Dear Members,

Traffic has been a little slow on our web site of late so I thought I
would update you all a little.

There's been some bad news and some not so good news lately - which
would you like first?!

Well, firstly, I have finally heard back from GTV Channel Nine in
Melbourne. After an exhaustive search of the news library for the
Westall film - they have come up with nought! Unfortunately, it
appears that the film is no longer there. Now, all of Channel Nine's
pre-video material (before 1980) has been archived in quite a
"creative" way, apparently, and it makes tracking down the older films
quite a difficult process. It is possible that the film is still in
the library somewhere, but there is no sure way of finding it, over
and above what has already been done to find it. Any further searches
of the library will incur a $110 per hour standard search fee. The
librarian has suggested that it may take 3-4 more hours to exhaust the
appropriate collection! And then there may still very well be no
result. This is of course a very disappointing result, and I am trying
not to get conspiratorial about it. The librarian did come across a
UFO file (cataloguing news stories) that covered the 1966 period, but
the Westall news story film was definitely not there, according to
her. Searches of the archive by non-staff members are not permitted
apparently.

Secondly, I have been in contact by email with the Public Officer of
the Victorian UFO Research Society in order to elicit assistance from
them, particularly in relation to any public information they may have
published in the past on the Westall case, as well as any photos they
may still possess from their orignal investigation. I emailed him on
21 July and have not yet received a reply.

Thirdly, I have been in correspondence with the RAAF since 15 July
about their records pertaining to Westall. The RAAF's general
inquiries office contacted various other branches of the RAAF in order
to secure an answer to my queries, but the replies eventually came
back to me that no files relating to Westall could be found. The RAAF
has however invited me to contact the Office of Air Force History in
Greenway, ACT, so that I can arrange a personal examination of any
relevant files that may be held there. I am hoping to do that over the
coming days.

To end on a more positive note: I have been in contact by telephone
and email with two more first hand witnesses of the UFO over the past
week. One a former Westall High School student, the other a former
teacher at the school. They have shared with me some very interesting
information about the incident, and I have invited them both to join
the web site - let's hope that they will! In the meantime, they have
both offered to assist me in any way that they can in their research.
I might add that one of these witnesses has confirmed the involvement
of two RAAF officers in the investigation of Westall - he was
interviewed at his home by both of them, and the memory of this
encounter remains very vivid to him 39 years later. I do hope that he
will see fit to share more of his story with us all.

I look forward to hearing from you all again soon.


Regards,

Shane.

I have shared this file with a number of participants, such as George
Simpson & Keith Basterfield. I used much of it in my 1996 book "The OZ
Files - the Australian UFO Story". Good luck with getting to the
bottom of this intriguing mystery.

