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{{Short description|1966 UFO incident in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia}}

{{wikify|March 2007}}

{{protection padlock|small=yes}}

At around 10:30 a.m on [[April 6]], [[1966]], many students and some staff at Westall High School (now called Westall Secondary College), in [[Rosebank Avenue]], [[Clayton South]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]], witnessed a [[UFO]] fly over their school, and then descend into a paddock behind the school. The paddock, adjacent to Fairbank Road, was between the school and an old estate called The Grange (now a nature reserve). Soon after, about five light aircraft appeared, giving chase to the UFO as it rapidly ascended and moved off, never to be seen again. The provenance of the light aircraft was also never resolved.

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{Use Australian English|date=June 2011}}

{{Infobox event

| title = Westall UFO

| image = LocationAU.svg

| image_size =

| caption = Location of Australia

{{Location map+|Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne

|width=280|float = center|caption=|places=

{{Location map~|Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne |

lat_dir=S|lat_deg=37|lat_min=56|lat_sec=28|

lon_dir=E|lon_deg=145|lon_min=08|lon_sec=2|label='''Westall High'''|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne |

lat_dir=S|lat_deg=37|lat_min=56|lat_sec=52|

lon_dir=E|lon_deg=145|lon_min=07|lon_sec=46|label='''The Grange'''|position=bottom}}

}} Location within Melbourne

| date = <!-- {{start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->

| time = {{Start date|1966|04|06|df=y}}

| place = Westall High School and The Grange in [[Clayton South]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]

| coordinates = {{Coord|37|56|28|S|145|08|2|E|type:edu_region:AU-VIC|display=inline,title}}

| also known as = Westall High School UFOs

}}

The '''Westall UFO''' was a reported [[UFO sightings in Australia|UFO sighting in Australia]] that occurred on 6 April 1966 in [[Melbourne]], Victoria. The object was observed by multiple individuals, including students at Westall High School. Specific details vary between accounts, which increases the difficulty of identification. The sighting has been commemorated with documentaries, reunions and a local UFO playground.

Shortly afterwards, a circular patch(es) of grass (between one and three) was seen by many witnesses in the paddock. Later, uniformed men, thought to have been police and military personnel (airforce, according to some accounts), were seen attending the scene. After taking various measurements, some have reported that the paddock was then burnt or turned over by these uniformed men. Some witnesses reported being spoken to, or later visited by, these personnel. Both students and staff were told not to discuss the incident. Some students reported that staff disciplined them for speaking out. It has been estimated that about 200 people witnessed these events on that autumn day in Melbourne's (then) south-eastern fringe, including people at the adjacent Westall State School.

== Reports ==

The fascinating events of this day (and following days) at and near Westall High School, were covered by ''The Dandenong Journal'', the local and popular newspaper of that area at that time. Melbourne's broadsheet newspaper, ''The Age'', also ran a small article the following day, 7 April, 1966. Channel Nine also covered the story, and broadcast it on its Melbourne television news bulletin that evening, 6 April, 1966.

On Wednesday, 6 April 1966, students and a teacher from Westall High School (now Westall Secondary College) reported seeing a flying object.<ref name="Kachor2018">{{cite news |last1=Kachor |first1=Kate |title=Westall flying saucer: One of Australia's baffling mysteries still unsolved 52 years on |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/westall-flying-saucer-one-of-australias-baffling-mysteries-still-unsolved-52-years-on/1e8e2b76-4ceb-42c7-a71c-7d146db67fe7 |work=Nine News |date=6 April 2018}}</ref> It was described as round with a domed top, and white, grey, or silver in colour.<ref name="Kachor2018" /><ref name="Dunn2014">{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Dunn |date=7 August 2014 |title=UFO all hot air |newspaper=Herald Sun |___location=Melbourne |page=23}}</ref> According to the students, the object descended behind a row of trees and into the Grange, an open area south of the school.<ref name="BD" /> Some accounts describe the object as being pursued by five unidentified aircraft.<ref name=Dandenong>{{cite news|title=Flying Saucer Mystery, School Silent|issue=14 April 1966 p. 1 and 21 April 1966 p. 1-2|publisher=The Dandenong Journal|work=[[Star News Group]]|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b1/The_Dandenong_Journal_-_1966_14th_Apr_-_page_1.jpg|via=archive.org|archive-date=28 April 2016|access-date=10 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428183500/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b1/The_Dandenong_Journal_-_1966_14th_Apr_-_page_1.jpg|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref><ref name="Herald Sun 2010">{{cite news |first=Ally |last=Foster |date=8 August 2018 |title=Audio reveals creepy details of Australian UFO mystery RARE audio of a physicist discussing one of Australia's greatest unsolved UFO cases could shed light on the baffling events of the 1966 incident |work=[[Herald Sun]] |publisher=[[The Herald and Weekly Times]] ([[News Corp Australia]]/[[News Corp]]) |publication-place=[[Melbourne]], Victoria, Australia |editor1-first=Sam |editor1-last=Weir |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/audio-reveals-creepy-details-of-australian-ufo-mystery/news-story/471c724255b0388ee4e930a4d35028e7 |access-date=2 July 2021 |quote="In 1966 over 300 children and staff from a Melbourne school reportedly witnessed multiple UFOs silently flying through the sky before landing in a nearby field. It is the largest mass UFO sighting in Australia yet hardly anything was reported on it at the time..." |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180807165829/https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/audio-reveals-creepy-details-of-australian-ufo-mystery/news-story/471c724255b0388ee4e930a4d35028e7 |archive-date=7 August 2018}}</ref> Shaun Matthews was on vacation at the Grange and reported seeing an object with a slight purple hue and about twice the size of a [[family car]].<ref name="TheAge-2005"/>

