- How you doing, I'm Kallen,
and this is Slapped Ham.
Today, we're looking at
one of the most fascinating
UFO cases in history, the
Westall UFO encounter,
but as always, before we dive
into this fascinating tale,
remember to hit that Subscribe button
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content just like this.
(eerie music)
Most UFO sightings are quickly dismissed
as the delusions of lone believers
or quickly explained
away with more rational,
down-to-earth interpretations.
However, over the years,
there have been a few UFO encounters
that were backed up by numerous witnesses,
giving them credibility
from more than just the UFO
enthusiasts of the world.
One such case is the
Westall UFO encounter.
The Westall UFO encounter
took place on April 6th, 1966,
in Melbourne, Australia.
According to at least 200 witnesses,
a flying object descended from the sky
and appeared to land in a large
field near the two schools
where the majority of the
witnesses were located.
The witnesses first spotted
the aircraft at around 11 a.m.
Most of the children who
first spotted the UFO
were excited by the
strange object in the sky,
and their exclamations
brought others outside
to witness the incident.
It was reported that a few
students collapsed in fright
when they saw the UFO.
The students and faculty
at the two schools
watched for 20 minutes
while the object hovered over the field,
made quick lateral movements,
and eventually descended
into the field of wild grass.
After a few minutes, it took
off again at a higher speed,
appearing to head towards
Clayton South, a nearby suburb.
The witnesses, most of
whom had just completed
outdoor exercises at Westall High School,
described the craft as a silver disc
with a slight purple hue.
Some claimed that the disc
was more green in color.
Witnesses agreed that the object
was about twice the size
of an average sedan.
Some of the witnesses also claim
to have seen other aircraft,
more similar in shape
to a typical airplane,
higher in the air.
Some said that the other
crafts resembled Cessna planes.
They stated that these other crafts
began to circle the mysterious object
as it flew back into
the air from the field.
The other crafts appeared
to be pursuing it
as it flew away from the scene.
The weather that morning
was bright and sunny,
so the witnesses had a
clear view of the sky.
Some investigators claim
that as many as 400 witnesses
from around the area
reported spotting the
strange object in the sky.
After the UFO and its contingent
of pursuers disappeared,
many of the students stayed outside
hoping that it would return.
Shortly after, authorities
in military uniforms
reportedly appeared on the scene
to forbid the witnesses
from speaking to the press.
The official explanation
from the Westall High School
principal was mass hysteria.
He stated that when one
student claimed to see the UFO,
other students let their
imaginations run away with them.
However, the witnesses were not all
from Westall High School,
so his explanation doesn't
resolve the other accounts.
Later in the day, after
hearing about the reports,
engineering student Kevin Hurley
decided to investigate the area
where the UFO was said to have landed.
The area was a field of
thick, knee-high grass
known as the grange.
After a brief search, he
located an area of the grass
that was much flatter
than the grass around it.
He stated that the grass
was bent in such a way
that it appeared as if something
circular had landed there
and rotated while on the ground,
twisting the grass as it did so.
Hurley left the site,
fascinated by what he saw.
He returned days later
to investigate further
but was surprisingly
unable to approach the site
where he'd found the odd depression.
According to him, the area where he found
the strange markings was being guarded
by armed men in military uniforms.
Before he was aggressively
removed from the site,
Hurley saw a number of military men
milling about the markings.
They appeared to be taking readings
using a device resembling
a Geiger counter.
According to some reports,
the field was later burned,
effectively destroying any
evidence that may have existed
in the field where the UFO
was said to have landed.
The farmer who owned
the land publicly stated
that he burned the area himself
to discourage UFO hunters from
trespassing on his property.
However, many believe that
the RAAF was behind the fire
and that they were attempting
to destroy evidence
of UFO activity.
Days after the sightings,
the local newspaper of another nearby town
published a photo of a
mushroom-shaped object
that was spotted flying in the sky.
The photo was taken
approximately four days
before the Westall UFO encounter.
Close inspection of the photo reveals
a silvery disc hovering low in the sky.
The photo appears to match descriptions
of the craft spotted above Westall,
suggesting that the two
incidents could've been linked.
The Victorian Flying Saucer
Research Society or VFSRS
and Phenomena Research Australia, PRA,
heard about the reports and
quickly arrived in Melbourne
to investigate the alleged UFO sightings.
