The newspaper Daily Telegraph, Sydney, on August 2, 1955, published a story, almost forgotten, about three men, Max Clow, 23, Alex Rose, 29, and Peter Johnson, 25, who claimed to have witnessed the crash of a craft of unknown origin and encountered its occupant.
It occurred in 1955 near Eucla, on the West Australia / South Australia border. The three young men were returning to Melbourne with what they said was the picture of an entity, and said they had seen a shiny object falling to the ground some kilometers away of them in a deserted area.
They said that after an hour's search, they found jagged pieces of shining metal and a figure, moving fifty meters away, resembling a frog from the back and a semi-human from the front. It had a green cloak hanging to just below the knees and its feet and hands were armor plated, and it had a curved horn on each side of the head.
After they took photographs, this being began swaying and wriggling back and forth and "disintegrated" before their eyes, they claimed.
Australian ufologist Bill Chalker indicated that the image reproduced in the newspaper appeared to be an out of focus image of something vaguely humanoid in shape, only the background is in focus, whereas the foreground and the figure are not. He notes that it gives the impression of some sort of doll, perhaps on a dashboard, photographed with the camera focused on the background, that the image is far from impressive and certainly does not add to the credibility of the story.
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[Ref. bc2:] BILL CHALKER:
Bill Chalker discusses an unconfirmed "Eucla helicopter saga" involving a flying saucer chasing a car in 1954 and explains that some investigators have linked it to a bizarre story carried in the Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph for August 2, 1955, although the two cases are different in many respects.
He indicates that one investigator, Colin McCarthy, kept no record of the original interview he secured with one of the alleged witnesses, but felt he was Peter Johnson, one of the witnesses cited in the newspaper 1955 story.
Bill Chalker indicates that the story was rather queer and absurd, and had not been substantiated, was a fragmentary story accompanying a rather poor photo that was presented as the "THING FROM OUTER SPACE".
He provides the newspaper story:
"Three young men returned to Melbourne with the picture of what they said was a flying saucer pilot. One of them took the photograph about 14 miles from Eucla, on the South Australian border."
"This is the story that Max Clow, 23, Alex Rose, 29, and Peter Johnson, 25, told:"
"They were driving through flat country covered by scrub and tall trees when they heard what they thought was a blowout and stopped to look at the tyres. Then Johnson pointed out a shiny object falling to the ground about three miles away."
"After an hour's search they found jagged pieces of shining metal and then saw a moving figure 50 yards away. They went closer and watched the figure for about 25 minutes."
"Clow said: 'It was like a frog from the back and a semi-human from the front, with a green cloak hanging to just above its knees. The two curved horns on each side of its head gave it a devilish appearance. Its feet and hands were armour-plated and, to make it worse, it was wriggling and swaying like a fish out of water.'"
"Rose then plucked up his courage, moved nearer, and took photographs."
"'Then to our amazement, it began to disintegrate before our eyes,' said Clow."
Bill Chalker notes that the photo reproduced in the newspaper appears to be an out of focus image of something vaguely "humanoid" in shape, with only the background (trees?) in focus, while the foreground and the figure (?) are not. He notes that in fact it gives the impression of some sort of doll, perhaps on a dashboard, photographed with the camera focused on the background. The photo is far from impressive and certainly does not add to the credibility of a fantastic story.
He notes that depending on your objectivity, beliefs and gullibility, it is possible to interpret the photo and story in numerous ways, but in the end the Eucla story and photo only serve to confuse the already confused other story of 1954.
[Ref. au1:] A.U.F.O.R.N. WEBSITE:
The website lists a number of Australasian cases that are falling to oblivion.
One of them occurred in 1955 near Eucla, on the West Australia / South Australia border. Three young men were returning to Melbourne with what they said was the picture of an entity, and said they saw a shiny object falling to the ground. They said that after an hour's search, they found jagged pieces of shining metal and saw a moving figure fifty meters away, that resembled a frog from the back and a semi-human from the front. It had a green cloak hanging to just below the knees. Its feet and hands were armor plated.
After they took photographs, the thing "disintegrated" before their eyes.
Their story was told in the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, on August 2, 1955.
[Ref. go1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
The Belgian ufologist indicates that perhaps in July, in 1955, in Australia near Eucla, three young people arrived at Melbourne with what they said was the photograph of an entity. A luminous object reportedly fell from the sky, they searched and found notched pieces of sining metal and within 50 meters in front of them, there was a moving silhouette. From the back, it resembled a toad, and from upfront it appeared humanoid. A kind of green cesspool hung at him under the knees. Its feet and its hands seemed covered with a metallic armour. Photographs were allegedly, with emphasis on allegedly, taken just before the thing disintegrated in front of their eyes.
The source is indicated as the "Daily Telegraph" on August 2, 1955, and Keith Basterfield.
