SUBJECT: STUDY OF AUSTRALIAN GOVTS INVOLVMENT IN UFOs FILE: UFO1769
Study of Australian Gov't involvement in UFO's.
DATE OF UPLOAD: June 15, 1989
ORIGIN OF UPLOAD: ParaNet Omega, Australian Bureau
CONTRIBUTED BY: Bob Fletcher
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(C) Copyright 1989 ParaNet Information Service
All Rights Reserved.
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STUDY OF OFFICIAL AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT
IN UFO CONTROVERSY
A PROGRESS REPORT BY BILL CHALKER
During 1982, I was able to:
a. Examine the majority of the extent UFO files held by the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF).
b. Examine the entirety of the extent UFO files held by the Dept. of
Aviation.
c. Initiate discussions with a defence scientist privy to the
official files and the inner working of governmental policies and
approaches to the UFO subject.
d. Initiate enquiries with other Australian agencies and individuals
re UFO file holdings.
e. Undertake enquiries with overseas government departments re UFO
file holdings (in particular, the Ministries of Defence in the
U.K. and the USAF re Project Blue Book, the latter, in relation
to Australian cases).
f. Undertake discussions with the Department of Aviation/Bureau of
Air Safety investigation on the Valentich affair, and
g. publish some of the results of my enquiries.
THE RAAF FILES:
The RAAF files held by the Directorate of Air Force Intelligence
(DAFI) were examined over four separate visits to the Department of
Defence Russell Offices in Canberra during 1982 - namely, January 11-
14, May 7 June 4 and October 8.
A total of 56 files were examined. They fell into categories:
1. "Unidentified Flying Objects - Reports of Sightings" - 47 files
covering the period 1955-1982. Three files covering the period
around 1973/74 have yet to be examined.
2. "UFO's - Enquiries from Members of the Public and Flying Saucer
Organisations" - 7 files covering the period 1966-1981 and
3. "Investigation of Flying Saucers - Policy" - 2 files covering the
period 1953-1969. The current "policy" file has not yet been
made available.
THE DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION FILES
The DOA files held by the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation were
examined on November 19th 1982 during a visit to their Melbourne
office. Four files were examined and their contents included:
1. Previously "secret" papers related to the famous Drury film
affair. (1)
2. Details about early reports from 1952-1968.
3. Early RAAF documents and reports (copies) no longer available in
the RAAF files, due to the original files, ostensibly, being
destroyed during the Department of Air (now Department of Defence
- Air Force) move from Melbourne to Canberra in the early
sixties.
4. Papers relating to the controversial Bouganville Reef event of
1965, which appear to confirm that the Department of Civil
Aviation (DCA) had no knowledge of it, at least at the level of
DCA-Director-General in Melbourne.
DISCUSSIONS WITH DEFENCE SCIENTIST
Detailed discussions have been undertaken with a retired scientist who
has worked in the Defence Scientific and Technical Intelligence (DSTI)
section of the Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB now joint Intelligence
Organization - J10). The scientist, in a civilian capacity, had
access to the RAAF/DAFI UFO files in 1954 and later, as JIB "liaison"
to DAFI, had access to the DAFI files during the late sixties. He
was in a unique position to examine the files and observe the policies
and approaches of government agencies (DAFI,JIB etc.) to the UFO
question. Further to my discussions with him by phone and letter, I
was able to meet him personally during May 1983. I have found his
information extremely informative and it has served to compliment and
supplement data I have amassed from other sources. A detailed
picture of the history of official involvement in the UFO controversy,
in Australia, can at last be discerned.
