1965
Early 1960s GOLD COAST (MAIN BEACH), QLD EARLY EVENING (CE1)
Source: 1800 Freecall National Hotline Callin Code 5131 Reported October 2005
Marie (79), a resident of the Gold Coast, recalled an event that occurred in the early 60s. While living at Peak Avenue, Main Beach, Marie and her friend Lock Hail (at the time of the sighting, her husband was indoors) witnessed a brilliant white, dome-shaped object, slightly to the right and above the Surf Lifesavers Club at Main Beach suddenly streak off and disappear towards Stradbroke Island. Just prior to its rapid disappearance, the underside of the object glowed a ‘frosty flourscent’ colour, moving ever so slightly upwards and then zoomed away. The sighting lasted only a few seconds. Conclusion: unknown. Robert Frola AUFORN
ca.1965 COAL AND CANDLE CREEK, NSW (CE1)
NA 1992-0035
Mr H (then a boy of 11 or 12) was fishing with his uncle in a boat on a tributary of the Hawkesbury River, at night, when they heard a humming noise. They then saw a glowing, yellow/gold, saucer shaped craft appear from over some hills to the north. The craft descended and began to follow the water course till it was directly over them. The witnesses reported seeing port holes and a large "windscreen" or observing viewscreen, and had the feeling they were being observed. The object remained stationary for about 30-40 secs before disappearing at great speed to the north-west. UFORNSW
1965 KING BAY (DAMPIER), WA 2100hrs
Source: PUFORG Newsletter
Mr C W Rickman, then aged 41, reported that whilst on night-shift he was standing outside a workshop when he saw what he took to be a gigantic distress flare to the NW. It was dark red in colour and lit up all of King Bay for at least 30kms. It remained stationary for some ten minutes. Mr Rickman called out to the others, and some fifteen men saw it also. Size was estimated as 0.25O. Finally lost to their view by just ‘going out’.
1965 nr NEBO, QLD
A 1982 interview with a Queensland Police Sergeant revealed details of this event to UFORFNQ.
Following the observation of a nocturnal light a very unusual trace was found. It was a ‘bum’ mark some 100 metres wide and running 1km, finally fading into healthy vegetation. Nearby trees lining a road also appeared to have burnt branches. The Mackay Police and the RAAF were said to have investigated. UFORFNQ
1965 SYDNEY, NSW 1730hrs
Source: Australasian Post (1965)
A strange pink cloud was reported by a woman. She then saw a snow-white ‘flying saucer’. A shiny ladder was lowered from a hatchway and a man came down and sat on a rung of the ladder. He shone a beam of light into the sea. The ladder and man were retracted and the object raced out to sea.
13.01.65 41S 167E 0845Z (NO)
Source: Pages121-122 on digital copy of RAAF file 580/1/1 part 4. Telex originally classified "confidential." [Meteor shower]
Report of UFOs by Qantas flight 363. Course 275 degrees mag at 20,000 feet. Shortly after sunset. "Single vapour trail appeared to north west travelling east"became seven distinct contrails apparently made by large aircraft in loose formation"" "Second pilot also recalls that at approximately longitude 166E this morning on the Sydney to Wellington flight he noticed what he considered as eleven ships in group on his radar screen." RNZAF-radars at Wellington and Ohakea had nothing at height within 15-200mls. Except "angels" S of Wellington speed 100kts. Copy passed to US Air Attaché. Search of the area by aircraft on 14 January revealed nothing, except an unusually large number of high density cloud radar contacts. Up to 10 at a time were obtained at ranges up to 70Nmls. Witnesses: 1 + others. AURA
JAN/FEB 1965 CARLTON, NSW 2000hrs (NL)
NA 1993-0061
Mr W and his father were sitting on their front verandah talking at about 8 p.m., when they noticed a star like object in the sky moving in a south-easterly direction. When they looked more closely, they saw more objects, and counted 9 in all. The objects appeared to be flying in a "football shaped" formation. Several neighbours were called to watch the objects which were seen for 3-4 minutes, until they eventually disappeared from view. Duration: 3-4 minutes. UFORNSW
MARCH; OVER THE WHOLE STATE OF NSW
On one of the nights in March, a bright, fast moving unidentified objects with white heads and long red tails flashed across the sky and startled hundreds of people in Sydney and throughout New South Wales. The objects crossed from north-west to south-east, passing over Coonabarabran, Kandos and finally Sydney, at a speed estimated by one man to be between 18000 and 20000mph. Reports also came from many parts of the Central West, including Orange, Molong and Bathurst.
