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Westall UFO

Coordinates : 37°56′28″S 145°08′2″E / 37.94111°S 145.13389°E / -37.94111; 145.13389 The Westall UFO was a reported UFO sighting in Australia that occurred on 6 April 1966 in Mel...

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Coordinates: 37°56′28″S145°08′2″E / 37.94111°S 145.13389°E / -37.94111; 145.13389
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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 [a] reported seeing a flying object.[1] It was described as round with a domed top, and white, grey, or silver in colour.[1][2] According to the students, the object descended behind a row of trees and into the Grange, an open area south of the school.[3] Some accounts describe the object as being pursued by five unidentified aircraft.[4][5] 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.[6]

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.[6][3] Students variously described a circle of grass as burnt, "boiled" or pressed down.[6] One student interviewed by a local newspaper described a vague circular area flattened by the wind.[3] Students also reported varying numbers of circles from one to three.[3] 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.[3]

Explanations

The following day, an article in Melbourne newspaper The Age downplayed the incident.

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.[7]

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.[8]

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".[3]

At the 60th anniversary, paranormal researcher Richard Saunders reviewed the Westall case saying that he believes that "something" happened back in 1966, but thinks that it is a case of "memory fragility, false memory, and memory contagion". The students that say they witnessed something odd in 1966 were young teens and it took until the early 2000's to "systemically interview them", by that time memoires had been embellished, contaminated, forgotten and reshapened. Reports collected at the time tell a story of how different they were, some describe a weather balloon, others say a "round humped silver disc", some saw one, other say they saw five. Different descriptions of the grass where some said they saw one circle, others many circles. Over the years as the students grew up and watched UFO documentaries, discussed it with each other as they processed what had happened, the stories evolve. False memories seem real, and these people are not lying but believe that what they remember is true. What happened at Westall in 1966 was according to Saunders, "conducive to produce false memories, ... in 1966 flying saucers were very much part of the cultural imagination, the space race was at its height, science fiction was flourishing and UFO sightings were a staple of newspaper coverage.[9]

Media coverage

The documentary Westall '66 focuses on the sighting. It is based on interviews that ufologist Shane Ryan conducted with residents.[10]Westall '66 was incorporated into the national history curriculum as a lesson on critical analysis of popular portrayals of historical events.[11][12]The Phenomenon, a documentary film directed and co-produced by ufologist James Fox, includes content related to the Westall UFO case.[13] In 2026 the ABC Australian Story program discussed the event.[14]

Local culture

Grange Reserve Park at dusk
  • A witness reunion was held at Westall Tennis Club Hall, on 8 April 2006, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the incident.[15][6]
  • The City of Kingston created a children's play space, Grange Reserve UFO Park at The Grange Reserve in Clayton South. The park features a silver UFO with red slides to reflect the 1966 Westall UFO Incident.[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑subsequently renamed: Westall Secondary College

References

  1. 1 2 Kachor, Kate (6 de abril de 2018). "Platillo volador de Westall: uno de los misterios desconcertantes de Australia que sigue sin resolverse 52 años después" . Nine News .
  2. ↑ Dunn, Mark (7 de agosto de 2014). "OVNI, pura palabrería". Herald Sun. Melbourne. pág. 23. 
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dunning, Brian . "El OVNI de Westall '66" . Skeptoid.com . Skeptoid . Consultado el 23 de marzo de 2021 .
  4. ↑ «Misterio del platillo volador, escuela en silencio» . Star News Group . N.° 14 de abril de 1966, pág. 1 y 21 de abril de 1966, págs. 1-2. The Dandenong Journal. Archivado del original el 28 de abril de 2016. Recuperado el 10 de enero de 2024 a través de archive.org. {{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: estado de la URL original desconocido ( enlace )
  5. ↑ Foster, Ally (8 de agosto de 2018). Weir, Sam (ed.). "Audio revela detalles escalofriantes del misterio OVNI australiano. Un audio poco común de un físico hablando sobre uno de los mayores casos de OVNIs sin resolver de Australia podría arrojar luz sobre los desconcertantes sucesos del incidente de 1966" . Herald Sun. Melbourne , Victoria, Australia: The Herald and Weekly Times ( News Corp Australia / News Corp ) . Consultado el 2 de julio de 2021. En 1966, más de 300 niños y personal de una escuela de Melbourne presenciaron, según se informa, varios OVNIs volando silenciosamente por el cielo antes de aterrizar en un campo cercano. Es el mayor avistamiento masivo de OVNIs en Australia, pero apenas se informó nada al respecto en su momento...{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: servicio de archivado obsoleto ( enlace )
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Un académico arroja luz sobre un misterio OVNI de hace 40 años" . The Age . 2 de octubre de 2005.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: servicio de archivado obsoleto ( enlace )
  7. ↑ Perkin, Graham ; Macdonald, Ranald , eds. (7 de abril de 1966). «Object Perhaps Balloon» . Sección principal. The Age . Vol. CXII, n.º 34604. Melbourne , Victoria, Australia: David Syme & Co. Ltd. pág. A6. ISSN 0312-6307 . Consultado el 2 de julio de 2021 a través de Google Newspapers .    
  8. ↑Dunn, Mark (2 October 2005). Weir, Sam (ed.). "Westall 'UFO' incident was actually government radiation testing, reports reveal". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: The Herald and Weekly Times (News Corp Australia/News Corp). Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  9. ↑Saunders, Richard (28 March 2026). "The Skeptic Zone #912 - 29.March.2026". skepticzone.libsyn.com. The Skeptic Zone. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  10. ↑Sharpe, Matthew (3 April 2016). "Westall '66: 50 years on, still stranger than fiction". The Conversation. Deakin University. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  11. ↑Topsfield, Jewel (3 June 2011). "Our 'Roswell' now one for the history books". The Age.
  12. ↑Burton, Lee; Lewis, Robert. "Westall '66 A Suburban UFO Myster: A Study Guide" (Document). Australian Government.
  13. ↑Horton, Adrian (7 October 2020). "'It's not a question of belief': the film examining government UFO records". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  14. ↑"The Westall UFO Mystery". www.abc.net.au. 6 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  15. ↑Ronn, Florenz (17 January 2006). "The 1966 Westall UFO incident". 774 ABC Melbourne (www.abc.net.au/radio/melbourne/).
  16. ↑"The Grange Reserve (UFO Park)". kingston.vic.gov.au. Kingston City Council. Retrieved 24 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  • Weise, Derek (27 October 2018). "Westall Missing Witness Interview with UFO Research Queensland - EXCLUSIVE". www.youtube.com (Sheryl Gottschall, UFO Research Queensland). Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  • Westall '66: a suburban UFO mystery A MASS UFO SIGHTING A FORTY-FOUR YEAR CONSPIRACY. A MAN SEEKING THE TRUTH (archived from the original web site). Film written by Rosie Jones, with Shane Ryan; Produced by Carmel Mcaloon