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Ufo's
*Sub
Rosa* Down Under
The Australian Military
& Government Role In the Ufo Controversy by Bill Chalker
(Copyright © B. Chalker 1996)
Story
Below
[01] [02] [03]
[04] [05]
[06]
Enquiries
into Official Involvement in Australia
[01]
The
Ultimate Secret
[01]
The
Drury Affair
[01]
Air
Marshall Sir George Jones and the UFO
[01]
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Ufos
"Sub Rosa" Down Under
Prior to 1982 civilian
UFO researchers only had a confused and vague picture of clandestine
official involvement in Australia. In the face of the lethargy in the
RAAFs replies to serious enquiries, I stepped up my efforts at diplomatically
trying to get direct access to the RAAF UFO files. It probably surprised
me more than anybody else when the RAAF finally agreed to permit me
to examine their files.
The extent of access was unprecedented
in the history of the Australian UFO controversy. From the first of
my visits to the Russell Offices of the Department of Defence, in Canberra,
on January 11th, 1982 to my last in June, 1984, I was able to scrutinise
the extent of official UFO investigations in Australia. For the first
time a detailed "inside" picture was revealed of RAAF investigations.
I was able to undertake the first
officially sanctioned direct review of the Australian government's UFO
files. Over two and a half years I was able to:
(1) examine the majority
of the extant UFO files held by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
at the Directorate of Air Force Intelligence (DAFI), Department of Defence,
Russell Offices, Canberra
(2) examine the entirety of the
extant UFO files held by the Department of Aviation at their Bureau
of Air Safety Investigation in Melbourne, Victoria.
The review has provided a detailed understanding
of official involvement in Australia.
On Monday morning, January 11th, 1982, I arrived
at the Russell Offices of the Department of Defence, in Canberra, to
undertake a review of the RAAF/Department of Defence UFO files. This
was the first time that a civilian researcher had been afforded this
sort of access. For almost thirty years, the RAAF had been the official
body invested with the responsibility of investigating reports of UFOs
or unusual aerial sighting (UAS) reports in Australia and its territories.
Until then no clear and unambigious picture
had emerged about the role the RAAF played in the UFO controversy in
Australia. Two polarised positions had emerged. The RAAF was covering
up its high level involvement in an international "cover-up" of UFO
facts, perhaps in concert with the US Air Force. Or, the RAAF was bureaucratically
locked into a responsibility it had long since decided was a waste of
time, but contined as a service to the general public.
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