The concept of a “Disclosure Project”, is one where people of a given country, through, direct appeals to politicians or Government bodies, or by the assembly of citizens that can add testimony to the fact and or by a intense record search of government archives, open a dialog with the current Government to reveal hidden or undisclosed information, projects, policy or agendas’. The Australian Disclosure Project represents that concept in respect to the subject of Australian UFOs or Australian Ufology. UFO can mean: Unidentified flying object United Future Organization, a Japanese-Brazilian electronic jazz band UFO, the rock band that previously featured Michael Schenker UFO, the Gerry Anderson TV series United Farmers of Ontario, a political party that formed the government in Ontario from 1919 to 1923 U.F.O... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Early Disclosure:

The concept is an old one, and has been undertaken by many Australian citizens over the years, in various forms and intensity. The official Australian government records held at the National Archives of Australia show these attempt, to bring about disclosure on the subject of UFOs.

DISCLOSURE AUSTRALIA - The journey so far

    Based on a presentation by Debbie Payne at the Australian National UFO Conference June 2004.     During the course of this article I am going to try and give you a glimpse through a very small window into the Australian Government files on UFO’s.   What has to be understood is that the information beyond this window is so extensive, that it would be impossible for me to show you even a fraction of what has been discovered, let alone explain it to you. The hardest part in writing my recent paper was deciding on which files to present, so I tended to focus more on the ones that stood out for various reasons.   What I would like to suggest is that you log on to the Australian National Archives and view these files, just as AURA have done.  

What is the Australian Disclosure Project?

The Collins dictionary defines the word “disclosure” as a revelation, to disclose, to make known, to allow to be seen. Over the last four or five years Australian UFO researchers like their counterparts overseas, have been discussing and debating the concept of “disclosure.” Many of you no doubt will be familiar with the US “Disclosure” Project headed up by Dr. Steven Greer and the enormous amount of work his team has done in this direction. But it hasn't stopped there.

  Just recently I received an email penned by AJ Gevaerd expressing his commitment to a Brazilian disclosure program. You might also recall at last years National UFO Conference, Victor Viggiani gave a presentation and raised awareness on the Canadian disclosure effort. And then we had that extraordinary footage of UFO’s tracked by the military over Mexico in March, which received world-wide media coverage .The momentum of the Disclosure Program, regardless of who is behind it, has well and truly progressed into the global arena.

  But the substance of this article isn’t to weigh up the absolute arguments for and against the existence of UFO’s; I think we already know the answer to that.  It's to present enough viable evidence in the form of raw data to challenge the belief systems of those, who for whatever reasons are uninformed or sceptical. It's not about the analysis of what we have found so far because once we have collated enough data from the files we’ve had released, then the analysis will be the focus of our future efforts. We estimate this whole process could take a couple of years.

  But, by following this methodical procedure I think it will strengthen the resolve of established and committed researchers that their work is both viable and important to the understanding of the overall phenomenon. Everyone in some way contributes a piece to the jigsaw puzzle and the picture is becoming clearer.

What we have done during the first stages of the Australian Disclosure Project is to find out exactly how many records exist in the Australian Government sector about UFO's and to what extent they pursued, and indeed still pursue this issue. 

We thought that by doing this first, then disseminating all the available information to the public, in a verifiable and transparent manner, that it would improve ties between research groups to bring them together in pursuit of a common goal, and to a certain extent I think we've achieved this already.

These pages can now be viewed publicly by anyone. Mulled over, dissected, followed up, researched and individual conclusions reached. We are showing you what’s there. It’s up to you to decide what to do with it. However, whatever your conclusions may be, it certainly gives you a starting point for all kinds of research into this subject.

So where do you start on a project of this magnitude?

Our search began about a year ago with our own local knowledge and the National Australian Archives on-line records. Currently the on-line record search will only give access to around 10% of what is registered with the archives, but at least it was a place for us to start. At one stage we punched in “Reports on Flying Saucers”. To our surprise this search term, unlike searches we did on the term “U.F.O”, produced around 20 files.

In these 20 files there were around 5,000 pages of information, but we had no idea about what they contained, or to what extent the government had documented them. I can only tell you we were more than encouraged after viewing the first few documents. Imagine what it will be like when the remaining 90% can be accessed?

Who kept UFO files?

You will see from the list below there were numerous resource channels open to us. Those being:-  

• The RAAF
• The CSIRO,
• Dept of External Affairs, including the Department of Territories
• Royal Australian Navy
• The Department of Supply at Woomera
• DSTO at Edinburgh Air Force Base - DSTO meaning - Defence Science and Technology Organisation  which was formerly The Long Range *Weapons Research Establishment or WRE.
• The Bureau of Meteorology
• The Department of Civil Aviation
• and “The Committee”

  More recently, under the Freedom of Information Act we obtained over 600 pages of information, but this figure is due to increase very shortly by a further 2,300 pages, because the RAAF have kindly granted us access to another 38 files. Enigmatic files to say the least.