Because of the large number of witnesses,
this sighting had an air of credibility
that many sightings lack,
drawing the interest of
numerous UFO investigators.
The VFSRS group interviewed
a number of students
who claimed to have seen the craft.
They investigated the area
where the UFO appeared to have landed,
in the area that they
call the ground mark.
They described it as an area of grass
that had been flattened,
leaving a swirl pattern.
The PRA investigators later
took samples of grass and dirt
from the ground mark for
further investigation.
The field, however, was burned
before further investigations
could be planned.
Almost 40 years later, in August of 2018,
a group known as Queensland
UFO Sightings and Research
released an audio recording of
one of the witness interviews
conducted by UFOligists.
In this recording, James J. Kibel,
or James E. McDonald as
he's sometimes referred to,
discusses the Westall UFO
encounter with Andrew Greenwood,
a science teacher who claims
to have witnessed the incident.
Greenwood is the only faculty
member who has spoken publicly
about what happened on that day in 1966.
In this recording,
Greenwood describes the
encounter in detail.
He claims that as many as 360 students
and faculty witnessed the incident
but that the school's headmaster
silenced them out of fear.
He states that the headmaster demanded
that the witnesses go
back inside the school
and threatened to fire any staff members
who discussed the incident.
He notes that at least one
student and one faculty member
who witnessed the encounter alongside him
later refused to discuss it.
Many of the students
who witnessed the events
later gave interviews providing
details about what they saw,
but the teachers remained unwilling
to make similar statements.
Greenwood's account gives greater detail
about the additional crafts
that appeared to approach
the main craft after it lifted off again.
He asserts that the pursuing crafts
engaged in complicated aerial maneuvers
and that they appeared to
be doing everything possible
to apprehend the UFO.
He says that the UFO would make
quick jumps in one direction,
too fast to follow with the naked eye,
before slowing and allowing
the pursuing crafts
to get close to it.
It would then make another quick jump,
almost as if it was
toying with its pursuers.
Greenwood staunchly believed
he had seen an alien craft.
Before we get to some
possible explanations
for this fascinating UFO sighting,
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When the Westall UFO encounter
was first publicized,
many believed that it was
most likely a commercial,
private, or military aircraft.
However, investigators found no records
of commercial or private aircraft
scheduled for that area at that time,
and the RAAF reported
no military maneuvers
scheduled for the area.
Not everyone believes the RAAF's denials
about military activity.
Some skeptics have put forward a theory
that the craft sighted in Westall
was actually an
experimental military craft
that is being kept under wraps.
The Westall UFO encounter did take place
during the Cold War,
so the development of
experimental technology
at the time is not unlikely.
The prevailing story,
first put forward by an anonymous source
identifying himself as
a former RAAF navigator,
is that the main craft
that the witnesses saw
was a nylon target drogue
being towed by one aircraft
so that the other experimental
crafts the witnesses spotted
could shoot at it for target practice.
This isn't the only
government conspiracy theory
that came to light.
Some believed that the UFO
was actually a HIBAL program balloon
being used to monitor radiation levels
as a result of a controversial
nuclear testing program.
Documents located at the
National Archives in 2014
describe this secret
radiation testing program
and indicate that testing balloons
were being used in the area.
Unfortunately, it's impossible to know
whether a balloon had
been launched in the area
on April 6th, 1966,
as the records for that day
are mysteriously missing
from the archives.
Despite these explanations,
the at least 200 witnesses
who were there that day
have repeatedly insisted
that what they saw
bore no resemblance to a
standard aircraft or balloon.
Could so many witnesses have been wrong?
According to some psychologists,
the bandwagon effect
could've played a role
in the Westall UFO encounter.
They claim that once a few people began
to report their encounters,
others panicked and began to
see what they wanted to see,
making their own reports
and swelling the numbers of sightings.
They believe that the encounter
is an example of mass panic.
However, the disparate
locations of the witnesses
make this explanation seem less likely.
Some point to the minor
inconsistencies in the testimonies
as proof that the stories are false.
Yet, because many reported
being pressured to keep quiet,
the truth of this story remains a mystery.
Now, if you love this sorta
stuff and can't get enough,
then check out our video,
The Most Recent Credible
UFO Sightings, right there.
Otherwise, there's a playlist
you can binge on right there.
Now in the comments section below,
let us know what you think
of the Westall UFO encounter.
What do you think over 200
students and staff actually saw?
And that's it for me.
I'll see you all next time.
Pew!