Regards,

Bill Chalker

                          THE WESTALL  SCHOOL SENSATION
      Two days after the Burkes Flat incident Victoria was the setting
of another UFO sensation.  This time there were numerous witnesses and
the sighting occurred in daylight.  Despite the extraordinary nature
of the incident only fragmentary details emerged and it has been
suggested by some witnesses and researchers involved in the case that
there were attempts to prevent details of the case emerging.
      At about 11 am, April 6th, 1966, numerous schoolchildren and some
teachers at Westall High school, in Clayton, a Melbourne suburb,
observed a UFO which apparently landed nearby.
      An account by one of the students appeared in the school
magazine, "The Clayton Calendar", which was produced by pupils of
grade 6C-5C:
      "I was in class when the disturbance occurred outside.  I didn't
take any notice and when the bell went for morning recess my
classmates and I went to our lockers and then walked out into the
yard.  we noticed that all the girls who were doing Physical Education
were gathered right down near the end of our playing field.  Suddenly
the school came alive with excitement and everyone began running down
towards where the girls were.  I was among the surging mob.  I had
seen something that looked very unusual in the sky.
      "As I looked up I saw a dazzling, silvery object flying around
some pine trees which grew on a ridge about a quarter of a mile
directly behind the school.  It then flew across some open paddocks
also behind the school and returned to the pines.  On the other side
of the ridge there is a small field.  The thing hovered over the pines
and descended behind them and must have been directly over the field.
  I then lost sight of it because of the pines.
      "As the thing was out of sight I began to notice many private
aircraft mainly Cessna, flying towards the pines.  It was then, the
thing reappeared and rose to the level of the approaching aircraft.
This enabled me to get a rough idea of its size.  It was a silvery
object as long as one of the Cessnas, but very thin.
      "As the aircraft approached the thing tilted on about a 45 degree
angle and started to move into the distance, gradually gaining height.
  The planes increased their speed and began to follow it, but the
object streaked away leaving the planes far, far behind.  The planes
turned back, but we all stood hoping it would return but it didn't, so
we all went into school, fifteen minutes late.
      "After school two friends and I went to the field where the
object had descended.  In a few minutes we were crawling under a
barb-wire fence which surrounded the field at a height of about four
feet.  We waded through the waist-high grass making for a gap in it.
Suddenly we were there.  We found ourselves standing in a spot where
the grass had been utterly crushed against the earth.  It was an area
of about 25-30 feet in diameter.  Cows could not have done it because
the fence was barbed,  and also cows would have left a track through
the grass.  There was no track.  The object had descended over the
field;  could it have done this?  It all leads back to the same
question.  What was the object?  Some people say it was a weather
balloon,  but do weather balloons go up and down quickly,  crush grass
and fly across the skies faster than reasonably speedy aircraft?
Otherwise,  your guess is as good as mine."
The proceeding statement by a male student at Westall High school was
released by the science teacher, Mr. Andrew Greenwood.  Mr. Greenwood
said of the student, "I taught him some years ago and found him
intelligent and well balanced,  and certainly not given to making
irresponsible statements."
      The "Dandenong Journal", a local newspaper attributed the
following information to Mr. Greenwood:
      "He said 5 light aircraft were circling the object and were
flying at a relatively low altitude.  The aircraft had played a `cat &
mouse' kind of game with the object.  He described the object as like
a thin beam of light, about half the length of a light aircraft.  It
was silvery-grey and seemed to thicken at times.
      "The thickening was similar to when a disc is turned a little to
show the underside. The object was never really stationary.  It seemed
to move from side to side and up and down.
      "At first there was one plane apparently observing the object.
Later,  Mr. Greenwood noticed 5 aircraft which attempted to follow the
object as it Occasionally accelerated back and forth from east to
west.  Mr.  Greenwood first saw the object when it rose  into the air
from behind pine trees near the school.  After about 20 minutes  (at
about the end of morning recess)  Mr. Greenwood looked away, and when
he looked back it had disappeared."
      The Journal indicated that one pilot, Mr. Bob Ford, indicated he
had been flying "somewhere in that area" at the time, but did not see
anything unusual. No other pilots were found who indicated they had
been in the area and saw something.
      Another student, Marilyn Eastwood, described the object as
"round, with a hump on top and round things underneath."  Still
another, B.A. described to me how she had seen 3 UFOs that day.
According to her two of them had landed, and that she had seen two
large circles of flattened and burnt grass.  She indicated their width
was about 50 feet across.  She recollected how, the military
(ostensibly all three services - Air Force, Army and Navy) had arrived
at their house the next day.  Her mother, and K. her brother, went in
a truck with her to the landing site.  They were told to stay in the
truck while the military investigated.  They took samples of earth.
B.  recollected overhearing hearing one of the military, a RAAF
officer, saying that the earth must have been subjected to extreme
heat, as the earth itself had been burnt.  The military were insistent
that the family say nothing about what they had witnessed.  While her
mother had since died, her brother K. partially confirmed the story.
He had been  about 3 years younger than his sister, and was attending
the adjacent primary school.  Mrs. A. apparently also saw the UFOs
since she was serving in the tuck shop at the time of the commotion.
B. A. also described how 3 students, who had talked to the TV station
Channel 9, had been given detention.
      A school prefect years later described to Dr. Ian Gordon (who was
then working in the Victorian Education Department curriculum
development section), how he had been in a chemistry class during the
incident.  He had seen, out through the windows,  along with many
other students and some teachers, both inside and outside class rooms,
what seemed to him to be an object of a "classic flying saucer shape",
silver blue in colour, come down behind a group of pine trees in an
undeveloped area, not more than 200 metres from Fairbank Road.   There
had been two objects according to what he had heard but he only saw
what seems to have been the first of these.
      All of a sudden everyone in the sports class took off in a south
west direction, including some of the teachers, like there was a mass
evacuation of the school, all "after a flying saucer".   According to
the prefect the thing had come down behind a group of pine trees.  A
large area of flatten grass was found there, perfectly circular in
shape, about 30 feet in diameter, with 3 scorch marks.  The grass was
very dry,  but it hadn't started a fire.  In  a westerly direction
from the site, a man approached the school group, and told them all
"to piss off" because it was private property.  The property had been
standing idle for many years.  The man walked through the area of
flattened grass and seemed to "ignore its existence",  according to
the prefect.   When he was told by numerous screaming children that a
flying saucer had come down there,  he said "bull shit" and various
other things.   The school children eventually returned to the school,
accompanied by a number of teachers who had "followed the mass exodus".
     The prefect was berated by the school principal for being
"irresponsible" in following the rest of the students (and teachers).
  Students were forbidden to talk to the press.  Some students were
interviewed in Rosebank Avenue, near the school.  There was a phone
call to the principal.  He made an announcement that no such thing had
been seen and put it down to "mass hysteria".
      There were allegedly a couple of unmarked planes, aluminium
coloured, seemingly silent, flying over the area at the time,  very
slowly.   The prefect indicated that from the time of the thing coming
down to when the school group arrived at the landing site, had been
