The Enigma of Delta Sierra Juliet's Mysterious Disappearance

On October 21, 1978, a twenty year old Pilot, Frederick Valentich, took off from Melbourne in his private plane, a flight that would be his last and become one of the most puzzling and disturbing cases in UFO history.

The Valentich Case

To sum it up, young Freddy Valentich departed Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne 6:19 P.M. on the evening of October 21, 1978. His destination was King island off the southern coast of Australia. He was doing the flight to rack up night flying hours, as well as to pick up some crayfish and some friends. The weather conditions were mild, with few light clouds and a mild breeze.

At about 7:06 P.M., Valentich radioed Melbourne to report a strange craft. Below is the transcript of the communications, with the time each was made.

ACTUAL TRANSCRIPTION OF MELBOURNE FLIGHT SERVICE

The transcript portion of the communication between Valentich and Melbourne Flight Service as released by the Australian Department of Transport follows: (FS - Flight Service, DSJ - Frederick Valentich aircraft designation).


1906:14 DSJ Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet. Is there any known traffic below five thousand?
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, no known traffic.
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, I am, seems to be a large aircraft below five thousand.

1906:44 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, What type of aircraft is it?
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, I cannot affirm, it is four bright, it seems to me like landing lights.

1907 FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1907:31 DSJ Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet, the aircraft has just passed over me at least a thousand feet above.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, and it is a large aircraft, confirmed?
DSJ Er-unknown, due to the speed it’s travelling, is there any air force aircraft in the vicinity?
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, no known aircraft in the vicinity.

1908:18 DSJ Melbourne, it’s approaching now from due east towards me.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1908:41 DSJ (open microphone for two seconds.)

1908:48 DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems to me that he’s playing some sort of game, he’s flying over me two, three times at speeds I could not identify.

1909 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, what is your actual level?
DSJ My level is four and a half thousand, four five zero zero.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, and you confirm you cannot identify the aircraft?
DSJ Affirmative.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, stand by.

1909:27 DSJ Melbourne, Delta Sierra Juliet, it’s not an aircraft it is (open microphone for two seconds).

1909:42 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, can you describe the -er- aircraft?
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, as it’s flying past it’s a long shape (open microphone for three seconds) cannot identify more than it has such speed (open microphone for three seconds). It’s before me right now Melbourne.

1910 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger and how large would the - er - object be?

1910:19 DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, it seems like it’s stationary. What I’m doing right now is orbiting and the thing is just orbiting on top of me also. It’s got a green light and sort of metallic like, it’s all shiny on the outside.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet

1910:46 DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet (open microphone for three seconds) It’s just vanished.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet

1911 DSJ Melbourne, would you know what kind of aircraft I’ve got? Is it a military aircraft?
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, Confirm the - er ~ aircraft just vanished.
DSJ Say again.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, is the aircraft still with you?
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet; it’s (open microphone for two seconds) now approaching from the south-west.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet

1911:50 DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, the engine is rough-idling. I’ve got it set at twenty three twenty-four and the thing is coughing.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, what are your intentions?
DSJ My intentions are - ah - to go to King Island - ah - Melbourne. That strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again (open microphone for two seconds). It is hovering and it’s not an aircraft.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1912:28 DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet. Melbourne (open microphone for seventeen seconds).

That was the last anyone had heard from Valentich. When he failed to show up at King island, the search began. No traces of pilot or plane were ever found. A slick of fuel in the waters of the bass strait turned out to be marine diesel, unrelated to Valentich and his place, and debris that was seen on the water turned out to be packing crates and boxes also unrelated. The case to this day remains open and unsolved.

More on the Case

During the period covering Valentich's last flight, numerous UFO sightings were reported in the same exact area and direction his plane was last reported. Many witnesses had radioed in their reports before the valentich disappearance became public knowldge, some calling in their reports during the time Valentich was radioing in his distress. One fellow, a plumber named Roy Manifold, actually captured a strange object on film that appeared to be rising out of the sea near the lighthouse at Cape Ottoway only 20 minutes before Valentich began his encounter.

