Frederick ValentichOn the 21st of October, 1978, an enduring mystery occurred in Australian skies which many believe had UFO's at the heart of it. Twenty year old Frederick Valentich disappeared in the strangest of circumstances and till this day no official explanation for his disappearance has been offered. Valentich, a relatively experienced pilot for his age, had set out from Moorabbin airport to Bass Strait, King Island in his Cessna 182L aircraft. Visibility was good and the prevailing winds were light.  He left Moorabbin at 18:19 oblivious to any notion that within 40 minutes he would be pleading for help from air traffic control.

At 19:06 he contacted Melbourne Air Traffic control to ask if anyone other than himself was flying in the immediate airspace.  Flight Service Officer Steve Robey replied in the negative, nothing else could be seen on radar. Valentich then informed Robey that he could see an unknown aircraft which was 'long' and had what appeared to be, four bright landing lights. It was moving too fast however for him to describe it in any more detail but it had passed at high speed about 1,000 feet above him.  Robey then asked for an estimate of the craft's size.  30 seconds of silence ensued before Valentich came back stating 'It's orbiting me' - he then went on to describe how it had a shiny metallic surface and a green light. 28 seconds of silence then ensued before Valentich reported that the craft had vanished. After 25 seconds more silence Valentich radioed again wondering if he could be being buzzed by a military aircraft.

Robey requested more information on the craft and Valentich informed him that it had returned and was heading toward him from the Southwest.

At 19:12 he reported that his engine wasn't sounding good and that he was heading for King Island. There was a brief silence before he returned to say 'It is hovering - and it's not an aircraft!'

Valentich must have been holding the radio transmit button in the send position in those last moments as 17 seconds of metallic scraping sounds can then be heard. After that, all contact was lost.

A search and rescue alert was issued immediately. The air and sea search however failed to find any trace of Valentich or his aircraft. An official Department of Transport Investigation into the disappearance was launched but no explanation for the mystery was forthcoming. The Department of Transport findings were that 'The reason for the disappearance of the aircraft has not been determined', and that it had been 'presumed fatal' for Valentich.

After Valentich's disappearance 20 people came forward to say they had seen an 'erratic' green light in the night sky - some even claiming to have seen it buzzing Valentich's plane. This could have been written off as publicity seeking sensationalists coming out of the woodwork and in some instances was inferred by the media and officialdom as such.  What they don't seem to account for is the fact that the transcripts of the conversations between Valentich and Robey were not made public until some time AFTER the event - in other words Valentich's 'green light' wasn't known about amongst the public at the time.

It remains one of the strangest aviation mysteries and some of the strongest supporting evidence for the existence of extra-terrestrial visitations.

Cessna 182L

An unedited transcript of the radio conversation is published below....

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 known 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 is four bright, and it seems to me 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 travelling, 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 to me that he's playing some sort of game, he's flying over me two, three times at speeds I could not identify.

FS: Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, what is your actual 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 - er - aircraft?

DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, as it's flying past it's a 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 and how large would the - er - object be?

19:10:19 DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, it seems like it's stationary . What I'm doing right now is orbiting and the thing is just orbiting on top of me also. It's got a green light and sort of 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 kind of aircraft I've got? 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) now approaching from the south-west.

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 is hovering on top of me again (open microphone for two seconds). It is hovering and it's not an aircraft.

FS: Delta Sierra Juliet.

19:12:28 DSJ: Delta Sierra Juliet. Melbourne (open microphone for seventeen seconds).

(An unexplained sound abruptly terminated the voice communications.)

A forum discussion surrounding the Valentich disappearance can be found here