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Airdate: Westall ’66: A Suburban UFO Mystery

The Sci Fi Channel has a World Premiere documentary on a strange 1966 case of a UFO reportedly over the suburb of Westall in Melbourne.

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Next month the Sci Fi Channel has a World Premiere documentary on a strange 1966 case of a UFO reportedly over the suburb of Westall in Melbourne, Westall ’66: A Suburban UFO Mystery.

On 6 April 1966 hundreds of people watched the object hover and land briefly. Now over 40 years later, eye witnesses all share their recollections of the day’s events.  Over 200 hundred witnesses were contacted and asked to speak out. Many of their stories are revealed here for the first time. It also combines animated images to tell its story.

The film is driven by the search of teacher Shane Ryan, who has his own, very personal reasons for wanting to uncover the truth.

The doco took 3 years to complete with numerous government departments refused to comment. Whole boxes of official files on the incident are missing, lost or unaccounted for.

Westall ’66 is written, directed and edited by Rosie Jones (Holy Rollers, Visions of Yankalilla) and produced by Carmel McAloon (The Audience, Paul’s Beautiful Laundrette).

It also marks one of the few Australian-made productions to air on the Sci Fi channel.

On 6 April 1966, in the Melbourne suburb of Westall, 200 students, staff and local residents watched as a strange object hovered overhead for several minutes, landed briefly, then lifted off and vanished. Witnesses described it as low flying, silver-grey and shiny, shaped like a ‘cup turned upside down on a saucer’ and accompanied by five light aircrafts.

A mass of excited students surged out of school and ran after the object. Many reported seeing a circle of flattened grass on the ground where it had landed. One said she touched it as it took off. Others observed men in uniforms cordoning off the ‘landing site’ and removing soil samples by the truckload. Some say they saw uniformed men torch the area a few hours later.

The incident was reported on the news on television that night and in the local newspapers.

But despite the evidence, that day at Westall High School, the headmaster called a special assembly. He told students and staff that they had not seen a flying saucer – in fact, they hadn’t seen anything at all. And they were not to talk about it to anybody.

Afraid of being ridiculed or punished, many witnesses kept the secret of that day. Some are still angry about being told to lie. Others say the incident has affected their lives and continues to haunt them today.

Forty four years on, teacher Shane Ryan is stirring up the past. Motivated by a deep sense of injustice at how the students were treated, he’s tracking down former students and staff and searching for the authorities that presided over the day.

The film follows him as he attempts to solve the mystery once and for all. This contemporary detective story is set against the backdrop of an Australian city, but it reflects on a fascinating and pivotal period in world history when rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was played out in a massive onventional and nuclear arms race, the space race and the Vietnam War.

With its undercurrent of Cold War paranoia, secret US air bases and a burgeoning military relationship between Australia and America, this 1960s story has deep resonance in the current climate of cover-ups and untruths delivered by governments in the interests of national security.

It airs 8:30pm Friday June 4th.

18 Responses

  1. hi ppls,

    watched a re-run of the doco on the sci-fi channel just recently & what I found interesting was a sketch drawn by one of the eyewitnesses along with his testimony that when the saucer (s) finally got under way, the saucer (s) turned ‘side-on’ from it’s horizontal position before speeding off at a tremendous speed.

    the doco suggests that a number of American military personnel arrived on the scene very quickly along with Australian Security Agents (branch unknown) and that a camera & film were confiscated.

    I have (somewhere) a copy of a British newspaper article some months after the Germany’s surrender, detailing discoveries by British Technical teams, a radical new ‘lenticular’ German fighter that took its fuel from the air (scramjet?) and whose optimal flight characteristics were achieved when the fighter flew ‘side-on’. this report claimed that if the war had have progressed some 6 months longer the world would have faced an entirely new type of aircraft.

    in 1946, at Fisherman’s Bend Melbourne, research was undertaken to test German WW2 research on ‘suction wing’ technology and ‘boundary layer control’.

    I would imagine much more research was conducted at Woomera, SA.

    my research indicates SS General Hans Kammler is heavily linked to this technology & what happened to it after the war.

    Barry Densley

  2. Great to hear that Rosie and Carmel have finally finished this great documentary film and also a hearty congratulations to Shane. I lease Hangar 9A at Moorabbin Airport which used to be the old Department of Civil Aviation Flying Unit back in the days of Westall and beyond. It is highly probable that planes from this hangar along with some Aero Club (extra planes) people were involved with the chase etc. It would appear that several planes were sent to this location to find out what these craft were. My own father was flying his Chipmunk almost every day around that time but not that day. A temporary restricted area (at least to the north of the airport) may have been initiated or perhaps they just closed the entire drome and told everyone that an incident was underway, bad weather or some other such excuse. So much history in those old Bellman hangars – if they could only talk.