The Director of the Belfield Observatory, Mr G Patston, reported that fifty members of the NSW Astronomical Society at Belfield observed the objects for about thirty seconds.
"We could not see them through telescopes because they were moving too fast. They looked like a bursting sky-rocket. We recorded eight objects in the group. They had glowing heads and bright, reddish-orange tails about twenty times longer than the heads."
17 Mar 1965 Margaret Brock Lighthouse SA 2200hrs Photo 1M
Several photographs were said to have been taken of an unusual oval shaped blob, by an assistant steward on the BHP ore freighter, "Iron Duke." However, a personal investigation revealed that at the time nothing unusual was visually seen. The object in the photos only came out on the prints. It appears to be nothing more than a lens reflection of the Moon, which is the brighter object shown in each photo. (1. "Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate" 23 Mar 1965. 2. Personal interview by Keith Basterfield with the radio operator on board at the time. 3. AFS Digest Apr/Jun 65. 4. Aust FSR Vol 8 Jun 65 p2(pics). 5. AFS Review No 9 UFO Investigation Centre (UFOIC) inside back cover (pic)).
04.04.65 BURKES FLAT, VIC ca1950hrs
Businessman Mr Sullivan saw a conical light in a field. As he drove by, the headlights of the car bent in the direction of the light. Only quick thinking prevented a crash.
NOTE: Two nights later, Mr Taylor died in a car crash at the same site.
Next day, Mr Sullivan found an unusual depression in the paddock (confirmed by police).
MAY 1965 ADELAIDE (ELIZABETH PARK), SA 1830hrs (NL)
Source: Hervey, M. (1969.) "UFOs Over the Southern Hemisphere. Horwitz. Sydney. p154.
A ""dark-coloured oval thing overhead. It was about 18-20 feet wide and had seven or more orange lights around the edge with a red light in the centre. Suddenly it took off like a flash towards Adelaide."
24.05.65 ETON RIDGE, QLD 0005hrs
Source: AFSR no.9, p.12, November 1966; AFSD, July-September 1965; UFOSH, pp.111-113; FSR 11/5/13-14
Mr Tilse (JP, hotel proprietor, and former senior pilot with TAA -four years - and Queensland Airlines - two years) and two others, Mr Judin (a guest at the hotel) and Mr Burgess (a truck driver) saw a disc hover over trees, lighting up the ground.
It was Mr Burgess who first saw the object when he went outside to move a vehicle just after midnight on the night of May 23-24. Mr Judin was immediately called out, and shortly afterwards, Mr James Tilse followed. They could see what was described as a ‘well-defined machine, solid and metallic’. When questioned later, the three men gave varying estimates of the size of the object. Mr Tilse estimated the diameter at about thirty feet, Mr Judin was of the opinion that it was twenty feet, while Mr Burgess was satisfied with a mere six feet. Otherwise their testimony did not differ greatly.
According to Mr Tilse, the sky was practically cloudless, and the moon was about thirty degrees above the horizon and some twenty degrees to the left of the object. The temperature was estimated at 800F.
