1978: Cessna Aircraft Near Melbourne Disappea

1978: Cessna Aircraft Near Melbourne Disappears After Reporting UFO

Posted On: April 20, 2022

The year is 1978, the place, over the Bass Strait near Cape Otway, Australia. Frederick Valentich, a twenty-year-old flying instructor who disappears in his Cessna 182 aircraft shortly after reporting a UFO sighting.

On October 21^st, 1978 at around 19:00 hours, 20 year old Frederick Valentich was flying his Cessna 182 aircraft over the Bass Strait near Cape Otway, Australia. At this time he contacted the Melbourne radio tower:

1906:14 - Cessna: "Melbourne this is DELTA SIERRA JULIET is there any known traffic below five thousand"

1906:23 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET no known traffic."

1906:26 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET I am seems (to) be a large aircraft below five thousand"

1906:46 - Tower: "D D DELTA SIERRA JULIET what type of aircraft is it"

1906:50 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET I cannot affirm it is four bright it seems to me like landing lights"

1907:04 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET"

1907:32 - Cessna: "MELBOURNE this (is) DELTA SIERRA JULIET the aircraft has just passed over me at least a thousand feet above"

1907:43 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET roger and it is a large aircraft confirm"

1907:47 - Cessna: "er unknown due to the speed it’s traveling is there any air force aircraft in the vicinity"

1907:57 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET no known aircraft in the vicinity"

1908:18 - Cessna: "MELBOURNE it’s approaching now from due east towards me"

1908:28 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET"

1908:42: // open microphone for two seconds //

1910:49 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET it seems to me that he’s playing some sort of game he's flying over me two to three times at a time at speeds I could not identify"

1909:02 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET roger what is your actual level"

1909:06 - Cessna: "my level is four and a half thousand four five zero zero"

1909:11 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET and confirm that you cannot identify the aircraft"

1909:14 - Cessna: "affirmative"

1909:18 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET roger standby"

1909:28 - Cessna: "MELBOURNE DELTA SIERRA JULIET it’s not an aircraft it is // open microphone for two seconds //"

1909:46 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET can you describe the er aircraft"

1909:52 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET as it’s flying past it’s a long shape // open microphone for three seconds // (cannot) identify more than (that it has such speed) // open microphone for three seconds // before me right now Melbourne"

1910:07 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET roger and how large would the er object be"

1910:20 - Cessna: "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"

1910:43 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET"

1910:48 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET // open microphone for five seconds // it’s just vanished"

1910:57 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET"

1911:03 - Cessna: "Melbourne would you know what kind of aircraft I’ve got is it (a type) military aircraft"

1911:08 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET confirm the er aircraft just vanished"

1911:14 - Cessna: "say again"

1911:17 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET is the aircraft still with you"

1911:23 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET (it’s ah nor) // open micro- phone for two seconds // (now) approaching from the southwest"

1911:37 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET"

1911:52 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET the engine is rough idling I’ve got it set at twenty three twenty four and the thing is (coughing)"

1912:04 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET roger what are your intentions"

1912:09 - Cessna: "my intentions are ah to go to King Island ah Melbourne that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again // two seconds open microphone // it is hovering and it’s not an aircraft"

1912:22 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET"

1912:28 - Cessna: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET MELBOURNE // 17 seconds open microphone //"

1912:49 - Tower: "DELTA SIERRA JULIET MELBOURNE"

There is no record of any further transmissions from the aircraft. The weather in the Cape Otway area was clear with a trace of stratocumulus cloud at 5000 to 7000 feet, scattered cirrus cloud at 30000 feet, excellent visibility and light winds. The end of daylight at Cape Otway was at 19:18 hours.

The Alert Phase of SAR [Search and Rescue] procedures was declared at 19:12 hours and, at 19:33 hours when the aircraft did not arrive at King Island, the Distress Phase was declared and search action commenced. An intensive air, sea and land search was continued until 25^th October 1978, but no trace of the aircraft was found.