These 38 files were suspiciously unavailable the first time we asked, then we were told they had been destroyed and on the last request they were located and made available, because this time we went through a different channel. So sometimes it all depends on who you speak to.

Currently all these files from the departments previously mentioned total some 12,000 odd pages and have cost AURA over $1800 to date to obtain.

Unfortunately I can only present a few reports in more detail due to our limited space, so at least you will get to know something about the content of these files and the extent of their information. I have tried to be as diverse in subject matter as I can with my chosen examples, just to demonstrate the intriguing number of very different cases recorded in these files.  Some may be familiar to you as famous Australian cases and others you won’t have heard of. I wanted you to see that the Government did keep detailed files on our most famous cases.

==The table you see below only PART of one page of hundreds of file summaries we have done   Summary of file number A703 580/1/1 Part 4 titled "Reports on Flying Saucers and Other Aerial Objects" located at the Canberra office of the National Archives of Australia. The file consists of 346 pages. A digital copy of these pages is available on the National Archives web-site. * See note below

Page 1

Cover of file 580/1/1

2

Minute paper from Department of Air re re-classification of this file to unclassified 7/5/1982

4

Telegram [original file ref:554/1/30 (34)] re information received from Croker Island Mission of vertical light seen by a dozen people for last several nights. HMAS Bass to investigate. 2/11/65

ex 554/1/30 (34)

5

Telegram ex MIL Command Port Moresby re unknown aircraft (jet) in  vicinity of Mamote 24/10/65

ex 554/1/30 (24)

7

Typed report on above. Object 100ft x 15ft cigar shaped emitting green luminescence 15/10/65

17

Minute Paper (memo) from D/Dafi (ops) to SACAS re UFO sighting, wanting an explanation 30/9/65

20-21

Ex Dept Defence cover letter to Dafi and CAPIO re Nebo case 24/9/65

22-23

Cover letter ex Dept Territories  re UFO report off Milne Bay, New Guinea. Red light changed to blue. 12 & 13 July 1965.

26-30

Report by B.C.Roberts from Operations Office Dept Air (DAFI) - February 1965 - regarding Unidentified Flying Objects - An Assessment, based on Aust, US and British Air Force reports - very interesting report, mentions USAF Intell and reports SINCE 1947

• (Some lines have been removed due to size of this document)

Why did we do it this way?

Rather than have other researchers laboriously go through every one of the thousands of pages at the Archives, looking for something in particular, we wrote brief notes on the content of every page, in every file. By doing this, anyone can go to these file summaries and scan through them to find what they're looking for. Like an index. Keeping in mind of course that the NAA files were obtained under the 30 year rule, which makes 1973 the most current record we are able to access at this present time. But I will tell you, that when January the first clicked over this year, another 14 files appeared on our standard search.   However, files released under the FOIA Act can be a lot more recent so don’t think we are only limited to files prior to1974.  We’re not. We have also conducted register searches at our local National Archives Office in Adelaide, something we will endeavour to carry out at various other archive offices around the country.   All the files you see as digital copies on-line can be viewed on your personal computers, in the luxury of your own homes. These records are currently held at the head office of the National Archives in Canberra. And contrary to conjecture from some who are very quick to imply we won’t find anything new in our recently released government files, we have uncovered hundreds of pages of documents that have never seen the light of day, so statements of this nature are completely without substance.   What do we know now, that we didn't know a year ago? In a word, plenty! We know that Australia, especially the RAAF and the Long Range Weapons Research Establishment at Woomera were deeply involved with other governments and various intelligence organizations, including NASA, in joint space programmes and the sharing of information relating to anything space based. So my first file will have something to do with international co-operation and interest in this subject    

What was Project Moondust?

