| ID | #1636051449 |
| Added | Thu, 04/11/2021 |
| Author | July N. |
| Sources | |
| Phenomena | |
| Status | Research
|
Initial data
At 7 a.m. on February 15, 1963, Charles Brew witnessed a classic close encounter. With his 20-year-old son Trevor, Brew worked in the milking shed at their Willow Grove farm near Mo, Victoria. It was light, but there were rain clouds overhead. Charles Brew was standing in an open space, and he could clearly see the eastern sky. It was from this direction that he saw a strange object appear and very slowly descended to the dairy barn. The approach of the object coincided with a violent reaction of cattle and ponies. Two farm dogs escaped.
The UFO descended to a height of about 30 meters, hovering over a tree with fibrous bark. It was about eight meters in diameter and three meters high. The upper part was a transparent dome made of glass-like material, from which a two-meter mast or antenna protruded. The "antenna" turned out to be as thick as a broom and resembled bright chrome. The upper part of the disk itself was the gray color of a battleship and had a metallic sheen. The lower or lower part glowed pale blue and had "oval projections on the outer edge." This section was slowly rotating at a speed of about one revolution per second. This rotational movement apparently led to the fact that the protrusions began to produce a whistling noise, similar to the noise of a turbine, which was clearly audible not only to Brew, but also to his son Trevor, who was inside the shed next to the diesel milking units.
Charles Brew felt that his eyes were glued to the object, "as if the rays of a magnetic current" were between him and it. He also experienced a peculiar headache that occurred when the object was approaching. After a few seconds of hovering, the object began to gain altitude, continuing its course to the west and again passing into the cloud deck. Trevor did not see a UFO, but confirmed an unusual sound similar to the sound of a didgeridoo or the roar of a bull - aboriginal artifacts that can emit a pulsating wind noise.
Flight Lieutenant N. Hudson and squadron commander of the British Air Force A.F. Javs interviewed Bru. Despite its impressive reliability, the weather during the observation - heavy continuous rain with very low clouds and poor visibility and a fresh wind from the east - seems to have forced them to focus on weather-related explanations. Their report describes the basis of their somewhat unusual "explanation" of the incident:
On March 6, Dr. Berson and Mr. Clark, Commonwealth meteorologists, were interviewed to find out if clouds were causing this type of phenomenon. They agreed that such an effect can be given by a tornado state. The direction of rotation in Bruce's message about the object corresponded to known facts for the Southern Hemisphere. Earlier it was reported about the blue color, probably due to an electric discharge and the smell of ozone. The only difference in Bruce's report was that the object was moving from east to west, because all their previous reports of this kind were from west to east. Mr. Brew stated that the wind was fresh from the east. However, the meteorological report says that the wind was westerly, with a speed of eight knots.
The report notes that the meteorological report was received by an observer from Yallorn, located at a distance of about 20 kilometers, so local weather fluctuations would not be unusual. Despite the lack of rigor in determining how relevant their hypothesis is, the RAAF officers' report concludes:
"There is no doubt that Brew really witnessed something, and it is most likely that it was a natural phenomenon. It was probably a tornado. There was no damage recorded in his path, so it could be assumed that he was weak by nature."
The Aviation Administration responded to the request of the UFO civil group about the incident with the following statement: "Our investigation and inquiries show that there are scientific records of certain meteorological manifestations, like tornadoes, which are in many ways similar to everything that people have seen. Mr. Brew. However, the available information is such that, although we admit such a possibility, we cannot come to any firm conclusion about the nature of the object or manifestation reported." Official reports of observations eliminated all such doubts. By then, the "possible cause" was listed as a "tornado-like meteorological phenomenon."
Dr. Berson and his colleague visited the Brew at Willow Grove. According to Bru, Dr. Berson was interested in the headache he had, and he pointed out that Berson said it was due to his theory about the possible electromagnetic nature of the incident. What the Air Department called "a meteorological phenomenon resembling a tornado" prompted the following comment by Charles Brew. He said:
"I would like it to happen again. It was beautiful. I could feel life pulsing from it."
Dr. James MacDonald visited Charles Brue during his trip to Australia in 1967, interviewing him at the scene of the 1963 accident. MacDonald concluded: "Like many other UFO witnesses, this is extremely difficult to explain in modern scientific or technological terms."
Despite the unusual nature of the Willow Grove incident and the high level of official interest in it, this observation was indicated in the subsequently published "Summary of Unidentified Aerial Observations Transmitted to the Department of Aviation of Canberra, Georgia, for 1960" as a possible cause of a "meteorological manifestation similar to a tornado."
Original news
Date: February 15, 1963
Location: Near Moe, Australia
Charles Brew, with his 20 year-old son Trevor, was at work in the milking shed on their farm, 'Willow Grove', when he saw a strange object appear and descend very slowly towards the milk shed, to a height of about 30 metres. The object was metallic grey, measured 8 meters in diameter, and had a transparent dome with a 2-meter mast or aerial. After hovering for a few seconds the object began climbed away into the clouds.