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Eucla, South Australia, in 1955, in daytime, three men noticed a shiny object falling to the ground five km away in a deserted area. After searching for an hour they came upon some jagged shiny wreckage and saw a moving figure nearby. As the figure approached they could see that it was semi human in form and somewhat frog-like. It wore a loose fitting green cloak that hanged down below its knees. It had a curved horn on each side of the head and its hands and feet were armor plated. The creature then began swaying and wriggling back and forth and it then disintegrated right before the three men.
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is Mark Moravec, Psiufo Phenomena.
[Ref. bc1:] BILL CHALKER:
Australian ufologist Bill Chalker published as part of a larger article a "Listing of Australian Crash/Retrieval Stories" with as case number 1: "1955 Eucla, SA (dubious alien photo and alleged crash debri)."
Bill Chalker warns that such stories deserve careful attention, if only to put them to rest, and cautions that none of them constitute proof of anything.
[Ref. kb1:] KEITH BASTERFIELD:
The Australian ufologist indicates that in 1955, near Eucla, WA/SA border, Australia, three young men returned to Melbourne with what they said was the picture of an entity. They said they saw a shiny object fall to the ground and after searching they found jagged pieces of shining metal and saw a moving figure 50 meters away. It was said to resemble a frog from the back and semi-human from the front. It had a green cloak hanging to just below the knees, and its feet and hands were armour-plated. After photos were taken, the thing just disintegrated before their eyes.
The source is indicated to be the Daily Telegraph for August 2, 1955.
[Ref. ue1:] "UFO EVIDENCE" WEBSITE:
The website published an undated unsigned "Listing of Australian Crash Retrieval Stories" indicated as coming from "Australasian Ufologist", with as case number 1: "1955 Eucla, SA (dubious alien photo and alleged crash debri)."
The source appears as a fake ling to the "original article".
The author of the listing warns that such stories deserve careful attention, if only to put them to rest, and cautions that none of them constitute proof of anything.
[Ref. lg1:] LUIS R. GONZALES MANSO:
Luis R. Gonzalez Manso notes in his FirstHumCat catalogue that in 1955, near Eucla, on the West Australia to south Australia border, three young men returned to Melbourne with what they said was the picture of an entity.
The people were Max Clow (23), Alex Rose (29) and Peter Johnson (25).
Johnson noted a shiny object falling to the ground about 5 km away. After searching for an hour they found jagged pieces of shining metal and saw a moving figure fifty yards away. They went closer and watched the figure for about 25 minutes.
Clow said: "It was like a frog from the back and semi-human from the front. It had a green cloak hanging to just below the knees. The two curved horns on each side of its head gave it a devilish appearance. Its feet and hands were armour plated and to make it worse, it was wriggling and swaying like a fish out of water."
Rose moved near and took photos. All of a sudden the thing began to disintegrate before their eyes.
The photo reproduced in the newspaper gives what appears to be an out of focus image of something vaguely "humanoid" is shape. Only the back ground (trees?) is in focus. The foreground and figure (?) are not. In fact the impression is that it is some sort of doll, perhaps on a dashboard, photographed with the camera focused on the background. The photo is far from impressive and certainly does not add to the credibility of a fantastic story.
Luis Gonzales indicates that depending on your objectivity, beliefs and gullibility, it is possible to interpret the photo and story in numerous ways, and that some ufologists have linked this case with an alleged UFO "cover up."
Luis Gonzales indicates that his sources are Keith Basterfield, An Indepth Review of Australasian UFO Related Entity Reports, ACUFOS (June 1980), case #15; the Daily Telegraph for August 2, 1955; and Bill Chalker, "UFOs sub rosa Down Under: The Australian Military and Government Role in the UFO Controversy" at www.project1947.com/forum/bcoz2.htm
The case seems to be made of nothing more than a lost newspaper article, there is no indication that an investigation was conducted or that verifications were undertaken; which hardly confers credibility to the story.
It is hard not to find "very convenient" the disintegration of the UFO occupant; and one wonders what happened to the UFO debris and the alleged photograph.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data | Medium | February 11, 2008 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Missing a copy primary source, newspaper Daily Telegraph, Sidney, August 2, 1955. | Help needed. | Opened. |
| 2 | Data | Severe | February 2, 2008 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Missing the alleged photograph of the UFO occupant. | Help needed. | Opened. |
No credibility.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | February 2, 2008 | Creation, [au1], [ar1], [bc1], [ue1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 2, 2008 | First published. |
| 1.0b | Patrick Gross | February 11, 2008 | Additions, [lg1], [bc2], [go1], [kb1]. Addition of witnesses names and ages in the summary and basic information. Addition of paragraph at the en of the summary "Australian ufologist Bill Chalker indicates that..." |
