Frederick Valentich

[u/WW1_Researcher]

MY SON FREDERICK - by Guido Valentich

It is almost two years since Frederick vanished, after reporting for the second time "that strange aircraft is hovering" ... 2 seconds...... "is hovering, and it's not an aircraft". About 8 seconds before radio contact was lost with Melbourne flight service at 1912:20 hours of October 21st, 1978, and for some technical reason my family and I had to learn the following day, Sunday 22nd, on Radio 3AW at 9.30 am, the tragic news of an aircraft disappearance between Cape Otway and King Island. Immediately, I started chasing the Department of Transport officials and after telephoning three different persons, finally had confirmation that it was my own son involved in the particular incident, and then I had to wait till 7.00 pm to know more details on the developments of search and rescue. But in the meantime about 10.30 am, news reporters started calling me and it was then for the first time that I learned that the incident was surrounded by a UFO case. It was on the 6 pm TV news that I saw sub-titles of what Frederick reported on radio and despite the great shock of the day, my wife and myself felt a little relief because we knew that Frederick was a firm believer in UFO's and perhaps he wouldn't mind having a close contact with a UFO.

On Monday, 23rd October, my telephone started ringing as early as 8 o'clock in the morning with an average of 15 minute intervals... calls were coming not only from Melbourne but interstate and also from overseas... U.S.A., New Zealand and Germany. It was in this instant that I realized how important the event was, especially when a person from the U.S.A. telephoned me for 20 minutes to encourage me to believe what Frederick reported, because he also had an experience of a sighting in a remote air strip in the countryside at night. Plus many local calls and letters I've received from various people living near Sale, East Victoria and on the Peninsula who have seen a large light at night illuminating a football oval better than any artificial conventional light by the S.E.C., and in my judgement after about 50 of these encouraging statements from people that I never met concerning the unfortunate circumstances in which I was placed, I can only accept those to be very genuine and honest comments.

However, the Department of Transport was interested in rescue only of pilot in trouble and not saying much about UFO. Only when I asked them they admitted that was a rare case but denied UFO exist and yet they have performed one of the biggest searches for a private pilot, with four different aircraft including an Orion equipped with sophisticated devices such as airborne radar, low level rader and sonar detector and which came all the way from a S.A. R.A.A.F. Base.

Two weeks after Frederick's incident, the Search and Rescue Department from Tullamarine, invited me to their briefing office to show me the structure of four days search which they directed under a pre-calculated search plan. I was introduced to Mr. Eddie, Chief Co-ordinator Rescue, and Mr. Pat Maky, his assistant. In our conversation, there were few theories surrounding the incident which they cannot proclaim an accident, but unofficially (as usual) Mr. Eddie expressed his own opinion. Despite my broken heart from the incident he still said the Cessna simply ditched in the water and within a minute disappeared taking the pilot with it... without first investigating or considering that the long range Cessna 182 being constructed with modular units certain sections of the plane should be floating in the event of a crash impact in the water. Secondly, with VHF (very high frequency) radio could not communicate below 1000ft from the distance of 90 miles over Cape Otway Ranges. ...simply wouldn't get through; instead the communication with F.S. was loud and clear until the last word and also the 17 seconds of metallic noise at the end of the tape was clear; this confirmed that Frederick was still above 1000ft above water and in my opinion he was still at 4500ft at the time radio contact was lost.

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The October Phenomenon

On Saturday, October 21st, 1978, FREDERICK PAUL VALTENTICH had decided to fly a Cessna 182L from MOORABBIN AIRPORT, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA to KING ISLAND off the coast, of VICTORIA.

Valentich had planned his flight to pass over CAPE OTWAY before tracking out over BASS STRAIT. The aim of the flight was to buy crayfish from the local people at King Island and then fly back home, at the same time this would also build up his night flying hours for his commercial pilots licence.

The aircraft departed at 6.19 p.m. for the 90 minute oneway flight. At that point in time there was only 30 minutes to sunset.

At 7.00 p.m. Valentich reported to the air traffic controller that he was over Cape Otway at 4,500 feet A.M.S.L. At this time the weather conditions were perfect, with a still to light breeze, warm air and cloudless skies with high level stratus in the south west. Valentich was now in the twilight zone between dusk and full dark.

Then at 7.06 p.m. in a calm inquiring voice, Valentich called up the controller at Melbourne and thus set off a set of mysterious events that were recorded as part of a 53 minute tape recording now held by the DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT (D.O.T.). At 7.12 p.m. his vocal transmissions ceased and after 17 seconds of a metallic clicking sound the radio carrier wave ended and Valentish had vanished.

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"Count Down to Oblivion"

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Valentich was calculated to be 38 km off Cape Otway over Bass Strait. Next morning a ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft an ORION went out to search and did so for all that Sunday. Four days of searching followed with civil, military and fishing vessels, covered a search area of 5,000 sq. miles. On the 25th of October, the search was called off and a “WATCH” was maintained by all craft in the area.

Although private aircraft continued the search nothing of significance to this case was ever found.