In 1953 the USAF 4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron was created. Its purpose was to recover downed enemy aircraft during the Korean War. In 1957 it was expanded to recover objects and debris from space vehicles, that had survived re-entry from space to earth, and in 1961, according to a United States Air Force Memo, it included UFO’s.   While researching the topic of Project Moondust on the internet, I came across a 42 page file released under the USA freedom of information act which clearly demonstrates a link between UFO's - the United Nations - and Project Moondust. I should mention here that copyright for these documents on this site is recognised as belonging to Dr. Bob Wood & Ryan S. Wood.   On the first page of these documents the subject header simply reads: “Project Moondust”,              and dates from November 1973. It concerns the recovery of what may have been Soviet satellite debris. However, also included in this 42 page package are documents on a 1978 discussion concerning the potential of having the United Nations undertake UFO investigations, to report on UFO sightings and to retrieve crashed objects from different countries.   It also mentions the recovery of a spherical object (said to have landed smoothly) in Buenos Aries in 1984. So Moon Dust was very much a global project. But a singular statement recounted by the American delegate to the United Nations made by the Prime Minister of Grenada leaps out at you on page9 and reads as follows:   "the recent report of the abduction of a Cessna Aircraft in Australia seemed to him to be a compelling reason for the United Nations to "come alive to its responsibilities and take a serious look at the UFO phenomenon, to which Planet Earth has been conspicuously exposed since 1947."   Two words immediately caught my attention in this phrase. The word abduction, which was used to describe the disappearance of Freddy Valentich. Not crashed, lost, or missing at sea, but abducted. And of course the reference to 1947, which we all come across during the course of our research. It seems to be a definitive time in Ufology.  We have pre 1947 and post 1947 as a way to categorise the modern era of sightings.   On the last line of this U.N. report you will clearly see the word - abduction. On the next page (page 10), it states that 133 countries had already provided reports regarding UFO's for the express purpose of setting up a U.N. sponsored committee to study the phenomenon. Jaques Vallee, Stanton Friedman and J Allen Hynek were also present at this meeting.   However, the official reason for Project Moondust was to retrieve downed space vehicles, and what we wanted to know, was whether or not Australia participated in this Project. I am certain the answer is yes, we did.   Crash Retrieval Team The Department of Supply file SA 5644/2/1 contains a 1962 memo from the Controller of WRE to the Superintendent at Woomera. In it, he states that “the United States Embassy” sought WRE’s assistance to obtain information about sightings, or of downed fragments of space vehicles.   This location and recovery of fragments was exactly the role of the US Air Force Project Moon Dust, and the request to Australia was made a year after the project commenced in full force to include UFO’s. In our reading of the Supply file, there is never actually a mention of the words “Project Moon Dust.” However, as it was a classified US project perhaps this is not surprising.  Under this banner the Australian Government located and retrieved several items of interest, which we have listed on our web-site.   It also means that the military had in place a “quick response unit”. In his 1996 document: “UFOs Sub Rosa Down Under-The Australian Military & Government Role in the UFO Controversy” Bill Chalker wrote: “It appears JIO have a “rapid intervention” capability, as they have been able to instigate prompt widespread ground searches in suspected “hardware” crashes. They do this through “special access” channels. This operation may be similar to the US activity operating under the code name Project “Moondust.” So I think it’s fair to say that Australia did participate in Project Moon Dust. Did have and still has, a “rapid intervention team” connected to the defence department.   The reason I am so confident that the rapid intervention team exists,  is partly due to a number of conversations a member of our AURA team has had with a resident of Woomera, who is retired from the military but still lives there. He claims to have been a member of this retrieval team and at the moment we are trying to corroborate his story.   Inkerman Qld from March 1968

Given to US Embassy Australia. No known results. [RAAF file J63/25 5/40/AIR PART 1]

    From the many retrievals listed on screen at the conference I found one in particular rather interesting.  It was the one retrieved near Inkerman in Queensland in 1968 and handed over to the US Embassy immediately and without analysis. It makes you wonder what was in those diplomatic pouches!     Is Woomera Area 52? The next find I’d like to discuss, is based on a couple of files from the South Australian Department of Supply at Woomera, on sightings that occurred between 1952 and 1954. There were literally hundreds of sightings over the years at this highly restricted space facility. In fact the base servicemen even had their own UFO club called STARS, which was permitted, but with very stringent conditions including their inability to publish any of their UFO reports.   In order for you to understand the significance of the Woomera Space Facility, the dates I have chosen, and it’s participation in projects on a global scale I’m going to provide a few facts and figures.  

• 1947               Long Range Weapons Establishment formed between the UK and                                          Australia.
• 1949               The first missile launch from Woomera
• 1957               First Skylark Rocket Launch
• 1958               First Black Night Rocket launch
• 1959               The first deep-space tracking station to be established outside the                                          United States is established at Woomera Australia by (NASA)
• 1962               Countries from Europe and Australia formed the European Launcher                           Development Organization (ELDO). This collaboration launched the                            'EUROPA' series of rockets.
• 1964               First Europa Rocket Launch (Modified Blue Streak)
• 1966               First Europa Rocket with dummy stages was launched
• 1967               Australia's very own satellite was launched. WRESAT (Weapons                                             Research Establishment Satellite) making Australia only the fourth                                           country in the world to launch its own satellite from its own territory.