little more than 5 minutes.  It was gone when the group arrived.   The
prefect indicated there had been a secondary mark with no scorch marks
to the south of the main site, which suggested that a second object,
apparently seen, may have landed.  That object had been seen coming
down very shortly after the first.  The site was not flattened right
down like the main one.  It appeared to be just a swirled pattern in
the grass in an anti-clockwise direction.  It was understood that one
of the teachers, a science teacher, may have taken photos of the site.
  Some students said they saw the object take off after it had come
down, but most seem to have only seen something come down and later
sighted the ground traces.   There was apparently talk with some
teachers, according to the prefect, that the craft had obviously, been
some sort of secret air force test weapon.
      Ray Fischer of the Victorian UFO Research Society revealed to me
that they had interviewed a man who came on the scene at about 5 pm of
the day of the sightings.  He saw a "a perfect circle of flattened
grass, flattened right down to ground level, in grass that was about
two feet high.  This man recollected that he thought the area was
about 30 feet in diameter.  He returned a few days later to find a
team of "military or air force people" going over the site.  A couple
of technical looking vans were parked outside.  He saw that people in
uniform were examining the circle with what he took to be radiation
detectors.  Officials there told him he couldn't go into the field and
to move on.  This gentleman returned to the site a third time, only to
find that the paddock had been burnt out.
      Several other events are alleged to have been related to this
fascinating affair.  Some witnesses described seeing a cow in the
paddock, where the UFO came down.  It was alleged to have been in such
a distressed state that it eventually had to be put down.  There have
been persistent stories that one schoolgirl, the first student to
arrive at the landing site, was found be in a dazed, trance like
state, as if she was very shocked.  There were unconfirmed rumours
that this girl never fully recovered from this experience and spent
some time in a hospital at Kew.  The teacher who took photos of the
site, was allegedly told by the headmaster that "if you want to keep
on teaching you have to keep your mouth shut and we want the film."
The film allegedly ended up in the hands of the RAAF or Army, but
predictably there has been no confirmation of that detail.   A woman
claimed the UFO involved in the Westall school landing,  h ad hovered
over her house, above trees,  before it landed behind the school.  The
UFO was allegedly above the trees for 5 or 10 minutes before it
landed.  The woman claimed the UFO "was trying to find a place to
land."  She states she followed it,  but that "it started to get a bit
spooky".   She started to return home,  but then went back, only to be
allegedly turned away by police.  One source indicated that 200 to 300
kids raced down to the fence where the UFO had landed.  There was
"some guy walking around in white overalls and he was telling everyone
to keep back and another guy appeared and he had some sort of uniform
    Both men had overalls - one was fully white - the other had a dark
uniform,  but it had an emblem or a logo on it."  According to that
source, these men were normal looking,  and seemed to be walking
around the UFO on the ground.  "One of the guys disappeared into the
aircraft - the one on the ground - they didn't see where the other one
went - the last they saw,  he was around the other side of them.  They
disappeared."   It was alleged by at least one source that the UFO had
"sort of crash landed", that there were 3 "aircraft" above it,
"hovering above it.  They were white - they didn't have wings and they
didn't have engines  ... all they did was hum.  The humming got
louder,  when they took off.  Then within a few minutes this "flying
saucer" took off."
      There is little doubt that something of an extraordinary nature
was seen over the Westall school area and that at least one of these
objects appears to have landed and apparently left behind some
physical traces.  Number of witnesses confirm these basic details.
Other more exotic details vary in credibility, some seemingly
complementing each other and some apparently contradicting the
generally accepted story of events.
                             THE BALWYN PHOTO ENIGMA
      A puzzling footnote exists on the Westall High school affair.  A
colour Polaroid photo was taken of a UFO allegedly seen over the
Melbourne suburb of Balwyn, at 2.21 pm, on April 2nd, 1966, 4 days
before the school landing.  The photo was taken by a local engineering
company business man who was also a member of the Victorian Flying
Saucer Research Society.  He requested that his name not be used, so
he was referred to as "James Brown" in some accounts.
      The weather was warm and clear.   Suddenly the man's garden lit
up as if there had been a reflection from some huge mirror.   Brown
looked up and saw a bright, shiny object  coming towards him.  He
estimated its diameter at being between 20 feet to 35 feet.   The
object seemed to about 150 feet up in the air.  It appeared to float
down towards the witness.  The strange object resembled a big mushroom
with the stalk pointing towards earth.    It spun through a 180
degrees angle on its vertical axis, then the witnessed photographed
it.  The object then turned slowly through another 180 degrees on its
horizontal axis bringing the stalk to face the business man.  From
what seemed a virtual stationary position it shot off northwards at
great speed,  seemingly accelerating to be hundreds of miles an hour
in seconds.  The witness  ran and got a carpenter who was working on
the house.  They heard a boom similar like a sonic boom seconds later.
      The VFSRS president knew the witness and interviewed him and the
carpenter.  The carpenter confirmed Brown's story, stating he had
Brown in sight when the photograph had been taken.  The two had stood
shoulder to shoulder as the Polaroid photo developed.  Despite Brown's
apparent inclination to keep the story quiet, the photo and story was
released to the media.  The incident received national press and
television coverage.  Despite this, there was no public interest
apparent from official organisations.
      VFSRS issued a report on the photo which indicated that the
polaroid photograph and an enlarged copy showed no evidence of a
multiple exposure, montage or any other form of tampering.  The US
organisation, APRO, had their photo consultant examine the photo.  Dr.
B.R. Frieden,  Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of
Arizona, reported finding "a jagged line of discontinuity running
across the centre of the photo, through the cloud field, which
suggests that there are actually 2 separate photos joined together and
rephotographed to make the one."  APRO therefore regarded the photo as
a possible hoax.  The photo also apparently "failed" the GSW (Ground
Saucer Watch) computer enhancement technique. Although aware of these
results, Brown still maintains the photo is a genuine one.
                          BALWYN FALLOUT AND INTRIGUE
      Brown claims that while there was no public official interest in
his photo when it became public, there was intense clandestine
interest.  He indicated that that interest was directly attributed to
the fact that his photo showed an object that was ostensibly identical
to the Westall object observed 4 days later.  Brown described how all
hell broke loose when the photo was released to the media without his
permission.  He claims he came under intense scrutiny by the military
and intelligence agents.  He alleged that helicopters surveyed the
area repeatedly, and was interrogated by military, intelligence and
CSIRO officials on numerous occasions.  Brown claims he was taken to a
clandestine meeting attended by military, intelligence and CSIRO
representatives and at least two individuals noted for their high
public profile on the UFO phenomenon as advocates and witnesses.  It
was at this meeting he claims to have been told about an extraordinary
film event at Dry Creek Tracking Station and Woomera during 1963.
Brown also told this story to Leonard Stringfield.  Allegedly a low
level, football shaped UFO apparently caused an electrical outage and
radar blot-out at the station and at the Woomera rocket range. The UFO
was allegedly witnessed by Australian scientists.  Cameramen took
16,000 feet of colour movie film of the UFO, which was ostensibly
passed onto Washington, D.C. for further evaluation. While intriguing,
none of the information could be substantiated.

