Disappearance of Frederick Valentich
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 6
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Frederick Valentich, Valentich |
Frederick Valentich (born 9 June 1958) was a 20-year-old Australian pilot who disappeared over Bass Strait on the evening of 21 October 1978 while flying a Cessna 182L, registration VH-DSJ, after telling Melbourne air traffic control that an unknown object was hovering over his aircraft. His last words to controllers included the statement that "it's not an aircraft".[1][2]
The pilot
Valentich had about 150 hours of flying time and a class-four instrument rating that allowed night flying only in visual conditions. He had twice been turned down by the Royal Australian Air Force, belonged to the Air Training Corps, and was studying part-time for a commercial licence, though he had repeatedly failed the exams. He had also been warned over earlier flying incidents. His father said he was a keen believer in UFOs and worried about being attacked by them.[1]
The flight
He set off for King Island, telling officials he was collecting friends and others that he was picking up crayfish; investigators found neither reason to be true, and he had not notified the island's airport. At 7:06 p.m. he reported an aircraft following him at about 4,500 feet. Over the next several minutes he described a large object with four bright lights that passed about 1,000 feet overhead at high speed, seemed to be "orbiting" above him, and had a shiny metal surface and a green light. He then reported his engine running roughly. His final transmission was followed by what was described as metallic, scraping noise, and contact was lost.[1][2]
Search and investigation
A sea and air search over more than 1,000 square miles, including an RAAF P-3 Orion, ended on 25 October without finding him or the aircraft. The Department of Transport could not determine the cause and presumed him dead. In 1983 an engine cowl flap from a Cessna 182 in a serial range that included his aircraft washed ashore on Flinders Island.[1]
Explanations
Officials speculated that Valentich became disoriented and saw his own lights reflected in the water, or lights on an island, while flying inverted. A 2013 analysis by pilot and astronomer James McGaha and author Joe Nickell argued that he fell into a "graveyard spiral" after misjudging a tilted horizon, mistaking the bright planets Venus, Mars and Mercury and the star Antares for an object above him. Others have suggested he staged his disappearance or took his own life; ufologist Keith Basterfield said interviews with people who knew him made suicide unlikely. Writer Brian Dunning noted similarities between his radio exchange and a scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[1][3]
UFO claims
Ufologists have pointed to later reports of an erratically moving green light that night, and to photographs taken near Cape Otway by Roy Manifold that some groups said showed an object. Mount Stromlo Observatory noted a meteor stream that night with ten to fifteen sightings an hour. The case remains unsolved and is still discussed in Australia, including in an ABC radio documentary featuring people who knew him.[1][4]
References
- Disappearance of Frederick Valentich — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Department of Transport aircraft investigation summary report (VH-DSJ), National Archives of Australia, archived · web.archive.org · archived copy
- James McGaha and Joe Nickell, "The Valentich disappearance: another UFO cold case solved", Skeptical Inquirer (Nov 2013) · skepticalinquirer.org · archived copy
- "Last flight: the Valentich disappearance", ABC Listen · abc.net.au · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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