  The list of launches and research and development programs goes on, but we’ll leave that for now. The Department of Defence lists Woomera's possible activities as follows:  

• Air-to-air combat training
• Bombing camps
• Remote area operations
• Airborne and ground testing of long-range weapons systems
• Rocket testing (including Scramjet technology)
• Space vehicle launch and recovery, including reusable rockets
• Parachute drops
• Hot and dry equipment trials
• Because Electromagnetic interference is extremely low the area permits EMI/EMC testing (Electromagnetic Interference & Compatibility between guidance systems and aircraft electronic equipment both on the ground and in the air.)

    Today Woomera still operates a deep space tracking station, has what they call ears in space, listening to noises from space, monitors equipment on satellites in orbit and has R & D connections with NASA, The European Space Agency, Kistler Aerospace, BAE (British Aerospace) Systems, the Japanese Cangaroo Project and other not so public projects. Like research into nanotechnology and breaking the Mach 7 barrier before it was announced and adopted by the Americans earlier this year with its work on Scramjet technology. Incidentally, Woomera does have an area designated as Area 52a Evetts Field. It was one of the proposed sites for the National Radioactive Waste Repository and probably still is.   Woomera is the size of England and covers 127,000 square kilometres. You can hide a lot of activity in a remote desert compound the size of small country. But in the early fifties, Woomera was a LOT BIGGER. It covered 270,000 square kilometres.  It was also subject of some very interesting events.    

Officers witness UFO

On the night of Saturday 27th October 1952 at approx 8.00pm, 5 persons witnessed a cigar shaped object, fly on a straight and horizontal trajectory,  40 – 45 degrees above the horizon from the witnesses right hand side, to their left.  Four of the witnesses were at the Woomera Open Air Theatre and were seated together. They were Warrant officer H, Warrant Officer W, J.A. (chief baker at the Dept of Supply) and Sergeant P.   In his report Sgt. P makes several observations and considering he was an officer at Woomera, he would have observed test flights and be familiar with rockets and jets. He saw that the cigar shaped object had 2 portholes and interior lighting. (Now why would an unmanned rocket need interior lighting and portholes?) It travelled faster than any jet aircraft he’d ever seen. And in his statement, he said he was not prepared to say whether this thing was an EARTHLY object. W states it was not a falling star, and was faster than any aircraft he’d ever seen. H commented that he heard no noise, and that it was definitely something other than anything from the heavens, meaning a comet or shooting star. The other witness was the wife of a serviceman and gave the same description.   The interesting part is where the Chief Security Officer forwards all the reports to The State Security Office in Adelaide from the investigator – entitled “Flying Saucer Observed Over Woomera”. In a brief covering letter he states the witnesses are all reliable, and sober, and that a cigar shaped object was observed, “whether man made or not.” A copy is then on-forwarded to the Deputy Chief Security Officer in Melbourne. A paper trail has begun.    It then transpires that The Advertiser newspaper also published reports of the same object, sighted by different witnesses, in other parts of the State. (Any news clippings regarding flying saucers were cut out and retained by the various defence forces.  We found a lot of them). And so a file is now born. RSO 52/618, and becomes part of a greater file.  

Snow clouds don't do 90 degree turns

I then discussed an old Defence Department tracking map and reproduced it on screen. It was rather difficult to see because of its age, but I wanted the audience to get an idea of the importance of it, due to the numerous contradictions in this particular reported event. The story behind this sighting is as follows, by a Radar Officer on duty at the time.   “At 1.45pm while searching for a Mustang on G1, a target was locked onto in the Shell Lagoon Area. On looking through the telescope on the radar dish no target could be seen. The signal to noise ratio was at least 5 to 1 which is similar to that obtained from a large aircraft. Between 1.45 and 2.00pm the target came to within a mile distant, and still could not be seen. At 2.05pm I decided to plot the course of the target. At times during the movement of the target, SMALLER targets seemed to detach themselves from the main target, and drift away”.   The official explanation by the way turned out to be a snow cloud. However, they shot themselves in the foot on that one. The report is titled “Flying Saucer Phenomenon over Range G1” not anomalous snow cloud! The summary for the weather conditions, appearing in this file are as follows, and I did check them out independently.   Fine, high cloud @ 25,000 feet, warm temperature, 84 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees C). Strong, northerly wind (25 – 30mph), which blew from the inland desert and this is where it gets strange.      