The machine, which had prominent banks of floodlights, was silent both whilst stationary, and whilst engaged in movements towards and away from the witnesses. After some forty minutes, it departed swiftly until it appeared only as a small point of light. Messrs. Burgess and Judin claimed that as it moved off they heard a gentle buzzing, but at that moment they were closer to the machine than Mr Tilse. At the instant of departure a bright light appeared on each of the three ‘legs’ of the device. No electromagnetic effects were observed: the hotel’s power is generated by a diesel unit and the lights were unaffected. No radio sets were working, and no car engines were running. The undersides of trees nearby were illuminated whilst the object was on or near the ground, and a circular ring impression was found two days later. The internal diameter of the ring was twenty feet, and it formed a perfect circle. The width of the ring itself was three feet two inches.
25.05.65 SEHULEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA 2000hrs (NL)
Source: Pages 60-61, and 81-82 on digital copy of RAAF file 580/1/1 part 4. Original ref: 99/64/8. [Unknown]
There was a flash of blue light in the SW. Seemed to be at 5000-8000 feet over Karogorea Bay. Yellow/green light wavering back and forth. Light given off ""was sufficient to light up the beach as a new or first quarter Moon would." Dropped slightly, rose and disappeared to W. Duration: 30 minutes. Witnesses: 1. AURA
27.05.65 BRISBANE (ACACIA RIDGE), QLD 0415hrs
Arising to get her child a drink of water a lady observed a very bright flat, orange-red object about 100 metres from the house. This three metre wide light hovered, and finally disappeared as if ‘snapped off’.
28.05.65 BOUGANVILLE REEF, OFF QLD 0325hrs (CE1)
Source: UFORQLD; NICAP, ‘The UFO Investigator’, June/July 1965, p.4; AFSR no.3(5):3 & 7, 1972
Mr Orr, an Air Traffic Controller at Townsville, reported that a pilot of an Ansett DC-6B, Brisbane to Port Moresby flight, and two crew, saw a round ball with vapour trail pace the plane. He took photos. These and the DCA Tapes from Townsville Airport were allegedly seized by the Government. UFORQLD
15.07.65 CANBERRA (CANBERRA AIRPORT), ACT 1100hrs
Source: The Australian (Canberra/16.07.65)
An unidentified flying object was sighted over Canberra Airport yesterday morning. And that put it in a position to eavesdrop on Tidbinbilla.
It was described as a metallic silvery object, hovering in the sky to the north-east at an elevation of between twenty to thirty degrees. Air traffic control staff in the main control tower spotted the visitor about 11am.
The officer-in-charge of Civil Aviation at the airport, Mr A B Lindeman, saw it, too. So did Flight-Lieutenant Weston, the RAAF Base Operations Officer. But the first was an air-traffic controller, Mr Tom Lindsey. He was scanning the sky to the north-east looking for a light aircraft due in from Bankstown. Mr Lindeman said there were definitely no civil aircraft in the area at the time.
A mysterious glowing object seen in the sky from Canberra Airport yesterday may have been the reflection of the planet Venus, said Dr B E Westerlund, of Mt Stromlo Observatory. Dr Westerlund said that in a haze and suitable atmosphere conditions, Venus could have appeared as a white opaque object. The shimmering noticed could have been caused by the haze lifting.
Mr T Miller, another Mt Stromlo astronomer, said the object was unlikely to be an illusion or a mirage as more than one trained observer had seen it. "If the glowing spot had been a meteorological balloon it would not have stayed stationary. Heaven knows, it may even be an object from another planet," he said.
Mr Lindsay said, "After nearly forty minutes it was gone - just like that. It was like something rolling with one side dark and one side light, and then vanishing." He was quite adamant about it.
INVESTIGATION: Points far more worthy of note were gleaned from an undated clipping from the Sun-herald. For example, Mr Lindsay said the object was like a large yellow luminous balloon, rather like the moon, but smaller. He said that from the position in which it was seen was not Venus, and he went on to describe its departure with a snap of his fingers.
Mr Paul Todd of the Meteorological Bureau (based in the control tower) told how the object looked like a steel disc revolving so that it caught the sunlight. Then when it lost the sunlight it would disappear completely. "But," said Mr Paul Todd, "the queer thing about it is that we were all looking into the sun as well."
