Australian UFO Photo: Saucer with Dome

G’day

One of the photos that first aroused my interest in the UFO phenomena was the W. C. Hall UFO photo taken in 1954 over a sheep station in Australia.

I remember looking at it in some old UFO books when I was very little & thinking…..”wow!”

Some well known UFO sites categorise this as one of their “all time great UFO photo’s”, including…..

UFO Casebook:

Australia, 1954. This very compelling photograph of a clearly defined round UFO with top and antenna was taken by sheep farmer W. C. Hall in 1954. If you look real closely, you might see another unknown object in the distance just above a mountain. An excellent photo, and for a newspaper clipping, it is in excellent condition.

www.ufocasebook.com...

Here are 2 different versions of the photo, both of which are not of particularly good quality:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0347cce2de06.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/29d8f7bda9eb.jpg[/atsimg]

I looked for an original place of publication of the photos & came up with this from Keith Basterfield’s “Project 1947” archives:

Oct 1953 North QLD
Mr W C Hall photographed a dense looking tropical hat shaped UFO of circular form with a prominent dome on top as it hovered over a herd of sheep.
(Sir magazine Feb 55.)

www.project1947.com...

I looked into archives I could find regarding “Sir Magazine”, but I could not find a Feb 1955 edition.

I looked into anything Bill Chalker (“The Oz Files” author) might have written about it, but that looped me back to “Project 1947”, where Chalker is now archiving his older material.

All in all, I have not been able to obtain much background material regarding this photo.

Therefore I would be very interested to know what the ATS community thinks about this photo.

Kind regards
Maybe…maybe not

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not


it kinda looks face because you cannot see anything kinda clearly and bam u can kinda see the saucer,, it doesn;t fit well with the rest of the pic

Considering the age of the photo it is quite remarkable. How wealthy was the guy that took the picture. I just wanna know if he would have had the means to alter a photograph like this. Gotta say I have been chasing UFO's for years now and have never seen this pic. GG M...MN S & F for making me think.

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not

Isn't it interesting that it's referred to as a "tropical hat shaped UFO"?

Do we have enough information to rule out a tropical hat or something along those lines? (tossed in the air like a frisbee and photographed)?

Of course the fact that it LOOKS LIKE a topical hat doesn't mean it IS a tropical hat, but I'm not seeing anything to immediately rule out such a possibility.

You're right, there's not much information about this online. The picture is from a newspaper clipping, we surely have to wonder what ever happened to the original photo or negative, and did nobody ever have an interest in investigating this case further than clipping the newspaper article?

There's supposed to be a 2nd UFO visible in the background but I'm having a hard time seeing it.

www.eyepod.org...

Australia, 1954. This very compelling photograph of a clearly defined round UFO with top and antenna was taken by sheep farmer W. C. Hall in 1954. If you look real closely, you might see another unknown object in the distance just above a mountain. An excellent photo, and for a newspaper clipping, it is in excellent condition.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


If you look at the mountain range in the back, the middle mountain seems to have something above it but that could be anything really.

Originally posted by jumpingbeanz
reply to post by Maybe...maybe not

 

it kinda looks face because you cannot see anything kinda clearly and bam u can kinda see the saucer,, it doesn;t fit well with the rest of the pic

G'day jumpingbeanz

I think what you might be describing is the apparent lack of distance haze, which would count against the photo being authentic.

On the other hand, one might argue the lack of pollution, etc...might minimise distance haze.

I note that at an initial glance, the lighting on the "object" seems to generally match up with the lighting on the sheep.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Originally posted by ventian
Considering the age of the photo it is quite remarkable. How wealthy was the guy that took the picture. I just wanna know if he would have had the means to alter a photograph like this. Gotta say I have been chasing UFO's for years now and have never seen this pic. GG M...MN S & F for making me think.

G'day ventian

It's hard to know.....there have been some extremely wealthy sheep farmers & some extremely poor ones.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

reply to post by Arbitrageur


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/259e37de746b.jpg[/atsimg]

It looks like there may be two there in the background but as our gracious hosts alias implies maybe...maybe not

My pic was shrunk a lil bit look where I marked to see it on the original.

[edit on 21-3-2010 by ventian]

Originally posted by Arbitrageur
reply to post by Maybe...maybe not

G'day Arbitrageur

Isn't it interesting that it's referred to as a "tropical hat shaped UFO"?
Do we have enough information to rule out a tropical hat or something along those lines? (tossed in the air like a frisbee and photographed)?

I’m not a big fan of the “flying tropical hat” hypothesis….I think the “object” has more metallic highlights & detail than would be the case with the hat scenario.

Of course the fact that it LOOKS LIKE a topical hat doesn't mean it IS a tropical hat, but I'm not seeing anything to immediately rule out such a possibility.

I agree.....the poor quality of the photo's does not make it possible to rule that out unequivocally.

On the one hand, I'm sure I recall seeing a better quality photo at some time in the past.

