My name is Keith Basterfield, living in Adelaide and a
member of the Australian UFO Research Association
(AURA).
In associated with the Australian UFO Research Network
(AUFORN) AURA has for the last two years been driving
a project called Disclosure Australia (see web site
http://disclosure.freewebpage.org)
As stage one of this project we have been locating and
examing UFO files held by various Government
Departments through both the Archives Act and the
Freedom of Information Act. Our work is described on
our website.
We have located and examined dozens of Government UFO
related files and been through thousands of pages of
material-some previosuly known but some never seen
before by civilian researchers.
I have looked for any information on the 1966 Westall
event in these Government documents and found nothing
at all on it. No record in the RAAF files, CSIRO files
etc.
I have located my sparse personal papers on this
incident and paste them in below for what they are
worth.
CASE: WESTALL, VICTORIA
DATE: 6 April 1966
Notes by: Keith Bastefield
Section A Information from first hand witnesses
---------------------------------------
Witness 1 Lyn
“As I recall we did see a large area of flattened
grass which looked as though the grass had been
flattened all the same way in a circular fashion. By
memory it was about 20 feet across.
At the time we informed the teachers not much interest
was shown, although I think a local newspaper came
along-teachers were not impressed.”
(Source: Letter from Lyn to Keith Basterfield dated 14
May 1990.)
----------------------------
Witness 2 Ken (brother of witness 3)
“I was 17 years old and on my way home from Clayton
tech with some friends. We would pass the kids coming
home from Westall High. This night the conversation on
everyone’s lips was the flying saucer incident. I
remember it caused enough of a stir for the 4 of us to
walk about a mile across to where the Westall kids had
said the saucers had gone down behind the trees
earlier in the day.
In 1966 Clayton and particularly Westall was almost
country. The paddock the saucers landed in was remote
from houses and surrounded by tall pines. The area had
the grass flattened and “tufted” in circles about 60’
to 120’ diameter. The rest of the long grass was
undisturbed. No circles overlapped. We thought and
talked of ways you could make such circles, such as
walking with a rope or a tractor and a slasher. They
didn’t look like they were made by a method we could
think of.
I remember the circles were like the circles pictured
in the newspapers around this time of the saucer nest
in Tully N.Q. I don’t know if this was before or after
what we saw. I know time dulls memories. I am reminded
of various incidents that vary in the way I and other
people remember them.
One thing that does absolutely amaze me is the way the
Westall incident is remembered. About a year ago, at a
party, a girl I didn’t know asked if I was (his name).
She said she had gone to Westall with my sister Kris.
She remembered the saucers and described it the same
way Kris does. She knew of many of her friends that
remembered it. She asked if Kris still remembered it.
They hadn’t seen or spoken to each other for 20 years.
Regarding the Army, Police etc. I heard the stories
about them coming checking and taking a camera. I
didn’t see any of this myself. I didn’t see the
saucers myself. I did see the circles.”
(Source: Letter from ken to Keith Basterfield 11 May
1990.)
--------------------------
Witness 3 Kris (sister of witness 2)
I was in the second intake of students at Westall High
and in 1966 was in my third year there. The school had
been built on vacant land approximately 19km
south-east of Melbourne. Westall was a new suburb in
an industrial area. Moorabbin Airport is perhaps 7km
away.
During the morning tea break one of the kids told us
that there were flying saucers down at the oval. My
friends and I raced to the far corner of the oval, and
by this time there were quite a lot of other kids
there. We didn’t see them immediately as they were
quite high-and apart from hat we didn’t expect to see
anything! What I saw was several objects that appeared
as one saucer inverted on another, they were perhaps
white or shiny in colour and maybe there were about 7
of them.
It was difficult to tell how big they were as I had no
way of knowing how high they were, but they were
whizzing back and forward across the sky at a rapid
pace.
The UFOs appeared to come down behind some trees not
too far from the school ground and some of the
children climbed the fence top go over there, I
didn’t. perhaps they appeared to come down then up
again-I find that part hard to remember.
I think we may have had a twenty minute break for
morning tea and we saw the UFOs soon after the break
began. We watched them until the bell to return to
class had sounded. Some of the children returned to
class immediately, but I stayed for probably another
ten minutes-by this time the teachers were rounding up
the kids. The teacher we had (for Library) was intent
on telling us we had made the lot up, stop the
nonsense and get into class!
When the lunch break arrived I immediately looked
skyward but saw nothing. There was talk of reporters
being at the gate but teachers on duty told all the
children to keep away. After lunch a special assembly
was called where the principal informed the children
hat they had seen nothing and to talk to no-one about
it! I couldn’t believe it-there were so many children
that did see this event.
When I returned from school I told my mother about the
day’s events and she mentioned that my brother, Ken,
had ridden on his bike somewhere over near Westall
High. When he returned much later he told of the
flattened grass circles and of the Army and Air Force
taking photos, there were lights set up and a lot of
personnel. They were trying to keep onlookers away.
That night there was a short article on the evening
news. I think there may have been some film of the
school-taken at lunchtime-I’m not sure.
Every time I was outside for days after I looked for
these UFOs but saw nothing until the following
Saturday when my girlfriend and I were at the local
park at the end of our street. The park was alongside
a railway line and in a direct line from our homes to
the school.
We looked toward the direction of our school, but a
little to the right and again saw the same type of UFO
moving rapidly back and forward in the sky. We watched
for only a few minutes before racing back to my
friend’s house to get her father-who had been very
skeptical. They only lived a few hundred metres from
the park, and when he saw them he scratched his head
and agreed they were not planes and that he had no
idea what they were-he wouldn’t admit they could be
UFOs….The UFOs did not stay around for long but I
remember when they went it was extremely quickly. That
was the last time I saw them.”
“Some information that could be of value is:
Principal: Mr Samblebe
Form teacher: Ms I J Brown.”
(Source: Letter from Kris to Keith Basterfield 1 May
1990.) |
