Westall UFO
{{Short description|1966 UFO incident in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2011}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Westall UFO
| image = LocationAU.svg
| image_size =
| caption = Location of Australia
{{Location map+|Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne
|width=280|float = center|caption=|places=
{{Location map~|Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne |
lat_dir=S|lat_deg=37|lat_min=56|lat_sec=28|
lon_dir=E|lon_deg=145|lon_min=08|lon_sec=2|label=Westall High|position=top}}
{{Location map~|Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne |
lat_dir=S|lat_deg=37|lat_min=56|lat_sec=52|
lon_dir=E|lon_deg=145|lon_min=07|lon_sec=46|label=The Grange|position=bottom}}
}} Location within Melbourne
| date =
| time = {{Start date|1966|04|06|df=y}}
| place = Westall High School and The Grange in Clayton South, Victoria, Australia
| coordinates = {{Coord|37|56|28|S|145|08|2|E|type:edu_region:AU-VIC|display=inline,title}}
| also known as = Westall High School UFOs
}}
The Westall UFO was a reported UFO sighting in Australia that occurred on 6 April 1966 in Melbourne, Victoria. The object was observed by multiple individuals, including students at Westall High School. Specific details vary between accounts, which increases the difficulty of identification. The sighting has been commemorated with documentaries, reunions and a local UFO playground.
Reports
On Wednesday, 6 April 1966, students and a teacher from Westall High School (now Westall Secondary College) reported seeing a flying object.{{cite news |last1=Kachor |first1=Kate |title=Westall flying saucer: One of Australia's baffling mysteries still unsolved 52 years on |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/westall-flying-saucer-one-of-australias-baffling-mysteries-still-unsolved-52-years-on/1e8e2b76-4ceb-42c7-a71c-7d146db67fe7 |work=Nine News |date=6 April 2018}} It was described as round with a domed top, and white, grey, or silver in colour.{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Dunn |date=7 August 2014 |title=UFO all hot air |newspaper=Herald Sun |location=Melbourne |page=23}} According to the students, the object descended behind a row of trees and into the Grange, an open area south of the school. Some accounts describe the object as being pursued by five unidentified aircraft.{{cite news |title= Flying Saucer Mystery, School Silent | issue=14 April 1966 p. 1 and 21 April 1966 p. 1-2 |publisher=The Dandenong Journal|work=Star News Group |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428183500/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b1/The_Dandenong_Journal_-_1966_14th_Apr_-_page_1.jpg |via=archive.org}}{{cite news |first=Ally |last=Foster |date=8 August 2018 |title=Audio reveals creepy details of Australian UFO mystery RARE audio of a physicist discussing one of Australia's greatest unsolved UFO cases could shed light on the baffling events of the 1966 incident |work=Herald Sun |publisher=The Herald and Weekly Times (News Corp Australia/News Corp) |publication-place=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |editor1-first=Sam |editor1-last=Weir |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/audio-reveals-creepy-details-of-australian-ufo-mystery/news-story/471c724255b0388ee4e930a4d35028e7 |access-date=2 July 2021 |quote="In 1966 over 300 children and staff from a Melbourne school reportedly witnessed multiple UFOs silently flying through the sky before landing in a nearby field. It is the largest mass UFO sighting in Australia yet hardly anything was reported on it at the time..." |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180807165829/https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/audio-reveals-creepy-details-of-australian-ufo-mystery/news-story/471c724255b0388ee4e930a4d35028e7 |archive-date=7 August 2018}} Shaun Matthews was on vacation at the Grange and reported seeing an object with a slight purple hue and about twice the size of a family car.
Some witnesses reported seeing the object take off after landing, and some reported seeing it hover rather than land. When students walked to the Grange after the sighting, some reported a landing site, but the details varied between reports. Students variously described a circle of grass as burnt, "boiled" or pressed down. One student interviewed by a local newspaper described a vague circular area flattened by the wind. Students also reported varying numbers of circles from one to three. On 9 April 1966, air force personnel and UFO enthusiasts visited the field but reported nothing of interest. The landowner burned the field to discourage people from entering the property.
