F Is for Frederick Valentich
This month I'm participating in the A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is Unsolved Mysteries. Today's letter is:
There are few disappearances more fascinating than vanishing aircraft. How does a plane simply disappear? Where does it go? The fact that it happens so often is the most disturbing part of all.
Frederick Valentich didn't just disappear. He disappeared after saying something very mysterious. And that makes his case the most interesting of all.
On October 21, 1978, Frederick Valentich contacted Melbourne Air Flight Service from his aircraft, a single-engine Cessna 182L. He was flying over Bass Strait, headed for King Island. He asked if there was any known traffic. When the air traffic controller said no, he said he could see a large aircraft with four bright lights that looked like landing lights. The aircraft was at least 1,000 feet above his.
The aircraft was flying at high speeds, passing over him multiple times. Then he said it seemed to stop. "It's a long shape... It’s got a green light and sort of metallic. It’s all shiny on the outside."
The mysterious aircraft vanished and then Valentich reported engine problems. The last words Valentich said before communication cut off were perhaps the most haunting. "It is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft." The transcript then reports an unidentified staccato noise.
Neither Valentich nor his aircraft were ever seen again. The disappearance led many to speculate that the unidentified flying object hovering above Valentich was of the extraterrestrial kind.
There have been other theories over the years, including that he might have been flying upside down, with the lights being his own lights, reflected on the water. Others have said it was suicide or a staged disappearance. Not as interesting, but perhaps more acceptable to some people than this...
What do you think happened to Frederick Valentich and his airplane?
⬅️ E Is for Elisa Lam
There are few disappearances more fascinating than vanishing aircraft. How does a plane simply disappear? Where does it go? The fact that it happens so often is the most disturbing part of all.
Frederick Valentich didn't just disappear. He disappeared after saying something very mysterious. And that makes his case the most interesting of all.
On October 21, 1978, Frederick Valentich contacted Melbourne Air Flight Service from his aircraft, a single-engine Cessna 182L. He was flying over Bass Strait, headed for King Island. He asked if there was any known traffic. When the air traffic controller said no, he said he could see a large aircraft with four bright lights that looked like landing lights. The aircraft was at least 1,000 feet above his.
The aircraft was flying at high speeds, passing over him multiple times. Then he said it seemed to stop. "It's a long shape... It’s got a green light and sort of metallic. It’s all shiny on the outside."
The mysterious aircraft vanished and then Valentich reported engine problems. The last words Valentich said before communication cut off were perhaps the most haunting. "It is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft." The transcript then reports an unidentified staccato noise.
Neither Valentich nor his aircraft were ever seen again. The disappearance led many to speculate that the unidentified flying object hovering above Valentich was of the extraterrestrial kind.
There have been other theories over the years, including that he might have been flying upside down, with the lights being his own lights, reflected on the water. Others have said it was suicide or a staged disappearance. Not as interesting, but perhaps more acceptable to some people than this...
What do you think happened to Frederick Valentich and his airplane?
⬅️ E Is for Elisa Lam
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