Reports of UFO Activity in Bass Strait Near Time of Valentich Encounter

The Manifold photos were examined. Debunkers tried to claim that the images were of clouds. However, the object was only in a few frames, negating a cloud, unless the cloud was traveling at over 200 miles an hour on a day of calm, light breezes. Strangely enough, after much searching, i cannot find the Mnaifold photos on the net. Anyone who can find them, Id be very thankful indeed.

The Bass Strait has been called Australia's Bermuda Triangle. It seems the area has a reputation for strange phenomenon and mysterious disappearances.

Continue in the nest post.

To continue,

Various explainations have been put forward about the case. ranging from ridiculous to bizzare. Some say Valentich crashed because he was disoriented and flying upside down, mistaking ground lights for a UFO. While this may be believable, considering Valentich was a young pilot, the radio man in Melbourne seems to think otherwise. Also, no trace of the plane was ever found anywhere, and none of the witnesses to the strange object reported seeing a plane going down. others have claimed Valentich faked his disappearance and was spotted in tasmania working at a gas station. This of course has proven suspect, as no named witnesses came forward, and no proof was ever provided.

A Self styled anti-UFO crusader, Harley Klaur, came up with two opposing theories. The first one was that Valentich was taken down by drug dealers in the Bass Strait, a theory which he later discarded in favor of a sillier theory, that Valentich's plane exploded when struck by a freak lightning bolt on a clear day. He claims the object captured on Film by Manifold was Valentich's plane exploding. However, the Manifold photos were taken at 6:48 P.M, Valentich's last Radio transmission was at 7:12 P.M., negating this theory, unless one believes Valentich's ghost was radioing in from heaven.

Of course, the longest lasting theory was that his plane was taken by a UFO. This theory is based on Valentich's own radio transmission, numerous eyewitness reports, and the bizarre nature of the disappearance. Several Australian UFO groups have been meticulously studying and following up on this case. Even former NASA employee Richard Haines has lent his expertise in the investigation, and believes that something extraordinary did happen that evening.

New witness reports have surfaced to suggest that Valentich's plane might have went down near Appolo Bay, which was away from the offical search area. A man and his two nieces claimed to have seen Valentich's plane, with a large strange green lit object hovering above it at the time of his disappearance, and claim to have seen the plane go down. there are no other leads in this story, and current investigation is continuing to determine the credibility.

New Eyewitness testimony

What truly interests me in this case is many factors. We have an offical report, a transcript of a young pilot who was nervous of an unidentified object, and a disappearance during a major UFO flap in the area, which peaked that night and waned after. It has a rather disturbing paralell with a couple other famous UFO cases involving pilots and accidents or near accidents, like the Kinross incident and the Coyne sighting. Frederick Valentich himself had looked into UFOs and had an interest in them. He had many friends in the Australian Air Force who told him about UFO incidents and helped him in his own research. His father, Guido, until the day he died, believed that valentich had been taken by UFOs.

Regardless of your take on this story, no one can deny that this case is indeed one of the classics of UFO history, and also, one of the most disturbing.

For more indepth info, here is a link to Bill Chalker's website, the Ozzie ufologist that was involved the most with this case.

Bill Chalker

A really interesting read, i wonder what happened tot he poor bloke, he sounded almost scared in the transcript.

Never heard of this incident, id love to know what happened.

Originally posted by Denied
A really interesting read, i wonder what happened tot he poor bloke, he sounded almost scared in the transcript.

Never heard of this incident, id love to know what happened.

I agree. I do feel quite bad for poor Valentich, for sure. I never fail to get creeped out re-reading the transcript from his last flight. I also feel terrible for his family, who to this day, have no clue nor closure what happened to their son. Its the worst thing int the world, for a parent to lose their kid, and Freddy was only 20 years old. What is worse is when your child disappears in bizarre, surreal circumstances.

This case is one of my favorites in my own personal research, as it is very credible, very strange, well documented, and very puzzling. I have been looking into more recent updates into the story. Interestingly, i found a report once that another plane had disappeared over the Solomon Islands near that time, but am still looking for sources to confirm.