OTHER AUSTRALIAN AGENCIES AND INDIVIDUALS
Upon my request, on July 13, 1982, the Director of Naval Intelligence
(DNI) declassified documents relating to the famous radar-visual Sea
Fury incident of August 31, 1954. These included written statements
by the Sea Fury pilot and the Nowra Naval Air Station radar operator
and a previously "confidential" memorandum from DNI to DAFI. (3)
In correspondence with R.H. Mathams, former Director of Scientific
Intelligence (JIB/J10) and author of the book: "Sub Rosa - Memoirs of
an Australian Intelligence Analyst", he indicated to me that, "DSTI
had only a marginal interest in UFO's; our analytical resources were
limited and I had to take the position that we could not afford to
become too involved in investigation of UFO sightings until we had
reasonable grounds for believing that they were of foreign - as
opposed to alien - origin. We relied on DAFI to make the initial
investigations and, at times assisted in the interpretation of the
resulting data". Mr. Mathams is not the defence scientist mentioned
earlier. Other agencies and individuals have either been contacted,
replied, or are in the process of being contacted. I do not, at this
stage, propose to possibly jeopardise results, with premature
disclosures of current and future lines of enquiries.
OVERSEAS ENQUIRIES
Enquiries with some overseas government department have borne fruit.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD), Defence Secretariat, Division 8, of the
United Kingdom indicated:
a. MOD's records on UFO's go back to 1962. Most of the material is
reports of individual sightings by members of the public, passed
on to us via ATC centres, police, RAF stations, etc. As an
indication of the size of our holdings, we received 2250
sightings between 1978 and 1981.
b. MOD investigated UFO sightings solely to determine whether they
indicate anything of defence interest. No attempt is made to
find a positive identification for every object seen. We have,
therefore, no category of 'unexplained sightings...'.
A reply from New Zealand authorities confirmed that there appears to
be little organised effort to investigate UFO's there. No
comprehensive records are maintained. From the National Archives and
Records Service, Washington, D.C., USA, where the USAF Project
Bluebook files are held, I have received copies of documentation held
on some Australian cases. I have also on order microfilm copies of a
comprehensive Bluebook index and all photographic holdings. (4) I
have also been in contact with a number of overseas civilian
researchers who have been assisting me in my enquiries.
THE VALENTICH AFFAIR
On May 26, 1982, the Department of Transport (now Aviation) released
to me their Aircraft Accident Investigation Summary Report on the
disappearance of VH-DSJ and its pilot, Frederick Valentich. It would
appear that this document was made available only to parties having a
bona fide interest in the incident. It would appear that, via my
correspondence with the Department, they were satisfied that my
interest, despite it being from a 'ufological' point of view, was
never-the-less bona fide. I am aware that the same report has been
denied to other parties, whom on the face of it, appeared to have had
a bona fide interest. (5)
During my November 19, 1982 visit to the Bureau of Air Safety
Investigation, I had the opportunity to discuss the Valentich Affair
with Mr. A.R. Woodward, a Director of the Bureau. He referred to the
files on the case, he had in front of him, to answer some of my
questions, however, access to these files was denied to me, on the
basis that all "air accident investigation files were privileged
information. It was evident that they were only treating the affair
as an accident/incident pertaining to air safety investigation. More
recently, when I questioned him on the alleged discovery of the
aircraft, VH-DSJ, on Cape Otway, by divers, Mr. Woodward indicated
that no action was planned by the Department of Aviation. In the
event that VH-DSJ was actually salvaged, the Department would
confiscate the aircraft in view of it being the subject of an aircraft
accident investigation. Dr. Richard Haines has provided me with an
advanced complimentary copy of his 'Journal of UFO Studies' paper;
"Results of Sound Spectrum Analysis of the Metallic Noises of a Tape
recorded Radio Transmission between Cessna VH;DSJ and the Flight
Service of Melbourne, Australia". (6)
PUBLICATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS
I have been able to publish part of the results of my research into
official Australian government involvement in the UFO controversy.
1-2 "UFO's and the Royal Australian Air Force - the inside story" in
the UFO Research Australia Newsletter (UFORAN), Vol.3 Nos 2,3,
and 4 (March-April, May-June and July-August, 1982) and MUFON UFO
Journal No. 175 (Sept. 1982) and No. 176 (Oct 8) the latter in a
slightly edited form.
3-4 "UFO's; Australia's Secret Documents Revealed", in Omega -
Science Digest, Dept-Oct, 1982 and the APRO Bulletin, Vol 30 No.
10 (Oct 82) and Vol 30 No. 11 (Dec 8) as "Australian A.F. UFO
Report Files".