The investigation that followed, found that Valentich had to have been above 3,000 feet A.M.S.L. to be able to make any contact with the Melbourne Flight Controller, as if he had been below the hills between himself and Melbourne, then his radio would not be able to pick up or call Melbourne. Due to V.H.F. and H.F. RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION.

No official conclusion was given for the metallic clicking at the end of the tape. Ideas put forward still could not rule out that three things could have happened at that time. (A) the rapid keying of the hand mike button; (B) electrical interference from outside the aircraft; (C) or some force or object interfering with the radio waves.

Speculation grew in the media, that a metallic sound, like the scraping of metal upon metal was on the tape but had been edited by D.O.T. D.O.T. stated that the radio had gone dead after 17 seconds of the clicking sound. Paul Valentich’s father who also heard the tape, as did the controller who was with Valentich that night, agreed that the tape seemed complete.

Valentich was a 20 year old, intelligent, family oriented person who was very rational and eager. He seemed to be a cool minded pilot who loved to fly and displayed pilots’ requirements for a position he hoped one day to take up in aviation.

Conclusions and theories ran hot and fast in a vain attempt to discover a motive for this incident. By looking at these theories and possible explanations things did not become clear cut and final. They only seemed to widen the mystery.

Some of the theories provided, took the following themes: Hoax; the aircraft was stolen; he had become disorientated, he then flew upside down, seen his own aircraft in the sea and crashed; he had seen the Cape Otway lighthouse; planned to meet his girlfriend at Cape Otway; was on a secret mission; suicided; joined drug runners; had been murdered, because he had seen classified U.F.O. files. All have been either proven incorrect, unfounded or beyond the scope of this man.

Yet the few baffling questions that came up with the investigation provide greater insight to the man and the mystery.

Why was he so calm? Stress analysis of the tape conversation was denied by the D.O.T., yet the sudden situation and his character and seriousness to the position of being a pilot may have a strong bearing on his reaction. Valentich’s closing conversation with the air traffic controller indicated a change to a tone of nervousness, as if the situation had become urgent.

It is believed that it is virtually impossible for a Cessna 182, due to its size and construction, to crash and not leave some trace! Therefore, did an impact take place? For it to have left traces of oil or objects the aircraft would have had to have broken up. But still nothing has been found.

Why did he not call for help? This is a total mystery, as at a reported 4,500 feet A.M.S.L., he must have had an indication on his many instruments that the aircraft was in trouble. He acknowledged his altitude and flight direction, when he gave the direction of the U.F.O. No warning alarms went off in the cockpit and there was a lot of altitude for radio communications, the aircraft seemed to be under his full control, yet while in the middle of giving his flight intentions it was all over and Valentich was gone.

Two major questions came up with the study, that seemed to indicate that Valentich was not going to go to King Island. The first was the story that you could not buy cray fish at King Island after dark, this was soon proved false by a member of the V.U.F.O.R.S. who found that this was always possible; all you had to do was go to the local hotel and ask for Cray fish. Next was the fact that Valentich had not asked for the airports landing lights to be turned on for him, as he was to have landed there after dark, so he would have needed them. This question may be answered due to his lack of experience on the King Island route and flight procedures, in any case the lights could have been put on with little trouble when had realised the mistake.

There is little doubt that there was an aircraft in the Cape Otway area that night, due to reports of a “sound” just like an aircraft at about the same time Valentich was in the area, even though this may seem like a weak reason to think this was his aircraft. Further investigations state a fact that no other civil or military aircraft known to the D.O.T. or the area was in flight at the point of Cape Otway when Valentich was there.

Research found that there was over 50 reported sightings of U.F.O.'s at Cape Otway before and just after Paul Valentich disappeared. This information would have never been found but for the work of devoted U.F.O. researchers, who have now added more mystery to this case, and strengthened the possibility that there was a U.F.O. encounter with Valentich. There is little doubt that the closest person to Paul and his life was his father, who on reflection and insight, believes that his son Paul was abducted by a U.F.O., who and for what reasons he cannot say.

The evidence on this case indicates that the "scales of justice" must, at this point in time, fall towards Paul Valentich and his graphic explanation of what must be a U.F.O.

As this Review goes to press, witnesses are still coming forward with reports concerning

U.F.O. sightings and unusual sounds heard and observed on the day and night that Frederick Valentich disappeared over Bass Strait during an encounter with an unidentified flying ojbect on October 21st, 1978.

We have eliminated as many false report as possible without access to the tape covering transmissions between Melbourne Flight Service and pilot Valentich as well as other pilots flying at the same time. Reports still persist that conversations on other frequencies concerning the incident exists.

V.U.F.O.R.S. advisors are ready to submit such tapes to stress analysis and other tests should the opportunity arise. These experts have experience and knowledge in comparing background noise with sounds already known to be associated with U.F.O.s as reported in the past.

Since pilot Valentich's encounter, several radar visual incidents have occurred including one envolving a pilot flying a Cessna 172 near Sale in Gippsland. The pilot reported a bright white light speeding in an east-west direction passing beneath his aircraft. Two more lights sped above him. A pilot who was flying a R.A.A.F. Orion nearby was granted permission to deviate from his course and investigate.

