FAB CENDOC Envelope 09 (1978)

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

stats. The U.S. Air Force found that pilots most likely to suffer an "upside down" illusion were those with 2000 to 2500 hours of experience, flying single-engine air planes.

4) Two experienced pilots have criticized the Department of Transport for even allowing a flight like this. George Smith, former manager of the Tasmanian Aero Club and Colin Kerby of St. Kilda independently stated that the Bass Strait is "a bad stretch of water" with unpredictable weather conditions; as long as the Department allowed single-engine planes, especially with inexperienced pilots, to cross the strait at night. Kerby said "they will just keep going down."

## Arguments Against:

1) If Valentich didn't fly upside down, how could the UFO fly repeatedly over the plane and beyond it?

2) Valentich had four instruments to tell him his altitude! His voice was calm and unpanicked and he did, after all, hold a class 4 instrument rating.

3) Steve Robey, the radar controller in the flight, told the press, "I don't believe he was disoriented because he was communicating quite clearly."

## PREMISE #3: THE REPORTED UFO MUST HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CESSNA'S DISAPPEARANCE. IN THE CASE OF A CRASH ALONG A MAJOR AIR ROUTE. IT IS MOST UNUSUAL TO FIND NO WRECKAGE OR OIL SLICK.

## Arguments in Favor:

1) There were four orange polystyrene life jackets designed to be visible from the air in the event of a water crash.

2) Parts of the plane were constructed from modular units which float in the event of a crash. None of these easily-visible objects have been found.

3) The plane had a "black box" radio survival beacon broadcasting a distress signal. It was never heard.

## Arguments Against:

1) If the plane had sunk into the water, the emergency signal would not have been heard.

2) There were two other plane crashes in this area in the last decade where the planes and pilots were never seen again. First, on December 24. 1969, Peter Phillips, 25, was flying a Fuji low-wing aircraft from King Island to Moorabbin. His last radio message also placed him about 8 km. off Cape Otway at 300 meters altitude. He, too, developed engine trouble and was believed to have

crashed into the sea. No trace of his plane could be found (no UFO was reported in this incident).

Second, on Sept. 8, 1972, an old World War II Tiger Moth with two people on board disappeared between Hobart and Flinders Island in Bass Strait. On board was Max Price, 57. a "very experienced" pilot who had completely restored his own plane. Also on board was conservationist Brenda Hean, who chartered the flight to skywrite in protest against the flooding of Lake Pedder in Tasmania. The plane left at 10:16 AM and was due to arrive at 12:45 PM. There was enough fuel to last until 2:30 PM. The Tiger Moth also had one of those emergency beacons, but its high-frequency signal was never heard, either.

3) The last thing Valentich reported was engine trouble . . . miles over Bass Strait.

## Counter-Argument in Favor:

Even if the plane is discovered to have crashed in Bass Strait, it can still be argued that the reported UFO caused it. The high-speed maneuvers back and forth over the plane suggest a decided intent toward the Cessna. With no known aircraft, civilian or military, in the area and with the exhibition of capabilities exceeding known planes anyway, the notion that an earthly vehicle caused such a crash seems totally invalid.

## PREMISE #4: THE WHOLE EVENT WAS A HOAX. VALENTICH IS HIDING SOMEWHERE WITH PLANS TO RETURN IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND DECLARE HIMSELF A "CONTACTEE" TO BECOME FAMOUS (EVEN A CULT LEADER AS SUGGESTED IN THE AUSTRALIAN PRESS).

I. VALENTICH WAS A UFO BUFF, AND LIKELY TO PULL OFF A PRANK LIKE THIS.

## Arguments in Favor:

1) Fred Valentich's parents have portrayed a strong impression of their son as a UFO enthusiast in the press. According to the family, Fred collected books and magazines on UFOs. He was so convinced about life on other planets that he felt it was only a matter of time before aliens would invade the earth. His mother, Mrs. Alberta Valentich, was actually quoted in the press as saying: "Freddie was worried that one day a UFO might come down and divide the family . . . that they might take us away."

2) Fred's 16-year old girlfriend, Rhonda Rushton, told the Australian papers, "he once told me that if a

Guido Valentich

UFO did come to earth he'd go back with it but not without me." 3) Mrs. Valentich said that she and her son had seen a UFO earlier, around last June. A "very bright" light source, "10 to 20 times bigger" than a star, hovered "several thousand feet" above their home for 10 minutes. Then suddenly it streaked away in a flash. "We were both convinced it was a UFO."

4) Fred's father said he made an effort to see "all the science fiction movies." Columbia pictures "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was probably the last film he ever saw. 5) Both of Valentich's parents were told that during his time at Sale RAAF Base as an Air Training Corps cadet, he had seen classified material which confirmed his earlier beliefs about UFOs.

## Arguments Against:

1) While acknowledging his son's interest, Mr. Valentich told the press that Fred was not a "UFO fanatic." "He was very serious about his flying and would not have played any games," he told the Melbourne SUN. "He was not the type of person who would make up stories, everything had to be very correct and positive for him. He was part of the way towards his commercial pilot's license and had no reason to throw all his work away." He only had to pass meteorology and aerodrome legislation before gaining his commercial license. Mr. Valentich said "he was very keen, quite good and not overconfident."

2) Sqn.-Ldr. Ronald Grandy said he hand-picked Fred Valentich as an air training instructor "because he was no fool." He described the missing pilot as "level-headed and could hold his tongue . . . (he was) common sense on legs." If the Cessna crashed into the water, Grandy was sure that Valentich would have got