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{{Short description|1966 UFO incident in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia}}
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| coordinates = {{Coord|37|56|28|S|145|08|2|E|type:edu_region:AU-VIC|display=inline,title}}
| also known as = Westall High School UFOs
| participants = 300 students/teachers
}}
 
The '''Westall UFO''' was a reported [[UFO sightings in Australia|UFO sighting in Australia]] that occurred on 6 April 1966 in [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. The object was observed by multiple individuals, including students at Westall High School. Specific details vary between accounts, which increases the difficulty of identification. The sighting has been commemorated with documentaries, reunions, and a local UFO playground.
 
== Reports ==
At approximately 11:00 am onOn Wednesday, 6 April 1966, students and a teacher from Westall High School, now Westall Secondary College, reported seeing a flying object,.<ref describedname="Kachor2018">{{cite asnews a|last1=Kachor grey|first1=Kate (or|title=Westall silvery-green)flying saucer-shaped: craftOne withof aAustralia's slightbaffling purplemysteries huestill andunsolved about52 twiceyears the sizeon |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/westall-flying-saucer-one-of-australias-baffling-mysteries-still-unsolved-52-years-on/1e8e2b76-4ceb-42c7-a71c-7d146db67fe7 a|work=Nine [[familyNews car]].|date=6 AccordingApril to2018}}</ref> theIt students,was thedescribed objectas wasround descending,with overflew thea highdomed schooltop, and disappearedwhite, behindgrey, aor standsilver ofin treescolour.<ref Approximatelyname="Kachor2018" 20/><ref minutesname="Dunn2014">{{cite laternews |first=Mark |last=Dunn |date=7 August 2014 |title=UFO all hot air |newspaper=Herald Sun |location=Melbourne |page=23}}</ref> According to the students, the object reportedlydescended reappeared,behind climbeda atrow speedof trees and departedinto towardsthe Grange, an open area south of the north-westschool.<ref name="BD" /> Some accounts describe the object as being pursued by five unidentified aircraft.<ref name=Dandenong>{{cite news |title= Flying Saucer Mystery, School Silent | issue=14 April 1966 p. 1 and 21 April 1966 p. 1-2 |locationpublisher=The Dandenong Journal|publisherwork=[[ Star News Group.]]}} republished by [|url=https://wwwweb.newsarchive.com.auorg/technologyweb/science20160428183500/space/audio-reveals-creepy-details-of-australian-ufo-mystery/news-story/471c724255b0388ee4e930a4d35028e7 www.news.com.au], [https://wwwupload.heraldsunwikimedia.com.auorg/leaderwikipedia/inner-southen/b/b1/westallThe_Dandenong_Journal_-ufo_1966_14th_Apr_-sighting-witnesses-to-speak-about-the-1966-alien-encounter-at-clayton-south/news-story/ba54dbec1130e3df8715c728e65bc028_page_1.jpg www|via=archive.heraldsun.com.au] org}}</ref><ref name="Herald Sun 2010">{{cite news |first=Ally |last=Foster |date=8 August 2018 |title=Audio reveals creepy details of Australian UFO mystery RARE audio of a physicist discussing one of Australia's greatest unsolved UFO cases could shed light on the baffling events of the 1966 incident |work=[[Herald Sun]] |publisher=[[The Herald and Weekly Times]] ([[News Corp Australia]]/[[News Corp]]) |publication-place=[[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]] |editor1-first=Sam |editor1-last=Weir |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/audio-reveals-creepy-details-of-australian-ufo-mystery/news-story/471c724255b0388ee4e930a4d35028e7 |access-date=2 July 2021 |quote="In 1966 over 300 children and staff from a Melbourne school reportedly witnessed multiple UFOs silently flying through the sky before landing in a nearby field. It is the largest mass UFO sighting in Australia yet hardly anything was reported on it at the time..." |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180807165829/https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/audio-reveals-creepy-details-of-australian-ufo-mystery/news-story/471c724255b0388ee4e930a4d35028e7 |archive-date=7 August 2018}}</ref> Shaun Matthews was on vacation at the Grange and reported seeing an object with a slight purple hue and about twice the size of a [[family car]].<ref name="TheAge-2005"/>
 
