UFO Witnessed by 200 Victorian school students & teachers

Story By Cameron Lucadou-Wells

An intriging twist has emerged in a UFO sighting at Westall High School in Clayton South 40 years ago. The incident was reported by the Journal in April 1966 as a flying saucer that was witnessed by more than 200 students and staff.

The Witnesses told of low flying, silver, shinning object that played "cat and mouse" with five aircraft trailing it. It was observed descending into trees at Grange Reserve, Canberra academic Shane Ryan , who organised a 40th anniversary reunion for eyewitnesses last April, has claimed GTV 9 news footage was pulled after Federal Government intervention.

He said that was confirmed by senior Channel Nine Journalist, who told him Government minister had requested that Sir frank Packer, based in Sydney, remove the footage from the news archives.

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.

Many of the people involved in this incident are still alive, and some still live in the area.

Image is an artist impression of a ground trace courtesy of George Simpson

Channel Nine didn't confirm or deny the story. An archivist at the Melbourne station said the film could not be found for a story on the April reunion. She said it could have been lost through the vagaries of an old system of cataloguing or deliberately removed. The film was filed under a card system, and keyword searches such as "UFO" were unsuccessful. She said the Sydney station could not find the footage either.

A department of Defence spokesman said the air force was responsible for responding to reports of "unusual aerial sightings" at the time, "the air force has been unable to access any information relating to this incident within the timeframe available."

He said records from those years had been archived and were subjected to the provisions of the National Archives Act.

Mr. Ryan said he'd searched all publicity accessible records on UFOs at the National Archives, but there was no mention of the Westall High School incident.

He said he was pursuing the mystery because of the passion of the eyewitnesses to know what had happened. "If it was an official secret then surely it can be spoken about now."

On April 6, 1966, many students and some staff of Westall High School (now called Westall Secondary College), in Rosebank Avenue, Clayton South, 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.

Shortly afterwards, a circular patch(es) of grass (between one and three) was seen by many witnesses in the paddock.