The Valentich disappearance describes the unexplained disappearance on 21 October 1978 of 20-year-old Frederick Valentich while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over the Bass Strait in Australia.
He intended to land at King Island to pick up three or four friends and return to Moorabbin Airport.
During the 127 miles (235 km) flight, Valentich advised Melbourne air traffic control he was being accompanied by an aircraft about 1,000 feet (300 m) above him.
He described unusual actions and features of the aircraft, saying his engine had begun running roughly, and finally reported that “strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. It is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft.”
During Valentich’s final recorded transmission to the Melbourne Service Unit, seventeen seconds of unexplained noise, described as being “metallic, scraping sounds,” were recorded by DOT Air Traffic Control audio tapes.
The tape of the conversation ending with this noise was never made public.
Only researchers and the parents of Valentich heard the transmission recordings.
The Frederick Valentich Disappearance transcription
The following is a transcript of the exchanges between Valentich and air traffic control from the first three pages of the Australian Department of Transport report:
19:06:14 DSJ [Valentich]: Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet. Is there any known traffic below five thousand?
FS [Flight Services; Robey]: Delta Sierra Juliet, no available traffic.
DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, I am, seems to be a large aircraft below five thousand.
19:06:44 FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, What type of aircraft is it?
DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, I cannot affirm it; it is four bright and seems like landing lights.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet.
19:07:31 DSJ: Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet, the aircraft has just passed over me at least a thousand feet above.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, and it is a large aircraft, confirmed?
DSJ: Er-unknown, due to the speed it’s traveling, is there any air force aircraft in the vicinity?
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, no known aircraft in the vicinity.
19:08:18 DSJ: Melbourne, it’s approaching now from due east towards me.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet.
19:08:41 DSJ: (open microphone for two seconds.)
19:08:48 DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems he’s playing some game; he’s flying over me two, three times at speeds I could not identify.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, what is your current level?
DSJ: My level is four and a half thousand, four-five-zero-zero.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, and you confirm you cannot identify the aircraft?
DSJ: Affirmative.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, stand by.
19:09:27 DSJ: Melbourne, Delta Sierra Juliet, it’s not an aircraft. It is (open microphone for two seconds).
19:09:42 FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, can you describe the aircraft?
DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, as it’s flying past its long shape (open microphone for three seconds), cannot identify more than it has such speed (open microphone for three seconds). It’s before me right now, Melbourne.
19:10 FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, how large would the – er – object be?
19:10:19 DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, it seems like it’s chasing me.[20] What I’m doing right now is orbiting, and the thing is just orbiting on top of me. It has a green light and is metallic-like; it’s all shiny on the outside.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet
19:10:46 DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet (open microphone for three seconds) It’s just vanished.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet.
19:11:00 DSJ: Melbourne, would you know what aircraft I have? Is it a military aircraft?
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, Confirm the – er ~ aircraft just vanished.
DSJ: Say again.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, is the aircraft still with you?
DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet; it’s (open microphone for two seconds) approaching from the southwest.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet
19:11:50 DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, the engine is rough-idling. I’ve got it set at twenty-three, twenty-four, and the thing is (coughing).
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, what are your intentions?
DSJ: My intentions are – ah – to go to King Island – ah – Melbourne. That strange aircraft hovers over me again (open microphone for two seconds). It is approaching, and it’s not an aircraft.
FS: Delta Sierra Juliet.
19:12:28 DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet. Melbourne (open microphone for seventeen seconds).
A Search and Rescue alert was given at 19:12. Valentich failed to arrive at King Island by 19:33, and a sea and air search was undertaken, and two RAAF P-3 Orion aircraft searched over seven days. Search efforts continued until 25 October 1978.
Analysis of a fuel slick found roughly near where Valentich had last radioed Robey proved that it was not aviation fuel, and no trace of the aircraft was found.
The aircraft was equipped with four life jackets and an emergency radio beacon and was designed to stay afloat for several minutes.
Neither Valentich nor his aircraft was ever found, and a Department of Transport investigation concluded that the reason for the disappearance could not be determined.
A witness, a Queensland man, Stephen Villages, saw a long object hovering in the evening sky; he could see four green lights from the craft’s underbelly.
Similar accounts have come from Sydney, Port Jackson, New South Wales, and Victoria, describing four bright green lights flashing across the Australian skies.
Source: wikipedia.org
Strange Strange StrangeUPDATE! UFO Encounter: The Frederick Valentich Disappearance
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