Well, for once we have a first-hand account from trained and experienced sky observers, and not only do they know their Venus when they see it, but also, like us, they know that Venus doesn’t do a ‘flip-over and away’ when a fighter plane is scrambled.
13.06.65 MODBURY, SA (PHOTO)
Source: AFS Review UFOIC No 9 Nov 1966.
A Mr and Mrs Helyard reported seeing a dark disc, metallic coloured which hovered and circled for fifteen minutes at an estimated one thousand metres up. Their one photo shows a nebulous, elliptical shaped, object against what appear to be points of light, together with what looks like clouds. It is hard to understand quite what the picture shows, as it looks far more like an unusual cloud than a defined metallic object.
18.07.65 DEBOYNE LAGOON, PAPUA NEW GUINEA 2300hrs (NO)
Source: Pages 68-69 on digital copy of RAAF file 580/1/1 part 4. Original ref: Dept of Defence 128.1.21.
Noise like a diesel engine heard. Red glare from object in sky. Cylindrical object cruised back and forwards. Also seen from Buaruada on three other nights. Multi-wits.
19.07.65 SYDNEY (VAUCLUSE BEACH), NSW 1730hrs
Source: Daily Telegraph (Sydney/21.07.65); AFSD July-September 1965, p.28; Flying Saucers Over Australia by James Holledge, pp.12-14; NICAP, The UFO Investigator, 3/4/6
On a Monday night, a Sydney resident named Denis Crowe, who before emigrating to Australia had been a technical artist with English aircraft companies, was walking along a Sydney Harbour beach near his Vaucluse house on a rainy evening about 5.30pm when he became aware of a glow on the beach ahead of him. As he got closer he saw that it came from a ‘huge disc resting on the sand’. He was still about fifty feet from it when it took off at high speed with a noise like air forcibly released from a balloon. Within ten seconds the disc disappeared in cloud over Manly on the other side of the harbour. Crowe saw no sign of movement within the craft or any portholes or doors.
"Its diameter appeared to be about twenty feet. I estimate its height at nine feet, including what appeared to be legs protruding from the balloon. Its rim was glowing a greenish blue, while the top and bottom halves were dullish silver-grey. A hollow in the top could have been a glass dome. As it took off, a yellow or orange glow appeared beneath. Its take-off run was only fifty or sixty feet. I looked round hoping to see someone else who saw what I saw, but my only company was about a dozen or so dogs. While the object was stationary, they were all barking loudly at it. After it took off, they were strangely silent."
An Eastern Suburbs geologist, who wished to remain anonymous to avoid the glare of publicity, made independent calculations of the spot where Mr Crowe saw the saucer. His instruments revealed definite traces of an unusual object having rested there. He also stated that the vegetation there was dying and would remain dead for a number of years.
27.07.65 CARNARVON, WA 1940hrs
Source: Telegraph (Brisbane/18.08.65)
Driving along, a Mr Kulka and a Mrs Lawrence noted a green then orange light in the sky. It enlarged to a ‘tea-saucer-size’ glow. They got out of the car and watched as the object hovered in mid air rocking from side to side. It drifted westwards and eventually disappeared soundlessly.
30.07.65 GOONUMBLA, NSW 0500hrs
Source: Sun-Herald (Sydney/01.08.65)
Attracted by the barking of a dog, two children observed for the duration of an hour a luminous object resting upon a tripod landing gear.
04.08.65 ORANGE, NSW 1015hrs (DO)
Source: Page 56 on digital copy of RAAF file 580/1/1 part 4. Original ref: 5/2/1/Air (74). [Met balloons]
What appeared to be a "helicopter" approached from the SW. No wheels or rotor blades were noticed. It was silver in colour and had an "aerial" sticking out the top. It moved slowly, coming within one mile of the town at an estimated 3000 feet altitude, before departing to the SE. Duration: 10 minutes. Witneses: 1. AURA
16.08.65 SYDNEY, NSW 1900hrs (Photo)
At about seven o’clock in the evening of August 16th, Mr Frank Burke (a professional photographer on the Sun-Herald) noticed, from his home, a light which appeared for about three minutes, hung motionless for almost a minute, then moved slowly northwards with a loud noise unlike either a jet or helicopter engine. During this time he ran inside for his camera and was able to take two exposures.
