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Disclosure Archives
Sighting
Westall, Australia

Westall mass sighting in Melbourne

More than two hundred students and staff at Westall High School in suburban Melbourne report observing a low, disc-shaped object descend behind a stand of pine trees, then ascend rapidly. The case is widely cited as Australia's most-witnessed UAP event.

Around 11:00 a.m. local time on 6 April 1966, students and teachers at Westall High School and the adjacent Westall State School in suburban Melbourne reported observing one or more disc-shaped objects descend over an adjacent paddock known as the Grange Reserve, hover briefly, and ascend rapidly. Witnesses described the objects as silvery and the size of a small aircraft.

The Royal Australian Air Force investigated and attributed the events to high-altitude weather balloons launched from nearby Laverton, but contemporaneous and later interviews with hundreds of student witnesses produced descriptions inconsistent with that explanation. The State of Victoria erected a public memorial to the Westall sighting in 2013 — the first such government-funded UAP memorial in the country.

Primary sourceNational Archives of Australia (RAAF UFO files)
Further reading
  • UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record
    Leslie Kean
    View on Amazon
  • In Plain Sight: An Investigation Into UFOs and Impossible Science
    Ross Coulthart
    View on Amazon
  • UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There
    Garrett M. Graff
    View on Amazon