Thanks Keith for sending your extremely interesting email to the westall UFO
site.
I have been extremely interested in this case for many years now.  I have a
friend who was one of the primary school students who saw one of the objects
ascending, along with the rest of her class.
I was just told today by the father of another student who was also in that
class that his son came home telling exactly the same story, but that they
were told to talk to no-one about it.
It's good that more and more details are coming out now, after all this
time.
I saw one of the photographs of the circle impression , many years ago. I no
longer have access to the photo, but I'm sure more were taken, and one must
be on file somewhere.
If everyone keeps looking , we'll get an original picture eventually.
Cheers...George Simpson....Aufornvic.

Hi all

My name is Keith Basterfield, living in Adelaide and a
member of the Australian UFO Research Association
(AURA).

In associated with the Australian UFO Research Network
(AUFORN) AURA has for the last two years been driving
a project called Disclosure Australia (see web site
http://disclosure.freewebpage.org)

As stage one of this project we have been locating and
examing UFO files held by various Government
Departments through both the Archives Act and the
Freedom of Information Act. Our work is described on
our website.

We have located and examined dozens of Government UFO
related files and been through thousands of pages of
material-some previosuly known but some never seen
before by civilian researchers.

I have looked for any information on the 1966 Westall
event in these Government documents and found nothing
at all on it. No record in the RAAF files, CSIRO files
etc.

I have located my sparse personal papers on this
incident and paste them in below for what they are
worth.

CASE:    WESTALL, VICTORIA
DATE: 6 April 1966
Notes by: Keith Bastefield, PO Box 786, North
Adelaide, South Australia 5006
		 22 July 2005


Section A    Information from first hand witnesses

Witness 1  Lyn

“As I recall we did see a large area of flattened
grass which looked as though the grass had been
flattened  all the same way in a circular fashion. By
memory it was  about 20 feet across.

At the time we informed the teachers not much interest
was shown, although I think a local newspaper came
along-teachers were not impressed.”

(Source: Letter from Lyn to Keith Basterfield dated 14
May 1990.)


Witness 2 Ken  (brother of witness 3)

“I was 17 years old and on my way home from Clayton
tech with some friends. We would pass the kids coming
home from Westall High. This night the conversation on
everyone’s lips was the flying saucer incident. I
remember it caused enough of a stir for the 4 of us to
walk about a mile across to where the Westall kids had
said the saucers had gone down behind the trees
earlier in the day.

In 1966 Clayton and particularly Westall was almost
country. The paddock the saucers landed in was remote
from houses and surrounded by tall pines. The area had
the grass flattened and “tufted” in circles about 60’
to 120’ diameter. The rest of the long grass was
undisturbed. No circles overlapped. We thought and
talked of ways you could make such circles, such as
walking with a rope or a tractor and a slasher. They
didn’t look like they were made by a method we could
think of.

I remember the circles were like the circles pictured
in the newspapers around this time of the saucer nest
in Tully N.Q. I don’t know if this was before or after
what we saw. I know time dulls memories. I am reminded
of various incidents that vary in the way I and other
people remember them.

One thing that does absolutely amaze me is the way the
Westall incident is remembered. About a year ago, at a
party, a girl I didn’t know asked if I was (his name).
She said she had gone to Westall with my sister Kris.
She remembered the saucers and described it the same
way Kris does. She knew of many of her friends that
remembered it. She asked if Kris still remembered it.
They hadn’t seen or spoken to each other for 20 years.

Regarding the Army, Police etc. I heard the stories
about them coming checking and taking a camera. I
didn’t see any of this myself. I didn’t see the
saucers myself. I did see the circles.”

(Source: Letter from ken to Keith Basterfield 11 May
1990.)

Witness 3  Kris  (sister of witness 2)

I was in the second intake of students at Westall High
and in 1966 was in my third year there. The school had
been built on vacant land approximately 19km
south-east of Melbourne. Westall was a new suburb in
an industrial area. Moorabbin Airport is perhaps 7km
away.

During the morning tea break one of the kids told us
that there were flying saucers down at the oval. My
friends and I raced to the far corner of the oval, and
by this time there were quite a lot of other kids
there. We didn’t see them immediately as they were
quite high-and apart from hat we didn’t expect to see
anything! What I saw was several objects that appeared
as one saucer inverted on another, they were perhaps
white or shiny in colour and maybe there were about 7
of them.

It was difficult to tell how big they were as I had no
way of knowing how high they were, but they were
whizzing back and forward across the sky at a rapid
pace.

The UFOs appeared to come down behind some trees not
too far from the school ground and some of the
children climbed the fence top go over there, I
didn’t. perhaps they appeared to come down then up
again-I find that part hard to remember.

I think we may have had a twenty minute break for
morning tea and we saw the UFOs soon after the break
began. We watched them until the bell to return to
class had sounded. Some of the children returned to
class immediately, but I stayed for probably another
ten minutes-by this time the teachers were rounding up
the kids. The teacher we had (for Library) was intent
on telling us we had made the lot up, stop the
nonsense and get into class!

When the lunch break arrived I immediately looked
skyward but saw  nothing. There was talk of reporters
being at the gate but teachers on duty told all the
children to keep away. After lunch a special assembly
was called where the principal informed the children
hat they had seen nothing and to talk to no-one about
it! I couldn’t believe it-there were so many children
that did see this event.

When I returned from school I told my mother about the
day’s events and she mentioned that my brother, Ken,
had ridden on his bike somewhere over near Westall
High. When he returned much later he told of the
flattened grass circles and of the Army and Air Force
taking photos, there were lights set up and a lot of
personnel. They were trying to keep onlookers away.

That night there was a short article on the evening
news. I think there may have been some film of the
school-taken at lunchtime-I’m not sure.

