A Strange Story From Austraila, 1996

While I was sifting through my digital piles of high strangeness info, I came across an encounter from Wamuran near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on April 18, 1996. This is an unusual case as there are no visible flying objects, humanoids, etc, but the "entity" has an unmistakable presence. The after-effects and side-effects of this encounter are interesting as they share many similarities with other high strangeness cases, such as finding melted objects around the house, a powdered rock outside, and unusual marks on the witnesses' bodies. Other symptoms discovered were similar to the "actnic ray effects" causing sunburn-like and ocular effects similar to exposure to a welding torch, often seen in high-strangeness witnesses and which John Keel described in his writings.

I didn't want to bring this one up at first because I was unable to find any background information (except for one paragraph on a now-dead website) on the witnesses or source, but the concept of this story is interesting enough to warrant further discussion. "Static electricity" is a common element in UFO/high-strangeness reports. Many witnesses have reported a static sensation on the skin during, before, and after their sightings, as well as strong electrical discharge when in the presence of entities. This case features an entity that, although invisible, appears to consist of some type of concentrated energy which may or may not have been the byproduct of some type of experimental technology.
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The two main witnesses were a 58-year old retired police officer and his wife, Jenny. They arrived home to find a strong sulfur-like smell throughout the house. He searched the house to find the source of the odor, but found nothing out of the ordinary. His wife went to turn the hallway and bedroom lights on, then walked back down the hallway to the living room. He then walked down the same hallway towards the bedroom, but as he neared the end of the hallway (where his wife had just passed by), he encountered a pocket of extremely cold air. He reached into the cold air, which caused a massive electrical shock. Terrified, he went back to the beginning of the hallway opposite of the bedroom. His wife then went up to approach the cold spot but suffered the same electrical discharge on contact with it.

The witnesses discussed the issue for a few minutes and tried to move past the spot in the hallway several times with no success. This "entity" remained stationary at the south end of the hallway at the time. Their dog, a toy poodle, knew something fishy was going on--when he looked down the hall, the guanine at the back of his eyes reflected a strange bright orange instead of the usual green. The witnesses reported that they could detect the nearby presence of this "entity" by sensing a strong static electricity sensation, and goose bumps appeared on the witnesses' skin. The air within the entity was extremely cold and painful, and upon direct contact, the witnesses reported a sensation of being drained of all energy for several moments as well as difficulty breathing.

About an hour later, their son Adrian and his partner at the time, Petra, arrived at the house. They were informed of the situation and were invited to experience it for themselves. They tried walking along the hallway and encountered the same electrical discharge effect. The "entity" appeared to have moved about eight meters and was now stationed at the north end of the hallway. Petra (who was eight and a half months pregnant) was seemingly brushed or "slapped" aside when she neared the entity, but she said she was not harmed by it. All four of these people had several direct contacts with this entity which began to move throughout the house, while Petra's encounters with this object were the least vigorous of all of them.

Another hour had passed when the entity appeared to eject Adrian from a chair he was sitting in. Jenny had a contact with the entity during which she felt "stuck" inside of it, experiencing weakness and disorientation as well as breathing difficulties until she was able to break free. They walked around the outside of the house and discovered an unusual column of warm air at the southern end of the house, but nothing else out of the ordinary was found. During the entirety of this event, the witnesses reported that there was no discernible traffic sounds or other external sounds within or in the vicinity of the house. Adrian had another bad encounter with the entity before leaving with Petra.

Two hours later, they saw a bright orb cross within their TV screen. Another (independent) witness reported seeing a huge orange light hovering over the house at about that same time. Another witness, a neighbor, said her house shook for a short while. The telemetry from the water reservoir across the street crashed and somehow restored itself. The witnesses also reported hearing loud clicks in groups of three several times within the house.

After the event, some of the witnesses developed symptoms consistent with a form of radiation sickness including severe headaches, flu-like symptoms, eye and joint pain, and the couple developed permanent chronic tinnitus as well as brown-pigmented stains on both legs. A circular mark appeared on the top of his left foot. Outside of the house, several rocks in the garden appeared to have been effected by some form of energy, one exploded into a fine powder. A candle in the house had been selectively melted and the stearic acid component was found separated and crystalized. Moss on a concrete path outside showed burn marks, and two small sections of the same path appeared melted or glazed.
The two main witnesses claimed to have developed substantial "psychic" abilities after the event.