Conclusion on Invisible Phenomenon

“In view of the foregoing weather report and the absence of any visual sighting, the signals probably came from a cloud”.   In a report put together 2 weeks later, after questioning other radar operators, they referred to the object as the “invisible phenomenon” and because no object was visible there was nothing of security interest. (So if you can see it, it can’t be all bad.) But, in the very same report, one paragraph above this one, I quote “the fact that small portions were breaking away, tend to show that whatever it was on radar, was registering the target very efficiently on something other than ordinary snow”. So there goes the snow theory. Doesn’t make sense does it?   In the second paragraph on the same piece of paper it reads, “the phenomenon was locked to his radar beam for a period of at least 24 minutes which in NO WAY can be compared with Flying Saucer phenomenon of previous reports.” So I take it from that comment that they knew pretty much how a flying saucer behaved!  

The snow theory just doesn't add up

The resident meteorological officer stated it was FINE with cloud at 25,000 feet. Our snow cloud was shuffling along at 1500 feet up to around 5000 feet. (Average height 3750 feet) It should have been highly visible from the ground and through a telescope. It was 84 degrees, in October, and it was 2.00pm in the afternoon with a strong northerly wind blowing from the interior, which by the way is all desert! The probability of a snow cloud at this time of day is mind boggling.

Smaller objects detached from the target and moved away. The cloud therefore methodically sent out scouts looking for somewhere to snow.   Shell Lagoon is a salt lake in the middle of the desert, well inland and has an average rainfall 16mm compared to Adelaide 40mm. South Australia has the dubious title of being the driest state on the driest continent on Earth.

The average wind speed is 21 kms/per hour (10mph), the temp around 27 degrees C (80F) in October, (Spring). The object was doing approx 37 mph (wind estimated at between 25 – 30mph maximum).

In 3 mins it dropped 1600 ft then in the next 4 mins rose over 2200ft and did two right hand turns (one was 90 degrees). It never went above 5,600 feet. The visible cloud at that time was at 25,000 feet. A check of snow bearing clouds on the net indicated to me that most are fluffy and white and highly visible, a few were dense and wispy, but still highly visible. This “cloud” was totally invisible! In the 42 years of recorded weather I logged on to at Woomera, there was not one reference to fog.  

UFO filmed during rocket launch

My next slide showed some correspondence regarding the sighting of a UFO filmed during a Skylark Rocket test back in April 1967. We are YET to locate that film. Some of the transcript reads as follows: “I spoke to you some weeks ago about a report of UFO sightings during a Skylark launch…..have you had the films examined ?   The superintendent was most upset that the report he requested had not found its way to his desk. (We encountered many handwritten notes on the files we examined which were very significant.)  

HOW FAST?

In May 1954, a dark grey circular disk was observed by a radar operator through binoculars, pacing a Canberra Bomber, directly above it.  The cruising speed of a Canberra Bomber was around 400mph. The disk flew up to the Canberra, paused over the top of it, remained stationary, (seemingly) above the bomber, then flew away at great speed. Radar operators who took the bearing on the target, timed it between 2 points and realised that this object was doing in excess of 3,600 miles per hour, or Mach 5, and yet it appeared to be stationery seconds beforehand. The radar operator who witnessed the event said, and I quote: “during this time I found it very hard to believe what I was seeing, so I shut my eyes and looked again, and it was still stationary over the Canberra.”

What makes this guy so believable is that he worked for Vickers-Armstrong. They made aircraft. He knew what he was looking at.   Mach one was officially reached in October 1947 (there's that date again) by Chuck Yeager (of The Right Stuff) in a BellX-1 aircraft. Mach 2, Dec 1953, Mach 3, Sept 1956. It took a further 5 years to achieve Mach 4 in March 1961, and shortly after that Mach 5 was achieved on 23/6/61 (3,603 m.p.h.). 7 years after something else did it at Woomera.

It then took us 43 years to officially get from Mach 6 to Mach 7 in March this year. Although according to my sources Woomera achieved Mack 7, two years ago.

But what's most interesting about this case, (and you really need to get your head around this), is that the object went from about 400mph to 3,600 mph in just 10 seconds! In 1954!  

Dancing Lights?

And finally from Woomera, a file entitled, “The Dancing Light”. About an object sighted adjacent to Launcher Apron 1, Range B. on 21st October 1954. The graphic of its movement and trajectory I included in my presentation was a copy from the original file.   By all accounts this was a very erratic moving light. It so interested the Superintendent of the base that he forwarded a report to the head of the Missile Projects Group and to the Professor of  Physics at Adelaide University.   The light alternated from deep orange to a deep yellow. It was egg shaped (like an egg on its side), and was approx. only 500ft above the observers. It was 3 times larger than Venus when at its largest. Venus was mapped and its position noted although as you will see from its behaviour, it could hardly have been a planet. Clouds were at 15,000ft. Wind NNE at 10mph.   The light was first observed at point A. It then moved in an anticlockwise direction, around a jagged ellipse to point B.  So it moved in a circle This was repeated 3 or 4 times. It then paused at point B, and very slowly descended to Point C, paused again (so it stopped and started) and then moved off in a period of 2 seconds through point D and E, and disappeared. Now we know why they sent the report to a physics expert and discounted the Planet Venus which incidentally was nowhere near the object.  

