Myrrhee Report - January, 1996

James W.R. OWEN. Mary-Lou OWEN.

LOCATION

The area in which the sighting took place is known as the Upper fifteen mile Creek Road, Myrrhee. The area is approximately five kilometres South West of Boggy Creek Road. The nearest township is Moyhu being 25 kilometres from the area. It is also approximately 55 kilometres South West of Wangaratta. The nearest airport is situated at Benalla 25 kilometres west of Myrrhee. The area is predominantly farming

SIGHTING 1

On the evening of Monday the 1st of January, 1996, G along with his wife R and daughter M were camping at the Upper Fifteen Mile Creek Road, Myrrhee in a Camper van. The property is managed by a Carl and Lorraine MONSHING who reside a short distance away. At approximately 2130 hours, G left the camper van and once outside his attention was drawn to an extremely bright object in the western sky. He instantly called for his wife and daughter to come outside and check on the object. G stated that the object was the size of the moon and on occasions the size of a 50 cent piece held at arms length.

The object was observed for a period of 35 to 40 minutes and during this time witnesses stated that the object moved along a hill in a southerly direction following the contour. The object then returned to it’s near original position when first sighted. This was approximately 60 degrees above the horizon. It was also stated by M that the object also moved some distance to the right being in a northerly direction at a very fast speed. She likened it to an X wing fighter from a STAR WARS Movie and stated that it was a blur. It then appears that the object set behind the hills and upon doing this lit the hills up like the M.C.G. It appeared like numerous spot lights. The object never re-appeared after this. On this occasion the family never had a camera. They stated that the dogs at their camp were uncontrollable and in the end had to be tied up. They also stated that the cattle in nearby paddocks, were or appeared to be in a distressed condition.

At the time of this sighting the weather was fine, warm and dry. There was no wind or cloud cover. It appears that after the object had moved behind the hills a light mist rolled in.

G on this occasion made diagrams of the object. It appears that the sighting had some effect on the family in relation to their behavioral moods in as much that G and M became moody and continually stirred each other up. As stated by R, this is out of the ordinary for her husband and daughter. G also stated that he had suffered two severe blood noses. He does suffer nose bleeds but never to this extent.

SIGHTING 2.

On this occasion, G , R and M were again alone at their camp site . At approximately 2100 hours they were outside and in the same approximate area observed an object similar to the evening before. This object was smaller than on the first sighting. Their attention was drawn to this object due to it’s brightness. It was commented by the family that this object was much smaller than they had seen and it was not behaving in the same manner. It was stated that on the second and following sightings the object just set behind the hills. Again at the commencement of the sighting the dogs behaved irrationally, running about and barking. The object then set behind the hills at 2145 hours being much earlier than on the previous sighting.

SIGHTING 3.

This sighting had a gathering of eight witnesses. They viewed this object from the same position as the family had on the previous occasions. The time was again 2100 hours. They observed the object appear and as the evening progressed the object grew brighter as in sighting two. It set behind the hills in the west at approximately 2145 hours as observed in sighting 2. There was no similar behaviour as in sighting one. On this occasion they had an instamatic camera and took photographs of the object.

SIGHTING 4.

On this occasion Lorraine MONSHING arrived with a Video camera to film this object. At this stage the Chronicle Newspaper had been notified and a Mr. David NEWPORT, a journalist for the paper was to attend but never arrived until after the sighting. The object again appeared around 2100 hours. Lorraine filmed the object on and off from different locations around the camp site until the setting of the object at 2145 hours. Lorraine has stated that she is no expert with the Video Camera and that on this occasion the camera was hand held. During the filming the dogs can be heard barking . As this sighting progressed it appears that the Instamatic camera commenced to operate without any human intervention. On the first occasion it was being held by G who then placed it on the bonnet of the car. The camera then again switched itself on and extended the telephoto lens. It then switched off. G then placed it into the carry case and stated that he could hear it switch on and off again. He stated that the batteries were reasonably new and that the camera never played up after this. In the filming G mentioned that this object was similar to what he had seen. At 2145 hours the object that had been filmed, set behind the hills. This was not filmed. No comment was made that the setting was out of the ordinary.

