DEP,\RTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION FILE NUMBER PART 1 THe R ACTION ON PART No. ~--- ARCHIVAL REVIEW SEE INSIDE COVER FOR RELATED FILES Minute Date Min ute Dat e Minute Date o r Action Initials Referred o r Action Initials Referred or Action Initials Enclosure Completed to Enclosure Completed to Enclosure Completed MINUTE SHEET Note for file: Reference Encl. 17A. 2 . Matter referred to R. A. A. F . , Canberra, for reply direct to Mr. Laval. N NP T .:S C!JD.reotor t DSG/jmk/AOO(AS) ENCL. 4/ A. stralia Region, UliiDENTIP'IED FLYING OBJECTS. The substance ot your mamo. 63/1966 dated 21st M~, 1965, was advised to the R.A.A.F. who have replied in the t e rms as attached tor Director-General of Civil Aviation. COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA E c~ 'fD /t BCD 8 JU 19 TELEPHONE: TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: "AIRFO RCE CANBERRA"" Director-General DepArtment of Civil Aviation Henty House 499 Little Collins Street MELBOURNE C1 VIC D'tPARTMENT OF AIR CANBERRA, A .C .T. UNID~TIIIBD FLYING OBJECTS report you forwarded from Mr. P. Hall-Robb of .1estern Austr~.lia has been investigated by this Department. 2. It is regretted that this is the only report we have received of these particular sightings and, as you appreciate, it is extremely difficult to process m~terial of this nature after such an interval of time, and tith such limited details. 3 . However, our checks with RAAF Pearce reveal that Vwmpire night flying took place on these occasions, between the hours of 1830- 2230 local, with an average of 80 movements per night. It is quite possible, therefore, that the movements of these aircraft could be the answer to Ur. Hall-Robb observation. 4 If this is not the case then it is regretted that this Department has no plausible explanation for the reported sightings. 5. It would be very much appreciated if Mr. Hall-Robb could be informed accordingly. (A. B. ! .. cFarlane) DSG/At"( 3)/jmk The Secretary, Department o! Air, CANBERRA, A.C .T. UBilERTIFIED PLYING OBJECTS. The following is the text o! a letter received by our Western Australia Region from Mr. P. Hall Robb o! 29 Marmion Street, South Cottesloe, Western Australia - While observing the sq at night on several occasions I have noted lights which I could not classify as natural phenomena, artificial satellites or regular aircraft. In order to verify or eliminate the likelihood of their being from recorded !lights, I would be glad to know if you have a register of movements which would correspond with any or all of the following - Across South Metropolitan coastline. 9.22 P W. to E. turning 900 to B. North Metropolitan ooastline. 9.30 p.m. w. to E. not turning. Across North Metropolitan coastline. Across Central Metropolitan coastline. Aoroas Borth Metropolitan ooastline. Across Central Metropolitan coastline. 9.38 p.m. E. to w. (Seaward). No sound, no red, green or flashing lights. I would be grateful !or an early reply if possible, especially wit~ regard to the first and second. Thanking you, Yours faithfully, Sgd. (P. HALL ROBB) " We have no record of civil aircraft movements which would account for these alleged siBb.tings and Mr. Hall Robb has been advised accordingly. His letter is referred tor your information and, if warranted, further investigation. .VD. S. GRAHAM ) tor Director-General of Civil Aviation. COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION TELEPHONE I 23 1731 WESTERN AUSTRALIA REGION Telegraphic Address " AVIAT, PERTH" AVIATION HOUSE 88 ST. GEORGE' S TERRACE PERTH, W.A. Posta l Address G.P .O., PERTH In roply q oute . 'FRtsiOi\f~ ..... ME!JORANDIDl 'for - DIRECTOR-GENERAL. UNUSUAL AERIAL PHENOMENA The 'fo~lowing is t he text of a letter received from r. P. Hall Robb of 29 Marmion Street, South Cottesloe, W.A. :- While observing the sky at night on several occasions I have noted lights which I could not classify as natural pnenomena, artificial satel~ites or regular aircraft. In order to verify or eliminate the likelihood of their being from recorded fli~hts, I would be glad to know if you have a register of movements which would correspond with anY or all of the fol~owing: Across South Vetropo~itan coagtline. 