Some witnesses reported seeing the object take off after landing, and some reported seeing it hover rather than land. When students walked to the Grange after the sighting, some reported a landing site, but the details varied between reports.<ref name="TheAge-2005"/><ref name="BD" /> Students described a circle of grass variously as burnt, "boiled", or pressed down.<ref name="TheAge-2005"/> One student interviewed by a local newspaper described a vague circular area flattened by the wind.<ref name="BD" /> Students also reported varying numbers of circles from one to three.<ref name="BD" /> On 9 April 1966, Air Force personnel and UFO enthusiasts visited the field but reported nothing of interest. The landowner burned the field to discourage people from entering the property.<ref name="BD" />
 
==Explanations==
Australian newspaper ''[[The Age]]'' described it at the time as a weather balloon: "Object Perhaps Balloon – An unidentified flying object seen over the Clayton-Moorabbin area yesterday morning might have been a weather balloon. Hundreds of children and a number of teachers at Westall School, Clayton, watched the object during morning break. The Weather Bureau released a balloon at [[Laverton, Victoria|Laverton]] at 8:30 am and the westerly wind blowing at the time could have moved it into the area where the sighting was reported". The newspaper also said a number of small aeroplanes circled around it. However, a check later showed that no commercial, private, or [[RAAF]] pilots had reported anything unusual in the area.<ref name="TA1966">{{cite news |title=Object Perhaps Balloon |via=[[Google Newspapers]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cxZVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2083%2C1126946 |access-date=2 July 2021 |publication-place=[[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]] |date=7 April 1966 |page=A6 |newspaper=[[The Age]] |editor1-first=Graham |editor1-last=Perkin |editor2-last=Macdonald |editor2-first=Ranald |editor1-link=Graham Perkin |editor2-link=Ranald Macdonald (journalist) |publisher=David Syme & Co. Ltd. |department=Main section |volume=CXII |issue=34604 |issn=0312-6307}}</ref>
 
According to Keith Basterfield, a runaway balloon from the HIBAL [[high-altitude balloon]] project used to monitor radiation levels after [[British nuclear tests at Maralinga]] is a likely explanation. Basterfield located documents in the National Archives and former Department of Supply indicating a test balloon launched from [[Mildura]] may have been blown off course "and came down in Clayton South in a paddock near Westall High School, alarming and baffling hundreds of eyewitnesses, including teachers and students". Basterfield said HIBAL balloons had a white silver appearance and featured a parachute and gas tube trailing from the top, which is consistent with witness descriptions of the object. There were also reports that after the incident, "men in suits" cautioned witnesses not to discuss details of the secret government exercise.<ref name="HS">{{cite news |last=Dunn |first=Mark |access-date=2 July 2021 |title=Westall 'UFO' incident was actually government radiation testing, reports reveal |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/westall-ufo-incident-was-actually-government-radiation-testing-reports-reveal/news-story/b6c6056bf60f378809f19327eb1c23fc |work=[[Herald Sun]] |date=2 October 2005 |publisher=[[The Herald and Weekly Times]] ([[News Corp Australia]]/[[News Corp]]) |publication-place=[[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]] |archive-date=4 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204182327/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/westall-ufo-incident-was-actually-government-radiation-testing-reports-reveal/news-story/b6c6056bf60f378809f19327eb1c23fc |editor1-first=Sam |editor1-last=Weir }}</ref>
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==Media coverage==
The documentary ''Westall '66'' focuses on the sighting. It is based on interviews that ufologist Shane Ryan conducted with residents.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theconversation.com/westall-66-50-years-on-still-stranger-than-fiction-57188 |title=Westall '66: 50 years on, still stranger than fiction |last=Sharpe |first=Matthew |date=3 April 2016 |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |publisher=[[Deakin University]] |access-date=8 February 2024}}</ref> ''Westall '66'' was incorporated into the national history curriculum as a lesson on critical analysis of popular portrayals of historical events.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Topsfield |first1=Jewel |title=Our 'Roswell' now one for the history books |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/our-roswell-now-one-for-the-history-books-20110603-1fl5o.html |work=The Age |date=3 June 2011 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=Westall '66 A Suburban UFO Myster: A Study Guide |last1=Burton |first1=Lee |last2=Lewis |first2=Robert |publisher=Australian Government}}</ref>
On 21 January 2016, [[Network 10]]'s program [[Studio 10]] screened a segment titled: "21 Jan – Melbourne UFO Mystery: 50 Years On" which included live interviews with witnesses who were children at the local school in suburban Melbourne in 1966.{{fact|date=March 2021}}
 