Every time I was outside for days after I looked for
these UFOs but saw nothing until the following
Saturday when my girlfriend and I were at the local
park at the end of our street. The park was alongside
a railway line and in a direct line from our homes to
the school.

We looked toward the direction of  our school, but a
little to the right and again saw the same type of UFO
moving rapidly back and forward in the sky. We watched
for only a few minutes before racing back to my
friend’s house to get her father-who had been very
skeptical. They only lived a few hundred metres from
the park, and when he saw them he scratched his head
and agreed they were not planes and that he had no
idea what they were-he wouldn’t admit they could be
UFOs….The UFOs did not stay around for long but I
remember when they went it was extremely quickly. That
was the last time I saw them.”

“Some information that could be of value is:

Principal:  Mr Samblebe
Form teacher: Ms I J Brown.”

(Source: Letter from Kris to Keith Basterfield 1 May
1990.)




Keith Basterfield
uforesearchersa@...
"The answers are sometimes in the journey
and not the destination."



____________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Photos: Now with unlimited storage
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----- Original Message -----

From: shanelj1967

To: Westallhighschoolufo@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 12:55 AM

Subject: [Westallhighschoolufo] Aerial photograph of Westall.

Dear members,

I am pleased to advise that an aerial photograph of Westall - kindly
supplied by George Simpson - has been posted on the site. The photo
was taken - it is thought - in March 1966. It clearly shows the
farmland area between Fairbank Road and The Grange Nature Reserve.
Some people have placed the circle(s) in this farmland near Fairbank
Road; others place the circle(s) in The Grange Nature Reserve, on the
other side of what is now Osborne Avenue.

It is hoped that this photo will aid people in remembering and
indicating the location of the traces associated with the Westall
incident - namely the circle(s). It may also help others in
remembering the trajectory of the UFO.

The exact location of the circle(s) - and their number - is not yet
definite (at least in my mind). So far, the consensus seems to be
"about three circles", at least one of which may have contained
scorched grass.

Just tonight I have received an email from a gentleman who worked in a
factory in Eileen Road in Clayton South, and who remembers a circle
being behind 11 Eileen Road, between Eileen Road and Glamorgan Street,
in April 1966. He also clearly recalls "an army barricade" around the
circle, which he remembers as being a burnt circle of grass. He is
fairly sure that the police were also in attendance. Interestingly, he
recalls that a day or two later, a bulldozer was at the site, and that
loads of grass and soil were carted away.

Once I have plotted all the trace sites as recalled by people, it will
be interesting to see what it looks like!

Slowly but surely, I am (and we are) getting closer to putting a
handle on this thing - but we are not there yet!

Best wishes,

Shane.

---

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G'Day Shane
Yes it will be very interesting, I think you are just going to get
circles all over the place but time will tell.

I forgot to mention as I've said I didn't know about the farm/farm
shed being there you didn't see it from the paddock however I have
forgottened to mention this to you and George.

Not knowing where the tractor came from I assumed it was from the
Golf Course there on the Melway map I was quite happy with that for
many years until George burst my bubble with his Aerial Map and I
saw the farm/shed on the map and said of course it all makes sense
now and forgot about the Golf Course.

However it has reminded me as far as I know no researcher at the
time checked out the Golf Course they too could have witnessed the
UFO and even reported it to the Authorites I'm not sure of their
view from there but something low in the sky could have been seen by
the owners/staff.

Just a thought. be great to find and old caretaker/groundsman.

Yes we need the name of the owner/tenant of the farm.

Regarding your new find did you check with him as to why he thought
it was the "army" and or "police?"

Cheers for now Les.

Dear members,

Part B of the Department of Air (I love that name!) letter reads:

""3. For interview material we recommend that you approach the
Commonwealth Aerial Phenomena Investigation Organisation, which has
it's [sic] headquarters at 100 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria.

4. Your letter dated 7th April, 1966, refers.

Yours faithfully,

[it is signed with two initials that look like "B.J.", with what
appears to be an abbreviation for "Squadron Leader" written after that]

for

(G.J. ODGERS)
Director of Public Relations""

Unfortunately, the letter of 7 April 1966, from Channel Nine in
Melbourne, has not been preserved in the file.

Regards,

Shane.

Dear members,

I am pleased to advise that an aerial photograph of Westall - kindly
supplied by George Simpson - has been posted on the site. The photo
was taken - it is thought - in March 1966. It clearly shows the
farmland area between Fairbank Road and The Grange Nature Reserve.
Some people have placed the circle(s) in this farmland near Fairbank
Road; others place the circle(s) in The Grange Nature Reserve, on the
other side of what is now Osborne Avenue.

It is hoped that this photo will aid people in remembering and
indicating the location of the traces associated with the Westall
incident - namely the circle(s). It may also help others in
remembering the trajectory of the UFO.

The exact location of the circle(s) - and their number - is not yet
definite (at least in my mind). So far, the consensus seems to be
"about three circles", at least one of which may have contained
scorched grass.

Just tonight I have received an email from a gentleman who worked in a
factory in Eileen Road in Clayton South, and who remembers a circle
being behind 11 Eileen Road, between Eileen Road and Glamorgan Street,
in April 1966. He also clearly recalls "an army barricade" around the
circle, which he remembers as being a burnt circle of grass. He is
fairly sure that the police were also in attendance. Interestingly, he
recalls that a day or two later, a bulldozer was at the site, and that
loads of grass and soil were carted away.

Once I have plotted all the trace sites as recalled by people, it will
be interesting to see what it looks like!

Slowly but surely, I am (and we are) getting closer to putting a
handle on this thing - but we are not there yet!

