665 // Frederick Valentich - UFO Mystery?
Author: Crawlspace Media
May 4, 2026
Duration: 1:11:08
In this new episode, Crawlspace Media's Tim Pilleri and Lance Reenstierna discuss the mysterious vanishing of Frederick Valentich over the skies of Australia on October 21st, 1978.
In 1978, 20-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich vanished over Australia’s Bass Strait after radioing that a strange, metallic craft with a green light was hovering above him and was "not an aircraft." His final transmission concluded with 17 seconds of an unidentified metallic scraping sound, after which he and his plane disappeared completely. Despite massive search efforts, no wreckage, oil slicks, or debris were ever found, leaving the case as one of history's most haunting and debated aviation mysteries.
The information discussed is based on official Australian government records, contemporary news reports, and investigative analyses.
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Sources:
Australian Broadcast Company’s podcast episode: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-history-listen/valentich-mystery/10980258.
National Archives of Australia (Official File V116/783/1047): https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=10491375.
The Black Vault (Consolidated Declassified Documents): https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/the-frederick-valentich-disappearance-october-21-1978/.
Skeptical Inquirer (Detailed Scientific Analysis by McGaha & Nickell): https://skepticalinquirer.org/2013/11/the-valentich-disappearance-another-ufo-myth/.
Aviation Safety Network Record: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/10007.
National Archives of Australia (UFO Policy & Reports): https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/defence-and-war/unidentified-flying-objects-ufos.
RAAF Unidentified Aerial Sightings (UAS) Reports: National Archives of Australia (Series A9755): https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/flying-saucers-fact-or-fiction.
Internet Archive (OCR/Text Version): https://archive.org/stream/AustralianUFOFiles/B1497_V116-783-1047_10491375_djvu.txt.Unsolved Mysteries: https://unsolved.com/gallery/ufo-disappearance/.
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