INTERNATION Vitti wees le ee Se CoML Lrg PHENOMENON INVESTIGATIONS questionable assemble; Seaettyciyst Sate Ua mL ee responsibility thisitawdry the:photes eu ew ted nn bad teple Hs tie FRED VALENTICH: AUSTRALIAN WELL-WITNESSED en MC Rs Gm gofically that a photograph;purpor be that of a UFO is genyine, even, PUB mr rut at Mieley Se tT MCL Suter a tty da uo a ke Editor-in-Chief: INTERNATIONAL UFO REPORTER Interrateddal International faproduced Mechanical ghotogfaphi. electronic putdisher. accompanied addresses. 4 Snawrvar of ike Board Se nd class poslage paid at Evanston Pest Ottice Second Bh a Jong shape... coming for me Missing pilot s father says off for sighting right now... hovering on lop of me! UFO capture id his son plane pilot sin UFO ERY in UFO mystery UFO MYST UFO PILOT NOT HIDING IN BIFSH ROBE WIDENS ON probes Bass Strait PILOT LOST pilot level Al oEA Metal VORLD CALLS ON MISSING sea hunt for plane Hundreds of UFO r eportS searcH FINDS NC Was it the same UFO? TRACE OF PILOT FOREIGN FORUM This is @ representative sampling of UFO sightings abtained from ara@ind Ine world Whe we cannot exert the same degree of control over {hese cases as domestic oes, i} 1s at least of value 10 sa@e that the same Chalacteristics are reported for tha phenomenon abroad as inthe US Saturday, October 21 precant the world the most pubticized sighting of the year, the mysterious case of AuStralian pilot Fred Valentich. As a rule, tUR has difficulty obtaining information on a foreign case, but this one ig an exception, for there is only $o much that anyone can know about it. The solitary witness is un- available for comment perhaps forever. The sources ot IURs infar- Mation on this matter spring from 70 newspaper clippings from Australia and the U.S., direct calls to news departments in Metbourne, reports trom Harry Griesburg, Paul Norman and Bill Chalker overseas and infor- mation submitted by Mishaei Duggin of the University of Sydney and Dr. Richard Haines in the U.S. Frederick Paul Valentich, 20, had spent three years as a cadet and volunteer instructor with the RAAF Air Training Corps in West Mel- bourne. He had been Ilying for two years and held an unrestricted li cense since February, 1978. Fred needed to build up night flying hours for his commercial pilot's license and needed to oleh up crayfish for an Air Training Corps officers function, Thus, on October 21, he laid aside his meteorology course studies and left Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne 6:19 PM fora flight to King Island tu get both. Flying in the same $43,000 biue and white Cessna 182L (long-range type) in which fe had trained, he tellowed the conventional course toward King Island by ouy- ging the shoreline to Caps Otway a route his father said he had flown three times before. He radioed to the Melbourne Fiight Service that he had passed the southernmost point of the maintand at 7;00 PM and was flying across the Bass Strait toward the island (this was a full reporting Hight), Estimated time of arrival at King Island: 7:28 PM. His parents expected to near from him again at 10 PM. back with his fresh crayfish At 7.06 PM, however, Valentich became aware of a neighboring air- craft" at his 4600-foot altitude, and radioed the Flight Service about his unexpected traffic. While a number Fred Valentich Sbbraviated thoroughly Department Transports Delta Sierra Juliet Is Melbourne, this is krown traffic below five thousand? FS Delta Sierra Janet, ro known USy: Delta Srerra Juliet. | am~ seems (to) be a jarge arrcratt below ye thousand. 7? 06 44-FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, what type of aircraft 1s it DSJ: Delta Sierra Jultet, | cannot altirm. It is four bright, it seems to me lke banding ights 7.07:00-FS: Delta Srerra Juliet. 7 G7: 31-DSJ: Melbourne, this (is) Delta Sierra Juliet. The aircraft has just passed over me ut least a thousand feet above (fo note: This, taken Uterally, would mean a 1000 feet-per-minute climb) FS: Delta Sierra Juliet. roger, and it 1s @ large aircratt, confirmed? DSJ:Erunknown, due to the speed it's travelling1s there any Air Force arcraft in the vicinity? FS. Delta Sierra Juliet. no Known atr- cratt in the vicinity 7 08: 18-OSJ: Metbourne, its ap- proaching now from due east to- FS: Oelta Sierra Juliet 7 08: 14-(Open microphone far two 7. 08: 48-OSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems to me that hes fying over me two, three times at speeds | could not identify. navigation Affirmative Melbourne, microphone * Bass St microphone seconds)... Melbourne. 