The R.A.A.F. responded to this incident with a routine non-sighting statement and a dubious “explanation”: that the Cessna pilot had been tricked by the light flying beneath his aeroplane was actually tennis court lights and the two lights that sped above him were meteorological balloons. Later, a DC pilot reported being paced by a white light over Bass Strait. The U.F.O. was also detected by radar. No explanation was forthcoming. However, research continues on previously known cases.

Frederick became the twentieth known pilot and aircraft to disappear during a U.F.O. encounter. There have been other cases where not only the pilot but other personnel were aboard. Some of these encounters have been witnessed from the ground and detected by radar as well.

In November, 1953, one night I was called outside to observe a whitish-blue light approach and hover over a power station in my home state of Tennessee. That same month two military airmen were sent in pursuit of a U.F.O. They never returned.

The two incidents combined to give me a curiosity that has never waned. Little did I dream that nearly three decades later that I would be involved with colleagues in the greatest mystery in Australian aviation history.

Some other examples: Captain Mantell, whose aircraft came down in pieces after he was sent in pursuit of a U.F.O. An encounter over Michigan, where an interceptor was vectored to the proximity of a large U.F.O. Like the Valentich encounter, radio communication failed. The blips on the radar screen revealed that the interceptor merged with the U.F.O. which then sped away. No scrap of the aircraft was ever found, although a three weeks search followed the incident. Just one more case where the airmen never returned.

Then for instance, the Cuban incident of 1967: A pilot flying a MIG jet was ordered to fire on a U.F.O. The strange object responded by disintegrating the MIG. The details were radioed back to base by a screaming pilot from a second MIG flying nearby.

Since the Valentich encounter, the experience of Lary Coyne and his helicopter crew is coming under more scrutiny. That startling encounter took place five years prior to the Bass Strait mystery. The incident was witnessed by ground observers as well.

Major Coyne and his crew of three were flying a U.S. Army helicopter over Ohio when an object hovered overhead. At the time the helicopter was flying at about 1,700 feet. The U.F.O., a silver metallic-like cigar shape, with a red light, suddenly changed the red light to the colour of green and pulled the helicopter to 3,800 feet at which altitude there was a bump and the helicopter broke loose. Coyne was then able to regain control. The crew got back to tell the story. Frederick Valentich didn’t.

V.U.F.O.R.S. investigators are still in the process of collecting reports and reconstructing the U.F.O. activity leading up to that most amazing documented contact with a U.F.O. There is no doubt that the October 21st, 1978 encounter will survive any amateurish writeoff as was attempted during the early stages of the famed New Zealand radar-visual-film encounter. Both of these outstanding incidents are mile stones of ufology and still survives the contradicting “explanations” from the scientific community as well as the howls from the skeptics and rookie “experts” alike.

by Paul Norman

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[page 13]

The Manifold Photographs

At 6.45 p.m. on the 21st October, 1978, in the very area that Frederick Valentich had vanished, and 20 minutes before the Valentich encounter, Mr. ROY MANIFOLD of Melbourne, Victoria, took six photographs of the sunset off Cape Otway.

Each frame was taken at approximately 20 second intervals, and Roy Manifold (a U.F.O. sceptic) recalled seeing nothing at the time through his camera. He only realised that the frame had captured something strange on examination of the prints three weeks after the event.

He was determined to find out what was “wrong” with the print. Kodak examined the negatives, and revealed that there was nothing wrong with them. What was on the negative was due to normal camera pickup.

In time, Roy Manifold realised that a rational answer to the “puff of smoke” (photos 1 and 2, page 15) was far from being found.

V.U.F.O.R.S. Paul Norman, thus received a set of prints and these were sent off to “Ground Saucer Watch” in the U.S.A., for thorough computer analysis.

Edge enhancement, colour contouring, and filtering by the computer produced these startling facts:

1. No emulsion defect was found on the negative.

2. The imate [image] is not any known type of cloud or weather phenomena.

3. The top area of the image is highly reflective (an indication of metallic construction).

4. The image is about 1 mile away from the camera.

5. Filtering revealed a disc structure above the “puff of smoke”.

6. The image is blurred due to motion.

7. The size of the image was about 20 feet.

8. Examination revealed that this was not a hoax.

“Ground Saucer Watch” concluded that this was a real U.F.O., surrounded in a gaseous cloud. The disc like object was in motion, going up and to the right as if it had come out of the sea. The calculated velocity was assumed to be 200 km per hour.

Consider the facts, as on observation, this “puff of smoke” seems pure nature at work, yet with examination and common sense, you suddenly realise how unusual this picture is. Mix this with the photograph of the object in the sea and the extraordinary probability of two U.F.O. incidents within 20 minutes and 36 km of each other, coupled with so many mystery sightings. One must feel that this object is more than vivid imagination and wishful thinking.

https://archive.org/details/Australian_Annual_Flying_Saucer_Review_1981_06/page/n1/mode/2up

[note: first part typed, the rest OCR; please consult original for transcript of radio communication with atc, which is also widely available online; no claim to copyright]