RECENT RESEARCH
Thomas E. Bullard’s 1987 compilation of global abduction cases, “UFO Abductions: The Measure of a Mystery“, contains 14 entries for Australia. This article presents brief details of 11 out of 14. One of Bullard’s cases, case 16, doesn’t seem to describe “missing time” and another, case 214, occurred in 1868, and the third, case 26, is spurious. This last event, dated March 28, 1982, was almost certainly explainable by the sighting, by a fatigued driver and passenger, of the planet, Venus rising. No missing time or abduction scenario emerged, other than in speculation in the media generated by over-enthusiastic UFO researchers involved in the case.
By 1988, with the upsurge of the discovery of abduction cases in other countries, UFORA believed it was time to explore the dimension of events in this country. Therefore in November 1988, we circulated a carefully worded “Letter to the Editor” to 20 metropolitan daily newspapers requesting potential abductees to contact us. It was published in papers in four different Australian states. Although we received 20 replies to this letter, none was of the nature of an abduction event.
Early 1989 brought five new cases to attention for review. One case (Nildottie) was poorly investigated and reported so far only in a national mass-circulation magazine. Three other cases in New South Wales are currently under investigation by Chalker, and two cases under investigation by Ray Brooke and Basterfield in South Australia.
Here are brief details of the three New South Wales events: A Sydney woman recalls as a young girl, aged four or five years, she saw a small being with large eyes in her bedroom during the daytime. She had little conscious recall of the details other than that she felt she went “somewhere else.” Another Sydney woman woke up feeling agitated and heard a voice. Figures appeared and said to come with them. She went through a doorway into a room where she watched a scene on a screen. This screen showed pictures of her future life, and the events depicted later came true. The case is currently under active investigation and stretches over the time frame of 1979 – 1982.
Finally, in 1976, a 31-year-old woman was overcome by a feeling of sickness while vacuuming her house. Three strange figures were seen in front of her. There was apparently telepathic communication and advice that she had to go with them. The next thing she remembers, it was five hours later and her boyfriend had arrived home. It is interesting to note that no events post 1982 were located.
Meanwhile in 1979, in South Australia at a small country town called Nildottie, two men, Don and Jack, recounted an abduction experience which is alleged to have occurred near the River Murray. They were preparing for dinner when beings entered their house. They experienced a timelapse and found themselves standing by a silver craft. They were subjected to psychological testing for several hours before realizing they were back at their kitchen table. A more recent case from Adelaide in 1988 is one in which a man reports that he is in two-way communication with aliens via an implant in his ear.
During investigation he revealed that he had undergone two apparent out-of-body experiences in which he was “sucked-out” of his body. He indicated that during these experiences he had been taken on board a UFO.
CURRENT RESEARCH
To determine the extent of the abduction phenomenon, and in light of the availability of books by Randles, Hopkins, Klass, and Strieber in Australia, we carried out another exercise in June 1989. We forwarded neutrally-worded “Letter to the Editor” to 51 regional newspapers scattered all over the country. Shortly thereafter we forwarded a media release and background briefing paper to selected metropolitan daily newspapers and radio stations because we had no visual material to present. The net result was coverage on two TV shows, items in five major metropolitan newspapers, items in an unknown number of country papers, and 31 interviews on 31 radio stations, all in one week. This was the most intense media exposure ever given to the subject of abductions to date in Australia.
Several previously unknown cases are being investigated.
DISCUSSION
Unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, abduction accounts have never made front-page headlines or featured heavily in the electronic media within Australia. The only exception to this rule was the case of the missing pilot Frederick Valentich; that one made headlines throughout the world. All of the rest of the reports documented here have come to the attention either of UFO research organizations or through low-key press articles. This has meant that to date researchers have been able to pursue cases out of the media spotlight.
On the other hand, with little mass publicity abduction cases may lie undiscovered, with potential abductees being unaware that there are responsible organizations to which they could take their stories. The recent UFORA publicity suggests there are indeed a few cases waiting for attention. But a balance needs to be maintained between too much media exposure with the inherent risk of exposing people to the intimate details of previous events, and not enough publicity which would keep reports flowing to us.
What then have we learned about abduction experience in Australia? We have learned that there are cases that parallel those in other countries. Researchers have not been able to pursue and fully document many of these cases. Reasons for this include the sheer vastness of the Australian landmass and distances to percipients; the small number of serious researchers; the attitudes of some UFO investigators; and the unwillingness of percipients to be involved with full investigations.
Are there yet more cases to uncover? UFORA’s carefully measured appeal for cases has shown that it is possible to tread the line between too little and too much publicity. With limited resources available to Australian researchers a qualitative rather than quantitative approach seems the best way to proceed. As the recently uncovered cases are investigated, details will be published for the benefit of the broader global UFO research community.