9.2~ p.m. W. to E. turn1ng 90 toN. 945 p.m. II It II II II Across North ~etropo1itan coastline 9.30 p.m. W. to E. not turning. Across North Ketropo~itan coastline. Across Central Metropolitan coastline. Orange 9.03 p.m. to E. Across north ~etropolitan coastline Across Central Metropolitan coastline. 938 p.m. E. to W. (Seaward) No sound, no red, green or flashing lights. I wou~d be grateful for an early reply if possible, especially with regard to the f1rst and second. Thanking you, Yours faithfully, Sgd. {~. HALL RO~) Mr. Hall Robb has been advised that we have no record of flights whioh would correspond to 1is queries. The above details are t herefore submitted to your office for information;investigation. for R~IRECTOR. lWS<lUJij)QM FORa KJL.KME .AOB UlUDMIFIID FLYOO JWT, The attached letter reterring to the sighting or an unidentified flying object in the vicinity ot P&kenbaa laat, Victoria, baa been reoeiTed by this ottice and ie referred to you tor intolWltion and, it necess&17, further inTeatigation. (K. Leonard) lor D:rRIDTOR-GnfM Ol CIVIL AVIATIOI EI'C. / r.A DSG:CPS:ASB: 20/11/64o KEMORANDUil FOR 1 DESPATCHED Secretary, Department ot Air, CANBERRA. A.C.T. Unidentified Airoratt Sishtinsa -Qaeensland The attached report is aubmi tted tor your information and any investigation considered neoeasary. 2. There were no recorded oivil airoratt movements whioh would for the radar sighting. 3. It ia regretted that the report did not reaoh our attention until it waa too late to obtain more aubstanti ve data on heading and aapeota aa speed. tor Director General ot Civil Aviation. FILL~L-I 3. 7 Te lephone Tc legr a ph 1c Address . COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION (QUEENSLAND REGION) POSTAL ADDRESS BOX N o. 1, P.O " AVIAT, BRISBANE" BRISBANE AIRPORT, N E.2 In Reply Quote Q/.C 3 7 The Director-General of Civil Aviation, MELBOURNE. AIR SAFETY INVESTIGATION : RADAR REPORT UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT It has come to our notice that on Thursday, 5th November, 1964, at approximately 8 p. m. , the radio observer. Mr. M. German on duty at the Brisbane Airport Weather Radar Installation, identified an aircraft bear- ing 075T, range 140 miles from Brisbane. Mr. German has been contacted concerning this sighting and he said that he located this echo while doing a search for storm cells and having strobed and identified it as an aircraft, he did not continue to watch it or take much further notice of it. He said that he identified it simply by his experience in picking up aircraft on radar. 3. Also present at the time was Mr. V . Tieering, the Officer-in-Charge of Brisbane Avmet Office who, not being a radar operator himself, accepted what he was told by Mr. German regarding the source of the echo. Although Mr. German does not remember which way the echo was travelling, Mr. Deering recalls that it was travelling in a Northerly direction. Hr. GeriBan said that since the beam width of the radar is 2! and it was scanning horizontally, there is no way of estimating at what height the aircraft may have been flying. for Regional Director COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION Telephone: !QUEENSLAND REGIONl POSTAL ADDRESS No. I, P.O. Telegraphoc Address: " AV1AT, BRISBANE" BRISBANE AIRPORT, In Reply Quote L ~ 7 TI1e Director-General of Civil :rJ E L B 0 U R N E. AIR SAF:CTY INVESTIGATIO:r-UNIDENTIFIED The attached report, which origina "-ed from llf..r D. ltacDonald at Rockhampton, has been taken by ta:r e and ~ranocribed. ii'urther enquiries today hare not revealed any further information, and Port ::Jioresby have advised that there are now no United States ai:!:'cro.ft based at Port ~woresby. T.he 1.eeional Director, Port Moresby, is making further enquiries. For Re~ional Director The Regional Director, BRISBANE AIRPORT. 5 \/iseman Street, ROCKHAMPTON. REPORT OF SIGHTING OF UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT AT ROCKHA.hJPj_'ON ON 7th !WVEHBEH 1 964 On arrival at the Rockhampton Aerodrome for duty at approximately 0620452, I observed what appeared to be a high flying aircraft tracking across the sky, leaving a clearly defined vapour trail. I was not particularly interested, however, as high flying military flights in thi area have been fairly common of late. A track of about 040 and not passing over Rockhampton but at a distance to the North was thought to be not in keeping with the usual flights that pass over the Rockhampton NDB using it as a turning point or abeam Rockhampton to the West in a North and South The customary check of traffic prior to taking over control from Aeradio and Brisbane revealed no high flying traffic, no flight plans and the Unit Log was checked to make sure that there were no flights in progress that had been missed by Aeradio. 