On the other hand, I cannot find one.

I could be getting confused with the 1966 Washtenaw County UFO photo's that I also used to look at for ages when I was very little......that "object" had a similar shape.

You're right, there's not much information about this online. The picture is from a newspaper clipping, we surely have to wonder what ever happened to the original photo or negative, and did nobody ever have an interest in investigating this case further than clipping the newspaper article?

Good question.....that's why I tried to track it down via the reference to "Sir Magazine".

There's supposed to be a 2nd UFO visible in the background but I'm having a hard time seeing it.

www.eyepod.org...

Australia, 1954. This very compelling photograph of a clearly defined round UFO with top and antenna was taken by sheep farmer W. C. Hall in 1954. If you look real closely, you might see another unknown object in the distance just above a mountain. An excellent photo, and for a newspaper clipping, it is in excellent condition.

I still think I saw a clearer photo because I think I can recall looking at that 2nd object in much more detail.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

reply to post by ventian


G'day ventian

Thanks.....that shows things well......from memory, I think the reference was to the lower "object".

As I said to Arbitrageur.....

I still think I saw a clearer photo because I think I can recall looking at that 2nd object in much more detail.

I might see if I can find an e-mail address for Bill Chalker to see if he has any comments about this photo.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

The contrast and focus on the UFO seems out of place with the rest of the picture. It almost looks like a cut and paste job. Does an original negative exist?

IRM

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not


MMN,

I think you should contact Bill Chalker. He's a nice guy and was happy to help me out in the past with images.

Bills Email:
[email protected]


IRM

reply to post by InfaRedMan


I believe that if it is real it is the lighting that is causing the contrast effect. Closely looking at the picture is a bunch of dots from the poor photography. The dots are white on the ufo in question and seem to match the pattern. I don't believe it is a copy paste though it shouldn't be ruled out.

reply to post by InfaRedMan


G'day InfaRedMan

OK.....I just did that.....

From: Hunka Hunka
Sent: Sunday, 21 March 2010 19:35
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: A Question About An Old UFO Case

G’day Bill

I hope you don’t mind me being so presumptuous as to e-mail you directly......I saw your e-mail address here: www.ufoinfo.com...
I am looking for a little background info regarding the W C Hall photo (attached & below).
I can get no further than references to it first being published in “Sir Magazine” in 1955.
This is one of the photo’s that first got me interested in this topic.....I recall looking at it when I was very young.
I also think I’ve seen a clearer photo.
Any info or pic’s would be appreciated very much.
If you are too busy.....then no worries, I imagine you get many such requests.

Kind regards
Hunka Hunka

I also asked The Great Internos & our second biggest Oz celebrity after you, Chadwickus.

Your U2U was loaded & ready to go!

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

[edit on 21-3-2010 by Maybe...maybe not]

i believe... i believe... it's too old to clarify! History has a funny way of losing critical data. In m opinion it is a real photo... unedited.

but it is very possible to get that type of effect by just throwing a hat or hub cap! What concerns me most about the authenticity of the UFO is that it doesn't hover horizontally to the ground.

it would appear that its thrust capablity would come from its base and at centre. now giving the laws of gravity the angle in which it is poised would mean it was moving!
however that was back in the good ol' days before negative gravity hyper drives and space reflex capacitors....

reply to post by spearhead


Wouldn't mind knowing what camera he used. If it is moving that camera is great for stopping the blur. Can't help but wonder about those laws of gravity though. They could be right but knowing our primitive condition, I would bet there is a lot we still don't understand.

Interesting photo!

I dont think it is a "pith helmet",as these were longer at the back than at the front.

To me,it bears more than a passing resemblance to the tech that the Nazi's were supposed to have been working on,perhaps on a trip away from the supposed Nazi base located in Antarctica!

G'day to you Maybe...maybe not, this is quite the photo you've found. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I think we can call this photo legit. I've been doing some photo analysis on it and it indeed is an actual photo.

reply to post by NASA is ASAN


Preciate you comin in with the filters and what not. Have you by chance ruled out a hat?

Thanks for sharing mmn, I didn't know about this case, so I'm glad you've brought it to our attention.

The image looks a bit dubious to me, as mentioned finding the original negative or even an original newspaper containing the image would be pretty handy, perhaps a search of newspaper archives in the local library would help?

I did find some more information to add as well.

August, 1954 - Australian Sheep Grower W. C. Hall saw six petroltank shaped UFOs land on his ranch in North Queensland, Australia. His chickens, cattle and even the jack rabbits on his farm were affected by an oddly colored exhaust fumes of the UFOs, which he believed brought about a change in the genes of animal life on his ranch, due to Atomic Radiation, as various freaks were born afterwards.

Source: www.mumeson.org...

So WC Hall has seen other UFO's...or he's out for a bit of attention?

Dunno!

Maybe Bill Chalker will have some more information for you.