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February 2012 12.02.12 ADELAIDE (THEBARTON), SA 0115hrs (NL)
Normally I would be writing up AUFORN hotline UFO sightings but for this report I am the witness. I am not saying what I saw was an extraterrestrial craft but I did observer an aircraft to which I could not readily identify.
On Saturday, 11th February I organised and took part in an Adelaide Gaol Paranormal Workshop which is a special event that allows paying guests to spend the night at the Adelaide Gaol to take part in an all night paranormal investigation. I had not been well leading up to the workshop so when I had completed the theory session and taken the group on a ghost tour I took a break from the activities and handed over the investigation to the other volunteers who were assisting with the event. The investigation commenced at midnight and the volunteers split the guests into two teams, taking them to the designated locations. I made a strong cup of tea and attempted to a have a micro nap. Within an hour I became restless and went for a walk and decided to sit on a bench in yard 3, facing an easterly direction. I had been sitting on the bench for approximately 10 minutes when I stood up and took a few photos of the surrounding area. The time was 1:15am when I sat back down on the bench, and looked up in the night’s sky, noticing a number of flashing/blinking lights heading in a south-westerly direction towards me. As it got closer I could see that it was quite large with four bright flashing/blinking lights. A 3⁄4 moon was visible in the north-eastern sky and would estimate that it was nearly as large as the visible moon. As it flew over head, slightly to the south of me I could see clearly, it had four large flashing/blinking lights (each roughly 2/3 the size of Venus) under its belly, with two red lights and two white lights in a square formation. A red light on the front left side, a white light on the front right side and at the rear there was a white light on the left side and red light on right side rear. As the lights were blinking so quickly they gave the optical illusion that the lights were revolving in a clockwise direction. The fuselage was not visible; I based the size of the aircraft on the distance of the four lights under the belly which were equally spaced giving the square formation. What I observed when it travelled over head was that it blocked out the stars as it travelled across the night sky. This didn’t give me its exact size or shape but to say that there was significant mass to it. What I did find odd was that I could not see any wings or a tail section, normally the wings could be identified by the red and green navigation lights on the wingtips, but there were no navigation lights visible. It is difficult to say what altitude the aircraft was but would estimate that was lower than an aircraft flying over on transit to another city (15-17 thousand metres) but not as low as an aircraft landing at Adelaide Airport. If it was landing at Adelaide Airport it would have been heading in a south-westerly direction. If I was to make a rough guess, I would estimate that the unusual aircraft I observed was roughly at an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 metres. From when I first observed the aircraft, to when it disappeared out of sight it kept a straight line course. Another observation was that it moved smoothly across the sky at an estimated speed of a piston engine aircraft. At no stage did I hear any sound come from the aircraft. I took special notice of this as it flew over head (slightly to the south of where I was standing). When I first observed the aircraft, I grabbed my I-phone and setup and started the stock watch. Breaking down my actions, from the time that I first observed the aircraft (10 seconds) and then to setup my I-phone stop-watch (10 seconds). I stopped the stop-watch at 49.2 seconds. The total sighting was just under 70 seconds. What I observed was unusual as I could not see any navigation lights or front spot lights which are commonly seen when aircraft fly over Adelaide. The only lights visible were a group of four large flashing/blinking lights on the belly of the aircraft, flashing/; blinking so quickly that they gave the optical illusion of spinning clock-wise. The aircraft kept the same straight line for the entire time I observed it, heading in a south-westerly direction towards the ocean. I do know the Adelaide Airport curfew is from 11:00pm to 5:00am. So it was obvious that Adelaide was not its destination. Whether it could have been some type of military aircraft is not known but what I have read on the internet, all aircraft use the same navigation and bacon lights as commercial or private aircraft when flying in a non-combat zone. According to the research I did, all Aircrafts use navigation lights on the tips on the leading edge of each wingtip. A green light on the right wingtip and a red light on the left wingtip, these colours make it possible for an outside observer, such as another pilot of another aircraft to determine which direction the aircraft is flying. In addition to the red and green navigation lights most large aircraft are fitted with other steady white navigation lights on various locations, in particular will often have lighting on the trailing edge of each wingtip. They are also often found on the trailing edge of the horizontal tail. Also on the wingtips are strong strobe lights, on smaller aircraft there is usually only one strobe light near the leading edge of the wingtip just behind the red or green navigation light. Anti-collision become lights are fitted centre to the fuselage. One is located on the top of the fuselage and one at the bottom. These beacon lights are turned on just before the engines start and remain on until the engine turns off. Most large airlines also have logo lights that are at the tips of the horizontal stabilisers to illuminate the company logo painted on the vertical tail and to make the aircraft more visible at night.
The direction of the aircraft and the location I was standing when I observed the aircraft.
The aircraft that I observed from the Adelaide Gaol did not look like a conventional aircraft that would normally be flying over Adelaide at night; it did not have the normal external navigational lights that should be obvious on any large aircraft. The only visible external lights were four large flashing/flickering lights on its belly, that were flashing/flickering so quickly that they appeared to be rotating. The fuselage was not visible so I had to rely on the shape and size between the lights to get an idea of the size of the aircraft, which I estimated to be nearly the size of the 3⁄4 moon visible at that time. As there were no navigation lights I could not see any wings or tail section. This is not to say there were no wings or tail section, only that they were not lit up. As an observation the fuselage was larger and wider than the lighting underneath the aircraft because it blocked out the stars as it passed over me.
Because the aircraft acted like any conventional aircraft, travelling in a straight line towards the ocean, it gave me over a minute to observer the aircraft. I did attempt to photograph it but the flash was too weak and my camcorder was not with me at that time. At this stage I cannot identify what type of aircraft I observed that night but to say its external lighting was not the regulation navigation lights normally seen on a large aircraft. I will do some follow up work on this sighting in an attempt to identify the aircraft and its unusual lighting. Follow up Report Saturday 19th February 2012 After I wrote up my report I sent it to Roger Koch and Keith Basterfield for their thoughts and maybe an explanation to my observations. Roger stated that the curfew was for large commercial aircraft. He has seen numerous smaller aircraft landing at the Adelaide Airport after the 2300hr curfew. From Rogers’s house he has a panoramic view of the Adelaide Plains and has observed aircraft landing after the curfew period. Keith sent me the link for an Air services Australia with web track coverage of all states in an Australia. Keith took a look and looked at the radar tape between 0100 and 0130hrs for the 12th February. 2012. The radar shows all aircraft in the range of 55km and under 3,600 metres. Keith found only one aircraft during that time. At 0120hrs an aircraft showed up on the radar at the edge of the zone, to the southwest of the city, from over the gulf (propeller aircraft) of the city of Adelaide at 9,000ft, it tracks northeast towards Adelaide Airport, landing at 0136hrs. The information shown against the aircraft on the radar is Airports KGC to Adelaide, Aircraft type B190. I looked at the radar for myself when I received Keith’s email and agree with Keith’s observations. This aircraft was not what I observed, coming from the wrong direction and was the wrong time. The radar showed no aircraft over Adelaide at 0115hrs, meaning the aircraft I observed was not picked up by the radar. There could be one reason why the aircraft wasn’t picked up on the radar and that is it was above the radar ceiling of 3,600 metres. At this stage the Aircraft which I observed on the 12th February is still unidentified. I will continue follow up on this sighting. |
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