"It looked for all the world like a semi-trailer lit up. This effect came from a cluster of four to five small red lights which appeared to outline the white light."
At first Mr Burke thought the light was a low flying aircraft or a flare. But the light was much too bright to be navigation lights. If the light had been a flare it would have dropped slowly he said. Instead the light appeared to have kept a constant altitude before it disappeared from sight.
"What I couldn’t understand was the red lights which seemed to surround the centre white light. At first I thought it must have been a Vulcan bomber because I thought I could pick out a dark V shape behind the light. But if it was a plane it must have been the slowest aircraft in the world."
Mr Burke’s son, Kimbal aged twelve said: "I was sitting looking out of the window when I saw the light in the sky. I watched it for three minutes altogether. It just moved across the sky like a slow plane. As it went above our house there were lights on all parts of it. There were red ones and a few white ones too. I think it could have been a plane, but because it was so low and slow it could have been a UFO, too."
An RAAF spokesman said that it was ‘extremely unlikely’ that the light had been an Air Force plane.
13.09.65 BOGGABRI, NSW
Source: UFOs Over the Southern Hemisphere by Michael Hervey
Mr C Willis and a Mr A Chad noticed a low flying, cigar shaped with a ten metre long tail and a nose cone like a space capsule, moving at the speed of a jet. It was lost to sight behind trees.
21.09.65 SYDNEY (EASTWOOD), NSW ca 2300hrs
Eight miles north of Mosman, two shift-workers saw a ‘saucer-shaped’ object flying low over Eastwood Oval, then banked sharply and flew off in a southerly direction at high speed.
21.09.65 SYDNEY (MOSMAN), NSW 2300hrs
Mr R Dowden, a salesman, said he saw a ‘saucer-shaped’ object fly across Mosman at about 11pm.
"It caught my eye as I was driving home. I pulled up and watched it flash across the sky towards the city. Two or three other drivers were also standing beside their cars watching it. It was eerie."
22.09.65 SYDNEY (EASTWOOD), NSW 0300hrs
A man said he had seen a low flying object over Eastwood at 3am. "It was flying about seventy feet above the ground and travelling at high speed," he explained.
OCTOBER 1965 GRANTON, TAS 0400hrs
TA 1965-004
A dark object which seemed to come from the ground went straight up into the sky and disappeared. Dogs in the area were disturbed. TUFOIC
EARLY OCTOBER 1965 SYDNEY, NSW
Source: UFOs Over the Southern Hemisphere by Michael Hervey
Dozens of residents reported a huge shimmering ‘ball’ of light hanging in the sky. Mr Fuller said: "It seemed to be hovering only about 12 feet over a flat roof block of flats opposite my place, It faded away soundlessly after a few minutes."
16-17.10.65 EURAMO, QLD 2230hrs
From 10.30 till 11.15 at night, a wavering, white light caught the attention of a Mrs Ford, who was visiting the O’Laughlan family in Tully. The next night she saw a similar glowing object hovering over Euramo. It disappeared below the tree tops, in the direction of Horseshoe Lagoon.
LATE OCTOBER 1965 TULLY DISTRICT, QLD
Mrs Winifred Mossop and at least ten others, watched a round object which flashed green, red, and yellow lights. It seemed to have an antenna, and had two visible landing legs. Displays like this continued for four nights.
NOVEMBER 1965 EURAMO, QLD 0100hrs
One clear night at about 1am, Mr and Mrs Zonta saw a spinning orange-red ball light the sky. On another occasion, a wavering, star-shaped object flickered through the clear night sky and disappeared rapidly.
01.11.65 CROKER ISLAND MISSION, NT
Source: Page 4 on digital copy of RAAF file 580/1/1 part 4. Telex originally marked "confidential."