This case ranks in my files in the top ten cases. For me, my favorites are, in no paticular order:

1. The Coyne Case (1973)
2. The Kinross Case (1953)
3. The Hudson Valley UFO Wave (1982-1984)
4. The Roswell Incident(1947)
5. The Rendelsham Forest Incident (1980)
6. The Valentich Disappearance (1978)
7. The Green Fireballs in the Southwest (1948-1949)
8. The Kenneth Arnold Sighting (1947)
9. The Washington Nationals (1952)
10. The Zamora Case (1964)

That is a fascinating story. Most UFO accounts I read scream BS to me, but this one does not. This is one of the most convincing accounts I have ever read.

One question I have: several of your links mention the 'puff of smoke or cloud' that was calculated to be travelling at 200mph on a calm day. Now, I don't know if this is realistic or not, but I do know that wind velocity increases with altitude. Does anyone know if wind can get to 200mph at flying altitudes, or is that a ridiculous number? It sounds pretty high to me...

Originally posted by DragonsDemesne
That is a fascinating story. Most UFO accounts I read scream BS to me, but this one does not. This is one of the most convincing accounts I have ever read.

One question I have: several of your links mention the 'puff of smoke or cloud' that was calculated to be travelling at 200mph on a calm day. Now, I don't know if this is realistic or not, but I do know that wind velocity increases with altitude. Does anyone know if wind can get to 200mph at flying altitudes, or is that a ridiculous number? It sounds pretty high to me...

Valentich was flying at about 5000 feet. The object in the photos was at an altitude of sea- level to about 3000 feet. The answer is no, the wind speed at this altitude would not be 200 mph (which is the wind speed well above a category Five Hurricane)Wind speed at the altitude that Freddy Valentich was flying at would not have been 200 mph in the weather conditions he was flying in. It was a pleasant day, mild northwesterly breeze, unlimited visibility. No storms or weather problems anywhere enar the area.

here are a few curious "updates" to the case. The credibility of the following story I can niether vouch for, nor do I have any evidence or opinion on it. But since it certainly is an interesting story related to Valentich's disappearance and possibly, his ultimate fate, it at least deserves some mention.

Valentich Now Piloting a UFO of His Own?

Again, I niether disbelieve nor believe this story. But I am trying to gather all pertinent information about the case, no matter how fanrtastic, to expand possiblitities and provide a wide range of opinion.

Another incident I forgot to mention. In 1983, Australian Film producer was approached by two divers who did salvage work in the area. They said they saw two planes at the bottom of the ocean near the wreck they were checking out. Cameron was certainly interested, and encouraged the divers to look for Valentich's plane. They came back a couple weeks later claiming they had photos of the wreckage, but wanted $10,000 for the photos and location of the plane. Eventually, the divers backed out of the deal, claiming that Cameron questioned their honesty. cameron tried to locate them, but they could not be found later on.

From as quick google, there seems to be an actual audio of the control tower conversation which has some strange sounds at the end of it. As with the photo you mentioned, I could not find the audio.

Originally posted by pavil
From as quick google, there seems to be an actual audio of the control tower conversation which has some strange sounds at the end of it. As with the photo you mentioned, I could not find the audio.

There was indeed an audio recording of valentich's last radio transmission. the authorities made a copy and gave one to Valentich's father for humanitarian reasons. The other copy was erased or mysteriously lost. I think a copy might still exist in their archives somewhere, but it is not available to the public. I believe Guido Valentich actually allowed Bill Chaulker to listen to it, and I think someone else, and they were indeed very puzzled by the strange metalic scraping sound at the end of the transmission.

I find it strange that I cannot find any copies of the Manifold photos on the web. They did exist, and were examined by some very highly trained professionals and found to be legit. I find it strange I cannot find any of them on the web.


Edit: Did manage to find this single photo of the series that Manifold took. I found it doing a Yahoo search. I always felt Google was useless.

kwistufa.bravepages.com...'s.htm

[edit on 24-5-2006 by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf]

[edit on 24-5-2006 by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf]

Thanks for the thread. I remember reading about the disappearance, and suspect I might have heard the audio on a TV programme back in the 80's at some point, but my mind might be making this up. I hadn't heard about the reappearance and letter, though, strong work Skadi.

Pity about the Manifold photos. Maybe some enterprising ATSer will find them...

All the best

Richard

Seems to be one of the better documented unexplained cases. Nice find.

