This story took place on October 21, 1978 in Australia, when 20-year-old Frederic Valentich disappeared without a trace, piloting a light aircraft Cessna 182
Why should this disappearance of the pilot interest you? It's simple, this is one of the most well-documented stories about UFOs and all because it happened not in the USA, where all the materials would have been immediately classified, but in Australia, where, after a thorough investigation, all documents are in the public domain and this information is available.
So let's move on to the story itself. For Frederick, a pilot with 150 hours of flying experience, the training flight took place as usual. At 6:16 pm, he notified Melbourne Air Traffic Administration of his flight. At 19.00 he successfully reached Cape Otway.
However, at 19:06, Frederic Valentich first contacted dispatcher Steve Robie with a question. For a more accurate story, here is the transcript:
19:06:14 Valentich: Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Julia. Can you tell me if there is any plane below 5000?
Dispatcher: Delta Sierra Julia, there are no planes I know of.
Valentich: I think there is a big plane here below 5000.
19:06:44 Dispatcher: Delta Sierra Julia, what kind of airplane model?
Promotional video:
Valentich: I can't see, it has 4 bright lights and they all look like landing lights.
7:07:31 PM Valentine: Melbourne, this is the Delta Sierra Julia, the plane went about 1,000 feet above me.
Dispatcher: Ok, Delta Sierra Julia, is this a big plane?
Valentich: It is not clear, given the speed at which he moves. Are there any military aircraft nearby?
Dispatcher: Delta Sierra Julia, there are no planes known to me in the vicinity.
19:08:18 Valentine: Melbourne, he's approaching me from the east.
19:08:48 Valentich: I think he is playing with me, he flies over me 2-3 times at speeds that I cannot determine.
Dispatcher: Ok, Delta Sierra Julia, at what height are you?
Valentich: My height is four and a half thousand, four five zero zero.
Dispatcher: Delta Sierra Julia, do you confirm that you cannot identify the plane?
Valentich: Exactly.
Dispatcher: Accepted, Delta Sierra Julia.
19:09:27 Valentich: Melbourne, this is not a plane! (silence in the microphone for 2 seconds)
19:09:42 Dispatcher: Delta Sierra Julia, can you describe this object?
Valentich: When he flies past me, he has an elongated shape (silence in the microphone for 3 seconds), and so I can’t say anything except that he has such a speed, and that … (silence in the microphone for 2 seconds). Melbourne, now it is in front of me.
19:10 Dispatcher: Ok, Delta Sierra Julia, and how big is this facility?
19:10:19 Valentich: Melbourne, it seems to me that it is hanging in the air. What I am doing now is circling in place, and he is circling above me. It has green lights and looks like a metal body, all sparkling outside.
19:10:46 Valentich: Melbourne, the object is missing.
19:11:00 Valentich: Melbourne, do you know what this object is? Maybe he is still a military man?
Dispatcher: Delta Sierra Julia, please confirm the object has disappeared.
Valentich: Repeat.
Dispatcher: Delta Sierra Julia, is this facility still with you?
Valentich: He … (silence in the microphone for 3 seconds) is now approaching from the southwest.
19:11:50 Valentich: The engine is running up. I put it at twenty-three, twenty-four and … (coughs)
Dispatcher: Acknowledged Delta Sierra, Julia, what are you planning to do?
Valentich: What am I planning, and… I'm heading to King Island, and… Melbourne, this strange object is hovering over me again. (silence in the microphone for 2 seconds). It hovered, and it's definitely not an airplane.
19:12:28 Valentich: Melbourne, (silence in the microphone for 17 seconds).
These were the last words of Frederick, a seven-day search for his plane led to nothing. As for the investigation into the incident, the Australian authorities did not come up with any version.
An official document from the Department of Transportation says: "The reason for the disappearance of the aircraft has not been established," and as for the fate of the pilot, "presumably fatal."
Usually in all UFO stories, this is where the story ends. Yes, the man disappeared, yes, he said that he saw an object of an incomprehensible shape and that it was not an airplane. However, this is not 100% proof, because people tend to make mistakes, go crazy, see hallucinations, and so on. Almost all UFO stories lack an outside witness, a person who would be in a completely different place and could confirm the words of the main eyewitness.
It was in this story that such an outside witness was found. It was Mr. Ken Hansen (pseudonym), who was 47 at the time. Having hunted enough for rabbits, he was driving in a car with his 2 nieces and on the way home he saw a plane that was chasing a strange green object.
Unfortunately, after a while both the plane and the object disappeared from view and Hansen never saw what happened to the plane. Arriving home, he told his wife about what he saw, and the next morning to his employees. However, this story of his was not taken seriously, and only a few years later, when he mentioned this to the local policeman, this information reached Frédéric Valentich's father, who decided to tell about it publicly.