062055Z the trail was inspected through field glasses from the Tower but no aircraft could be seen. By this time the object had been past for about 3- 5 minutes and the eastern end of the trail was almost out of visual r~ge and hard to pick up due to haze which extended about 10 of elevation above the horizon in all directions. The sun was to the North-east and reduced visibility within this general direction due to glare. A~o.1t 0621002 a check was made with tmckay and Brisbane A.1. C. Units for any traffic of which Rockhampton may not ha o b ~en advised and there was none revealed. The -atter was advised to Brisbane qt this point for S. O. O. ~.C.A. Brisbane and the R.A.A.~. A V100, VH-]WC, was engaged on circuit training at the time and when I became aware that the pilot-in-command was the Chief Flying Instructor of the Rockhampton Aero Club, requested an estimate of the height of the trail. The pilot' s estimate was about 30, 000 ft. He had not noticed the forming of the trail, and had not noticed it until I requested an estimate of the altitude. At the time of this incident there was about ~-2/8 of cirrus type cloud to the far North and a lower formation of similar cloud to the far South. I estimated about 20, 000 feet to the South and 25, 000 feet plus to the !~orth. There was no cloud an~vhere near t h e trail at the time of its formation. That cirrus which was present was of cirro-stratus and cirro- cumulus type, not at all elongated or fibrous. Up to 07 no elongated or mares tails type of cloud was observed in the local area, although I kept a particular watch on cloud formation. At 2115 a very small patch of cirro-stratus formed adjacent to and at a lower level than the trail. It was very slightly lined on an East-west line. The trail cut across above this small patch of cloud at an anzle of about 30. This gave the appearance to me that the cloud was being affected by wind of a westerly direction and the trail was not. The upner winds from Gladstone were checked and at 25, 000 feet the upper winds were West at 77 kts, 30, 000 feet West 90 kts, 35, 000 feet West 123 kts, and at 40, 000 feet West 120 kts. The small patch of cirro- stratus appeared consistent with tne westerly wind affectbng it. The vapour trail maintained a direction of about 040 but appeared to be displaced slightly to the East throughout its length over the 30 minutes or so prior to its dispersal. All details of the direction and height estimates are tabled belo~. It must be borne in mind that as I had no reason to do so, particular notice was not taken of the incident until some moments after it was first seen. The trail commenced at about 40 above the horizon North-west of Rockhampton, stretched across the sky to a maximum elevation of about 60-70 North- Estimated direction 040 M. Estimated altitude about 40, 000 feet. Formed at 06204~Z. Dispersed by 062120Z. All other clouds except the small n ch of cirro- stratus appeared to be very static, no obvious formings or dissipation taking plq~e. Object ahead of the trail appeared for a few seconds at the maximum elevation. Silver grey or metal reflecting. Shape not distinguished as too far away and very small. No noise audible. Surface wind licht South-east at the time. The object covered about 2/3 or 3/4 of the sky in about 6 minutes. There was a gap of clear sky behind the object equivalent to about 5 times its own diameter before the trail commenced to form. The trail appeared to be of a double nature for about a quarter of its length behind the head, where it commenced to form into one sin.crle trail. The speed of the object appeared consistent with that of a Canberra type aircraft at high altitude or possibly slightly faster. It is considered that a free drifting object (e. g . a stray balloon) would not have moved at this speed, even \''i th tlAe relatively hich velocity winJs prevailing, and would have moved in a more easterly direction beinl! blorm by the wind. (D. r1acDONAL:J) NNNNZCZC KOA059 0356 QIA4771 FOR GRAHAi-1 FROC1 BEECH REF UFO SIGHTING ROCKHAHPTON. P