  3. Hi,
    Wow does this bring back memories! I was a student at Westall High School in 1966 and remember the hysteria that morning recess! Students screaming, running away etc. I remember running and climbing up a high fence and seeing a large circle of burnt grass. I was frightened because it was something I obviously hadn’t seen before. I recall vividly the assembly where we were told not to say anything to reporters. I also remember getting home quite upset by what had happened that day and telling my parents. My father actually contacted a television reporter who was interested in an interview but I refused because of what we had been told by the Principal. I also recall lots of reporters on the outside of the school the next day wanting interviews but again we were rekuctant to speak to them due to the warning the previous day.
    Dianne Massey (Craig- maiden name)

  4. This whole thing about UFOs and extraterrestrial is simple guys. if they want to be known then they will make it happened, and if they don’t then they’ll make sure it stays that way, its not up to any of us to decide. Don’t think you can outsmart an intelligence that is many years more advanced beyond us, that is by somehow proving to the world of their existence. you see, is that simple guys

  5. I would also like to thank Rosie, Carmel and all the crew involved in the
    making of this doco. It was good to have someone listen without being
    ridiculed as what for me has been one of the most amazing things that
    has even happened in my life! Shane has also worked tirelessly on this
    project so hopefully he will get the reward he deserves, and just maybe
    we will all get an answer.

  6. Hi all,
    I’m the producer of the Westall ’66: A Suburban UFO Mystery documentary. Just to let you know we will be doing a dvd release, and information about how to purchase a copy will be available shortly on our website which is soon to be uploaded westall66ufo.com.au. Also, we are still in discussion with the free to air broadcasters for a release but nothing confirmed as yet. I will post again with any news regarding any FTA broadscast, and also once the website is up and running. Great to see so much interest.

  8. Dear anonymous (******) who letf a message at 9:14 on May 7: Thank you very much for your message. Are you able to provide any more information about where the flattened grass was, perhaps in relation to landmarks from 1966 and/or now? (I know it was a long time ago!) Which paddock do you remember the circle being in?

    Also – and this goes for any other witnesses who may have not yet been in touch with me – do please feel free to contact me directly with more information about what you remember from that day, as I would love to add your account to the others I have collated over the last four years. You can message me directly via one of the following web pages which are devoted to the Westall Flying Saucer Incident:

    Westall Flying Saucer Incident Yahoo Groups: tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Westallhighschoolufo/
    Westall Flying Saucer Incident Facebook page: facebook.com/group.php?gid=7613851618&v=info&ref=share

    And just for the record, I was not a teacher or student at Westall. I wasn’t quite born in 1966! I look forward to hearing from you.

  9. I was one of the students that witnessed this event on that day. It was one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen. There were quite a few of us gathered outside in the playground of the school when the UFO flew overhead. It was so bright that it was very difficult to look at and from memory the noise that it made seemed to be a type of humming noise. I also saw where it had landed in the paddock next to the school and remember the large flattened area where it had landed. I lived in Burns Ave at the time which was only a short walk to the school. It was always said that the event did not happen and that it was just a figment of peoples imagination but I will never forget it and will look forward to the documentary. I do recall a Mr Ryan but I am unsure as to wether he was a teacher of mine. I was in grade 4 in 1966 at that time.

  10. Can’t wait to see it. Thankyou Shane. You, Rosie, Carmel and a handful of others have been great throughout the making of the doco. You have treated us with respect at all times, and it is much appreciated. It is wonderful to have been able to speak of the incident without being ridiculed by anyone involved in the making of it.
    Thankyou all.

  13. So it’s taken 44 years for this story to come out? And when it does come out, it’s on the Sci-Fi channel? I know…it’s an April Fool’s story that was stuck in a time warp…

  14. David and DansDans,

    Westall is a neighbourhood within the modern suburb of Clayton South.

    In 1966 the suburb boundaries were not as clearly defined as they are now – there weren’t as many people! – but Westall always had a separate identity as a neighbourhood once the Westall railway station and shopping centre were established, and especially so after the Westall State School and Westall High School were established.

    Even in 1966 Westall was considered separate from Clayton and Springvale, and, as mentioned earlier, it is now officially part of Clayton South – but still maintains a Westall identity.

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