Some witnesses reported seeing the object take off after landing, and some reported seeing it hover rather than land. When students walked to the Grange after the sighting, some reported a landing site, but the details varied between reports.<ref name="TheAge-2005"/><ref name="BD" /> Students variously described a circle of grass as burnt, "boiled" or pressed down.<ref name="TheAge-2005"/> One student interviewed by a local newspaper described a vague circular area flattened by the wind.<ref name="BD" /> Students also reported varying numbers of circles from one to three.<ref name="BD" /> On 9 April 1966, air force personnel and UFO enthusiasts visited the field but reported nothing of interest. The landowner burned the field to discourage people from entering the property.<ref name="BD" />

A Yahoo Groups [http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Westallhighschoolufo/ website] has been set up by a Canberra university teacher and researcher, Shane Ryan, to encourage witnesses to the events of that day to come forward and share information about what they remember from that day. Via this web site, a reunion of former witnesses and other interested people was organised for the 8th of April, 2006, to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the event. The reunion was held at the Westall Tennis Club Hall, at The Grange Reserve in Clayton South, close to the places central to the events of that day.

==Explanations==

The full story of the events at Westall in April, 1966, has not yet been told. Much hinges on those persons who were involved in an official capacity, such as police officers, and air force and army personnel, coming forward and sharing their knowledge about the events of that day.

Australian newspaper ''[[The Age]]'' described it at the time as a weather balloon: "Object Perhaps Balloon – An unidentified flying object seen over the Clayton-Moorabbin area yesterday morning might have been a weather balloon. Hundreds of children and a number of teachers at Westall School, Clayton, watched the object during morning break. The Weather Bureau released a balloon at [[Laverton, Victoria|Laverton]] at 8:30 am and the westerly wind blowing at the time could have moved it into the area where the sighting was reported". The newspaper also said a number of small aeroplanes circled around it. However, a check later showed that no commercial, private or [[RAAF]] pilots had reported anything unusual in the area.<ref name="TA1966">{{cite news |title=Object Perhaps Balloon |via=[[Google Newspapers]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cxZVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2083%2C1126946 |access-date=2 July 2021 |publication-place=[[Melbourne]], Victoria, Australia |date=7 April 1966 |page=A6 |newspaper=[[The Age]] |editor1-first=Graham |editor1-last=Perkin |editor2-last=Macdonald |editor2-first=Ranald |editor1-link=Graham Perkin |editor2-link=Ranald Macdonald (journalist) |publisher=David Syme & Co. Ltd. |department=Main section |volume=CXII |issue=34604 |issn=0312-6307}}</ref>

According to Keith Basterfield, a runaway balloon from the HIBAL [[high-altitude balloon]] project used to monitor radiation levels after [[British nuclear tests at Maralinga]] is a likely explanation. Basterfield located documents in the National Archives and former Department of Supply indicating a test balloon launched from [[Mildura]] may have been blown off course "and came down in Clayton South in a paddock near Westall High School, alarming and baffling hundreds of eyewitnesses, including teachers and students". Basterfield said that HIBAL balloons had a white silver appearance and featured a parachute and gas tube trailing from the top, which is consistent with witness descriptions of the object. There were also reports that after the incident, "men in suits" cautioned witnesses not to discuss details of the secret government exercise.<ref name="HS">{{cite news |last=Dunn |first=Mark |access-date=2 July 2021 |title=Westall 'UFO' incident was actually government radiation testing, reports reveal |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/westall-ufo-incident-was-actually-government-radiation-testing-reports-reveal/news-story/b6c6056bf60f378809f19327eb1c23fc |work=[[Herald Sun]] |date=2 October 2005 |publisher=[[The Herald and Weekly Times]] ([[News Corp Australia]]/[[News Corp]]) |publication-place=[[Melbourne]], Victoria, Australia |archive-date=4 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204182327/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/westall-ufo-incident-was-actually-government-radiation-testing-reports-reveal/news-story/b6c6056bf60f378809f19327eb1c23fc |editor1-first=Sam |editor1-last=Weir }}</ref>

== External links ==

* [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/10/01/1127804696941.html Westall High School UFO - The Age]