This case was originally published and studied by Brad Mildern (The Aussie Connection), and was later included in Humanoid Compilations by Albert Rosales Humanoid 1996. Unfortunately, I was unable to find much more on Mildern's background, except that he maintained a now-defunct website on UFO topics for some time, "https://web.archive.org/web/20120730033103/mysticaluniverse.com..." (can't get link to work on here, it is NOT the current mysticaluniverse.com, that is now a completely different site)

Brad kept the site going and growing for many more years, until he finally reached a point in life where he wanted to do more detailed UFO and paranormal research and investigation in the field. His tireless efforts kept Mystical Universe from disappearing. Brad turned the website to the current owners in 2010, and now we proudly carry on, and build upon, all the hard work of those amazing people who preceded us.

Witnesses' reports can range from completely fabricated to entirely honest, and some witnesses, although entirely honest, may have forgotten or changed details due to faulty or false memories. The authors who compile and publish these reports may further confuse things by changing, forgetting, or taking details out of context (such as for entertainment value), but in this case, regardless of its legitimacy, it's interesting to hypothesize about the types of technology which may have been responsible for this effect, man-made or otherwise.

At the very least, it's a good story.

Thanks for sharing!

sounds more like a climate control / electrical event. And you're right, close encounters often involve electrical disturbances.

a reply to: ElGoobero

You're welcome, thanks for reading!
Could very well be, it is interesting to note the neighbor's report of "shaking" in their home during the event.

I'm going to put on my skeptic hat for this one only because so many of their experiences made me think of underground magma/lava rising and or crystalizing along with escaping gases and Australia supposedly had many underground volcanoes.

The electrical and ground shaking may be explained here:

Magnetotelluric surveys have revealed many regions within the Earth’s interior with anomalously high electrical conductivity. These regions are often attributed on the basis f independent geological and experimental constraints to
the presence of magmas [Pous et al., 1999; Hoffmann-Rothe et al., 2001; Schilling and Partzsch, 2001; Brasse et al.,
2002; Park and Ducea, 2003]. The electrical signature of these magmatic reservoirs, determined at surface, could be
used to infer the maturity reached by the magma, at depth, in terms of volatile abundances, temperature and crystal
content given that appropriate laboratory studies are available.

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

The psychic/hallucinogenic, difficulty breathing ... may be explained away with gases seeping up through the ground.

A simple cocktail of carbon dioxide mixed with methane could have induced the psychic trances that the Pythia used to channel the gods and dish out their advice, according to the latest, Italian-led study.

www.livescience.com...

www.howden.com...

A new study reveals why the magma chambers that feed recurrent and often explosive volcanic eruptions tend to reside in a very narrow depth range within the Earth's crust. The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, could help scientists to better understand volcanic processes the world over.

www.sciencedaily.com...

I don't have any theories as of yet on the radiation-burn-like skin injuries.

Sorry, I want to believe but I also want the truth or proof.

a reply to: quintessentone

Excellent skeptical approach. Any of those things could have been a factor here.
A buildup of gasses could definitely cause all kinds of strange effects, especially in an enclosed space (the house).

The radiation injuries have me puzzled as well, along with the ball of orange light observed over the witnesses' home by the other independent witness. This light is similar to many reports of UAPs. Perhaps there were a few things going on here, even an experimental tech for the observation and measurements of tectonic/volcanic activity in the area, or, perhaps, to induce it.

A good rabbit hole to go down would be UAPs and volcanic/tectonic activity. A few good studies (Prediction of historical and contemporary luminosity (UFO) reports by seismic variables within Western Europe, and
Earthquake Lights), have been done on that correlation before, but it's probably not a bad idea to compare some of the high-strangeness "side effects" experienced in other cases involving that type of activity such as burn marks, selectively melted objects, types of UAPs observed (other orange lights?), and radiation-type illnesses.

a reply to: wavelength

I've been fascinated by the 'electric universe' theory for a long time. I wonder if Tesla was onto and aware of something that scientists today haven't (?) begun to understand?