Best wishes,

Shane.

G'Day again.

Hello Norman well put.

This might interest you.

As far as I can find out this was just sent to the RAAF I don't
think it has had any airplay at the time.

It is word for word but I have condensed it a bit but the wording is
off the site.

The document is address to the Airforce by the Department of Civil
Aviation and the heading is
"Unusual Sightings."

>Forward is a report received from the Department of Civil Aviation
regarding an unusual sighting at Youngtown Tasmania on Th March 1966.

Further down and handwritten is;

>Received Th April consider that information received too late to
allow useful inquiry.

Further down again and handwritten is;

>I really see no reason why we should record this observation along
with UFO's, it is nevertheless referred to you for information.

Now it is "unusual" it is not an UAS (unusual "aerial" sighting) as
the Airforce likes to refer to UFOs.

But they sent it to the Airforce anyway.

Okay back to the report;

>A Mr Clifford on the above date while visiting a relatives property
at Youngtown witnessed a circle in a paddock, he noticed a burnt
circle of grass 15 foot in diameter.

>The outer ring was 2 foot wide and was very badly scorched the
remainder being burnt (middle) from observations it appeared that
the markers were about three weeks old as new grass was starting to
grow.

>Measurements were made which indicated that it was a true circle.

Then there is a sketch with a two foot ring with the words "Very
badly burnt" pointing to it and another arrow pointing to the centre
just stating "Burnt."

Now as you see it was "unusual" it has not seen the light of day
until its re-least to NAA.

From memory that year 1966 sometime in January the Tully "Saucer
nest" as it was called came to light I did not see any coverage of
it on TV that I can remember it was in a book that had collected
such cases and later in a doco, on TV.

It was the tilting at 45 degrees of the UFO as it left that
intrigued me, the same was reported by a witness in the Westall case.

My problem is this Norman, was there airplay of the Tully case
describing the tilting, before the Westall incident and the witness
just elaborated on their sighting at Westall or is it something that
makes you go, Hmmmmm.

I'm not straying from the case with these two sightings it is
important to know what was happening here and else where in the
world at the same time and to know the mindset of the times.

I am "assuming here" the above case (Youngtown) was reported to the
RAAF with a "we sent it on but we don't know what to do with it, it
is "unusual though" (my words)

Tully happened in Queensland.

Then with a stroke of luck a UFO and a Trace (circle/s) happens
right on their doorstep.

I know Point Cook had an investigating Officer Victoria Barracks was
the headquarters for Victoria and possible investigating officers
and East Sale also.

It is not hard to assume that this is a new event for the RAAF
Victoria and that other branches, other than the closest, came for a
sqizzy to familiarize themselves with the ground traces and to carry
out their own investigations on different days which could explain
the differing reports on personnel and equipment at the circles.

The other issue Norman is it was the responsibility of the Airforce
not the army or any other services.

The two men late afternoon on the Th of April 1966 wore fatigues and
the other two wore Blue suits Officers the fatigues (Camouflage)
were Airforce.

I know this as I have explained to others my Father was in the army
up until we moved to Clayton I'm very used to army fatigues these
mens fatigues were paler with different colours.

However to the uninformed they would look like army clobber and so
would say that the army was there or all the services were there.

The two trucks were green with green tarps the mine detector come
metal detector was also Military issue (going by the colour and
bulky design)

I am looking for the scorched circle if there was one, heat leaves a
signature, that is, how the heat was applied.

Cheers for now Westisall

----- Original Message -----

From: shanelj1967

To: Westallhighschoolufo@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 6:09 PM

Subject: [Westallhighschoolufo] Department of Air letter [Part B].

Sorry, I made a slight error with the date when I posted Part A of the
Department of Air letter: the letter is dated 14 April 1966; Channel
Nine's letter was dated 7 April 1966 - the day after Westall. Channel
Nine was the TV station that covered the incident in their evening
news bulletin that night in Melbourne. I wonder if it was seen in
other cities that night as well?

Unfortunately I am not able to post Part B of the letter as either a
file or a photo as it is too large in memory - because of the
background I think when I scanned it. I will provide the text from
Part B in another message when I can - there is not too much more.

I found this letter online at the National Archives of Australia - in
case you want to view it there yourself. Interestingly, there do not
seem to be any documents relating to Westall in any of the UFO-related
files that I (and other researchers) have looked at - at least those
from the RAAF. As others have noted in the past - such as Bill Chalker
- many of the other most interesting UFO cases from Australia's past
are also seemingly missing from the files at the National Archives.

Frustrating, isn't it?

Regards,

Shane.

---

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Sorry, I made a slight error with the date when I posted Part A of the
Department of Air letter: the letter is dated 14 April 1966; Channel
Nine's letter was dated 7 April 1966 - the day after Westall. Channel
Nine was the TV station that covered the incident in their evening
news bulletin that night in Melbourne. I wonder if it was seen in
other cities that night as well?

Unfortunately I am not able to post Part B of the letter as either a
file or a photo as it is too large in memory - because of the
background I think when I scanned it. I will provide the text from
Part B in another message when I can - there is not too much more.

I found this letter online at the National Archives of Australia - in
case you want to view it there yourself. Interestingly, there do not
seem to be any documents relating to Westall in any of the UFO-related
files that I (and other researchers) have looked at - at least those
from the RAAF. As others have noted in the past - such as Bill Chalker
- many of the other most interesting UFO cases from Australia's past
are also seemingly missing from the files at the National Archives.

Frustrating, isn't it?

Regards,

Shane.

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Westallhighschoolufo
group.

