Westall UFO Sighting

The Westall UFO Sighting occurred on 6 April 1966 in the suburb of Westall, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Joy Clarke, then a twelve-year-old schoolgirl, was among the witnesses present at Westall High School when the event unfolded.¹ More than 100 children and adult teachers observed several hovering unidentified aerial objects during the incident.² Three silvery disc-shaped craft were seen hovering above the students and teachers before moving to hover over electrical power lines along the edge of the school grounds.³ Colin Kelly, then thirteen years old, heard a slight whoosh and whirring sound before seeing the three craft: one larger and two slightly smaller, approximately 5.5 metres across, silvery in colour, and shaped like two inverted saucers with a slight dome on top.⁴ Teacher Andrew Greenwood confirmed he saw a silvery-green disc,⁵ having first been alerted when a young girl interrupted his year nine science class to report a flying saucer.⁶

Witness descriptions of the craft’s appearance varied in some particulars but were consistent in characterising the objects as metallic and disc- or saucer-shaped. Clarke described the objects as two metallic silvery saucers with their rims against each other⁷ and recounted their movement as incredible — straight up, sideways, up, down, all over the place, with the objects appearing silvery with a hump on top and little lights around them.⁸ Archival interview footage described a craft able to hover, accelerate, and disappear from sight before reappearing over another part of the sky, covering a considerable distance in the process.⁹ The craft also appeared to evade light aircraft that gave chase; witnesses described the objects moving almost instantaneously when the aircraft drew near.¹⁰ All three craft were ultimately observed to turn on their axis at 45 degrees and disappear into the horizon silently.¹¹

One of the craft descended into The Grange Westall, a nearby area of bushland used for cross-country exercises. Terry Peck jumped the fence at the corner of Westall High School and ran toward where an object appeared to have come down.¹² At The Grange, Peck encountered the craft on the ground and reported feeling heat, hearing a buzzing sound, and seeing purple lights all around the object.¹³ She described it as a classic silvery saucer-shaped object and stated she was near enough to feel its heat through her hand.¹⁴ The object then rose slowly to approximately one to 1.2 metres off the ground, turned on its side, and shot straight upward.¹⁵ In the aftermath, Clarke and a companion observed a large flattened circle in the grass at The Grange, as well as military and police activity in the area.¹⁶

The official response was rapid and, according to multiple witnesses, involved deliberate suppression. Within 40 minutes of the sighting, Air Force and Army personnel had arrived on the scene.¹⁷ Military jeeps and trucks carrying soldiers subsequently arrived at the school, and all students were called to an assembly where they were warned not to speak about what they had witnessed.¹⁸ Peck recalled receiving this warning directly at the assembly.¹⁹ Clarke believed some of the military personnel present were American, and described unknown men in black suits sitting quietly at the end of the assembly hall.²⁰ That same evening, two government agents knocked on Greenwood’s door and warned him not to speak about what he had seen.²¹ A local newspaper report featuring Greenwood subsequently prompted a further visit by government and military officials who again threatened him to remain silent.²² Witnesses beyond the school were also reportedly warned not to talk about the incident; accounts gathered by researcher Shane Ryan include reports of residents who witnessed a layer of dirt being dug up from the landing site and removed in trucks.²⁵

Approximately twelve months after Australian officials had threatened him to remain silent, Greenwood was contacted by representatives from the Office of the US President and asked to speak about the sighting.²³ Journalist Ross Coulthart and Greenwood subsequently confirmed that the US representative who interviewed him was Professor James MacDonald.²⁴ In the years following the incident, a former senior Federal public servant informed Coulthart that his father — a Defence scientist employed by the Department of Supply Australia in Melbourne — had investigated the Westall incident and written a secret report for the department.²⁶ Kelly has stated that over 200 people witnessed the sighting, characterising it as the largest group UAP sighting in the Southern Hemisphere.²⁷

Subsequent research efforts have failed to locate any official documentation of the event. Ryan has interviewed 122 witnesses who state they clearly saw a flying saucer at Westall.²⁸ Despite these strenuous research efforts, no government document on the incident has ever surfaced from any government archives.²⁹ Terry Peck has expressed the belief that the Australian government buried or concealed any official report into the sighting.³⁰ Allegations of an official cover-up are examined under the Westall Government Cover-Up matter, and Greenwood’s interview with MacDonald is recorded in the MacDonald Westall Greenwood Interview Recording. The circumstances surrounding the subsequent visit by officials to Greenwood are documented under Westall Greenwood Government Visit.