In 1966, over 100 students, faculty and staff at a high school in Melbourne, Australia, witnessed a UFO hovering over their campus before landing in a nearby field. Hours later, government officials and men in suits swarmed the campus to try and silence the witnesses. And while many explanations have been given over the years for the mass sightings, none of them have been validated.
Westall High School courtesy of TheConversation.com
The Danedenong Journal, article regarding the sightings from April 1966 courtesy of TheConversation.com
A supposed image of the Westall UFO event courtesy of Universal Images Group via Getty and DailyMail.co.uk
Andrew Greenwood, one of the teachers at Westall High School during the event. Courtesy of 7News Spotlight Supplied and DailyMail.co.uk
Former student Terry Peck showing images with reporter Ross Coulthart during a 60 minutes investigation into the event. Courtesy of 7News Spotlight Supplied and DailyMail.co.uk
Balloons used to sample radioactivity, that supposedly caused the UFO sighting. Courtesy of Mildura Rural City Council and DailyMail.co.uk
Episode Source Material
BOOKS
BROADCAST NEWS AND TELEVISION
DOCUMENTARIES (FILM & TV)
- Westall ’66: A Suburban UFO Mystery (made for TV movie). Directed by Rosie Jones. 2010. Xive TV.
- Patient Seventeen (film). Directed by Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell. 2017. Plex.
WEB/SOCIAL MEDIA/MESSAGE BOARDS
- As drones spark fresh UFO fears – the eerie inside story of Australia’s most infamous sighting: witnesses threatened, a government cover-up and the official report so explosive it was destroyed after the death of its author. (online article)
- Westall “UFO” incident was actually government radiation testing, reports reveal. (online article).
- Who are the real men in black? (website).
- Westall 66: a suburban UFO mystery. (imdb entry).
- Report on Project Mogul. (website).
- No aliens visit Earth, but the government covers up anyway. (website).
- UFO sighting: US officials tried to stop Australians reporting chilling incident. (online article).
- North West Cape. (Google maps coordinates).
- “Giant Triangle:” Aussie’s “mind-blowing” UFO encounter. (online article).
- Between a beer joint and a highway warning sign: the “classic” Cash-Landrum case unravels. (online PDF).
- The Westall ‘66 UFO. (website).
- Head teacher. (Wikipedia article).
- Department of Supply. (Wikipedia article).
- Mildura, Victoria 3500, Australia to Westall Secondary College/Brady Ave, Clayton South VIC 3169, Australia. (Google maps directions.)
- Photograph of the supposed Westall UFO encounter. (photo)
- How Australia helped the US keep tabs on its nuclear rivals through a secret balloon program. (online article).
- UFO sightings by country 2025. (website).
- UFO claims: west Aussies film strange lights in Mandurah, White Hills and Forrestfield. (online article).