The photo you found didn't seem to show much however. I would like to see the whole sequence of 6 photos he took. This one looks like number 6 in the series.
I wish we could hear the audio. The transcript sounds very believable.



It does seem strange that we cannot find the photos nor the audio.

A strange series of photos taken out over Bass Strait, by Roy Manifold, a plumber on holidays at Crayfish Bay, near Apollo Bay, only some 20 minutes before Valentich began describing his encounter, revealed something unusual. He had taken 6 photos of the setting sun. He saw nothing untoward, with the camera set to automatically take the photo series, but upon development the fourth and sixth photos revealed apparent anomalies. The fourth photo showed what looked like a dense "black lump" in the water, giving the impression of something rising from the water. The fifth photo appeared normal. The sixth shows a strange mass situated in the sky directly over the position of the anomaly in the fourth photo, which looked like an object caught in flight with a possible exhaust or trail of material. Film faults and processing defects were ruled out. The RAAF suggested a cumulus cloud breaking up, but the timing of the exposures would have required the "cloud" to have moved into view at a speed of up to 200 mph. Now that's some cloud for what was a calm day!

www.ufoevidence.org...

Very strange. I have done several different Yahoo and google searches, and I could find nothing but the one single photo.

I did find this lesser known story that might or might not have some relation to the case.

New Zealand UFO Pictures December 1978

It was captured on film by a Australian TV crew who were investigating the wave of UFOs being sighted there. No explaination has yet to satisfy for these images. Somewhat similar to the object in the one Manifold photo we do have.

I remeber whan it happened. I live in Melbourne and know the airport he took off from very well, the flightpath and the bay he flew over I know like the back of my hand.

Most of what happened has already been covered.

Quentin Fogarty took off in a Ch.10 aircraft the nest day same time and also saw strange lights, captured on film and still unexplained.

Theres no way lights in that area can be explained by anything we know.

20 years later kids set off rubbish bags dangling fires or candles to float about and look like UFOs, especially the big orange bags.

I thought maybe something similar had bought him down, but they followed him. They say he may have been inverted and dove into the drink. That would have been impossible.

If someone wanted to find the sircraft at the bottom of the ocean they could.

He must be in the drink unless he was taken away by foirces unknown. The islands in bass strait and tasmania itself have lots of airstrips but theres no where to hide.


17 seconds of open mike would be about the time it takes to fall into the ocean from 4500 feet in a cessna if you had engine trouble and where falling.

[edit on 10-6-2006 by kadicha man]

intresting stuff would make a good tinwiki article i think

Originally posted by kadicha man
I remeber whan it happened. I live in Melbourne and know the airport he took off from very well, the flightpath and the bay he flew over I know like the back of my hand.

Most of what happened has already been covered.

Quentin Fogarty took off in a Ch.10 aircraft the nest day same time and also saw strange lights, captured on film and still unexplained.

Theres no way lights in that area can be explained by anything we know.

20 years later kids set off rubbish bags dangling fires or candles to float about and look like UFOs, especially the big orange bags.

I thought maybe something similar had bought him down, but they followed him. They say he may have been inverted and dove into the drink. That would have been impossible.

If someone wanted to find the sircraft at the bottom of the ocean they could.

He must be in the drink unless he was taken away by foirces unknown. The islands in bass strait and tasmania itself have lots of airstrips but theres no where to hide.


17 seconds of open mike would be about the time it takes to fall into the ocean from 4500 feet in a cessna if you had engine trouble and where falling.

[edit on 10-6-2006 by kadicha man]

For some reason, I don't think they will ever find his plane. Or him.

But its good that we have a member on this board who was around that time who remembers the incident.

From what i hear the Bass Strait is notorious for weird crap going on. Is this true?

intresting stuff would make a good tinwiki article i think

Im actually going to do just that when I get some time.

Bass Strait is a very deep expanse of water roughly between the mainland and Tasmania that lies on the edge of the contineltal shelf. It drops to about 3 miles deep. It is subject to weather directly from Antartica and is known for its hundreds of shipwrecks more than anything else.

Although it is a large area, you are no more than 45 minutes flying time from an island.