SIGHTING 5.

On the evening prior to this sighting, myself and my wife, accompanied by Mr Robin KIRK a local pilot and an official observer for the Internationale Federation Aeronautique (A.F.I.) attended at the camp site. We were greeted by the SIMPSON’s and we obtained details of previous sightings. At this stage there was heavy rain with quite a lot of lightning. The visibility was poor. We all decided to follow it through on this evening and we attempted to take wet and dry temperature checks for inversion layers. During the evening we observed nothing out of the ordinary. We then returned to the MONSHING premises where we observed the Video. We left the area at about 2300 hours.

On the 6th of January, 1996, my wife and I attended at the camp site at the Upper Fifteen Mile Creek Road, arriving at 2000 hours. Other people were present, keen to see anything out of the ordinary. A short time later Lorraine arrived with her video camera and food for the visitors. Whilst at the site others arrived. The evening was clear with absolutely no cloud cover. It had been a warm day and as the evening progressed it cooled down. At approximately 2030 hours I noticed Venus appearing in the West sky. The sun had not long set and Venus was a light, the size of a pin head.

As the evening continued Venus grew brighter. I noticed that this became a talking point among the witnesses. I noticed that G was continually looking at Venus. I was conversing with him and during this he stated that this was not the same object that he had seen on the first occasion. I had set up the telescope and Venus was viewed through this. I informed G that this object was Venus and spoke to him about the possibility of this being what he saw. He stated that this was not the object that he had seen on sighting one but agreed that it may have been similar to the other sightings. Lorraine stated that it was or looked like the object that she had videoed, but was not as red. Venus then set and nothing unforetold happened.

It was quite apparent that the family was becoming disheartened. Both my wife and I conversed with them . R was under the belief that everyone would think she was lying. At this stage we re-assured them that this was not so. At 2145 hours I recorded that Venus had set behind the hills . No glow or anything similar could be seen from the position it had set. During the evening I checked for inversion layers. There was no layer detectable. I also checked compass readings with a Prismatic Compass.

As Venus set the Moon could be seen rising behind the camp site in a north east direction. It was a full moon.

Just prior to 2200 hours, the moon had risen above the hills and the telescope was directed at the moon. The children present were using it. As it approached 2200 hours I was looking in the westerly sky as were others at intermittent periods. It was then that my attention along with the others in the group was drawn to the western sky. We observed an extremely bright white light approximate size of a quarter moon. At first it appeared to travel towards us at a slow speed and then moved to our right without changing shape or brightness. The light of the object was similar to numerous spot lights but were not blinding in any way. It was possible to look at the light without hurting your eyes. This cannot happen when looking at spotlights or similar. The object made no sounds nor was there any flashing lights. At first it travelled slowly and then at a fast speed ending up as a pin head light.

When the sighting occurred G exclaimed that this was what he saw on the first night . He also commented and to my surprise that this object would have landed if there had not been so many people in the area. I noticed that he was very excited and also in a way disappointed. During the sighting that lasted approximately fifteen (15) seconds, I had asked everyone to quieten down and listen and observe. When asked no one had heard any sound. They all seemed excited and could not explain what they had seen.

After the sighting Mr Carl MONSHING arrived at the camp site. He was also quite excited and informed us that he was driving up to the camp site when he observed an object travelling from the west towards him. He stated that it looked the size of a one cent coin and estimated the size as two 707 Jet planes. He stated that it was a white light and that it dropped behind the hills faster than anything he had ever seen before. I noticed that Mr MONSHING continually looked in the western sky once at the camp site.

We continued to watch the area for some time after. We observed satellites crossing the sky. Approximately 40 minutes prior to this sighting, a small plane had been seen travelling in a south westerly direction. It could be heard and the flashing lights easily observed. It was in a totally different area than the actual sighting and was not similar to the object seen. At the time of the sighting the temperature was 15 degrees C. It was still a calm night with no wind.