   File        : /Department of Air letter Part A.jpg
   Uploaded by : shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>
   Description : Letter to Channel Nine in Melbourne from the Department of Air
in Canberra dated 7 April 1966 - an interesting coincidence (and a bit hard to
read!). [Part A.]

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Regards,

shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Westallhighschoolufo
group.

   File        : /The Dandenong Journal letters to the editor.jpg
   Uploaded by : shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>
   Description : "The Dandenong Journal" letters to the editor page April 1966.

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Regards,

shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Westallhighschoolufo
group.

   File        : /The Dandenong Journal article 2 ctd.jpg
   Uploaded by : shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>
   Description : "The Dandenong Journal" 21 April 1966 article continued.

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Regards,

shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Westallhighschoolufo
group.

   File        : /The Dandenong Journal article 2.jpg
   Uploaded by : shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>
   Description : "The Dandenong Journal" 21 April 1966 article.

You can access this file at the URL:
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Regards,

shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>

Evidence of a past unusual happening is sometimes hard to find after
many years have passed since the incident.

Many people who may have seen something unusual, either at close
range or from a distance, may be afraid to come forward because of
the fear of ridicule from their peers, no matter how long it is after
the event.

When a person has reached maturity,like myself, then you begin to
accept that most things that you experience in this life have a
logical explanation, with the occasional exception.

I have kept a record of the so called 'Westall High School UFO' story
as it applies to me, until such time as an opportunity would arise to
let me tell it in a forum that could take the evidence and place it
alongside other evidence and perhaps make sense of it all.

Shane Ryan has provided that opportunity, and the more people who
come forward with their own stories, the more we are likely to find
out the truth of what occurred nearly 40 years ago.

I am at present trying to upload my 4 page file on to this web site,
and hopefully it will encourage others to do the same. If so many
people did see the same thing, and it can be shown that this is not
just a fantasy, but cold hard fact, then we have taken the first step
toward breaking the code of silence.
Norm Bury
Westall/ Clayton South.

G'Day everyone.

It is good to see a site dedicated to the Westall Incident its been a
long time coming.

Shane introduction into the subject is very good, it has the emphasis
on Westall,I for one would like to piece it together as much as
possible.

I did my own work in the early days after I witness one of the circles.

I was not a student at Westall High my Sister was, she was one of those
out doing PE and witnessed the UFO/s.

I took her back after school and found a circle and the RAAF there.
(which is how we found the circle) I will elaborate more later as I
said I did a lot of work on it in the early days and I suppose I was
obsessed then finally after exhausting ever idea I had to put it on the
back shelf in my mind and got on with life, until that is, about four
years ago I woke up one night and realised it was still unsolved.

So I went a-hunting and found no record of it at the National
Australian Archives. (RAAF files there are only the dregs.)

It always annoyed me when I read here and there over the years of
witnesses saying there was more than one circle or a scorched circle, a
circle with scorch marks in it or more than one UFO etc.

We only saw one circle, it was not crushed to the ground or scorched it
swirled flat anticlockwise bent over about 4 inches off the ground,
(roughly) pristine, except for the damage done by the Airforce. (where
it was flattened to the ground, messy.)

That was late afternoon on the 6th of April 1966.

However doing my own Research and in the early days with the help of
Bill Chalker and then George's help have found otherwise, infact I was
gobsmack to learn of another circle further down the paddock which made
everything fall into place as to what the officers were doing.

And now I am after a burnt or scorched circle, pictures, description
anything would be muchly appeciated.

My wife asks me "why do I bother you are not going to get any answers"

I really can't answer her, except to say something is missing and I
have to find it.

I have put up with a lot of rubbishing over the years just because I
want an answer.

Through my research I have found out that the Airforce were responsible
UAS (UFO'S sightings the closest to the sighting got the job of
investigating

CSIRO had their finger in the pie in the 1966 era.

The two circles in our paddock were not burnt from the 6th till the 8th
and maybe longer.

There appears to be a third scorched circle (I believe)

A short while after the event I realised it was close to April fools
day and thought it was a belated joke that had got out of hand, which
would have been a great "out" for the Authories but they didn't use it.

I have also tried on two occassions to "replicate" the circle we saw,
it is not making the circle that is the problem it is in "replicating"


The one down further was crushed to the ground but it was also the one
that got all the attention,from the students.

So I'll finish off here and give my pinkies a rest.

Cheers for now Westisall.

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Westallhighschoolufo
group.

   File        : /The Dandenong Journal article 1.jpg
   Uploaded by : shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>
   Description : "The Dandenong Journal" April 14 1966 article.

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Regards,

shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>

Hello,

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a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Westallhighschoolufo
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shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Westallhighschoolufo
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   File        : /Leader 1.jpg
   Uploaded by : shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>
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shanelj1967 <shaneryan@...>

----- Original Message -----

From: Shane L.J. Ryan

To: Westallhighschoolufo@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 3:43 PM

Subject: Re: [Westallhighschoolufo] Original "Dandenong Journal" articles!

Dear George,

Thank you for your last two emails very much.

I am sorry you are having trouble with the newspaper articles posted on the web site. I couldn't quite tell from your last email if you are still having trouble with the Monash Oakleigh Leader articles, with the Dandenong Journal articles, or both. Please let me know and I will try to rectify the situation, although I am not sure exactly what to do about it.

All I do to make them readable is first click on the photo image (in the photos section) and then click on the "FULL SIZE" button to the top-right of the photo - this enlarges it to a big full screen image that is very easy to read. I have checked this on two different computers (both Macs) and it works fine. Were you not able to enlarge the other photos in this way (eg the Melways map etc)? Please let me know if this is still not working. The Dandenong Journal articles are very interesting, and at least on my home and university computers they have reproduced quite well.