N G REGION CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR THIS SIGHTING MEMORANDUM FORa Secretary, Department of Air, CANBERRA. A. C.T. DSG:CPS:ASB:14/10/64. Unidentified Sightines -New Guinea Encl.;,/. fT The following reports of unidentified "aircraft" sightings in New Guinea are forwarded for your information and such investigat- ion as you may consider necessary. E.R. Coyle, D.C.A. Senior Groundsman at Finschhafen reported sighting 2350Z 22nd September, an aircraft tracking from est to east and passing slightly south of Finschhafen. Aircraft just visible at high altitude and appeared to have four engines, attention being drawn to it by vapour trails. The following telegram was receiveg from Bamu Mission situated approximately 0730'8 143 20'E - "UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT BULLET SHAPE APPEARED VERY LOW SKY RED GLOW AT BOt'/ TELLO''. AT STERN DISAI)P.EARED RAPIDLY NORTH 6.30 P. U. 28.9.64" 2. No civil aviation activity would account for these reports. rJfsV/~r~am). for Director General of Civil Aviation. TELEPHONE: 4141 TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: "Avlat Portmoreaby" COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION POSTAL ADDRESS: Eoox 80 P. O., Port Moresby PAPUA-NEW GUINEA REGION PORT MORES B Y Director-General of Civil Aviation, MELBOURNE. D FLYIUG OBJLCTS At 9 .50 a . m. on 23rd Soptcnbcr, 1964 an aircraft c.i. high altitude s cich od by 1r. E.R. Coyle the D.C.A. iJonior ('rroun o:-zn t ?inochhaf.n. 2 . The aircroi~t mlD tr ..... clci.l1G t'rom uor:t to east and pasoed nliehtly to the aouth of Fir..sohhnfcn. Tho nircra.ft 'no juot viuiblo and npp o.rod to have four oncinoa, attention bciDG tl!'<lrn to it by wpour tr .ilo. 3. Also, the i'ollomnc; tolcgr:3li1 \'lao reoci vod froo t o Danu lliooion which io situated uppro.xiruatoly at poaition 0750 ' S 14320' "IJNID TIFifl> O'BJEnT BlJlJLE'il S !APE 1l.P .JARED V Y LO Y RED GLO AT DO YELLO x Sr ill DJ.SA EMUJ> RAPIDLY TORTH o a1e unable to ccount for DSG:CPS:ASB:6/10/64. MEKORANl>Uil FOR: Se creta"'Ii,~ Un-explained Incident -Cambridge Gulf, W.A. herewith, for suoh investigation as you may consider necessary, is advice received pertaining to an oocurrence on 22nd September, 1964. from !.faster ''Koolama", in Cambridge Gulf at 1831 local time, sighted sky object like exploding meteorite -light was sufficiently bright to be reflected in water". No civil aviation activity would account f or this report. for Director General of Civil Aviation. COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF TELEPHONE: 23 1731 Telegraphic Addreu "AVIAT, PERTH" AVIATION HOUSE II ST. GEORGE'S TERRACE PERTH, W.A. Pos~l Addr G.P.O., PEilTH F'"dL:KLH. liEMORmru for: DIRECTOR-GENERAL. Unusual Aerial Phenomena following is the text of a message received from the Department of Shipping, Perth, W.A "Report from Master "Koolama in Cambridge Gulf at 1831 local time sighted sky object like eXPloding meteorite light was sufficiently bright to be reflected in water." for Regional Director. DSG:CPS:ASB:17/9/64. Unidentified Sighting - Kavieng. herewith, for such investigation as you may consider necessary, is a report by our Officer-in-Charge, Kavieng, relating to an unidentified flying object sighting in the vicinity of Kavieng on 12th August, 1964. The delay in reporting this occurrence is regretted but the necessary sighting details were inadvertently omitted from the initial notification provided by our Regional Office. There was no notification, to Air Traffic Control, of an air movement which could account for this sighting. ~. s. Graham). Encl. 28A. for Director General of Civil Aviation. TELEPHONE: 4141 TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: " Av la t Portmoreaby" POSTAL ADDRESS : e.ox 80 P .O., Por t Moresby IN reply quote .. C O MMONWEALTH O F AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION PAPUANEW GUINEA REGION PORT MORES B Y Director-General of Civil Aviation, KELBOURNE. UNIDENTIFIED FLTING OBJECT Your 21}1J(361 oi 31st August, 1964 refers. Please find attached report which was omitted from our (D.W. ROLFE), for Regional Director. T1..1!7HONII:o ADDI'IESS ALl. COMMUNICATIONS TO THI: OFI'ICRIN-CHARGE: AND QUOTt: RIDIONAL D~TOR DEPT. CIVIL AVIATI<l~, PORT 110RESBY. COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA GOVERNMENT AE UlHDE'fTIFIED FL