As my first official post on Steemit (apart from my introduction) i decided to delve into a mystery that has peaked my interest for years ever since seeing a documentary about it. This true story has something for everyone, an unsolved mystery, potential paranormal elements and a missing person that has never been found.

Anyway that is enough build up, lets get right into it.

We will take a look at the mysterious disappearance of Frederick Valentich.

The Pilot Who Vanished

What Happened

Frederick Valentich was a 20 year old pilot from Australia. Who from a very young age wanted to take to the sky.

Frederick Valentich.

Fred had close to 150 hours of flying time under his belt and was permitted to fly at night if the skies were clear and visibility was decent.

On the evening of the 21st of October 1978, with clear skies on the horizon. Fred took off for a routine flight in his Cessna 182 light aircraft, its registration was VH-DSJ.

Fred was studying part time to obtain his commercial pilots licence but was burdened with failing mandatory licensing exams and was on the verge of being prosecuted for alleged flying violations.

His route was to take him from the Moorabbin airport in the Victorian capital of Melbourne along the southern coast than across the Bass Strait to King Island.

Frederick's flight path.

1819 hours or 6:19 pm

Frederick left Moorabbin airport.

1900 hours or 7 pm  

Frederick reported reaching Cape Otway and was on his way to King Island.

1906 hours or 7:06 pm

After six minutes of uneventful flying below 5000 feet. Frederick noticed something in the sky and radioed air traffic control to inquire.

1912 hours or 7:12 pm

After a panicked six minute conversation with air traffic control Frederick reported engine trouble than stopped responding.

His last words were... 

It's hovering above me and it's not an aircraft.

Followed by an unidentified metallic scraping sound. Click here to listen to the sound. (21:35)

Neither Frederick or his aircraft was ever seen again.

The following is a transcript of the conversation between (FV) Frederick Valentich (the pilot) and (SR) Steve Robey (air traffic controller) There are multiple variations but this one is widely believed to be the most accurate.

 [start of transcript]

FV: Is there any known traffic below five thousand [feet]?

SR: No known traffic.

FV: I am—seems [to] be a large aircraft below five thousand.

SR: What type of aircraft is it?

FV: I cannot affirm. It is [sic] four bright, it seems to me like landing lights. . . . The aircraft has just passed over me at least a thousand feet above.

SR: Roger, and it, it is a large aircraft? Confirm.

FV: Er, unknown due to the speed it’s traveling. Is there any Air Force aircraft in the vicinity?

SR: No known aircraft in the vicinity.

FV: It’s approaching right now from due east towards me. . . . [Silence for 2 seconds.] It seems to me that he’s playing some sort of game. He’s flying over me two, three times, at a time at speeds I could not identify.

SR: Roger. What is your actual level?

FV: My level is four and a half thousand. Four five zero zero.

SR: And confirm you cannot identify the aircraft.

FV: Affirmative.

SR: Roger. Stand by.

FV: It’s not an aircraft. It is—[Silence for 2 seconds.]

SR: Can you describe the, er, aircraft?

FV: As it’s flying past, it’s a long shape. [Silence for 3 seconds.] [Cannot] identify more than [that it has such speed]. [Silence for 3 seconds.] [It is] before me right now, Melbourne.

SR: And how large would the, er, object be?

FV: It seems like it’s stationary.1 What I’m doing right now is orbiting, and the thing is just orbiting on top of me also. It’s got a green light and sort of metallic. [Like] it’s all shiny [on] the outside. [Silence for 5 seconds.] It’s just vanished. . . . Would you know what kind of aircraft I’ve got? Is it military aircraft?

SR: Confirm the, er, aircraft just vanished.

FV: Say again.

SR: Is the aircraft still with you?

FV: [It’s, ah, nor-] [Silence for 2 seconds.] [Now] approaching from the southwest. . . . The engine is, is rough idling. I’ve got it set at twenty three twenty four, and the thing is—coughing.

SR: Roger. What are your intentions?

