About Westall UFO incident
The Westall UFO incident is a mass daylight sighting that occurred on the morning of 6 April 1966 at Westall High School and a nearby paddock in Melbourne, Australia. Students and at least one teacher reported seeing a round, silvery, domed object that hovered, descended behind trees, and interacted with light aircraft. Suggested explanations for the event include weather balloons, research balloons, or a towed target drogue, while skeptics attribute the growing number of later accounts to memory fragility and false memories.
- Date
- About 11 a.m., Wednesday 6 April 1966
- Place
- Westall High School (now Westall Secondary College) and The Grange, Clayton South, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Witnesses
- Students; science teacher Andrew Greenwood. Numbers range from "several" (1966) to hundreds (later)
- Reported object
- Round, domed, white, grey or silver; seen with several light aircraft
- Reported traces
- One to three flattened or "burnt" circles in the grass
- Proposed explanations
- Weather balloon from Laverton; HIBAL research balloon; towed target drogue
- Also known as
- Westall UFO, Westall
- Location
- Clayton South, Melbourne, Australia
- Coordinates
- -37.9411, 145.1339 ↗
The full story, section by section
The story of Westall UFO incident in 6 parts. Tap any part to read it in full.
-
SettingWestall High School, now Westall Secondary College, is in Clayton South, on low, flat land about 10 kilometres from the coast.Read this part →
An aircraft at Moorabbin Airport, the busy general aviation airport about 4.5 km beyond The Grange. · Photo: File:King Island plane at Moorabbin.JPG: Peterdownunder derivative work: Georgfotoart, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons -
The sightingIt was a sunny, breezy autumn day, and students were out on the oval for sport.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
-
The GrangeStudents who went to The Grange after the sighting reported a landing site, but descriptions vary.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
-
Official response and secrecyOn 7 April 1966 The Age reported the sighting under the headline "Object Perhaps Balloon".Read this part →
A hydrogen-filled weather balloon ready for launch. The Age suggested a Weather Bureau balloon released at Laverton. · Photo: User:CambridgeBayWeather, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons -
ExplanationsThe Australian researcher Keith Basterfield found documents in the National Archives and the former Department of Supply suggesting that the object was a runaway test balloon from the HIBAL high-altitude balloon project.Read this part →
An RAAF target-towing aircraft in 1944. A former RAAF navigator suggested the object was a towed target drogue. · Photo: Not stated, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons -
LegacyShane Ryan interviewed dozens of witnesses for the documentary Westall '66: A Suburban UFO Mystery (2010).Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
Related cases & events
Events and sightings linked to Westall UFO incident:
🛸 UFO sightings near Westall UFO
40 sightings on ufos.dev were reported within 60 km. The most-upvoted:
Sightings that mention Westall UFO incident
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Questions & answers
What is Westall UFO incident?
Westall UFO incident: The Westall UFO incident is a mass daylight sighting that occurred on the morning of 6 April 1966 at Westall High School and a nearby paddock in Melbourne, Australia. Students and at least one teacher reported seeing a round, silvery, domed object that hovered, descended behind trees, and interacted with light aircraft. Suggested explanations for the event include weather balloons, research balloons, or a towed target drogue, while skeptics attribute the growing number of later accounts to memory fragility and false memories. Read: Westall UFO incident →
Where is Westall UFO incident?
Westall UFO incident is in Clayton South, Melbourne, Australia (about -37.941, 145.134). Read: Westall UFO incident →
What else is Westall UFO incident called?
Westall UFO incident is also known as Westall UFO, Westall.
What was Ariel School UFO incident?
Ariel School UFO incident: On September 16, 1994, at the Ariel School near Ruwa, Zimbabwe, 62 pupils reported seeing one or more silver craft and small figures dressed in black during their mid-morning break. The fifteen-minute encounter led to investigations by local researcher Cynthia Hind and Harvard psychiatrist John Mack, who interviewed the children. While ufologists view the event as strong evidence of extraterrestrial visitation, skeptics have suggested explanations including mass hysteria, a prank, or a puppet show. Read: Ariel School UFO incident →
Have UFOs been reported near Westall UFO incident?
40 sightings on ufos.dev were reported within 60 km of Westall UFO incident, and 27 mention it by name. Sightings near Westall UFO incident →
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