Explanations
Australian newspaper The Age described it at the time as a weather balloon: "Object Perhaps Balloon – An unidentified flying object seen over the Clayton-Moorabbin area yesterday morning might have been a weather balloon. Hundreds of children and a number of teachers at Westall School, Clayton, watched the object during morning break. The Weather Bureau released a balloon at Laverton at 8:30 am and the westerly wind blowing at the time could have moved it into the area where the sighting was reported". The newspaper also said a number of small aeroplanes circled around it. However, a check later showed that no commercial, private or RAAF pilots had reported anything unusual in the area.{{cite news |title=Object Perhaps Balloon |via=Google Newspapers |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cxZVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2083%2C1126946 |access-date=2 July 2021 |publication-place=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |date=7 April 1966 |page=A6 |newspaper=The Age |editor1-first=Graham |editor1-last=Perkin |editor2-last=Macdonald |editor2-first=Ranald |editor1-link=Graham Perkin |editor2-link=Ranald Macdonald (journalist) |publisher=David Syme & Co. Ltd. |department=Main section |volume=CXII |issue=34604 |issn=0312-6307}}
According to Keith Basterfield, a runaway balloon from the HIBAL high-altitude balloon project used to monitor radiation levels after British nuclear tests at Maralinga is a likely explanation. Basterfield located documents in the National Archives and former Department of Supply indicating a test balloon launched from Mildura may have been blown off course "and came down in Clayton South in a paddock near Westall High School, alarming and baffling hundreds of eyewitnesses, including teachers and students". Basterfield said that HIBAL balloons had a white silver appearance and featured a parachute and gas tube trailing from the top, which is consistent with witness descriptions of the object. There were also reports that after the incident, "men in suits" cautioned witnesses not to discuss details of the secret government exercise.{{cite news |last=Dunn |first=Mark |access-date=2 July 2021 |title=Westall 'UFO' incident was actually government radiation testing, reports reveal |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/westall-ufo-incident-was-actually-government-radiation-testing-reports-reveal/news-story/b6c6056bf60f378809f19327eb1c23fc |work=Herald Sun |date=2 October 2005 |publisher=The Herald and Weekly Times (News Corp Australia/News Corp) |publication-place=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |archive-date=4 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204182327/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/westall-ufo-incident-was-actually-government-radiation-testing-reports-reveal/news-story/b6c6056bf60f378809f19327eb1c23fc |editor1-first=Sam |editor1-last=Weir }}
According to skeptic Brian Dunning, "the weather balloon is a likely explanation for the first half of the event". Dunning suggested a nylon target drogue, like a windsock, towed by one plane for the others to chase and known to be in use by the local RAAF at the time, was "at least one very reasonable possibility for the second half". Dunning added that, as years have passed, "descriptions of what was actually seen have now become diluted with made-up descriptions by an unknown number of students who didn't see anything, and there's no way to know which is which".{{cite web |last1=Dunning |first1=Brian |title=The Westall '66 UFO |url=https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4208 |website=Skeptoid.com |publisher=Skeptoid |access-date=23 March 2021}}
Media coverage
The documentary Westall '66 focuses on the sighting. It is based on interviews that ufologist Shane Ryan conducted with residents.{{cite web |url=https://theconversation.com/westall-66-50-years-on-still-stranger-than-fiction-57188 |title=Westall '66: 50 years on, still stranger than fiction |last=Sharpe |first=Matthew |date=3 April 2016 |work=The Conversation |publisher=Deakin University |access-date=8 February 2024}} Westall '66 was incorporated into the national history curriculum as a lesson on critical analysis of popular portrayals of historical events.{{cite news |last1=Topsfield |first1=Jewel |title=Our 'Roswell' now one for the history books |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/our-roswell-now-one-for-the-history-books-20110603-1fl5o.html |work=The Age |date=3 June 2011 |language=en}}{{cite document |title=Westall '66 A Suburban UFO Myster: A Study Guide |last1=Burton |first1=Lee |last2=Lewis |first2=Robert |publisher=Australian Government}} The Phenomenon, a documentary film directed and co-produced by ufologist James Fox, includes content related to the Westall UFO case.{{cite news |last1=Horton |first1=Adrian |title='It's not a question of belief': the film examining government UFO records |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/07/the-phenomenon-ufos-james-fox-documentary |work=The Guardian |date=7 October 2020 |access-date=24 March 2021}}
Local culture
File:Grange_reserve_park,_city_of_Kingston,_Melbourne.png
- A witness reunion was held at Westall Tennis Club Hall, on 8 April 2006, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the incident.{{cite web
| url = https://www.radioemu.com/774-abc-melbourne/
|author = Ronn, Florenz
| title =The 1966 Westall UFO incident
|date = 17 January 2006
| publisher = 774 ABC Melbourne (www.abc.net.au/radio/melbourne/)
|archive-url =
|archive-date =
- The City of Kingston created a children's play space, Grange Reserve UFO Park at The Grange Reserve in Clayton South Melway. The park features a silver UFO with red slides to reflect the 1966 Westall UFO Incident.{{cite web |title=The Grange Reserve (UFO Park) |url=https://www.kingston.vic.gov.au/Outdoors/Parks-Playgrounds/Playgrounds/The-Grange-Reserve-UFO-Park |website=kingston.vic.gov.au |publisher=Kingston City Council |access-date=24 March 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210621110501/https://www.kingston.vic.gov.au/Outdoors/Parks-Playgrounds/Playgrounds/The-Grange-Reserve-UFO-Park|archive-date=21 June 2021 }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web
| url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC2IjeInGXM
| title =Westall Missing Witness Interview with UFO Research Queensland - EXCLUSIVE
| author = Weise, Derek
| date = 27 October 2018
| work =www.youtube.com (Sheryl Gottschall, UFO Research Queensland)
|archive-url=
|archive-date=
| access-date = 20 June 2021}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20221205155703/https://westall66ufo.com.au/ Westall '66: a suburban UFO mystery A MASS UFO SIGHTING A FORTY-FOUR YEAR CONSPIRACY. A MAN SEEKING THE TRUTH] (archived from [https://westall66ufo.com.au/ the original web site]). Film written By Rosie Jones, with Shane Ryan; Produced by Carmel Mcaloon