7:10: 00-FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, and how farge would the -er- object be? 7-10:19-DSy Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, Ht seems like its station- ary. What t'm ctoing right now Is ar- biting and the thing is just crbiting on top af me also. it's got a green light and sort of metallic (like) it's all stuny (on) the outside. FS, Delta Sierra Juliet, 7:10: 46-DSJ. Delta Sierra Juliet, (open microphone for five seconds) It S$ just vanished. FS. Delta Sierra Judiet 7.12; 00-DSJ: Metbourne, would you know what kind of aircraft I've got? Is it (a type) military aircraft? FS: Delta Sterra Juliet, confirm the -er- aircraft just vanished? DSJ: Say again? FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, is the aircraft still with you? DSU: Delta Sierra Juliet. {it's -ah-) (open microphone for two seconds) now approaching from the south- FS: Oelta Sierra Juliet. (Ed. note: 10 have vanished at 7:10: 46and flown off far enough to be seen approaching from the south- west less than a minute tater suggests considerable speed!) 7;17:50-DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, the engine is -- rough idling. I've got It set at twenty three, twenty four ang the thing is (coughing). FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, roger are your intentions? DSJ: My intentions are -al\- to go to King Island -ah- Melbourne that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. it (open microphone for two seconds) is hovering and its not an aircraft FS: Delta Sierra Juliet. 7:12: 28-De'ta Sierra Juliet, and then silence, except for 4 strange metallic sound over his minrephone which was het open tor 17 seconds. With pertect flying conditionsa dusk sky (known lo be cloudless at Cape Otway at 5: 43 PM} with a mild northwesterly breeze and unlimited visibilityVatentich had disappeared. He never made it tc King Island. The last controller to speak with Valentich was Steve Robey at the Melbourne Flight Service at Tulla- marine. Robey said, ) had to force Steve Rotey myself to stay as calm as possible. | was stunned but | had to handle it. THE SEARCH Oct. 21: Light aircraft initiated a visual and radio search that night. Oct. 22: An RAAF Orion (a long- range maritime reconnaisance air- craft) spent the whole next day, Sunday, searching the strait. it did find an oil slick 18 miles north of King island in the tate afternoon and dropped a beacon to mark the sight. The searchers were already confi- dent, however, that the slick was too large to be produced by the Cessna. Oct, 23: A sample of the slick was taken by a boat from Warrnambool! The analysis of the sample was per- formed by the Defense Department materials research laboratory at Maribyrnong. Result: a weak mix, C.OtWaY) von stick probably marine diesel and not the Cessnas fuel. A Nomad. aircraft scoured an area from Warrnambool to Cape Otway while the Air Force Orion covered the Bass Strait and a Cessna searched the King Island region, Reports from the search area indicated the sea temperature to be around eight degrees above freezing. The searchers felt, though, that Valentich would stilf stand a good chance of survival if he was wearing nis lifeyacket. Oct. 25: By Wednesday night, search aircraft had coverea 7000 square miles in four days. Erent aircraft had flown a total of 70 hours. The Aus- tralian Coastal Surveillance Organ- ation in Canberra had alerted ail shipping and crayfish boats in the area to be an the lookout. A pilot ftying at 4000 feet reported sighting what he thought was 1 plane under water, Dut reference to charts showed the water to be 180 feet deep with a very choppy surface due to a gale; hence, the Department of Civil Aviation did not consider the report frm enough to follow up, The RAAF reconniisance plane also Spotted some fintsam in the water 4 km. from the oi! slick which looked like a yellow life jacket and part of a fuselage; this caused some brief excitement during the search. A merchant vessel! dete:mined, how- ever, thal the debris was only fruit cartons and plastic bags. rubbish from a ship. A thorough land search ot Cape Otway and King Island also proved fruitless. Thus. the search was called off Wednesday night. An Aero Commander would fly over beaches later in the week to watch for wreckage which might get washed ashore. Oct. 26: The investigation wax Switched from the rescue coordina- tion center to the Department of Transport ait safety investigation branch. An official sai at the sme, the Department of Transport is tn- quinng into all aspects of the air- cratts last flight, This encompasses the eirworthiness of the aircraft, the operation of the aircratt inciuding the light planand other factors involved--that is, the pilot himself. WHERE IS FRED VALENTICH? Fred Valentich's apparently tragic experience immediately became the subject of world-wide