Hot Spots, Milne Bay Sightings –Papua New Guinea

One of the most intriguing things I found throughout my Disclosure journey refers to a series of reports coming out of PNG, in particular the Milne Bay area. Considering the number of files I scanned, this area was by far the most active that I came across, next to Woomera.   Milne Bay is on the eastern most tip of Papua New Guinea, bordered by the Solomon Sea above, and the Coral Sea below. The surrounding islands and seas were rife with reports of all kinds of weird and wonderful sightings. What I’m going to do is give you a brief roll call, of some of those sightings, over a one year period.  I believe there may well be an underwater base in this area, because of the number of sightings over such a great period of time. And also because the survey map indicates that the ocean is very deep in this area. The seabeds around these islands are littered with underwater caverns.   I'm also referring to sightings from the 50's, including Father Gill's well documented case, right up to the present day, with correspondence I have read from a businessman on the Solomon Islands claiming to have witnessed UFO’s coming out of the ocean, on more than one occasion. So here’s our brief roll call on the Milne Bay sightings  

• A strange vertical light is seen for several nights coming out of the water. HMAS Bass sent to investigate. 2/11/65

• Then a group schoolchildren and their teacher, see an extremely bright light changing from red to blue and swaying side to side (at least a mile each way) 12/7/65.

• A Bright light at sea responds to torch flashed in its direction which could easily have been a fishing boat …7/8/65.

• There was a flash of blue light over Karogorea Bay. A strange Yellow/green light wavering back and forth. The Light given off was sufficient to light up the beach. 

• Then Red glare from cylindrical object was seen over Deboyne Lagoon in PNG with Multiple witnesses. Noise like a diesel engine heard. The object cruised back and forth. This object was also seen from a neighbouring area over three consecutive nights. 18/7/65

• An object passed over Sewataitai emitting a bright beam of red light towards the earth. This sighting was witnessed by approx. 100 road workers camped in the area, and there are several reports and files on this one incident alone.

• And from the Govt. Aerodrome Kavieng to DAFI – Incident at Kavieng Harbour PNG  12/8/64 – where a brilliant white light, seen by several witnesses for approx 11 mins 6.45pm

• An object sighted one mile off-shore in district of Samarai, casting a dull yellow vertical beam of light; it then ascended and sped off. There were Numerous witnesses

• Reports of a huge white/yellow light emitting long rays of light to the ground. It then faded to a pinpoint of light and disappeared. A copy of this report was sent to the JIO.

• Also in this group of files was reference to a summary of the efforts made to re-discover the whereabouts of the "excised" frames from the famous 1953 Drury film of a UFO over Pt. Moresby, why? Because we sent this film to the United States for analysis and when it was returned to us it was minus several, lets say,  "pertinent' frames!! 

• reports of UFO's. from individuals about an explosion well out at sea causing a Bright orange flash. The explosion was such it lit up indoors during daylight and vibrations were felt.

• And finally a telegram from Milcom Pt. Moresby – Dept Defence Canberra:  (Copy to J.I.O.)  regarding the first point which was the vertical light. More paper trails.

  As a matter of interest, if you recall the Father Gill sightings in this area in 1959, a shaft of blue light shone upwards into the sky from one of these craft. These sightings all happened in the same area and cover only some of the reports logged in a one year time frame.    

What was seen but wasn’t on radar?

The Santa Cruz Islands the subject of my next report. HMAS Anzac reported that at 5.45PM, Thursday May 5th 1966, when in position near the Santa Cruz Islands, four unidentified flying objects were sighted at about 20 degrees above the horizon, by the navigating officer and several other officers who were not on the bridge at the time. These objects were quite distinct, and appeared closely grouped, with the leading object glowing red and the three trailing objects, green in colour and forming an equilateral triangle, apex towards the leading object. They left trails of colour in their wakes but these did not last. The trails were approx. 6 times the size of the objects in length.   After the objects had disappeared behind cloud ahead of the ship, they reappeared one more time before disappearing, once again into cloud cover. No smoke or other evidence was seen during the passage of these objects. The approx. time in sight was not more than 25 seconds, and the objects were travelling at a very high speed.   No radar contacts were detected at the time. (Although there was a handwritten notation on this report to re-check all radar imaging for that day), There were 2 forwarding reports and another note clearly stating,  that this report should, “not find it’s way to the Australian UFO file.” It was signed by the Director of Naval Intelligence.

U2  Spyplane in Tasmania!

