Category: Australia

My UFO Sighting

Earlier this year when I was in Australia, I saw a UFO. Or perhaps three UFO’s. I didn’t write about it then because I had forgotten, so it’s time to remedy that.

It was late May or early June. I was walking along the Newcastle Harbour foreshore toward Nobby’s. It was bright and sunny, and there were lots of people walking and cycling. I was taking some photos of the ferry, so I was approaching the dock from the west. All of a sudden, three silver objects noiselessly flew quickly over me.

Here are my impressions:

  • They were moving fairly quickly in a roughly eastern direction out to sea, and there was no noise at all.
  • They were silver or at the least light gray or white. They seemed reflective, and while they seemed elongated it was difficult to determine their exact shape.
  • They seemed to twist and turn around their individual axes, and the trio of objects seemed to rotate together or at least turn in formation.
  • The more I watched them the more I wasn’t sure I was looking at multiple objects or one (possibly connected by parts I could not see).
  • I couldn’t determine their height. I couldn’t tell if they were small and closer to the ground or large and higher up.

The above photo shows their path as best I recall. I watched them for maybe 30 seconds, and even tried to take some photos (in which they weren’t visible). Due to the bright sun and the reflective nature of the objects they became difficult to see as they moved away from me, and I lost site of them probably around the time they left the harbour.

I wasn’t the only one who saw them, since I observed two men ahead of me pointing towards them and watching as well.

At the time, I had no idea what I was watching. In my mind I assumed they were simply something that I could not identify, but not for one instant did I consider they were something no-one could identify. For me therefore, they were literally UFOs, but I never considered that they were UFOs for everyone. I was certainly intrigued by them, and wished I had taken some video, but to be honest they left my mind quickly. I didn’t even write about them on a postcard, which seems unusual.

Before writing this post I did a bit of research, and confirmed that there was no scheduled fighter jet activity from Williamstown on or about Newcastle in late May or early June. Even though nothing about the objects suggested ‘jets’ to me, I wanted to consider the most obvious explanation. Thinking about the objects now, my guess would be drones, although I’m not aware of drones that can fly so fast and with such range, and as I said I couldn’t estimate the size when I saw them. I suppose other exotic explanations may exist: I did see a gyrocopter flying over Newcastle baths only a few days prior!

I was reminded of this incident after speaking with a colleague about UFOs. I was struck by the fact that this had happened to me, and I definitely saw physical things (or a thing) that I could not – and still can’t – identify flying over a major city, and it didn’t seem like a big deal and was forgotten by the end of the day. This gives me a new perspective on UFO sightings: how often do others see curious objects in the sky, wonder for a minute or so and then just go on with their lives?

To the Novocastrians reading: have you ever seen anything like this? If so, what was it?

What Came Back

I’m back home. My suitcases were stuffed like never before, and actually slightly overweight. I get 50 lbs/case, and combined the two were about 104 lbs, although the check in lady let it pass. Many many things came back with me, and here I’ll showcase a few.

I discovered LOZ bricks in Australia, and have been amazed by the quality of these LEGO competitors. I invested heavily, and eight sets came back with me. If you see these in shops, pick one up!

Sydney now has (at least) 5 Gacha machine stations, and as you can see I partook. My usual modus operandi for these is to keep them closed until I return home, lest I keep sinking money to get the particular item I wanted. We’ll open these over the next few weeks.

A couple of figures came back with me, both won from the same machine (at a cost I won’t discuss…) at the ufo catcher shop in Sydney. I’ve already opened them and both are high quality and look good on my shelves.

Yes I bought two Star Wars figures! I was surprised by the high cost and easy availability of these in Australia. While they’re considerably cheaper here, they’re almost never found in shops and the two above I’d never seen. The main reason I bought them though is that the elimination of plastic from packaging ensures the future of these figures is clouded, and the above may well be the last I ever buy.

I love the manga series Quintessential Quintuplets so when I saw an entire box of ‘wafer + card’ sold at the anime shop on Pitt Street I jumped at the chance. This was one of my most exciting purchases in Oz!

If you’re glancing over the photos so far and thinking ‘But wasn’t he in Australia?‘ then I’m not surprised. Much of my cases were full of Japanese stuff or old magazines (thanks AW!). But rest assured I have left the best for last, and the majority of the weight in my cases was this:

Behold chocolate! This isn’t even all of it, but can you believe all that candy?!? There’s even more:

Astonishing I brought back about 40 pounds of candy! Some of it will be gifted, but the remainder is for me and Kristin to enjoy over the next few months.

Other stuff not shown here: money (collectible coins mostly), coffee (for kls), kitchen goods (plates, tea towels), books, shirts and probably other stuff I’m forgetting due to jetlag. 🙂

Last Day

I slept in today, and when I finally got up on this, the last day of my trip, I started the tedious chore of packing. I’ve bought or acquired too much, and as always I’m concerned I’ve exceeded my weight limit. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow.

Mid morning I headed to The Powerhouse Museum to see the microcar exhibit. Seventeen tiny vehicles were on display, all working and most original. Many were from the 1950’s and 1960’s and I learned several were born from novel ideas on how to repurpose WW2 aircraft factories such as the Messerschmitt above, which is built around a modified plane body.

The above shot shows the legendary Sinclair C5 from the 1980s alongside a similar vehicle from only a few years ago. Tiny electric cars seem like a great idea: why aren’t we there yet?

I also had a look at the electronic keyboard and synthesizer exhibit, although I found it lacking. The pieces were simply displayed (with no context or even information), and it would have been great to be able to hear example sounds from them. Don’t just tell us the Roland shown above was responsible for the iconic sound of Eurythmics Sweet Dreams, let us hear it!

Afterwards I did some more exploration (I found a fourth Gacha station) and lots of last-minute shopping before it was time for final packing and locking the bags.

I couldn’t decide what to eat for dinner, and ultimately went with my own hybrid I’ll call McPorto, which ended up being just right.

My flight is early which means I rise before the sun. It’s been a fast and exciting and busy and memorable month, and after 2.5 years it was wonderful to be able to do this again:

610,000 steps in 30 days means a daily step average of over 20,000. I’ve sent an insane amount of postcards (which take time) and done 30 daily blogs which I’ve never done before. All this left very little time to relax and I fear I’ve pushed myself perhaps a little too far.

I’m going to need a vacation!