* [http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/stories/s1549038.htm Westall High School UFO - ABC.net.au]

* [http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=5481 Westall High School UFO - Only Melbourne]

According to skeptic [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]], "the weather balloon is a likely explanation for the first half of the event". Dunning suggested a nylon target drogue, like a windsock, towed by one plane for the others to chase and known to be in use by the local RAAF at the time, was "at least one very reasonable possibility for the second half". Dunning added that, as years have passed, "descriptions of what was actually seen have now become diluted with made-up descriptions by an unknown number of students who didn't see anything, and there's no way to know which is which".<ref name="BD">{{cite web |last1=Dunning |first1=Brian |title=The Westall '66 UFO |url=https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4208 |website=Skeptoid.com |publisher=Skeptoid |access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref>

{{UFOs}}

==Media coverage==

[[Category:UFO sightings]]

The documentary ''Westall '66'' focuses on the sighting. It is based on interviews that ufologist Shane Ryan conducted with residents.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theconversation.com/westall-66-50-years-on-still-stranger-than-fiction-57188 |title=Westall '66: 50 years on, still stranger than fiction |last=Sharpe |first=Matthew |date=3 April 2016 |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |publisher=[[Deakin University]] |access-date=8 February 2024}}</ref> ''Westall '66'' was incorporated into the national history curriculum as a lesson on critical analysis of popular portrayals of historical events.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Topsfield |first1=Jewel |title=Our 'Roswell' now one for the history books |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/our-roswell-now-one-for-the-history-books-20110603-1fl5o.html |work=The Age |date=3 June 2011 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=Westall '66 A Suburban UFO Myster: A Study Guide |last1=Burton |first1=Lee |last2=Lewis |first2=Robert |publisher=Australian Government}}</ref> ''[[The Phenomenon (2020 film)|The Phenomenon]]'', a documentary film directed and co-produced by ufologist James Fox, includes content related to the Westall UFO case.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Horton |first1=Adrian |title='It's not a question of belief': the film examining government UFO records |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/07/the-phenomenon-ufos-james-fox-documentary |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 October 2020 |access-date=24 March 2021}}</ref>

==Local culture==

[[File:Grange_reserve_park,_city_of_Kingston,_Melbourne.png|thumb|right|Grange Reserve Park at dusk]]

*A witness reunion was held at Westall Tennis Club Hall, on 8 April 2006, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the incident.<ref>{{cite web

| url = https://www.radioemu.com/774-abc-melbourne/

|author = Ronn, Florenz

| title =The 1966 Westall UFO incident

|date = 17 January 2006

| publisher = [[774 ABC Melbourne]] (www.abc.net.au/radio/melbourne/)

|archive-url =

|archive-date =

| access-date = }}</ref><ref name="TheAge-2005">{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|date= 2 October 2005|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/10/01/1127804696941.html |title=Academic throws light on 40-year-old UFO mystery|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210621110023/https://www.theage.com.au/national/academic-throws-light-on-40-year-old-ufo-mystery-20051002-ge0z6n.html|archive-date=21 June 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

*The [[Kingston, Victoria|City of Kingston]] created a children's play space, Grange Reserve UFO Park at The Grange Reserve in Clayton South Melway. The park features a silver UFO with red slides to reflect the 1966 Westall UFO Incident.<ref name="Kingston">{{cite web |title=The Grange Reserve (UFO Park) |url=https://www.kingston.vic.gov.au/Outdoors/Parks-Playgrounds/Playgrounds/The-Grange-Reserve-UFO-Park |website=kingston.vic.gov.au |publisher=[[City of Kingston|Kingston City Council]] |access-date=24 March 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210621110501/https://www.kingston.vic.gov.au/Outdoors/Parks-Playgrounds/Playgrounds/The-Grange-Reserve-UFO-Park|archive-date=21 June 2021 }}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Ariel School UFO incident]]

* [[Australian Ufology]]

* [[Bass Strait Triangle]]

* [[Disappearance of Frederick Valentich]]

* [[List of UFO sightings]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

*{{cite web

| url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC2IjeInGXM

| title =Westall Missing Witness Interview with UFO Research Queensland - <small>EXCLUSIVE</small>

| author = Weise, Derek

| date = 27 October 2018

| work =www.youtube.com (Sheryl Gottschall, UFO Research Queensland)

|archive-url=

|archive-date=

| access-date = 20 June 2021}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20221205155703/https://westall66ufo.com.au/ Westall '66: a suburban UFO mystery <small>A MASS UFO SIGHTING A FORTY-FOUR YEAR CONSPIRACY. A MAN SEEKING THE TRUTH</small>] (archived from [https://westall66ufo.com.au/ the original web site]). Film written By Rosie Jones, with Shane Ryan; Produced by Carmel Mcaloon

[[Category:1960s in Melbourne]]

[[Category:April 1966 in Australia]]

[[Category:Australian folklore]]

[[Category:UFO sightings in Australia]]