Over the years there have been a number of occasions when UFO researchers have run into UFO sightings generated by observations of “secret” aircraft. Triangles being a perfect example, are they, or aren’t they ours? To the best of our knowledge, no Australian researcher or group has suggested that “secret aircraft” have been the cause of any Australian UFO reports. Although I'm sure they must account for some. It was therefore with surprise that we came across the following report when reviewing an RAAF UFO file.

  A Department of Agriculture inspector reported a UFO sighting to the RAAF in May 1961. Based on the information located in a digital copy of file series A703, a reconstruction of the incident is given below.

  At 8.35 am on 25 May 1961 children were playing in the backyard of a house in Devonport, Tasmania. The children saw something in the sky which caused them to get a Mr Y. out of the house. This male witness reported seeing one definite object in the sky. In colour, it was “silvery but not reflective” and in shape “shaped like a thermometer or a pencil without a point.” No detailed structure was noted, and there was no sound associated with the sighting. The object’s speed was stated as ‘slow.’ It was seen to the NNW of Devonport travelling in a straight line.

  Question 26 on the RAAF Report Form, which was filled in by the RAAF interviewer, asks for the “Location of any air traffic in the vicinity at the time of sighting.”  Typed here were the words: “U2 aircraft over Great Lake at approximately 8.15 am travelling in a northerly direction, leaving a distinct vapour trail.” So what were we doing with a U2 Spyplane flying over Tasmania in 1961.

Official RAAF UFO report forms

The RAAF actually put together very detailed, official report forms, and added a page for the interrogators comments. There were approx 27 questions. The one I showed on screen was taken from an Air Traffic Controller at Tullamarine Airport, and the radar plot of this object was also mapped and noted.

The Journey

During the course of our research AURA has looked at hundreds of report forms, sketches, photographs, and records on so many different types of UFO’s it’s staggering. And we haven’t even finished 10% of what could be released.   I have only recounted a few sightings from the hundreds if not thousands of sightings on record. It would be almost impossible to present them all to you, so that’s why we are putting all this information on CD’s. Under crown copyright I can only show 10% of any given file with names and details on them “for research purposes”, so that’s why we want anyone with an interest in this subject, to obtain a copy of the CD’s to see for themselves what a goldmine of information is now on record.   Some of the most interesting reports were from air bases in all States particularly Pearce WA, Woomera SA, Williams & Laverton. There were reports on burning tree type craft on the ground near Kalgoorlie. Reports from TAA and QANTAS pilots. Hundreds of individual sightings reports,  fully documented,  from every part of Australia including oil platforms, cargo ships, naval vessels, police officers and the general public. The list is huge.   There are files covering the Nowra Incident (pilot was paced by UFO’s and transcripts taken), the Tully case, (reed bed crop circle), Nebo in Queensland where a tract of ground was severely scorched. A sample of this scorched foliage sent to RAAF Garbutt for chemical analysis. A witness described the area affected as 600 yards wide and 4.5 miles long. On 5/12/64 pieces of burnt foliage from this site were packaged and sent to the CSIRO. All these reports have been opened and are available on the NAA web-site.    

What did I get out of this personally?

A lot of information, and the overwhelming sense of a government who treats the UFO phenomenon with a serious and organized dedication, to documenting as much as they can, and in as much detail as they can, on as wide a variety of cases as possible. Contrary I think, to how they sometimes portray themselves to the media.  

Acknowledgements

Special thanks and gratitude must go to Dominic MacNamara our computer whiz, archivist and slide director for his help with my presentation.   I also want to thank Keith Basterfield for being brave enough to take up this project on Auforn's behalf and for giving me untold headaches, late nights and eyestrain. But especially for all the time and effort he has put into disclosure from as early as 1989 when he first requested files under the Federal Archive and FOI Acts.   I’d also like to acknowledge Bill Chalker’s contribution, in having files released for scrutiny back in 1982 to 84. We were very happy to add some previously unknown files to Bill’s area of interest, and that's now progressing along nicely.   Also Dyson Devine and Vivienne Legg for their efforts in bringing the US Disclosure Project to the attention of our Parliament in 2002.   To Di Harrison and Robert Frola for publishing our findings in their “Revelations” column in the Australian Ufologist. To the members of AURA, there are only 8 of us, AND our liaison officers interstate for taking the time, spending the money and summarizing thousands of pages of government files, typing them up, documenting them and publishing these summaries for ALL researchers. A mighty effort.  

Where to now?

