Details Cont'd: I dismissed both of these sightings as some sort of electrical, or atmospheric phenomena, but these were the beginning of a forthcoming series of incidents that would haunt me for the rest of my life!
On June the 26th, at 6:45 PM, I saw a bright white light to the Northwest. No less than thirty-eight additional witnesses, including my assistant, Ananias Rarata, and Mrs. Nessle Moi also saw a four-legged, disc-shaped object. It was approximately the width of five full moons and it hovered over our Mission.
As we watched, we could see four human-like figures onboard the craft which seemed to be performing tasks of some sort. Now and then, one of the figures would disappear, only to reappear a moment later. A blue light would shine up from the craft at what seemed to be regular intervals. We watched the craft and its activities for a full forty-five minutes, until the shining ship rose into the sky, and disappeared at 7:30 PM.
About one hour later, several smaller objects appeared. Twenty minutes after that, the first craft we saw reappeared. We continued to watch these objects until cloud cover obscured our view at 10:50 PM. I prepared a full, written report of this event, and twenty-five other witnesses signed the document.
On, June the 27th, at 6 PM, the larger object appeared again, with it's occupants, accompanied by two of the smaller objects. On the larger one, two of the figures seemed to be doing something near the center of the deck. They were occasionally bending over and raising their arms as though adjusting, or "setting up" something. One figure seemed to be standing, looking down at us.
I waived at the figure, and to our surprise, the figure waved back! Just then, Ananias waved both arms over his head and the two outside figures did the same. Ananias and I continued waiving our arms as all four creatures did the same. We continued to wave occassionally, and those waves were returned. Eric Kodawara, another witness present on the night of the 27th, waved a torch and there were acknowledgments from the craft.
I went inside to eat, but when I came back out, the craft was still there, farther away. After Church Services, at 7:45 PM, I again came back outside to look for the craft, but clouds had now appeared with no sign of the object.
On June the 28th, the shining craft would appear once more. There were eight of them at 6:45 PM. At 11:20 PM, having gone back inside, I heard a loud bang on the roof of the Mission. I went outside to see what had happened and I spied four UFOs in a circle around the building. These four craft were extremely high in the sky. The roof was checked for damage the next morning, but none was found.
As time has passed, I have been criticized for leaving such an extraordinary sight to go inside to eat dinner, but my response has always been that I didn't consider the the craft as extraterrestrial, at that time. I simply believed that it was an American, or Australian craft, and that if it did land, ordinary human beings would emerge.
The Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society said my reports constituted one of the most remarkable testimonies of intense UFO activity ever reported to civilian investigators. They said that they were unique because for the first time credible witnesses had reported the presence of humanoids onboard a craft to their organization.
Copies of my report were distributed to all members of the House of Representatives of Australia's Federal Parliament. An accompanying letter urged the leaders of the government to request that the Minister for Air to issue an opinion on the subject, not being satisfied with their initial, negative reaction.
The Minister of Defense requested an investigation into the matter and the RAAF finally interviewed me, six months after the sightings, in December. During the interview, two officers talked all about stars and planets and then left the room. They never came back and that was the extent of their inquiry. A later statement by RAAF Squadron leader, F.A. Lang read that I had seen the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars!
A well-respected researcher with the Center for UFO Studies in Illniois, Allen Hendry, concluded the following: "Though the smaller UFOs seen could be attributable to bright stars and planets, the primary object could not. Its size and absence of movement over three hours ruled out an astronomical explanation.
Fourteen years after the fantastic events at Papua, Dr. J Allen Hynek visited Papua New Guinea, Australia, and re-interviewed six of the initial witnesses. They all supported my initial reports, and still believed what they saw to be a real craft of unknown origin. Reverend William Booth Gill, Australian Anglican Church