The Willow Grove UFO based on witness sketch in RAAF files. (credit: Chalker)
Source: Bill Chalker (1996)
THE WILLOW GROVE ENCOUNTER
At 7 a.m., on 15 February, 1963, Charles Brew bore witness to a classic close encounter. With his 20 year-old son, Trevor, Brew was at work in the milking shed on their farm, 'Willow Grove', near Moe, Victoria. It was light, but rain clouds lay overhead. Charles Brew was standing in an open area, with a full view ot the eastern sky. It was from that direction that he saw a strange object appear and descend very slowly towards the milk shed. The object's approach was coincident with the cattle and a pony reacting violently. The two farm dogs fled. A local newspaper even reported that the cows turned somersaults, a suggestion the Brews later denied.
The UFO descended to a height of about 30 metres, hovering over a stringy-bark tree. It was about eight metres in diameter and three metres high. The top section appeared to be a transparent dome of a glass-like material, from which protruded a two-metre high mast or aerial. The 'aerial' appeared to be as thick as a broom and resembled bright chrome. The top portion of the disc itself was battleship grey in colour and appeared to be of metallic lustre. The base or underside section glowed with a pale blue colour and had 'scoop-like protuberances around the outside edge'. This section rotated slowly at about one revolution per second. This spinning motion apparently caused the protuberances to generate a swishing noise, somewhat like a turbine noise, that was clearly audible not only to Brew but also to his son Trevor, who was located inside the shed near the operating diesel-powered milking machine units.
Charles Brew felt his eyes were drawn towards the object 'as though beams of magnetic current' were between it and him. He also experienced a peculiar headache which came on with the approach of the object. After hovering for a few seconds, the object began to climb, continuing on its westward course and passing up into the cloud deck again. Trevor did not see the UFO, but confirmed the unusual sound, like a didgeridoo or bull-roarer — aboriginal artefacts which can produce pulsating, wind-rushing noise.
Flight Lieutenant N. Hudson and Squadron Leader A.F. Javes of the RAAF interviewed Brew. While impressed with his credibility, the weather at the time of the sighting — heavy continuous rain with very low cloud and poor visibility, and with a fresh wind in an easterly direction — seems to have led them to focus on weather-related explanations. Their report describes the basis of their somewhat extraordinary 'explanation' for the incident: 'On 6 March Dr Berson and Mr Clark, Commonwealth meteorologists, were interviewed to see if clouds give this type of phenomenon. They agreed that a tornado condition could give this effect. The direction of rotation of Brew's report of the object was consistent with known facts for the Southern Hemisphere. The blue-ish colouring has been reported previously and is probably due to electric discharge and there would be a smell of ozone. The only difference in Brew's report was that the object moved from east to west, because all their previous reports of this nature have been from west to east. Mr Brew stated that the wind was fresh from an easterly direction. However, a meteorological report states that wind was westerly at eight knots.'
The report notes that the meteorological report was from a Yallourn observer, about 20 kilometres away, therefore local variations in the weather would not have been unusual. Despite this lack of rigour in determining how relevant their hypothesis was, the RAAF officers' report concluded, 'There is little doubt that Brew did witness something, and it is most likely that it was a natural phenomenon. The phenomenon was probably a tornado. There was no reported damage along its path, therefore one could assume that it was weak in nature.'
The Department of Air responded to a civilian UFO group enquiry about the incident with the following statement, 'Our investigation and enquiries reveal that there are scientific records of certain tornado-like meteorological manifestations which have a similar appearance in many ways to whatever was seen by Mr Brew. The information available is such, however, that while we accept this is a possibility, we are unable to come to any firm conclusion as to the nature of the object or manifestation reported.' The official sighting summaries removed any such doubt. By then, the 'possible cause' was listed as a 'tornado-like meteorological manifestation.'
Dr. Berson and an associate visited Brew at the Willow Grove property. According to Brew, Dr. Berson was interested in the headache that he had, and indicated that Berson had said that it tied in with his theory of a possible electromagnetic nature of the incident. What the Department of Air referred to as a 'tornado-like meteorological manifestation' elicited the following comment from Charles Brew. He said, 'I wished it would come again. It was beautiful. I could feel the life pulsating from it.'
Dr. James McDonald visited Charles Brew during his 1967 Australian trip, interviewing him at the site of the 1963 incident. McDonald concluded, "like that of many other UFO witnesses, it is extremely difficult to explain in present-day scientific or technological terms."
Despite the extraordinary nature of the Willow Grove incident and the high level of official interest in it, the sighting was listed in a subsequently released "Summary of Unidentified Aerial Sightings reported to Department of Air, Canberra, ACT, from 1960" as having a possible cause of "tornado-like meteorological manifestation."
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