5. "The RAAF UFO Files", the Journal of the Australian Centre for
UFO Studies, Vol 3, No 3 May/June 1982.
6. "The RAAF FILES', UFORAN, Vol 3 No.4 July-August 1982.
7. "Valentich Disappearance - The Official Verdict" ACUFOS Bulletin,
July 1982.
8. "UFO's - The Secret RAAF Files" by Ken Anderson, The Daily
Telegraph (Syd) May 22 1982.
9. "Air Force Files Examined - UFO Sightings Still a Mystery" by Tim
Cribb, the (Sydney) Sun, December 1982.
The British Flying Saucer Review (FSR) via Gordon Creighton have
indicated an interest in publishing some of this material. UFO Nyt,
the Scandinavian publication have also been given permission to
publish material. The Orbis multiple part publication "The
Unexplained" may also be briefly referring to this research with an
article by Jenny Randles in the near future. I will continue to
release the results of my research as time permits.
I have made some limited copies of some documents available to those
individuals with bona fide interests, e.g. Nebo area events of 1964
and 1965 and a possible "landing" near Mandurana in 1978 to UFO
research (FNQ); 1957 radar visual event in Tasmania and 1960 USAF
aircraft encounter near Cressy to TUFOIC: Groote Eylandt (1964) 'EM'
event, radar-visual event at Kalamunda (1969) etc. to UFOR (WA) and
various 'aircraft/UFO encounters' to Dr. Richard Haines, who is
specialising in such cases. (7,8,9,10,11,12). In view of the fact
that I have signed a DAFI document undertaking to preserve
confidentiality I have to maintain strict control of the RAAF
documents released to me. As time permits documents will be released
with confidential details (names etc.) deleted.
SPECIAL AREAS OF STUDY
During my reviews and research of official files several particular
areas of study have received additional attention. These include:
1. The case for and against official 'cover-ups' of UFO DATA: More
than twenty individual accounts from civilian sources allegedly
indicative of 'cover-up' activities were are being examined. I
hope to report on my findings soon.
2. The Drury Film Affair: most of the original documentation is now
secured. Frames from the film are in my possession, however,
they are of poor quality. Mr. Drury has been contacted and was
most helpful with my enquiries. A report on my investigations
will be made available when completed.
3. Reports by military personnel. Reports by service personnel
have been collected together and a report will be made available
when completed.
4. Reports from aircraft: Such cases have been isolated and are to
be added to an expanded catalogue in conjunction with Keith
Basterfield's revision of his existing document on this theme.
5. Official policies to UFO's: A number of official documents
relating to policy have been secured. The evaluation of
official policy re UFO's in Australia from 1950 through to 1983
is fairly clear. I will be reporting on this in due course.
6. Summarising and indexing official file holdings. Preliminary
general indexes are already being worked on which will cover the
period 1950 to 1983.
7. Search for missing files: While it appears that I have been able
to examine the majority of RAAF/DAFI file holdings, a few
individual file parts remain to be located and examined. These
include:
a. Three sighting file parts covering reports during about 1973
and 1974. Major cases known to be in them have already been
secured (e.g. UFO over North West Cape and a physical trace
event near Nebo).
b. The "current" policy file.
c. The original DAFI files prior to 1955. There is official
evidence that these may have been destroyed during the move
of Defence from Melbourne to Canberra in the early 1960's.
Fortunately, a previously secret report written in 1954, and
made available to me, summarises much of the DAFI files of
the period 1950-1954. As already mentioned, early DCA UFO
files I examined also hold copies of a number of reports and
documents from these missing DAFI files of the early 1950's.
Other files are being searched for, however, it is thought that, in
some cases, the "missing" files may have been recovered as new file
series (or the earlier parts of more recent file series). Following
the erratic history of official UFO files has sometimes been daunting.
I am confident that I have established a fairly thorough understanding
of the DAFI UFO files, so much so that the DAFI intelligence liaison
officer I have worked with during 1982 was once moved to tell me that
I knew the DAFI UFO files better than he did, in fact better than
anyone in the Department of Defence. This can in part be seen as a
reflection of the significance DAFI/RAAF may now appear to give to UFO
reports.
