THE TRUTH IS FLYING OUT THERE... IN NARRE WARREN

16 June 1996 / July 6, 1996
Source: The Sunday Age, Melbourne, Australia
By John Elder

THE strangest thing in Narre Warren is how life goes on unchanged. No one seems alarmed that flying saucers have invaded the sky over this suburb that burps with beer and pizza. Like any other.

But for two weeks the story of mysterious sightings has smothered the front page of 'The Dandenong And District Examiner,' the local journal of dog shows, crime and real estate prices.

"UFO," said one headline. The story was illustrated with a photograph of a glowing orange light in the night sky.

"More Sightings -- UFOs light up the skies," the paper declared a week later.

Police have received reports of sightings, but don't have a clue.

A couple of wet blankets suggested alternatives to the lights belonging to alien spacecraft. One said they could be caused by magnetic activity. Another said Jupiter has been bright of late.

The mouthpiece of the ordinary man, 3AW, [Melbourne radio station] took calls from people who saw the lights travelling in formation at speeds that boggled their minds. Two members of the 'Sunday Age' staff live out that way. Yes, they've seen the lights. Neither had much to say.

No one seems to be asking why apparently sophisticated creatures from another galaxy have chosen the foothills of the Dandenongs as their cruising ground.

I ask a local fish and chip man. He shrugs. "I read about it in the paper. Do you want salt?" he says.

Diane Allen of the UFO Report and Sightings Support Line lives in the foothills. She says they're here, no doubt about it. Her friend and support-line worker Leonie Cook agrees. They've seen the lights.

"We've had 140 telephone calls this week. They've been seen in Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Berwick. Witnessed by 30 people at a time," says Diane.

"We have three people working the phone. We take turns, otherwise we'd be going crazy. We stay up as late as we can.

"It started with one light. There's up to six now. They're seen as large as basketballs, travelling in a straight line. They will stop for a while. That's quite interesting.

"I saw five. Three kept together. One turned left and went off to the Dandenongs. One went right towards Cranbourne. They follow the highways. Stopping traffic."

There have been hoaxes played in the east. The fakers send up hot air balloons made from garbage bags and little baskets with fire starters in them.

"There's always hoaxes whenever something unusual is happening," says Diane. "I have videotape from three different people. And I have photographs, too. These aren't balloons or planes. These are something else."

Diane and Leonie claim to have met alien beings and felt love from them. They belong to a group of several dozen people who have had similar experiences. Still, there is something in the sky over Narre Warren.

They show me their video footage. In the soundtracks three families are out on their porches or back yards saying how strange it is; on screen one or two bright dots move across the sky.

Diane says the photos are a big scoop for this paper. But they're in the hands of Doug Page; Creative Photographer. That's what's on his card. He usually does weddings.

His excitement seems more than human. 'Woman's Day' is talking about buying exclusive rights. "I'm not in it for the money, but ..." says Doug.

He shows them to me anyway. The film has been exposed for 15 seconds. Whatever it is has left a bright orange line on the film as it's passed by. An enlargement reveals a grainy, fuzzy disc. Diane and Leonie are amazed.

"Oh Doug," says Diane.

I call Paul Norman, investigator for the Victorian UFO Research Society. He is from Tennessee. Paul has his doubts about the orange lights.

"We've had so many hoaxes around the Dandenongs that we're treating these reports with caution," he says.

But it's been reported on the front page of the local paper.

"'The Examiner'?" he says.

Yes, sir, that's the one. He groans.

I tell him about the video footage. And the photographs. "Really? I'd be interested in seeing them," he says.

Then I mention Diane Allen. "I have nothing more to say," he says. "We're not associated with them. Not interested in seeing them."

Then he tells me about a sighting at Cohuna he's investigating, "While lights. When the lights dimmed they could see an orange ring around them. One of the witneses was a pilot. There was no sound at all," says Paul.

Diane says she was gently escorted from one of Paul's meetings. "We just want to share information," she says.

I call Jim Atwell of UFO Research South Australia Incorporated. To get an outsider's perspective.

"It's a lot more political than you realise," says Jim. "People will openly ridicule other people's ideas. Many people running UFO groups are egomaniacs who want to be the gods of UFOlogy without actually getting off their bums and doing some serious research."

Jim tells me there are certain people to avoid. He won't name them. "You will know in a short period of time if the person on the other end of the phone is insane.

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