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Conversely, formal government enquiries have usually been just as inconclusive, or uninterested. The best known example of this is the Condon Report of 1968, initiated by the United States Government the official view mostly ignored the substantial information contained in the report itself. Here in Australia, the RAAF's files on UFOs indicate a similar official lack of interest. For example, in one case three RAAF personnel reported seeing an object out to sea off the NSW coast near Eden while watching an eclipse. This account lacks detail and shows there was little follow-up.
Similarly, potentially good cases involving ground sightings included verbal evidence only, and no searches were carried out to confirm evidence of physical interactions with the environment. These physical investigations are important if UFO researchers are to discount a large range of natural phenomena which are also possible after all, most cases reported are IFOs (identified flying objects). Natural phenomena that may be involved with physical trace reports can include fairy rings (caused by fungus), slime mould, and lightning strikes, as well as truly unusual effects.
Reports of natural phenomena may become unusually inflated. We saw slides of an aerial view of a large fairy ring in Victoria, and of a slime mould circle on a back lawn which looked like an oil stain. Other physical trace cases have become highly controversial, such as the Zamora UFO (Socorro, New Mexico 1964), and the Delphos ring (Kansas, 1971). In the latter case, the soil beneath a hovering object continued to glow after the UFO had left and was still unable to absorb water months after the event.
The Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) in the USA is producing a summary of the Delphos case and the surface effects noted at the site. In Canada in 1974, a farmer cultivating a rape crop saw several spinning UFOs lift out of a nearby field and fly away. Ground markings were found where the objects had first been seen. The objects appeared to be solid, not plasmas.
The French UFO research organisation, GEPAN, investigated a physical trace case from January 1981. A botanist investigating plant trauma (damage) at the site found some unusual properties. After two years of research he reported that:
GEPAN implied these signs indicated an unusual event had occurred. During a 1987 conversation with GEPAN personnel in the USA some years ago, Bill was told the affects found were compared with exposure to intense gamma rays. Exposure of similar material to 10 million rads had produced similar effects. This did not necessarily suggest a cause due to nuclear ('hard') radiation, but possibly an 'electromagnetic effect'. GEPAN thought this was the most satisfactory answer at present, although these results are still controversial.
Physical trace cases have also been reported in Australia:
In Tasmania, the local UFO investigation group had investigated a landing site where vegetation had shown unusual regrowth. Thermal luminescence techniques could not detect any unusual heat or radiation effects.
Car Headlights Bent
In 1967 a driver reported that his car headlights had bent towards an object On the right hand side of the road at Burkes Flat. Several days after this report, a car collided with a tree at exactly the same spot, killing the driver. Researchers investigated some impressions in the paddock and a headlight recovered from the wreck. There were no signs of anything unusual, such as high magnetic fields.
The Tully case (Queensland 1966) is now being reviewed. The original report described a solid object seen moving off from above the Horseshoe Lagoon at Tully in the early morning. Conditions were clear and the lagoon site showed a circle of water slowly rotating clockwise. Swordgrass within the circle had floated to the surface.
