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The 1966 Westall UFO incident
Tuesday, 17 January 2006
Reporter: Florenz Ronn
Shane Ryan is a researcher looking for
eyewitnesses to the 1966 Westall UFO incident, on the
Wednesday before Easter, April 6, 1966, about 11 0’clock in
the morning. |
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Say the name Roswell and 774’s Breakfast presenter Red Symons
immediately thinks of metal objects shooting through the sky landing
in the desert, and little green men coming out of them. But when you
say the name Clayton South, you probably think pork buns, unless you
were around in 1966 and were one of 200 people who witnessed the
Westall UFO incident.
Shane Ryan is a researcher looking for eyewitnesses. "It happened
on the Wednesday before Easter, April 6, 1966, about 11 0’clock in
the morning. Around about 200 people, most of them students at what
was then called Westall High School, were out for morning recess",
says Shane. "Many saw the strange object descend behind pine trees
in The Grange Reserve, and then later ascend and fly away at great
speed. The people who ran over to the reserve found a huge ring in
the paddock where the object had been seen. Some people reported
five light aircraft following or chasing the object.
"It’s an
interesting case because there was this trace left behind which not
only those kids saw, but a whole number of people who came
afterwards, after school and adults and so forth came down to have a
look at it as well."
A crop circle perhaps? "Some people call
it that," continues Shane, "I’m not sure that it was, but it was
certainly a ring left behind in the grass. And the other fascinating
aspect of the story is that some people talk about the area being
cordoned off by people in uniform."
Several witnesses
reported being spoken to by the RAAF or military, including the
school's science teacher, who was apparently threatened by two RAAF
officers under the Official Secrets Act, if he spoke in public about
what he had seen. The high school authorities dealt very harshly
with both students and staff in the wake of this event, and forbade
any discussion about it.
Shane has now established an email
discussion group to encourage people to come forward and tell their
stories about that day. About 45 people have made contact thus far.
A lot of former Westall school students and two or three of the
teachers. This group is dedicated to those people who were involved
in, or have an interest in the incident at Westall High School, in
the Melbourne suburb of Clayton South. He is especially keen to hear
from people from "the other side", that is from the side of the
authorities who may have been involved that day, such as RAAF,
police or army.
April 6, 2006, is the 40th anniversary of
this fascinating story and, to mark the occasion, Shane is hoping to
gather together interested persons and witnesses to the event. "Many
of the people involved in this incident are, of course, still alive
and some still live in the area. They haven’t been able to talk
about it because no-one is interested." Interested people can
contact Shane through the website link below.
To make a comment,
participate in our Message Board by adding
your comment.
Related Links:
Some of these links may be
to sites outside the ABC and as such the ABC has no editorial
control over such sites.
Shane
Ryan’s website
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Westallhighschoolufo/
Last Updated: 17/01/2006 12:33:00 PM
AEDT
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