This article was published in the daily newspaper Daily Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, page 4, on October 28, 1978.
MELBOURNE (UPI). -- The girlfriend of a pilot who vanished in his light plane after radioing he was being followed by a UFO says he is still alive but that details of his mysterious disappearance are "top secret".
"I know Fred is alive. We will see him soon," said 16-year-old Rhonda Rushton of Victoria.
She said she had met with transport department officials concerningthe disappearance of Frederick Valentich, 20.
"We all know Fred is alive and we have told the authorities this, but it is still all top secret now," Ms. Rushton said. "I will not be saying any more about this."
A department spokesman said, "We assured her we would keep detailsof the interview confidential and we must abide by that condition."
Valentich was flying his single-engine Cessna 182 from Melbourne to King Island, 130 miles to the south, when he asked trafficcontrollers at 7 p.m. if there were any aircraft in his areaflying below 5,000 feet.
When controllers told him there were no aircraft in the vicinity,Valentich said he was flying at 4,500 feet and could see an object with four bright lights.
Asked by the control tower if he could identify the aircraft, Valentich replied "It's not an aircraft. It's ..." then there was a break in transmission.
A department spokesman said there was a long metallic noise over the radio and contact with the aircraft was lost. One report described the noise as "like two empty beer cans being banged together."