Information has since been received from an Independent person Mr B from Wangaratta , that he was camping at Middle Creek on Saturday the 6/1/96. This position is west of the family camp site on the opposite side of the ranges. He stated that he knows the area extremely well and knows where the MONSHING farm is situated from his camp site. He stated that he had read the article the day previous and decided to stay up and watch the sky. At 2200 hours he was watching the eastern sky when he observed a red glow coming through the trees. He stated that it was not flashing . He stated that it was not a plane or a fire and that he could not explain it. He never saw any object.

CONCLUSION.

I have examined the information collated at this stage and I will now detail my findings as per sighting.

SIGHTING 1. 1/1/96

The object was seen by three witnesses only. I have no doubt of their honesty in this matter. I believe that this sighting is not similar to sightings 2, 3 and 4. On this occasion the object behaved erratically in as much that it moved along the contours of the hills and then returned to the near same original position. This object was observed from 2130 hours and watched for 30 to 40 minutes which would have the object disappearing around 2200 hrs to 2210 hrs. The location of this object is in the area where Venus is observed and sets. I have check the setting of Venus and it has set no later than 2145 hrs. This is earlier than the recorded setting due to the hilly terrain. This would then have Venus setting prior to the completion of the sighting by some 20 to 30 minutes. If in fact this object is as bright as the family say then VENUS would not have been noticed as much and if in fact at all. I have since observed VENUS (SEE SIGHTING REPORT SIGHTING 5.) and noticed that when it set that there was no observable light coming from behind the hills. (SEE SIGHTING REPORT 1.)

Bureau of Meteorology have no explanation as to the size of the object on this occasion. I have no explanation why the hills lit up as they did. On this sighting I believe that it should be considered a U.F.O.

SIGHTING 2. 2/1/96

I believe on this occasion the family were expecting to see the object and upon observing a very bright light believed that they were seeing the same object as the night before . Venus was very bright and as stated by the family the object was a lot smaller than that of the previous sighting. On this occasion I believe that they observed Venus appear and set. On this occasion it cannot be classed as a U.F.O.

SIGHTING 3. 3/1/96

On this sighting the object appeared as it did the night previously and behaved the same as sighting 2. At no stage did it behave as in sighting 1. On this occasion photographs were taken. This object set at 2145 hours. I am again of the opinion that this object was Venus and thus cannot be classed as a U.F.O.

SIGHTING 4. 4/1/96

On this occasion the object appeared at the same time and was videoed by Lorraine MONSHING. It was in the same position as sighting 2 and 3. The object appeared to be in the same position as Venus and behaved as Venus did. The video is in and out of focus causing it to behave out of the ordinary. Lorraine commenced videoing at 2100 hours and during this she moved to other locations causing this object to appear to move in the sky. I believed that Lorraine was confident that she was filming something out of the ordinary and that she honestly believed in what she saw. At one stage upon examining the tape we observed what appears to be a plane travelling from the left of the screen to above the object. It also appears that this plane was closer than the object. Flashing strobe lights were observable. During the video you can hear G mention that it was the same object that he had seen. I believe that he is indicating the 2nd and 3rd sighting as he stated that this object was not the same as in the first sighting. On this occasion the camera played up as stated in the report. You can also hear the dogs barking. The kookaburras were laughing but at this time of the evening it is normal. The object set at 2145 hours.

I believe that Venus was the object videoed . I am at a loss as to why the camera was playing up on this occasion. I am also at a loss why the dogs were behaving as they did. The only possibility is that due to the hills and terrain and the limited visibility of the surrounds, that an object may have been in close proximity.

SIGHTING 5. 6/1/96

On this occasion both my wife and I were present. We observed Venus appear and set. It set at 2145 hours approximate. I observed no other bright stars or planets that would attract attention. At 2200 hours we observed the object appear. I am of the opinion that this object was not a plane or any other terrestrial object due to it’s speed and behaviour This object was observed by witnesses from different back grounds, and when asked no one could offer an explanation. No one could actually say from where the object appeared. Also on the same evening an independent person on the other side of the ranges observed a red glow. This is consistent with Carl MONSHING observing the object drop over the hills. This would have been in the vicinity of where this independent person was camping. Checks with local airports were unable to assist with planes in the area. I am of the opinion that this object is unexplainable and at this stage should be classed as a U.F.O.

James W.R. OWEN. Mary-Lou OWEN.

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