I will consider re-typing them if absolutely necessary - but I am hoping it wont be!! Do let me know though and I will do what I can at this end with my own meagre computer resources and expertise!

Best wishes,

Shane.



Shane L.J. Ryan
DipJpnStd BTh MA GradDipTESOL [cand.]
30 Renny Place
BELCONNEN ACT 2617
AUSTRALIA
home telephone: 02 6253 2347
mobile telephone: 0402 085 553
shaneryan@...
http://shaneljryan.blogspot.com/

---

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Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
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Dear George,

Thank you for your last two emails very much.

I am sorry you are having trouble with the newspaper articles posted on
the web site. I couldn't quite tell from your last email if you are
still having trouble with the Monash Oakleigh Leader articles, with the
Dandenong Journal articles, or both. Please let me know and I will try
to rectify the situation, although I am not sure exactly what to do
about it.

All I do to make them readable is first click on the photo image (in
the photos section) and then click on the "FULL SIZE" button to the
top-right of the photo - this enlarges it to a big full screen image
that is very easy to read. I have checked this on two different
computers (both Macs) and it works fine. Were you not able to enlarge
the other photos in this way (eg the Melways map etc)? Please let me
know if this is still not working. The Dandenong Journal articles are
very interesting, and at least on my home and university computers they
have reproduced quite well.

I will consider re-typing them if absolutely necessary - but I am
hoping it wont be!! Do let me know though and I will do what I can at
this end with my own meagre computer resources and expertise!

Best wishes,

Shane.



Shane L.J. Ryan
DipJpnStd  BTh  MA  GradDipTESOL [cand.]
30 Renny Place
BELCONNEN  ACT  2617
AUSTRALIA
home telephone:   02 6253 2347
mobile telephone: 0402 085 553
shaneryan@...
http://shaneljryan.blogspot.com/

----- Original Message -----

From: shanelj1967

To: Westallhighschoolufo@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 2:49 PM

Subject: [Westallhighschoolufo] Original "Dandenong Journal" articles!

Dear Members,

The original articles about the Westall UFO from "The Dandenong
Journal" have now been posted to this site.

These articles have been kindly sent to me by a local man interested
in the story - and with access to the old copies of this newspaper.

The first article is from Thursday April 14, 1966. The "F" from
"Flying"  is missing you may notice!

The second article is from Thursday April 21, 1966. The first couple
of letters are missing from the first words of each sentence on the
left hand side (where the pages join!). It is still easy enough to
guess the words though. This article coninues on page 2, the third
scanned photo.

The final scanned photo is from 28 April, 1966, and shows two letters
to the editor. The first one, "Mystery solution?" makes for a very
interesting read. The second one, "Friendly visitors?" less so, I
think - and unfortunately I could not fit the last couple of
paragraphs in - but I think you will get the gist of the letter by
then.

Please remember to enlarge the images to make reading easier.

Please send in any comments, thoughts etc.

Kind regards,

Shane.

---

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Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.8.9/42 - Release Date: 6/07/2005

Dear Members,

The original articles about the Westall UFO from "The Dandenong
Journal" have now been posted to this site.

These articles have been kindly sent to me by a local man interested
in the story - and with access to the old copies of this newspaper.

The first article is from Thursday April 14, 1966. The "F" from
"Flying"  is missing you may notice!

The second article is from Thursday April 21, 1966. The first couple
of letters are missing from the first words of each sentence on the
left hand side (where the pages join!). It is still easy enough to
guess the words though. This article coninues on page 2, the third
scanned photo.

The final scanned photo is from 28 April, 1966, and shows two letters
to the editor. The first one, "Mystery solution?" makes for a very
interesting read. The second one, "Friendly visitors?" less so, I
think - and unfortunately I could not fit the last couple of
paragraphs in - but I think you will get the gist of the letter by
then.

Please remember to enlarge the images to make reading easier.

Please send in any comments, thoughts etc.

Kind regards,

Shane.

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
Westallhighschoolufo group:

The 1966 Westall UFO was probably:

   o a clandestine or experimental Australian military craft.
   o a weather balloon or some other meteorological device.
   o a craft of extraterrestrial origin.
   o a craft from another time or dimension.
   o a more prosaic object, such as a plane, that was misinterpreted.
   o something else.


To vote, please visit the following web page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Westallhighschoolufo/surveys?id=1885298

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

Dear members,

Scanned copies of the Oakleigh Monash Leader article from Monday, 20
June 2005, about the Westall UFO incident, have now been placed on
the
web site in the Photos section.

As the article was almost full-page in size, and I wanted to keep it
as a colour
copy, I have split the article in to two parts, and put both on to
the site. My
apologies for any confusion. Please remember to make the pictures
full-size
after you open them so that you can read them more easily.

Enjoy,

Shane.

The Oakleigh Monash Leader newspaper has published an article on the
Westall UFO incident in it's Monday, 20 June 2005 edition.

This newspaper is a community newspaper in the area covering Clayton
South, where the school is located.

Unfortunately the article is not available on-line.

If you are a former student or staffer of Westall High School (or
Westall Primary School - adjacent to the high school), why don't you
visit their pages on the SchoolFriends.com.au website. A message re
the Westall UFO incident is posted on the notice board on the Westall
Secondary College page (Westall High School is listed under this new
name). A link is available on the links page on this Yahoo Groups
site.  I have found SchoolFriends to be a great way of tracking down
old school mates.

Dear all,

The Leader newspaper (in Melbourne) is about to do an article (in June
2005?) on the Westall High School UFO incident, in preparation for the
fortieth anniversary of the incident on 6 April, 2006.

Stay tuned for more information.

Shane.