- And researchers hope the truth will out
at a reunion of more than 30 witnesses tomorrow.
-
- About 200 people are said to have seen
either a flying saucer or crop circles near Westall High School on April
6, 1966.
-
- The craft was described as silver, saucer-shaped
and silent. Some witnesses say they saw it drop behind trees at Westall's
Grange Reserve, then rise vertically and leave.
- Flattened and charred grass "crop
circles" were said to have been left.
-
- Canberra academic Shane Ryan says he
has contacted about 50 witnesses in the past year. The bulk were Westall
High School students who were gathered on the oval at the time for physical
education.
-
- The incident was reported in daily papers,
on Channel Nine and twice as front-page news in the local Dandenong Journal.
-
- About a quarter of the witnesses said
they saw the flying saucer and the rest saw as many as five so-called crop
circles. Many children reportedly ran down to the Grange after the sighting.
-
- John Spencer, a seven-year-old at Westall
Primary School at the time, said the incident still got to him. "I
need answers, 'cos this has been a real bugbear over the years," he
said.
-
- "I have remembered the day as vividly
as a seven-year-old could -- Mum dragging me away from the Grange after
school from the landing site . . . seeing this object in the sky, other
planes flying, following it."
-
- Mr Spencer said the Grange was a second
home to kids, a spot to catch frogs and tadpoles. He said that after the
incident, "guys in uniforms" made the reserve a no-go zone.
-
- Mr Ryan said many witnesses reported
police or military activity after the incident.
-
- Science teacher Andrew Greenwood told
the Dandenong Journal at the time he saw a silvery-green disc. Mr Greenwood
also claimed he was visited at home by two uniformed officers and threatened
with prosecution if he continued to speak of it.
-
- The defence department says there is
no record of any military action after the sightings.
-
- Gerry Shepherd taught woodwork at the
time and says he never saw any military at the school. "All I can
say is that the school bell went to start the afternoon classes and there
was hardly anyone there," Mr Shepherd said. "I would say 99.999
per cent it's a load of bull."
-
- Mr Ryan hopes retired police or military
will go to the reunion, from 11am-2pm at Westall Tennis Club on the edge
of the Grange in Clayton South.
-
- "I'm convinced people saw something
quite out of the ordinary," he said.
-
- "It is a story that has almost
been completely forgotten.
-
- "These people, even after 40 years,
have this burning desire to make sense of what they saw."
-
- http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com
mon/story_page/0,5478,18735844%255E2862,00.html
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