Report received by Navy. Strange vertical light on horizon to the ESE. Navy advises HMAS Bass will investigate. Mulit-wits. AURA
MID MOVEMBER 1965 TULLY, QLD
In the second week of November, Mr and Mrs Theo Hondrudski, who live a mile outside Tully, saw a bluish-white glowing orb streak through the sky.
23.11.65 ADELAIDE, SA 2130hrs (NL)
Hervey, M. (1969.) "UFOs Over the Southern Hemisphere." Horwitz. Sydney. p143.
An object with a flashing light stopped and silently hovered. He shone a torch at it, and a vertical, grey shaft became visible under it. He shone his torch once more and the dark column had come closer. He went inside his house..."
29.11.65 MT MACKAY, QLD
Mrs C Noble, Mrs W Mossop, Miss C Doolan and five others were gazing up at the clear, starry night, when suddenly two intensely bright round orange lights flew over, just above the grassy slopes of Mount Mackay. One fluttered down as if preparing to land. Both objects now became brilliantly white and settled on the hillside next to each other. One of these glows had a central light which suddenly emitted four to six flickering objects. They radiated outwards on a parallel plane to the ground, pulsating in dazzling and changing colours. Then they rapidly sped behind a line of vividly illuminated trees.
04.12.65(") DAUNIA HOMESTEAD, VIA NEBO, QLD (TRACE)
Source: Pages 123-127 on digital copy of RAAF file 580/1/1 part 4. Original reference 580/1/1 (74) DAFI.[Bushfire]
Mackay Tower advised by Nebo Police that Mr Roberts had seen in scrub, ""a strip about 600 yards wide and 4 _ miles long in a straight line and veering into a clearing, which had been subjected to extreme heat"" There had been no bushfires. A package of plant material was forwarded to the RAAF for chemical analysis. P 126 contains a file note: "Contacted Mr Bretts (Dept of Defence). He stated that the parcel was a sample of gum leaves with no abnormal characteristics." Witnesses: 1. AURA
10.12.65 MT MACKAY, QLD 1930hrs
Miss Carmel Doolan, around 7.30pm, noticed a huge object just above the peak of Mount Mackay, which is 2.5 miles west of Tully. This appeared to be a ‘double ball’, the top sphere of which emanated a bright, golden light, and the lower part yellow and red rays. There also seemed to be a number of very bright, multi-coloured lights inside the craft, which was visible for two hours before it moved towards the coast.
24.12.65 Ballarat, Vic 0330hrs (DO)
Source: 1800 Freecall National Hotline Callin Code 5512. Reported January 2006
On Christmas Eve 1965, Ian was outside sometime between 3.30 am and 4.30 am, waiting for his mate to pick him up for work (truck driving) when he saw up in the sky a bright small silver starlight object travelling at a reasonable speed from west to east. Ian used to keep an eye out for satellites in the sky as Sputnik had been popular at the time, and he actually thought this was one of the satellites. After travelling for a bit, it performed a sharp right angle, turning towards the south without slowing down. And that’s all Ian can recall. He is convinced it was not a manoeuvre that the technology of the time was capable of.
AUFORN investigator, Daniel Sims, commented: “I’m amazed at this sighting actually because I was witness to a sighting like that, almost identical, back in approx. the mid 1990s [around 11.00 pm].” Daniel Sims AUFORN QLD
1965 or 1966 SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Source: 1800 Freecall National Hotline Callin Code 5984. Reported 18.02.07
Late on 18 February 2007, Julie reported seeing a large dark shape that she thought was very strange. It was the Holden Airship (blimp) that was brought over to Adelaide for the Clipsal 500 Touring Car Race.
Julie stated that the first UFO she had seen was in 1965 or 1966 from her home in Parafield. She saw a large dark cigar-shaped object that appeared to fly in an erratic manner. She said it was so long ago that she can’t remember many of the details any more other than to say it was very strange and scared her. Jeff Fausch AUFORN SA