FV: My intentions are, ah, to go to King Island. Ah, Melbourne, that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. [Silence for 2 seconds.] It is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft. [Silence for 17 seconds, open microphone, with audible, unidentified staccato noise. 

[end of transcript]

The Investigation

After four days of searching an area over 1000 square miles. The search and rescue effort ceased on the 25th of October 1978, after finding no trace of Frederick Valentich or his aircraft.

The Department of Transport which investigated the disappearance stated in their report that the accident was "presumed fatal" for the pilot but the reason for the accident were "not determined"

DOT report.

A coronal inquiry returned an open verdict of "missing, presumed dead"

Five years after the plane vanished an engine cowl washed ashore at Flinders Island. The engine cowl's serial numbers were in the range of belonging to a Cessna 185 light aircraft, the same model that Frederick was flying. Though engine cowls are know to fall off mid flight. Today the engine cowl flap has disappeared

The location where the cowl was found.

There were multiple witnesses who reported erratic green lights flying around where Valentich last reported his location.

These were ignored as they were only reported after the news of Valentichs disapperance hit the papers and were thought to be making it up.

The "erratic green lights' that the witnesses mentioned were reported by witnesses years before the Air traffic control transcripts where Valentich first mentioned the erratic green lights were released to the public.

Frederick described the mysterious aircraft as having 4 large green lights, a shiny metallic surface, moving at an incredible speed and able to hover just above him.

How did the witnesses know about the green lights unless they actually saw them with their own eyes on that night.

A man by the name of Roy Manifold was taking photos of the sunset along the coast on the evening Frederick disappeared when he captured this image.

The photo appears to show a dark blotch. 

UFO experts in the United Stated who examined the photo concluded that the blotch was a solid object of unknown materials and not the result of double exposure or manipulation.

Ufologists and conspiracy theorists alike believe that an alien spacecraft destroyed Frederick's plane or abducted him. There are other theories of what happened but the alien theory has not been debunked and many people still believe and will continue to believe that Frederick Valentich was indeed abducted by extra terrestrial beings.

Other Theories

Other theories for what happened that night include:

- Frederick drifted off course and crashed further out to sea.

No significant amount of wreckage has ever been found to suggest a sea or land crash.

- Frederick got disorientated and was flying upside down which means the lights he saw above him were in fact his own on the wings of his plane. 

The flying upside down theory can also be debunked through the very design of the Cessna 182L. It relies on a gravity fed fuel delivery system that if it were flown upside down the fuel could not get down to the engine and it would stop in a matter of seconds. Frederick would of had to be flying for several minutes like this, which would be impossible.

- Frederick staged his own disappearance.

Frederick was said to of had a contented lifestyle with a loving family that he adored and a girlfriend that he was very much in love with. Many people find it unlikely that he committed suicide or staged his own disappearance.

Although Victoria police based in Melbourne did receive reports of a light aircraft landing near Cape Otway. The owner of the mysterious plane has never been located. 

Fred also gave two reasons for travelling to King Island that day. One was to pick up some friends and the other was to pick up some crayfish. But he never informed King Island airport that he was coming.

Final Thoughts

Maybe Frederick did fly off to a new life, maybe he committed suicide, maybe he lost his bearings and flew off course but we will never know for sure. 

According to Frederick's father he was always worried about UFO attacks. It is somewhat scary that he might have met his end at the thing that he was most frightened off.

What did Fred see that day?

We may never know what happened to Frederick Valentich on that evening all those years ago. But this case has fascinated people for nearly four decades and will continue to fascinate long into the future.

What do you think happened?

Thanks for reading my post. If you would like to see more posts like this in the future please let me know. There are plenty of mysteries out there, so there will always be a steady stream of posts that will leave you scratching your head with intrigue.

Have a good day and stay safe.

I stalled a lot before finally posting this as i was afraid that i had missed some information or that the information above was incorrect. I am fairly certain that the post is accurate but there is always potential mistakes. If you find one please let me know.

image sources: 1,2,3,4,5,6

information sources: 1,2,3,4,5