A good friend told me of an experience he had during construction of the Alaska pipe line. The Aurora Borealis was right overhead, and they could hear the strange humming noise it made, but the freakiest part was how the air became charged with static electricity, making the hair on their arms and the back of their neck stand up.

In recent years I've become interested in the theory of a multi-dimensional universe. It seems as if some can 'view' it's existence, especially after a traumatic event-like being struck by lightening.

Maybe there is no connection, but just maybe there is.

P.S. I sure do enjoy your threads!

a reply to: wavelength

So I found a rational explanation for the radiation burns:

Yellowstone volcano SHOCK: Scorching magma chamber is RADIOACTIVE, USGS scientists reveal.

Deep beneath Yellowstone National Park, geologists have discovered deposits of the radioactive mineral zircon.

Zircon is known for its radioactive properties due to being rich in uranium and thorium – two radioactive chemical elements.

Uranium, in particular, is commonly used in nuclear weapons and is the go-to-fuel for nuclear reactors.

Thorium is a similarly unstable element, which radiates alpha particles and is more abundant in the Earth’s crust than uranium.

www.express.co.uk...

Zircon - The natural color of zircon varies between colorless, yellow-golden, red, brown, blue, and green. The name derives from the Persian zargun, meaning "gold-hued". This word is corrupted into "jargoon", a term applied to light-colored zircons. (Wikipedia)

On the other hand, there are radioactive elements that impart energy to nearby phosphorescent or fluorescent materials and thus appear to glow. If you saw plutonium, for example, it might appear to glow red. Why? The surface of plutonium burns in the presence of oxygen in the air, like an ember of a fire.

Radium and the hydrogen isotope tritium emit particles that excite the electrons of fluorescent or phosphorescent materials. The stereotypical greenish glow comes from a phosphor, usually doped zinc sulfide. However, other substances may be used to produce other colors of light.

Another example of an element that glows is radon. Radon ordinarily exists as a gas, but as it is cooled it becomes phosphorescent yellow, deepening to glowing red as it is chilled below its freezing point.

www.thoughtco.com...

So if it were indeed radioactive elements mixing together around the house then it could very well have become an orange color.

a reply to: quintessentone

Intriguing indeed. This provokes the question, how many times have these effects been reported by others in relation to seismic activity? If that is what had occurred in this family's house, it would be interesting to know how often this happens to other people in other houses/buildings, or if this was a fluke event.

As outlandish as a lot of UAP/high-strangeness witnesses may sound when they describe physical after-effects, whether from an unexplained phenomena or an explainable but otherwise unusual event (such as, perhaps, this one), it's not only possible, but it's very likely that they were telling the truth about their symptoms.

Radiation from radioactive materials such as radon gas, medical x-rays, (ionizing radiation) produces severe sickness and cell damage in high doses, and, on top of that, there is the "other" type of radiation that's known to cause burns (welder's torch type eye symptoms, sunburn, etc)-- non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic radiation from radar (Radar effects on human body) can cause different types of effects altogether such as stomach pain, migraines, vomiting, etc, and excessive exposure can make these illnesses become chronic. EM Radiation such as the type emitted from your microwave oven, in high doses (much higher than what you'll ever get from an actual microwave oven), can cause burns as well. When I was going to school, we had to study for a radar operation/servicing endorsement so we had to go over a ton of material on the effects of all types of radiation as well as safety procedures. They made sure to let us know how that stuff can ruin your day real quick.

For those interested, here is a detailed explanation of different types and doses of radiation on the body: Radiation

So, if there was a high concentration of radiation involved from a buildup of gasses/radioactive elements, it is very possible that they would have quickly experienced a very painful set of symptoms, and likely were telling the truth (if this case wasn't made up like so many of them are, unfortunately).

a reply to: wavelength

There should be teams of trained UFO researchers and scientists who could go to these scenes of suspected visitations and rule out natural phenomena, shouldn't there?

originally posted by: nugget1
a reply to: wavelength

I've been fascinated by the 'electric universe' theory for a long time. I wonder if Tesla was onto and aware of something that scientists today haven't (?) begun to understand?

A good friend told me of an experience he had during construction of the Alaska pipe line. The Aurora Borealis was right overhead, and they could hear the strange humming noise it made, but the freakiest part was how the air became charged with static electricity, making the hair on their arms and the back of their neck stand up.