CONCLUSION: As someone who has taken a special interest in the degree
of official involvement in UFO investigation in Australia, for more
than a decade now, I have personally been amazed at the extent of the
material I have been allowed to become privy to in just one short
year, namely 1982.
We have gone from a confused and vague picture of clandestine official
involvement to a detailed understanding basedon directly officially
sanctioned file reviews by a civilian researcher.
In closing I will say that I will be working very hard at making
available to each and all the full extent of what I have learnt during
this study and the benefit of a much closer relationship with the
RAAF.
REFERENCES AND NOTES:
1. The Drury Film Affair refers to an incident during 1953 wherein
Mr. T. Drury, Deputy Director of DCA in Papua, took a movie film
of a daylight object which exited a cloud at high speed, climbing
at about 45 degrees and disappeared. The film was examined by
RAAF and USAF, however, it appears the film itself subsequently
disappeared. The affair has now been one mainstay o the claim
made by many civilian researchers that there is an official
"cover-up".
2. The Bouganville Reef event involved the alleged photographing of
a UFO by a pilot of a DC6 aircraft. It has been alleged that
evidence about the case, including the film, has been confiscated
by DCA officials and subsequently covered up. The classified
papers I examined consisted largely of internal communications
between the Queensland Regional Director of DCA and the Director
General of DCA which appears to conform a lack of knowledge about
the event, at least at the level of Directors of DCA.
3. The Sea Fury incident involved a naval pilot flying over the
Goulbourn area of New South Wales, encountering two unidentified
light, the presence of which were confirmed by ground radar.
4. In particular the classic Drury affair of 1953 and the Willow
Grove close encounter of 1963, wherein farmer Charles Brew had a
very explicit sighting of a UFO on his property. The incident
featured animal reactions and apparently related headaches for
Mr. Brew.
5. See AFUFOS Bulletin, July 1982. The 'Aircraft Accident
Investigation Summary Report' makes no definite conclusions as to
cause but indicated 'the reason for the disappearance of the
aircraft has not been determined'.
6. See also, for example, "Valentich - Bass Strait (Australia)
Affair" in R.D. Story's "The Encyclopaedia of UFO's", Doubleday,
1980 and New English Library, 1980, and "The Devil's Meridian" by
Kevin Killey and Gary Lester (Lester-Townsend, 1980).
7. These events refer to an unusual ground mark and an apparently
unrelated UFO sighting at the same location.
8. An extraordinary phenomenon ostensibly had landed in a cane field
east of Mandurana, Queensland. It was witnessed by four people
for three hours.
9. This event occurred on August 27, 1957 and involved radar
tracking of a fast moving object by Met Radar at Hobart, after
being alerted via a visual sighting at Launceston ATC.
10. On November 15, 1960, a USAF JV57 aircraft operating out of East
Sale RAAF base encountered a UFO at a closing rate in excess of
800 knots.
11. In this case a light source approached a ship of Groote Eylandt
on January 23, 1964. It came within 6ft of the ship,
underwater, and was described as "a ghostly white light, in the
centre was a shadow which rotated in a clockwise direction
causing the light to pulsate". The ship, a barge, was
approached by the light at high speed. In total six patches of
light were observed, varying in size from a mile across down to
quite small. All were the same colour and all pulsated at 12
pulsations for 9 seconds, then irregular, then back to 12 for 9
seconds again. The compass swung out of control, but became
worse as the light approached.
12. ATC radar operator at Kalamunda, 1835 hours on May 23, received a
strong stationary "paint", 300 degrees 9N miles from the airport.
He had first observed the return whilst talking on the phone to a
woman reporting an object "like a big streetlight" over
Cloverdale at the time. The "paint" was of 36 seconds duration
on the screen. An aircraft was about 4N miles SE of the UFO, but
no visual sighting was made. The woman reported the object had
departed to the North at tremendous speed and had disappeared
from sight.
13. "A report on Observations of UFO's from Aircraft Crew Members in
Australia".
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