by Rigorous Intuition » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:19 am
<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Yet no mention of Pine Gap....</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>NT X-Files exposed</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>By Eric Tlozek<br>July 21, 2005 <br><br>SECRET documents released by the Northern Territory Government reveal a mass of UFO sightings across the Top End, many of them unexplained.<br><br>The documents - declassified after 30 years under lock and key - detail a history of UFO activity across the Territory by a wide range of 'sighters', including RAAF crews and weather forecasters. <br><br>The files were classified and only became available to the public from the National Archives in Darwin, after 30 years. <br><br>One sighting, by the crew of a RAAF Hercules in Darwin in 1968, also appeared on radar, although no known aircraft was identified in the area at the time. <br><br>The crew described a series of lights which crossed their take-off path from Darwin airport, with no visible fuselage or structure. RAAF command in Sydney said the contact may have been a foreign aircraft. <br><br>"The fact the sighting was made by an RAAF aircrew and detected by the aircraft's radar leaves very little doubt ... (that something) was in the area," RAAF command said.<br><br>"As the aircraft has not been identified, a violation of our national airspace cannot be discounted."<br><br>Another of the secret documents, obtained by the Australian UFO Research Association, describes a sighting by a weather bureau forecaster at Daly Waters in November, 1966. <br><br>The forecaster was tracking a weather balloon with a theodolite when he noticed a flying object in the sky. <br><br>He reported sighting a metallic-grey, oblong object flying at high altitude. <br><br>A check with the aircraft control office in Darwin revealed there were no aircraft in the area at the time. <br><br>A third file reports the sighting of a saucer-shaped object by a group of nurses in Alice Springs in 1967. <br><br>The nurses spotted the UFO in the middle of the day and said it was a silver colour with a copper band around the centre. <br><br>UFO archivist Dominic McNamara said there were many NT sightings but most were unsubstantiated. <br><br>"The NT is a hot-spot for sightings particularly because of its remoteness," Mr McNamara said. <br><br>"But the cases where people actually see substantial objects and can describe them are the ones that stand out."<br><br>He said tracking down the files was an arduous task because a serial number needed to be quoted to retrieve any file. <br><br>So he cross-referenced files from related items, eventually narrowing the field to 170 documents. <br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16000752-13762,00.html" target="top">www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16000752-13762,00.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