press atten- tion Indeed, the drama of this inci- dent was a marked change trom the Policemen See Distant Ambiguous Light variety of report to which the Media often seem to restrict them- selves. Tha case also generated glcbal speculation en the Australian pilot's fate. Some ofthe suggestions in the Australian press seem patently Outrageous; instead of a real UFO, Valentich was watching an aurora, then crashed. Another idea posed by Ken Willams, the Department of Transport spokesman, to the press was that the pilot was watching meteorites, got Struck by one of {them {!), became disoriented and flew upside down, causing his engine to rough-idle and cut out. Does it need to be pointed out that the history of meteorites striking vehicics is almost unprecedented. while the history of UFO involve- ments with the mysterious disap- pearance of planes in the Center for UFO Studies computerised UFOCAT number almost twenty? Still, a great deal cf debate has centered on a few alternatives iast words. Arguments for the pros- allernative: PREMISE #1; VALENTICH TURNED DARK AND WAS SIMPLY WATCH- ING REFLECTIONS OF HIS PLANE LIGHTS OFF THE WATER. Arguments in Favor; experienced instructor Christchurch experienced instruments. 2) Valentich made only one night instruments to be Benalla, 80 miles north of Mel- bourne), One source stated he onty had 15 hours of night flying. 3) Spokesmen for the Department of sentiments the young Cessna pilot wasn't very experienced and could easily have accidentally turned the plane upsice down and seen his own lights re- fiected in the sea. 4) Valentich said his plane was orbiting (circling) orbiting above him. This effect woulc be achieved if he was watching his reflections woutd move with him, Arguments Against: 1) The Cessna 182L has a gravity-fed carburator. Upside down, the plane could only fly for 50 seconds at the most (11 seconds, according to an- other source). The sightings lasted for 6 minutes as timed by the tape recording. 2) Fred's father Guido told the press, he was very good in aerobatics. He would have known immediately if his flight position was wrong." 3) There was no sound of a stall! warning over the microphone, or engine splutter (though the latter isn't a guaranteed situation) 4) Arthur Schutt, veteran aviator who controls the Melbourne-based Schutt Aviation Company told the press, "In that half-light, the pilot would have soon known if the aircraft had stared to turn upside down. The carpet comes out of the floor and the butts fall out of the ashtray. PREMISE #2: IT WASN'T NECES- SARY TO FLY UPSIDE DOWN, HE COULO HAVE CIRCLED STEEPLY INTO THE WATER WHILE WATCH- ING EITHER THE LIGHTHOUSE BEAMS OF CAPE OTWAY AND KING ISLAND REFLECTING OFF THE CLOUDS . . . OR HIS OWN LIGHTS OFF OF THE WATER IN FRONT OF HIM, Arguments In Favor: 1) Valentich's instructor, Mr. Aubrey Coates, said he could have become confused by beams from the Cape Otway and Cape Wickham (King Island) lighthouses. Coates has ticwn in the area for 13 years and claimed that the lights could have appeared tike UFOs, 2) Veteran aviator Mr. Arthur Schutt also said the most dangerous time tar discrimination was during the switch from visual flight to instru- ments at dusk. A disoriented pilot and not his instruments once he had lost the horizon, 3) Some pilots flying at night crashed after mistaking ground lights for single-engine experienced Department independently unpredictable conditions: Department single-engine especially Arguments Against: repeatedly instruments unpanicked instrument controller disorienied communicating PREMISE #3: THE REPORTED UFO MUST HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN DISAPPEARANCE. IN THE CASE OF A CRASH ALONG A MAJOR AIR ROUTE, {IT [S MOST UNUSUAL TO FIND NO WRECKAGE OR OIL SLICK. Arguments In Favor: 1} There were four orange polysty- rene fife jackets designed to be visible from the air in the event of a water crash easily-visible 3) The plane had a black box radio survival beacon broadcasting a dis- tress signal. It was never heard Arguments Against: Moorabbin. crashed into the sea. No trace of his plane could be found (no UFO was reported in this incident). Second. on Sept. 8, 1972, an otc World War Il Tiger Moth with two people on board disappeared be- tween Hobart and Flinders Island in Bass Strait. On board was Max Price, 57. a very experienced pilot wha had completely restored his own plane. A!so on board was conserva- tionist Brenda Hean, who chartered the fight to skywrite im protest against tre flooding of Lake Pedder in Tasmania. The plane left at 10:16 AM and was due to arrive at 12:45 PM. There was enough [uel to last until 2:30 PM. The Tiger Moth also had one of those emergen