RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) reports of strange objects in the sky certainly carry more weight than your average stargazer.
And one of the more interesting that has recently come to light in the National Archives of Australia is a 1960s report from Maralinga, the former atomic bomb testing site.
The sighting was investigated thoroughly and various possibilities put forward including that of static electricity affecting weather balloons used at the site, a meteor, a ‘cone’ from a satellite, and a “flying saucer”.
The sighting follows an earlier report in 1957 during the September and October, 1957, nuclear weapons test series, code-named ANTLER, were undertaken at Maralinga, South Australia, with kilotonne range nuclear explosions being detonated on September 25 and October 9.
Royal Air Force Corporal Derek Murray and some colleagues witnessed a UFO hovering apparently silently over the airfield.
The UFO was described as a “magnificent sight”, being silver/blue in colour, of a metallic lustre, with a line of “windows” or “portholes”.
The duty air traffic controller also witnessed the spectacle. He checked with the Alice Springs and Edinburgh airfields who reported they did not have anything over their areas.
Apparently, no photographs were taken as the top security status of the area required that all cameras be locked away.
After about 15 minutes (as dusk began to fall) the aerial object left swiftly and silently.
Murray stood by his claim that he had seen a metallic flying craft.
*Source: www.naa.gov.au and This Month in UFO History/www.rense.com/James Neff.