The search and rescue operation was headed by an RAAF Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft assisted by some light aircraft. Although an oil slick was found about eighteen miles north of King Island on 22 October it was not established as having any connection with Valentich’s plane. The Cessna was equipped with a radio survival beacon, but nothing was heard from it.

Paul Norman learned that aircraft pilots were requested to report sightings of UFOs and lights in the sky, and those who were flying at the same time and using the same radio frequency were instructed not to divulge any details of their communications. Attempts were made to make it look as though Valentich’s plane was not in the location he reported.

Steve Robey, the Melbourne Flight Service Unit Controller, was absolutely convinced that Valentich was not perpetrating a hoax. "Towards the end I think he was definitely concerned for his safety," he said. "I considered that he would have had to have been a good actor to have put it all together the way he did, It was a kind of rushed communication, as if he was startled."

Frederick Valentich’s father, Guido, told me that he was given a copy of the recorded communications of his son by the Department of Transport, with Robey’s voice deleted. But Bill Chalker has heard part of the complete tape which is in the possession of Dr. Richard Haines, a NASA research scientist. Haines’ preliminary findings concluded that a strange seventeen-second burst of metallic noise which followed Valentich s last transmission contained "36 separate bursts with fairly constant start and stop pulses bounding each one: there are no discernible patterns in time or frequency." The effect. Dr. Haines said, was similar to rapid keying of the microphone, but control tests were noticeably different from the original sound.

As to the original tape. Bill Chalker told me that the Department of Aviation erased it, or so he was informed by the Assistant Secretary of Air Safety Investigation, A.R. Woodward, who also claimed that no further copies existed.

The Official Verdict.

In May 1982 the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (Australian Department of Aviation) released its official findings "to parties having a bonafide interest in the occurrence." The Aircraft Accident Investigation Summary Report concludes:

Location of occurrence: Not known

Time: Not known

Degree of injury: Presumed fatal

Opinion as to cause: The reason for the disappearance of the aircraft has not been determined.

Bill Chalker was highly dissatisfied with this conclusion and tried to extract further information from G. V. Hughes, then Assistant Secretary of Air Safety Investigation. Chalker asked if there had been any further official investigation of a possible UFO connection with the disappearance. Hughes replied: "The RAAF is responsible for the investigation of reports concerning ‘UFO’ sightings, and liaison was established with the RAAF on these aspects of the investigation. The decision as to whether or not the ‘UFO’ report is to be investigated rests with the RAAF and not this Department."

What Happened to Valentich?

Many theories have been advanced to account for the mysterious disappearance of Delta Sierra Juliet and its young pilot, some feasible, others bizarre. Had Valentich staged the whole incident, for example? There is no evidence at all for this, other than an unsubstantiated rumor that he was seen alive and well and working at a gas service station in Tasmania.

Unofficially, the chief coordinator of the search and rescue team, Mr. Eddie, told Guido Valentich that he thought the Cessna had simply ditched in the water and disappeared within a minute, taking the pilot with it. But as Guido pointed out, the Cessna 182 is constructed of modular units which should float on impact. Secondly, VHF radio would not be able to transmit below 1000 feet from the aircraft s position of ninety miles from Melbourne, and Valentich’s communications with the Flight Service Unit were loud and clear to the last word, as was the seventeen-second burst of "metallic" noise which followed. This confirms that he was still above 1000 feet, and Guido is convinced that his son was still at 4500 feet when contact was lost.

We may never know exactly what happened to Frederick Valentich, but the evidence strongly suggests that he encountered an unidentified aerial object which was in some way responsible for his disappearance. If so, the Australian government would have a good reason for playing down the incident and the UFO subject in general.

My Take: This is a very famous and well discussed case. I only included as I wanted to be thorough. This event is obviously a case where Valentich was either abducted by the occupants of the UFO or that the UFO caused his plane to crash. It is highly unlikely that this is a hoax that has continued for over 40 years. Some of the official explanations were laughable at best. Venus and that he was flying upside down.

Resources: Summary from Above Top Secret, Timothy Good, 1988.

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