SUBJECT: ODD EVENTS IN AUSTRALIA FILE: UFO2163 (c) Copyright Paul Cropper 1990 Fortean Events in Australia, No. 2, May 1990. Compiled by Paul Cropper, 10 Shirley St Epping N.S.W. 2121 Australia. Greetings, fellow Forteans! I hope the 90's have started out well for you all. This listing covers Fortean events from December 89 to May 90, and should particularly appeal to those Forteans interested in falls; since last December, there have been at least 3 seperate incidents here in Australia, involving metallic lead, fish and (wait for it!), jellyfish. As so much material is coming across my desk at the moment, it is likely that future updates will appear more frequently than every six months. I'm also hoping to provide a more detailed account of Australian incidents and investigations in Mark Chorvinsky's excellent STRANGE MAGAZINE (P.O. Box 2246, Rockville, MD 20847, U.S.A.). I've decided to omit U.F.O. reports from FEIA as I feel the situation is currently better covered by other individuals and organisations currently providing material to Paranet. However, if enough people are interested (and let me know if you are) I'll expand this summary. My clipping service does send me a few U.F.O. clips, plus mystery animal and other general Fortean stuff. Within FEIA, I've tried to focus on reports from sources that have some credibility; Australia (like the U.S.) has a number of sensational tabloids that feature quite obviously fabricated stories of ghosts, alien abductions, U.F.O.'s etc. Most of these reports lack even basic details like the time, place and real names. In early June I hope to travel to the Grampians Mountain Range of central Victoria and spend some time investigating reports of "black panthers" and cougar-like cats in the area. In the next FEIA I'll detail the results of my trip. As I mentioned in my first summary, I would be happy to hear from anyone interested in obtaining more info on particular cases or discussing Fortean phenomena in general. Please post me a e-mail message or drop me a line at the address above. FALLS 90:1/ December,1989/Ringwood, Victoria/"Ringwood Mail", Ringwood Victoria, 13 December 1989, personal communication. Fred Porter, a resident of Ringwood, was walking to a local meeting one morning in early December last year, when a "mystery missile" landed only a short distance from where he was standing. The incident occurred around 10 a.m., while Mr Porter was preparing to cross the usually busy Maroondah Highway. Mr Porter had been looking up the road prior to walking across, when he watched as a small object hit the ground about 10 feet ahead of him in the roadside grass. The object had impacted at some speed and embedded itself into the ground. Mr Porter tried to pick it up, but it was too hot to touch. He waited for around 2 minutes, and finally picked the object up and examined it. The was small (6 cm by 2.5 cm by 1 cm deep ) metallic, rectangular in shape and extremely heavy for its size. Having some time to spare, Mr Porter then went directly to the offices of the Ringwood Mail, a local newspaper, told them his story and then continued on to his meeting. At that meeting was the local government member for Ringwood, Tony Lamb, who arranged for the object to be analysed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (C.S.I.R.O.). Mr Porter later received a copy of the results of their analysis through Tony Lamb, and part of the letter (from the Australian Minister for Science, Barry Jones) reads as follows: " The material was found to be a lump of metallic lead, almost certainly man-made and could be derived from Ringwood's early mining history. It is significantly oxidised on the exterior surface and is probably quite old. I am advised that metallic lead does not conform to any known kind meteorite and is extremely rare as a natural material. It is also unlikely that the material was from an artificial satellite. Mr Porter's description of how he witnessed a meteorite fall may be correct but the sample provided is not of that origin." So, whatever nearly killed Fred Porter was neither a meteorite or a piece of "space-junk". I talked to Fred over the phone early in May, and he proved to be an intelligent, lucid witness. He assured me the object could only have come from above; there were no planes, cars or people anywhere nearby. Fred even sent me the object, and its sitting on a shelf above my computer as I type this report. A fascinating case. FALLS 90:2/ 2nd January 1990/Jerilderie, N.S.W./"Sydney Morning Herald", Sydney N.S.W., 4th January 1990. The following item, reprinted in its entirety, appeared in the paper's 'Column 8' section: "Hot yesterday, but down south in Jerilderie on Tuesday it was raining fish. A local property owner heard thudding on her roof, and was surprised to find nearly 30 small fish scattered across the roof and the front lawn. She says the National Parks and Wildlife Service in Griffith told her the phenomenon was caused by windy conditions and "willy-willies". The N.P.W.S office in Sydney says that strong winds can pick up tadpoles and small fish and carry them some distance." That old "strong winds" explanation again! Well readers, I couldn't let that one rest, so the following column appeared in 'Column 8' on the following Tuesday: "The raining fish in Jerilderie interested Paul Cropper of Epping, who has studied the phenomenon. He says the explanation by the National Parks and Wildlife Service that the cause is gusty winds or willy- willies may be simplistic. "If the fish are scooped up out of the water, why is there no debris?". However, Bob Beale, our science correspondent, says there are dozens of recorded cases of fish, frogs and other creatures being picked up and dropped by freak winds- and at least one instance where sheep were sucked up in a cyclone and deposited some distance away in trees." Well, I guess Science has spoken! TASMANIAN TIGER 90:3/January 1990/Golconda, Tasmania/ "The Advertiser", Adelaide, 24 February 1990. Some doubts remain over the reported discovery in early January of supposed Tiger droppings in an old mining tunnel near Golconda, a small town in Tasmania's north-east. The large, dry animal "skats" were found by Golconda resident George Richardson, who also happens to lead the anti-logging Golconda Community Group. The Group were anxiously awaiting analysis of the droppings, as confirmation of the find would probably end any plans to log the nearby State forest. Launceston's Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery Zoology curator Bob Green