In recent years I've become interested in the theory of a multi-dimensional universe. It seems as if some can 'view' it's existence, especially after a traumatic event-like being struck by lightening.

Maybe there is no connection, but just maybe there is.

P.S. I sure do enjoy your threads!

Interesting out-of-the-box theory. It's not impossible.
I'm thinking what happened here was more along the lines of a type of EM-related "attack" on the area, or as quintessentone theorizes, a type of seismic event that happened to release a plume of chemicals right around the witnesses' home. If it was some type of "attack" or EM phenomenon (which may have triggered a seismic event), perhaps your theory may have some weight here, indeed.
My only issues with the seismic event hypothesis is the claim of the selectively melted candle with the stearic acid component separated, the way the "entity" was, for some reason, ice cold, and the way the thing seemed to move with purpose throughout the house as well as ejecting Adrian from his chair and seemingly "slapping" Petra aside. The other thing that has me stopped up is the "clicks of three" heard throughout the house several times after the event.

On the other hand, the witnesses may have embellished those details, leaving the seismic event theory very plausible.


I'm glad you enjoy my threads, thank you.

a reply to: quintessentone

Yes, I agree. This would be a huge help to this field of study. There are tons of UAP cases in which natural phenomena has been proven to be the cause, but very few serious high-strangeness cases have been deliberately investigated to assess the probability of a natural cause.

Very interesting!
My sighting was in 1997, on the Pennsylvania - New Jersey border, on the NJ side, flat farm country.
I was with 3 other women, we were visiting one of the women's relative's home overnight and going on to Pennsylvania the next day.
After 9:00 pm we went outside to the huge barn area to have a cigarette. One of the women was very religious and always wished on the stars at night, if not for her I would never have noticed anything, because I am not usually a sky-watcher.
It was a very clear calm night. Suddenly this woman yelled, 'What the heck is that??'
We all looked up to see a huge disc hovering very close over us, I estimated it to be 40 feet in diameter. It had round flashing lights on the underside, in three colors, one of which was yellow.
I broke the silence by saying, 'Is that a UFO??'
We were stunned when this huge vehicle took off with no sound, no smoke, no sense of propulsion - nothing.
It zig-zagged across the sky, way up high, and then hovered in the center of the sky.
Suddenly this craft was hovering over us again, and one of the women screamed, 'It's going to land!' And we all ran for house.
I was the only one to look back, this thing returned to the center of the sky, blinked in a huge burst of light, and took off for the other side of the planet at an incredible speed.
I didn't sense any electrical disturbances or feelings, this vehicle seemed to be some type of anti-gravity device.
And I am very happy it did not land!

a reply to: RonnieJersey

What was your friend wishing upon the stars for, did she ever tell you? I'm just thinking that she was sending her thoughts out there and considering aliens may be telepathic, well you see where I am going.

a reply to: RonnieJersey

Thank you for sharing your sighting!
Were the other colored lights on its perimeter red and orange by any chance? There was a similar report of a thimble-shaped object with lights around its perimeter (but not on the underside) in those colors as well as a greenish neon light in the center of it. This object also zig-zagged within a small area. I'll dig that case up some time.

One of the common questions during military interrogations with witnesses about their sightings is whether the witness experienced any electromagnetic effects or disturbances to televisions, computers, radios, or other devices. Many times, the answer is yes (radio static in cars, TV going out, etc), but generally there isn't any physical electrical sensation reported by the witnesses. In some cases there is, but they are the minority. It seems like that effect is more common when an entity is seen besides the UFO/UAP, but not as often when it is just the vehicle that is seen by the witnesses.

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: RonnieJersey

What was your friend wishing upon the stars for, did she ever tell you? I'm just thinking that she was sending her thoughts out there and considering aliens may be telepathic, well you see where I am going.

LOL - She was very religious and always wishing, I believe, to get home to Germany, where she was from!
Interestingly, she told me that as a young girl in Germany she saw a silver disc 'floating' (her words) down the street, past their apartment building window. She called to her mother, but this thing had drifted off by the time her mother looked outside, and didn't believe her.

originally posted by: RonnieJersey

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: RonnieJersey

What was your friend wishing upon the stars for, did she ever tell you? I'm just thinking that she was sending her thoughts out there and considering aliens may be telepathic, well you see where I am going.