The southern lights or Aurora Australis are about the only suspicious lights that have been reported in bass strait. Theres simply no one there to see anything most of the time. However commercial pilots report lights all the time all over the world.

The air is very clear down there and the sky is amazing. You wouldnt think you were seeing the same sky as you do in the city. You can see a shooting star in any direction every minute or so, such is the lack of light pollution.

Below is a transcript from

www.azuredoor.freeserve.co.uk...

The Melbourne news team included reporter Quentin Fogarty, cameraman David Crockett and his wife, Ngaire a sound engineer.

Fogarty said: "We saw a blazing white fireball about fifty miles ahead. It was brilliantly lit at the bottom and appeared to have orange rings around it. They were moving in intelligent fashion. They seemed in control of the situation. Not out of this world".

Co-pilot Guard said that they watched the object for twenty minutes. It was almost like watching a strobe light.

Captain Starrup said that "one object resembled a large ball of light. No aircraft would have the kind of acceleration this thing did. It came within eighteen miles of us and we decided to go in closer. It went above us, then below, then shot away at amazing speed".

The film was shown around the world to stunned audiences and also analyzed by navy photographic expert Dr. Bruce Maccabee. The film was taken to Maccabee in the US by Channel 0 producer Leonard Lees in January 1979.

Using computer enhancement, Maccabee saw a perfectly formed gold triangle which he estimated to be the size of a house.

Another frame showed an oval with a small dome protruding. A third section of the film showed a circular object moving at astonishing speed. Dr. Maccabee said that the film unarguably shows the images which could not have come from stars or planets, or the water below.

The Physicist also flew to Sydney to secretly interview the witnesses.

Famed UFO researcher Stanton Friedman said, "we are definitely dealing with a genuine unidentified flying object".

I have done some googling and as I said befoe I remember the incident well.

There were no PCs then and in Australia if you wanted UFO news there was really only the media, i.e. print and TV. There were some UFO mags around but they were rubbish. I spose there were a few clubs that had newsletters. Whay Im getting at is there was no real way to share information like there is now. I would regard radio reports from talkback callers as a good source but I doubt any recordings from the radio would exist. Maybe the ABC or Sound Australia have something. I can ask if you like however there are some good Australian organisations like

www.ufor.asn.au...

who would know more than anyone about this case, or know who does and can get you two connected.

So its amazing to me after all these years that so much of what wasnt reported at the time is on the web now. I would think that 80% of what I have read in the last few days is rubbish. Times and dates are distorted, eye witnesses popping up all over the place, events a thousands of miles away in another direction being cited.

Quentin Fogarty is still around as far as I know, Im sure I could contact him for you through his son if you are interested.

This is probably the most accurate info on the web

www.project1947.com...

This case ranks in my files in the top ten cases. For me, my favorites are, in no paticular order:

1. The Coyne Case (1973)
2. The Kinross Case (1953)
3. The Hudson Valley UFO Wave (1982-1984)
4. The Roswell Incident(1947)
5. The Rendelsham Forest Incident (1980)
6. The Valentich Disappearance (1978)
7. The Green Fireballs in the Southwest (1948-1949)
8. The Kenneth Arnold Sighting (1947)
9. The Washington Nationals (1952)
10. The Zamora Case (1964)

Wow, no Cash-Landrum case? That one happens to be my favorite and it didnt make youre top 10

Originally posted by SwatMedic

This case ranks in my files in the top ten cases. For me, my favorites are, in no paticular order:

1. The Coyne Case (1973)
2. The Kinross Case (1953)
3. The Hudson Valley UFO Wave (1982-1984)
4. The Roswell Incident(1947)
5. The Rendelsham Forest Incident (1980)
6. The Valentich Disappearance (1978)
7. The Green Fireballs in the Southwest (1948-1949)
8. The Kenneth Arnold Sighting (1947)
9. The Washington Nationals (1952)
10. The Zamora Case (1964)

Wow, no Cash-Landrum case? That one happens to be my favorite and it didnt make youre top 10

Well, I only had room for the top ten. The Cash-Lundrum case does rank pretty high with me. It certainly is a great physical evidence case.

Skadi -

briefly, what's your take on Gulf Breeze?