confirmed that the droppings were too large to have been left by a Tasmanian Devil, the only other likely source. FALLS 90:4/February 1990/Darling Point, Sydney, N.S.W./"Sydney Morning Herald", Sydney N.S.W., 13 February 1990. I came across the following intriguing article in the Herald's 'Column 8' section: "Two readers say they have an explanation for the raining jellyfish (Column 8, Thursday). In their gardens in Darling Point and Lindfield they have found large deposits of a jelly-like substance, which they say comes from the ripe seed pods of the Illawarra Flame Tree. However, Yvonne Bone of Darling Point is sticking to her story: she says she doesn't have a flame tree and swears they were jellyfish." A fall of jellyfish? This could be a Fortean first! A quick call to Mrs Bone obtained further details. The fall had apparently occurred during one of the heavy rainstorms that hit Sydney in early February. Mrs Bone, whose house in Darling Point is some distance from the sea, found the jellyfish on her driveway early the next morning. There were 4 jellyfish in her yard, two the size of dinner plates and the rest quite small. Her next door neighbour also found several jellyfish on her lawn. Interestingly, Mrs Bone told me her neighbour said she had seen frogs falling during a storm at Coffs Harbour in northern N.S.W. Could she have been the "focus" of the fall? I intend to find out more about this case, so stay tuned. RELIGIOUS PHENOMENA 90:5/February 1990/Sydney, N.S.W./"West Australian", Perth W.A., 28 February 1990. Thousands of people flocked to meetings held by visiting Father Emilien Tardiff after claims that a number of miracle healings had occurred. According to witnesses, people were cured of deafness, arthritis, alcoholism and even cancer. Father Tardiff, a French Canadian priest from the Sacred Heart Ministry, claimed that he had initially been opposed to faith healing but was converted after his own cure from tuberculosis. In one well publicised incident during his visit, a girl who had been "crippled" in a school bus accident got out of her wheelchair and walked. RELIGIOUS PHENOMENA 90:6/1981/Woombye, Qld/"Australasian Post" Magazine, 3 February 1990. This interesting old case surfaced in February this year, and concerns a photograph of a rainbow taken in 1981 by Mrs Ivy Wilson of Woombye, Queensland. Some claim the photograph shows the unexplained image of a woman and a child, similar to paintings of the Virgin Mary. Mrs Wilson had merely aimed her simple Box Brownie camera at a beautiful rainbow on her property, 114 k.m. north of Brisbane. It was several months before the film inside was processed. "My grand-daughter was the first one to notice anything unusual", she said. "As far as I was concerned, this was a picture of a rainbow. But my grand-daughter said: 'Wait a minute, there's something else on it'. Then she and her mother got out a magnifying glass and were able to see this outline that looked like a mother and child...... When I came home I found the image was on the negative...". Whilst Mrs Wilson was not a Catholic, the image had aroused the interest of the Catholic order The Knights of the Southern Cross, who sent 4000 copies of the photograph to members of the order and their friends. TASMANIAN TIGER 90:7/ February 1990/ Tasmania/"The Age", Melbourne, 21 February 1990. For three years, photographer Dave Watts has operated remote camera stations hidden deep in the Tasmanian bush, hoping for a photograph of the elusive Tasmanian Tiger. Mr Watts, of Kettering, has set up his battery- powered, continuous-reel photographic system in places where he believes the thylacine's habitat has been undisturbed. It took Mr Watts around 18 months to get his first picture of the relatively common brushtail possum. "If , for example, there are only 50 thylacines, that puts the difficulty of seeing it into perspective.", he said. Next week, Mr Watts intends to go back into the bush to retrieve one of his films. "For a wildlife photographer, there couldn't be anything to top it on the face of this earth," he said. "Except the Loch Ness Monster, and I don't believe that exists." APPARITIONS 90:8/March 1990/Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania/"Sunday Tasmanian", Hobart, 4 March 1990. When the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (C.S.I.R.O.) leaves the current premises at Stowell House, they'll be leaving behind more than just a stately Sandstone Georgian home. Since World War 2, a ghost known as the "Grey Lady" has also shared the building. Retired C.S.I.R.O. scientist Dr Don Martin, 79, says the ghost has appeared to him twice, in 1957 and 1958. On both occasions he was working at night in his second floor office, directly under the old building's tower. The figure of a woman, wearing a grey crinoline hooped dress, appeared at the open doorway. "She seemed quite benign, but I couldn't make out her face" Dr Martin said. "It was blurred, kind of misty. Then she just went away." Legend has it that the "Grey Lady" is the ghost of a young woman who, in the 1850's, was thrown down the tower stairs by her stepfather after he found out she was pregnant to a former convict. TASMANIAN TIGER 90:9/March 1990/ Bawley Point, N.S.W./ Personal Communication. Two recent mainland Tiger sightings were reported to Canberra cryptozoologist Tony Healy by an lecturer at Canberra's Australian National University. The informant told Tony that a friend of his had sighted the Tiger between Bawley Point and Termeil in early March this year. The animal had been clearly visible in his car's headlights. The professor also mentioned to Tony that another friend, an ex-wildlife ranger, had seen a Tasmanian Tiger from a helicopter whilst flying over the rugged Kimberley Ranges in northern Western Australia several years ago. MYSTERY BIG CATS 90:10/May, 1990/ Ararat, Victoria/Personal communication. A farmer from Moyston, Central Victoria, contacted me in early May to report a recent sighting of a large, black cat resembling a panther near the town of Ararat, located north-west of Melbourne. The witnesses had been hearing unusual "screeches" on their property for some time, and one evening in May whilst spotlighting they disturbed a large, black cat-like animal that moved away towards a creek extremely quickly. They estimated the animal was around 1 metre high and including the tail, about 2.5 metres long. ********************************************** * THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo * **********************************************