hookj"*i s that
f l;; ""
fl"Lil:i"'i;:";;,'Jliii,:;t*il,ilJib;.il'i";::;.ilJ
countr
?;:;i:""""'-T:T";'l;li{
u ' ""- a """t e d to " " " ::? ',: f ' vi'x*::i",1','"* to flow in rromeverv
in fr
(o t u ' l ;';.1
'
rj i "
" 'g_ "'
r. U -
a ut hor s , ' t r ep o rts
(sic)-."in 1954 following an announc.ernent by the United States
secretar.y for war that, t 'trhe United states and Russia frorn now
on have the power to annihilate the entire world'r I. This, then is
directly rebponsible for the "origin of the rnyth of the flying
sausersl' which led to, "space- ships frorn which little rnen descend-
ed to gossip with railwaymen (Bethuriurn? ) ahd sandwich-sellers
,(Adamski?)". It seerrls to rne to be a graVe pity that rnen of the
u doubted intellectual power of these writers can see no rnore in
the-F. S. rnystery than, "A significant social phenornenon'r.
\ - - _ - _ - J- _ - - - _ ;- - -

Most read.ers of this rnagazine are no doubt aII too


farniliar with the atternpts of layrnJn torexplain away' flying sauc-
ers as a rnyth along the lines of the French authors quoted above.
I recently cary]e across another exarnple of this in an
essay written in 1953 by the American novelist Philip Wylie. This
essay is an hysterical attack on the then u. s. Governrnent for its
refusal to share atornic secrets with the people of a dernocracy.
His thesis is that the- refusal of the authorities to share scientific
data with the public leads the latter to forrn a rnythology as a
substitute for truth. Wytie goes on to state thai thi" be proven
by the existence of 'flying saucersi and then quotes Jung, "an Freud,
Adler etc. on 'randornloythsrrand rinvented legends'. Wylie has
apparently taken'the usual explanation for granted without taking a
second look at any U.F. O. reports, for he says: 'rlf sornething is
seen in the sky that nobody appears able to explain that'rsornething"
begins to "appear" all over the worldr- in countless forrns, doing
sifferent things". That is all very well, but what is the rsornething'
in the sky in the first place. Wylie has apparently overlooked this
enti re lv

Readers of the ultra-conservative Tirnes Literary


t
li
Supplernent are not often rewarded with references to flying
t saucers, but recently (5/IZ/63) they rated a mention. In a short
review of 'rln Mountain Lakeland" by A. H. Griffin, a collection of
articles about the high land of the English Lake District, rnention
is rnade that one of the articles is concerned with "the Coniston
boy who saw a flying saucer". This, of course, is Stephen
Darbyshire who, with his younger brother, not only saw the flying
saucer but photographed it, revealing a craft rernarkably sirnilar
i: , , . r-to that shown in the Adarnski 'photos. This sighting, which took
place a decade ago, rnust have created a powerful irnpression if
it is thought worthy of inclusion in a book of this type today.

You might also like