With all this hard work in mind I have a suggestion to put to UFO groups and independent researchers in Australia. I would very much like to see these thousands of file summaries currently on the Disclosure Website, used as a national data base and repository for ALL sightings that you care to share with the public, both past present and future so we have ONE very detailed site where all sightings records are kept so they are accessible to anyone who cares to log on. This way, rather than everyone keeping parts of the jigsaw puzzle in separate boxes all over the place; all the pieces would be in the one box, making it easier to put the final picture together. That way everyone could contribute and be part of the effort. However this is only a suggestion at this stage that I feel warrants more attention.

The next step

I guess we will still plod through the enormous amount of information at the NAA, because in order for you to look at the files on their web page,  we have to request each files to be examined and made available.  We have a master list of around 110 possibly relevant files.   The RAAF has files on UFO’s from 1984 to 1994, so we need to take a look at those. Then it would make sense to collate and examine files for analysis and follow the US lead, by trying to obtain video and audio taped corroborative evidence, which we have started on as I speak. We do have names now, so we can approach these people, both private, military and government personnel.   In 2 or 3 years the aim is to use our solid material to become politically active in seeking other information from the Australian Government and then lobbying them to openly declare what their knowledge is on the topic of UFO’s.   And last but certainly not least, “The Committee.” In all the files I reviewed, there were only 2 references that I came across to “The Committee”. Both were from very high ranking, military personnel.

I believe the Committee was attached originally to the Joint Intelligence Organization and had firm ties to the chiefs of Naval & Air Force Intelligence. They were set up to review certain interesting cases that were found to be either inconclusive, or inexplicable in terms of “Earthly Origin.” I have reproduced a letter from the Director of Naval Intelligence on the screen for you, pay particular attention to point 2.            

2

It is advised, that the reports have been passed to the Committee which has been set up, to consider such reports. The Committee desires to express its thanks, for such a well authenticated sighting. “   This committee actually seemed rather pleased to get such a well documented and authenticated report, obviously because this is what they were there for. The report in question was the Nowra Incident.  

So what does the government really know about UFO’s?

Not as much as they could, because they seem to do very little analysis on the reports they gather, but I'm only surmising this. I 'm quite sure if they had a piece of the alien bumper bar it wouldn't be documented in the archives for us to look at. I think they know everything they need to for now, and you can bet they have files that will never see the light of day, but one thing's for sure, they would have someone, somewhere who knows a damn sight more than we do.

Recent Times:

Saturday 14th June 2003, The National UFO conference for 2003 was hosted by UFO Research Queensland in Brisbane, held at the Italo-Australian Centre. Saturday began with opening remarks and an official welcome by UFORQ’s Chairperson Tino Pezzimenti. Following this was Tino’s reading of an announcement by Mr Keith Basterfield from AURA in Adelaide. Keith was to be a conference speaker but was unable to attend the National Conference due to ill health. His planned presentation was entitled ‘Disclosure – An Australian Perspective’ and this was an exploration of the history of ‘disclosure’ in countries to date, a close look at the recent US project, a review of Australian disclosure and a proposed strategy for an Australian disclosure project. Keith’s announcement was in relation to the launch of a new ‘Disclosure Australia’. (Sheryl Gottschall:2003, para1).

5th June 2004 at the Australian National UFO Conference held in Campbelltown (NSW) was hosted by UFO Research New South Wales (UFORNSW), Debbie Payne a Director from the ‘Australian UFO Research Association’ (AURA) spoke on ‘The Australian Disclosure Project – What the Government has on UFOs’. Payne said "what you discover through searching the archives will depend largely on who you ask. If the staff have or develop an interest in the UFO subject they will tend to bring to your attention other information they have come across while helping with your initial request". (Sheryl Gottschall:2004)

No New Advance:

AURA was again limited by the Australian Government ‘25 year rule’ for document disclosure, they discovered that what was in some peoples eyes new information, proved to be poor quality, of loosely assembled scattering of simple documents in files of previously known UFO cases, or Government policy.

The AURA effort unfortunately did not attain its high objectives and by 2006 the group had exhausted its search effort. It had collected government documents from the NAA, but without any new findings. The project did not advance past previous knowledge or collections from past years.

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Source:

• Basterfield, Keith, Disclosure – An Australian Perspective, Australian UFO Research Association (AURA), 2003

• Gottschall, Sheryl, Third Australian National UFO Conference Review, UFO Research Queensland (UFORQld), 2003

• Gottschall, Sheryl, 4th Australian National UFO Conference 2004 Review and Summary, UFO Research Queensland (UFORQld), June 2004 [1]

• Payne, Debbie, The Australian Disclosure Project – What the Government has on UFOs, Australian UFO Research Association (AURA), June 2004

External link:

• The Disclosure Project
• Campaign for Cooperation in Space
• Exopolitics: Politics, Government, and Law in the Universe
• Australian Ufology
• AURA - Australian Disclosure Project