LOL - She was very religious and always wishing, I believe, to get home to Germany, where she was from!
Interestingly, she told me that as a young girl in Germany she saw a silver disc 'floating' (her words) down the street, past their apartment building window. She called to her mother, but this thing had drifted off by the time her mother looked outside, and didn't believe her.

Now that is very interesting and the craft always seem to disappear as soon as one alerts other people to come quick and see. I wonder if she was a repeat contactee?

originally posted by: wavelength
a reply to: RonnieJersey

Thank you for sharing your sighting!
Were the other colored lights on its perimeter red and orange by any chance? There was a similar report of a thimble-shaped object with lights around its perimeter (but not on the underside) in those colors as well as a greenish neon light in the center of it. This object also zig-zagged within a small area. I'll dig that case up some time.

One of the common questions during military interrogations with witnesses about their sightings is whether the witness experienced any electromagnetic effects or disturbances to televisions, computers, radios, or other devices. Many times, the answer is yes (radio static in cars, TV going out, etc), but generally there isn't any physical electrical sensation reported by the witnesses. In some cases there is, but they are the minority. It seems like that effect is more common when an entity is seen besides the UFO/UAP, but not as often when it is just the vehicle that is seen by the witnesses.

I'd love to hear about that case!
I remember the one color of the lights was definitely yellow, I believe another color was red, yes - but I don't recall orange as the third color, I think it was blue.
There were no other lights visible - but we saw only the underside of this disc, and it was at night, so what we saw was limited.
1997 was before the days of everyone having a cell phone in their hand, we didn't have any on us.
And surprisingly, no sensation of 'rushing wind' or anything of that nature, which makes me wonder because of the speed of this vehicle.
The other women did not want to talk about this experience at all, it was absolutely frightening because it was so close on top of us. But we all compared notes, and agreed that we saw the same thing, and being 25 years ago our country certainly did not have this type of technology.
We still don't. If we did, it wouldn't take several months to reach Mars - it would take a matter of minutes.

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: RonnieJersey

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: RonnieJersey

What was your friend wishing upon the stars for, did she ever tell you? I'm just thinking that she was sending her thoughts out there and considering aliens may be telepathic, well you see where I am going.

LOL - She was very religious and always wishing, I believe, to get home to Germany, where she was from!
Interestingly, she told me that as a young girl in Germany she saw a silver disc 'floating' (her words) down the street, past their apartment building window. She called to her mother, but this thing had drifted off by the time her mother looked outside, and didn't believe her.

Now that is very interesting and the craft always seem to disappear as soon as one alerts other people to come quick and see. I wonder if she was a repeat contactee?

I had wondered about that myself - but I have not seen her since that year, she may have returned home.
I would love to have asked her!
The thing that I am always left with is the fear on these women's faces, they were petrified, as was I.

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: RonnieJersey

What was your friend wishing upon the stars for, did she ever tell you? I'm just thinking that she was sending her thoughts out there and considering aliens may be telepathic, well you see where I am going.

That's an interesting thought - she may have unconsciously summoned them -
I did have the feeling that whatever was driving that craft knew we were there, saw us and decided to show us what they are capable of -
When they returned to hover over us, we ran shrieking and this thing took off, guess they figured we weren't good specimens to be examined!

originally posted by: RonnieJersey

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: RonnieJersey

What was your friend wishing upon the stars for, did she ever tell you? I'm just thinking that she was sending her thoughts out there and considering aliens may be telepathic, well you see where I am going.

That's an interesting thought - she may have unconsciously summoned them -
I did have the feeling that whatever was driving that craft knew we were there, saw us and decided to show us what they are capable of -
When they returned to hover over us, we ran shrieking and this thing took off, guess they figured we weren't good specimens to be examined!

Well the same thing happened to me. I was having a small get together with friends in my apartment and we were sitting on the balcony when everyone except me went into the house for more drinks, I stood up and leaned over the railing and looked up at the sky and there they were poking out of a cloud. I immediately ran inside the door and yelled for everyone to come out and look at the UFO, they hurried immediately and voila the craft was gone. I was lucky I could blame it on too many beers.