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Valentich
disappearance
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Valentich's intended route
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Date
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21 October 1978
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Location
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Also
known as
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Frederick Valentich disappearance
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Participants
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Outcome
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(Missing) Presumed dead
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Twenty-year-old Frederick Valentich disappeared while
on a 125-mile (235 km) training flight in a Cessna 182L
light aircraft over Bass Strait in Australia on
21 October 1978.
Described as a "flying saucer
enthusiast", Valentich radioed Melbourne air traffic control that he was being
accompanied by an aircraft about 1,000 feet (300 m) above him, that his
engine had begun running roughly, and finally reported, "It's not an
aircraft."[1]
There were belated reports of a UFO sighting in
Australia on the night of the disappearance, however Associated
Pressreported that the Department of Transport was skeptical a UFO was
behind Valentich's disappearance, and that some of their officials speculated
that "Valentich became disorientated and saw his own lights reflected in
the water, or lights from a nearby island, while flying upside down."[1]
Contents
- 1 Frederick
Valentich
- 2 Details
- 3 Search
and rescue
- 4 Investigation
- 5 Proposed
explanations
- 6 UFOlogists
- 7 See
also
- 8 References
- 9 External
links
Frederick Valentich
Frederick Valentich had about 150
total hours flying time and held a class four instrument rating which
authorised him to fly at night but only "in visual meteorological
conditions". He had twice applied to enlist in the Royal Australian Air Force but was
rejected because of inadequate educational qualifications. He was a member of
the Air Training Corps, determined to have a career
in aviation. Valentich was studying part-time to become a commercial pilot but
had a poor achievement record, having twice failed all five commercial license
examination subjects, and as recently as the previous month had failed three
more commercial license subjects. He had been involved in flying incidents, for
example, straying into a controlled zone in Sydney, for which he received a
warning, and twice deliberately flying into cloud, for which prosecution was
being considered. According to his father, Guido, Frederick was an ardent
believer in UFOs and worried about attacks from UFOs.[2]
Details
Valentich radioed Melbourne Flight
Service at 7:06 PM to report an unidentified aircraft was following him at
4,500 feet and was told there was no known traffic at that level. Valentich
said he could see a large unknown aircraft which appeared to be illuminated by
four bright landing lights. He was unable to confirm its type, but said it had
passed about 1,000 feet (300 m) overhead and was moving at high speed.
Valentich then reported that the aircraft was approaching him from the east and
said the other pilot might be purposely toying with him. Valentich said the
aircraft was "orbiting" above him and that it had a shiny metal
surface and a green light on it. Valentich reported that he was experiencing
engine problems. Asked to identify the aircraft, Valentich radioed, "It
isn't an aircraft" when his transmission was interrupted by unidentified
noise described as being "metallic, scraping sounds" before all
contact was lost.[3][4][1]
Search and rescue
Investigation
Proposed explanations
It has been proposed that Valentich
staged his own disappearance: even taking into account a trip of between 30 and
45 minutes to Cape Otway, the aircraft still had enough fuel to fly 800
kilometres;[5] despite
ideal conditions, at no time was the aircraft plotted on radar, casting doubts
as to whether it was ever near Cape Otway;[6] and
Melbourne Police received reports of a light aircraft making a mysterious
landing not far from Cape Otway at the same time as Valentich's disappearance.[6]
Another proposed explanation is that
Valentich became disoriented and was flying upside down. What he thought he
saw, if this were the case, would be his own aircraft's lights reflected in the
water. He would then have crashed into the water.[7]
Another proposed possibility is
suicide, although it has been suggested that he had a contented lifestyle.[8]
A 2013 review of the radio transcripts
and other data by astronomer and retired U.S. Air Force pilot James McGaha and
author Joe Nickell proposes that the inexperienced
Valentich was deceived by the illusion of a tilted horizon for
which he attempted to compensate and inadvertently put his plane into a
downward, so-called "graveyard
spiral" which he initially mistook for simple orbiting of the plane.
According to the authors, the G-forces of a tightening spiral would decrease
fuel flow, resulting in the "rough idling" reported by the pilot.
McGaha and Nickell also propose that the apparently stationary, overhead lights
that Valentich reported were probably the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury,
along with the bright star Antares which would have behaved in a way consistent
with the pilot's description.[2]
UFOlogists
UFOlogists have speculated that extraterrestrials either
destroyed Valentich's plane or abducted
him, asserting that some individuals reported seeing "an erratically
moving green light in the sky" and that he was "in a steep dive at
the time." Ufologists believe these accounts are significant
because of the "green light" mentioned in Valentich's radio
transmissions.[9]
Phoenix, Arizona- based
UFO group Ground Saucer Watch claim that photos taken that day by plumber Roy
Manifold show a fast moving object exiting the water near Cape Otway lighthouse.[10] Though
the pictures were not clear enough to identify the object, UFO groups argue
that they show "a bona fide unknown flying object, of moderate dimensions,
apparently surrounded by a cloud-like vapor/exhaust residue."
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