The Westall School Sighting
On a school morning in Melbourne, more than two hundred students and teachers watched a grey, saucer-shaped object descend behind trees near the school, rest for minutes, then rise and fly off, followed by light aircraft. The witnesses were told not to talk about it.
- Date
- 6 April 1966
- Place
- Westall, Clayton South, Melbourne, Australia
- Witnesses
- More than 200 students and staff of Westall High and Primary schools
- Status
- Unresolved
What happened
At about 11 a.m. on 6 April 1966, students at Westall High School were on the oval for sports when they saw a grey or silver object, described as a saucer or an upturned cup, cross the sky at low altitude, descend behind pine trees toward a paddock called the Grange, and disappear from view. Pupils ran to the fence and some crossed into the paddock. After several minutes the object rose, tilted, and flew off to the north-west at speed. Several witnesses said small aircraft circled it or followed it. A flattened circle of grass was found in the paddock.
Aftermath
The headmaster assembled the school and, according to many witnesses, told students that they had seen nothing and should not discuss it. A science teacher who photographed the object said the camera and film were taken from her. The Age and the local Dandenong Journal reported the sighting, and then the story went quiet for forty years until a 2010 documentary, Westall '66, reunited the witnesses. A memorial marker now stands in the Grange reserve.
Explanations
The leading conventional explanation is a high-altitude research balloon from the HIBAL programme, a joint Australian-American series launched from Mildura that carried a large payload and was tracked by light aircraft. A flight was scheduled for the previous day and may have drifted. The balloon account fits the aircraft and the shape at a distance, and has been argued in detail by researcher Keith Basterfield, though some witnesses insist the object was too fast and too controlled. The case is unresolved in the Australian record.
Sources
- Westall UFO
- Shane Ryan, Westall '66: A Suburban UFO Mystery (documentary, 2010)
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