TUFOIC Newsletter - No 089 - February 2001

Magazine Overview

Title: TUFOIC
Issue: 89
Date: February 2001
Publisher: TASMANIAN UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT INVESTIGATION CENTRE
Country: AUSTRALIA

This issue of the TUFOIC newsletter provides a review of the year 2000, detailing UFO sightings and related activities in Tasmania. It also includes historical reports and lists available publications from the centre.

2000 In Review

The year 2000 marked a period of change for the Centre, with a new executive, a return to the Glenorchy Library for member's meetings, and the Ufologist serving as the medium for publishing Tasmanian sightings. However, membership saw a decline, which seemed to coincide with a fall in UFO sightings. The rise of the internet is suggested as a factor, potentially reducing the perceived need for a UFO group to access information. The loss of the Northern Tasmania representative is noted as a significant drawback, given the importance of on-the-spot witness interviews and site inspections.

Sightings in 2000 were described as disappointing, with incoming calls of nearly 100, but only about 9 cases remaining unexplained. This contrasts with a quieter year in other locations globally.

Despite the overall quietness, there were interesting moments. Warm January nights in Hobart featured streaks of light, later identified as reflections from squid boats in Storm Bay. The 'balloon devices' appeared during early winter evenings. A number of orange lights reported and videoed over Launceston generated press and TV coverage, with similar cases occurring over Devonport and Hobart.

A significant event was a large meteor burning up over North West Tasmania on June 10th, which reportedly 'lit up the Police switchboard'. On July 10th, Hobart callers reported beams of lights in the clouds, later identified as a 'skytracker' searchlight from a private school's new performance centre.

Troublesome Lights

The newsletter highlights 'troublesome lights' reports, which were often as interesting as the unexplained cases. The Centre made efforts to track down the sources of these lights, which often appeared to be astronomical objects or aircraft. Reports included daytime sightings of pinpoints of light with trails, series of light masses over suburban areas, and apparent meteors changing direction. The article questions why some reports only generated a single caller, despite occurring over busy suburbs. It cautions against labeling all such reports as UFOs, advocating for the use of Occam's Razor to find the most probable explanation.

Tasmanian Statistics 2000

The newsletter provides a table of UFO reports for Tasmania in 2000:

• Unidentified: 9
• Astronomical: 32
• Aircraft: 9
• Satellites: 14
• Meteorological: 3
• Balloons: 12
• Other: 14
• Insufficient Info: 3
• Total Reports: 96

Specific Sightings in 2000

Several specific sightings are detailed:

• January 13th, 11:15 am (Nierinna): A witness saw an object the size of a small plane with two grey-white elliptic shapes moving horizontally, connected by a thin black line.
• January 15th, 11:45 pm (West Kentish): A line of 5 green light panels, approximately 30m long, was observed high on a mountainside.
• February 18th, 12:30 am (Park Beach): A large orange light was seen moving rapidly across the sky, reversing direction multiple times.
• May 15th, 9 pm (Forth): A motorist observed a falling star that repeatedly appeared to return across the sky, changing direction.
• May 25th, 1:45 pm (Lutana): Two bright lights were seen, with one zig-zagging to join the other before they moved together, increasing speed and elevation.
• June 24th, 2:05 am (Granton): A rectangular object with square windows was seen hovering briefly before ascending rapidly into the clouds.
• September 12th, 8:00 pm (George Town): A bright star-like object moved horizontally, stopped, and appeared to 'dance' before fading.
• October 27th, 11:43 pm (Cambridge): A silver-white light was observed descending, levelling out, and vanishing.
• October 30th, Brighton: A bright light, followed by two others, was seen climbing, pausing, descending, and turning in a triangle flight path.

New Publication

Details were provided of the 'Mysterious Melodale affair', a series of paranormal events occurring between 1982 and 1997, involving lights, dark shapes, poltergeist events, and animal reactions. The completed investigation has been added to the list of publications.

Stories From Long Ago

This section revisits older newspaper reports:

• Winter 1909: Talk of mystery lights and a ghost from Upper Warwick St, West Hobart.
• August 21st, 1909 (Colebrook): A torpedo-shaped object with lights was seen low over hills, gyrating and disappearing.
• October 5th, 1914 (West Coast): A peculiar light was seen travelling from Macquarie Heads towards Mt Dundas, with two distinct lights visible.
• September 23rd, 1920: An old man reported seeing a large object coming down with crashing sounds, followed by a second crash after its disappearance.
• January 10th, 1928 (Flinders Island): Three men heard an aircraft engine hum followed by a crash, with a similar noise reported by another witness.
• January 11th, 1928 (Hobart): Mystery aircraft were reported, possibly related to a lost aeroplane from Sydney to New Zealand.
• October 22nd, 1909 (Sunday): Mr J Tarbart reported seeing a similar phenomenon to the previous night's sighting.
• September 23rd, 1920 (Gladstone): An old man reported seeing a large object coming down with crashing sounds.
• September 23rd, 1920 (Settlement Point): An unusual light with changing colours was seen, possibly a parachute light from a missing vessel.
• Various dates (St Helens, Goulds Country, Lottah): More lights, thought to be rockets, were seen heading towards the sea.

TUFOIC Publications

The newsletter lists several available publications:

• Tasmanian U.F.O. Sightings Catalogue TASCAT 2000 ($3.00)
• Tasmanian UFO Landings Catalogue - Third Edition (1995) ($3.00)
• Cressy Document ($3.00)
• Maatsuyker Island Document ($3.00)
• North-East Tasmania - 1974 Document ($3.00)
• UFO Tasmania Magazines: 1987 to 1997 (11 issue set) ($12.00)
• TUFOIC Annual Report Magazine (Single editions $1.00)

All prices include return postage (surface mail). Payment can be made via Money Order or Bank Cheque.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are the review of UFO activity in Tasmania during the year 2000, the challenges faced by UFO investigation groups in the digital age, and the importance of meticulous investigation and rational explanation. The editorial stance, as suggested by the quote from Occam's Razor, favors seeking the most probable, conventional explanation for phenomena before resorting to extraordinary ones. The inclusion of historical cases suggests a long-standing interest in unexplained aerial phenomena in Tasmania and a commitment to documenting them.