[[The Phenomenon (2020 film)|''The Phenomenon'']], a documentary film directed and co-produced by ufologist James Fox, includes content related to the Westall UFO case.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Horton |first1=Adrian |title='It's not a question of belief': the film examining government UFO records |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/07/the-phenomenon-ufos-james-fox-documentary |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 October 2020 |access-date=24 March 2021}}</ref>
 
==Local culture==▼
[[File:Grange_reserve_park,_city_of_Kingston,_Melbourne.png|thumb|right|still of Grange Reserve Park at dusk]]
 
▲==Local culture==
*A witness reunion was held at Westall Tennis Club Hall, on 8 April 2006, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the incident.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.radioemu.com/774-abc-melbourne/
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|archive-url=
|archive-date=
| access-date = }}</ref><ref name="TheAge-2005">{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|date= 2 October 2005|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/10/01/1127804696941.html |title=Academic throws light on 40-year-old UFO mystery|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210621110023/https://www.theage.com.au/national/academic-throws-light-on-40-year-old-ufo-mystery-20051002-ge0z6n.html|archive-date=21 June 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*The [[Kingston, Victoria|City of Kingston]] created a children's play space, Grange Reserve UFO Park at The Grange Reserve in Clayton South Melway. The park features a silver UFO with red slides to reflect the 1966 Westall UFO Incident.<ref name="Kingston">{{cite web |title=The Grange Reserve (UFO Park) |url=https://www.kingston.vic.gov.au/Outdoors/Parks-Playgrounds/Playgrounds/The-Grange-Reserve-UFO-Park |website=kingston.vic.gov.au |publisher=[[City of Kingston|Kingston City Council]] |access-date=24 March 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210621110501/https://www.kingston.vic.gov.au/Outdoors/Parks-Playgrounds/Playgrounds/The-Grange-Reserve-UFO-Park|archive-date=21 June 2021 }}</ref>
 
==See also==
* [[Ariel School UFO incident]]▼
* [[Australian Ufology]]
* [[Bass Strait Triangle]]
* [[Disappearance of Frederick Valentich]]
* [[List of UFO sightings]]
 
▲* [[Ariel School UFO incident]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==FurtherExternal informationlinks==
*{{cite web
| url = https://theconversation.com/westall-66-50-years-on-still-stranger-than-fiction-57188
| title =Westall '66: 50 years on, still stranger than fiction
| author= Sharpe, Matthew
| date = 3 April 2016
| work = [[theconversation.com]] with Shane Ryan (The Conversation Trust (UK) Limited)
|location = [[Deakin University]]
|archive-url=
|archive-date=
| access-date = 20 June 2021}}
*{{cite web
| url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC2IjeInGXM
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|archive-date=
| access-date = 20 June 2021}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20221205155703/https://westall66ufo.com.au/ Westall '66: a suburban UFO mystery <small>A MASS UFO SIGHTING A FORTY-FOUR YEAR CONSPIRACY. A MAN SEEKING THE TRUTH</small>] (archived from [https://westall66ufo.com.au/ the original web site]). Film written By Rosie Jones, with Shane Ryan; Produced by Carmel Mcaloon
 
[[Category:1960s in Melbourne]]
[[Category:1966 in Australia]]
[[Category:April 1966 events in Australia]]
[[Category:Australian folklore]]
[[Category:UFO sightings in Australia]]
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