Within Country Town UFO Record
Why Did Police Call Some Witnesses Reliable?
Country police notes show how sobriety, local standing and personal knowledge shaped which WA UFO reports were treated seriously.
On this page
- What reliability labels meant in country police reports
- Why credibility did not prove an extraordinary object
- How these notes changed the historical value of WA sightings
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Introduction
One of the most revealing features of Western Australia’s historic police UFO files is not the descriptions of strange lights or unusual objects. It is the way country police officers described the people who reported them. Throughout files from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, officers often added brief assessments such as “reliable”, “respectable”, or “teetotaller” when forwarding reports. These comments did not confirm that an extraordinary object had been seen. Instead, they recorded the officer’s judgement that the witness was sincere, sober and generally trusted within the local community. [State Library of Western Australia]slwa.wa.gov.auState Library of Western AustraliaThe truth is not out thereThe file includes reports of UFO sightings from government officials and memb…
For historians of Western Australia’s UFO record, these reliability labels are valuable because they show how country police evaluated witness credibility before deciding whether a report deserved official attention. They help explain why some sightings from places such as Kojonup, Dalwallinu, Bridgetown, Onslow and Kununurra were preserved in police archives, even when no firm explanation was ever reached. [ABC News]abc.net.auABC News'UFO file' sheds light on strange encounters in Western…27 Jul 2020 — The UFO file holds dozens of police reports linked to si…
What reliability labels meant in country police reports
The surviving WA Police UFO file contains reports from both members of the public and government officials dating back to 1951. According to descriptions released by the State Records Office and the State Library of Western Australia, police officers frequently attached character assessments to witness statements. Witnesses were sometimes described as “reliable” and “teetotaller”, while others were noted as previously sceptical about UFOs or visibly frightened by what they claimed to have seen. [State Library of Western Australia]slwa.wa.gov.auState Library of Western AustraliaThe truth is not out thereThe file includes reports of UFO sightings from government officials and memb…
In the context of rural Western Australia, these labels carried specific meanings.
- Reliable generally suggested that the officer regarded the witness as truthful and dependable.
- Teetotaller indicated that the witness did not drink alcohol, reducing concerns that intoxication might have affected perception or judgement.
- References to occupation, community standing or previous scepticism helped establish that the report came from someone considered sensible rather than attention-seeking. [State Library of Western Australia]slwa.wa.gov.auState Library of Western AustraliaThe truth is not out thereThe file includes reports of UFO sightings from government officials and memb…
This approach reflected ordinary police practice rather than a specialised UFO investigation method. Country officers often knew local residents personally. In small towns, an officer could draw on years of experience with a farmer, farmhand, government inspector or business owner when assessing whether a statement seemed credible. The result was a form of social vetting that is difficult to reproduce today from the written record alone.
Importantly, these notes were usually assessments of the witness, not the phenomenon. A report could come from a highly trusted individual and still describe something that was misidentified or poorly understood.
Why credibility did not prove an extraordinary object
A common misunderstanding is that a police notation describing a witness as reliable somehow validates the sighting itself. The WA files do not support that conclusion.
A police officer could reasonably conclude that a witness was honest while remaining uncertain about what the witness had observed. Reliability labels addressed questions such as:
- Did the witness appear truthful?
- Was the witness sober?
- Was the account internally consistent?
- Was the witness known to invent stories?
They did not answer different questions such as:
- Was the object actually present?
- Was the observation accurate?
- Could distance, darkness or atmospheric conditions have distorted perception?
- Was there a conventional explanation that the witness did not recognise?
This distinction matters because many classic UFO reports involve genuine observations of something unusual combined with uncertainty about its identity. Historians and investigators often regard witness sincerity and object identification as separate issues. A reliable witness can honestly report an event that later proves to be a planet, aircraft, meteor, atmospheric effect or other conventional phenomenon.
The WA Police files themselves appear to reflect this cautious attitude. The correspondence generally preserved reports and witness assessments without claiming that extraordinary craft had been verified. In many cases, the reports remained simply “unidentified”. [Western Australian Government]wa.gov.austories the state archives collectionThose reporting UFO sightings would describe what they saw in…
Why country police cared about witness trust
The emphasis on witness character makes more sense when viewed against the realities of regional Western Australia during the mid-twentieth century.
Many reports came from isolated districts where there were few independent sources of evidence. There were no mobile-phone cameras, civilian flight-tracking apps or extensive radar records available to local officers. Often the primary evidence consisted of a witness statement and whatever local enquiries police could conduct.
Under those conditions, credibility became an important investigative tool. If a report came from a long-established farmer, a government employee or another respected member of the community, police were more likely to consider the account worth documenting and forwarding. If multiple independent witnesses with good local reputations described similar events, the report could appear more significant even if no explanation was found.
The files therefore reveal as much about rural social trust as they do about unidentified aerial phenomena. They show police trying to evaluate human testimony in environments where physical evidence was usually absent.
A useful example from the archived record
One reason the police assessments remain historically important is that they appear alongside reports from people who held responsible occupations. Among the archived cases are accounts from farm workers, land officials and other ordinary citizens whose statements were treated seriously enough to enter official correspondence. The records include, for example, a 1966 statement by a farmhand near Kununurra and an early 1951 report from a Lands Department inspector near Bridgetown that was forwarded through official channels and copied to the Royal Australian Air Force. [State Library of Western Australia]slwa.wa.gov.auState Library of Western AustraliaThe truth is not out thereThe file includes reports of UFO sightings from government officials and memb…
Neither case demonstrates that an extraordinary craft was present. What they demonstrate is that police did not dismiss every report as a joke or hoax. Instead, officers often recorded the witness’s reputation and circumstances before passing the information onward.
That distinction is one reason these files continue to attract attention. They preserve the judgement of contemporary officials who had direct contact with the witnesses, rather than relying solely on later newspaper retellings or UFO literature.
How these notes changed the historical value of WA sightings
The greatest importance of the reliability labels lies in how they affect the historical usefulness of the files today.
Without the police comments, many reports would be little more than anonymous stories. The additional notes provide clues about how the witnesses were viewed at the time. Researchers can see that officers often considered the reports sincere even when they could not explain them. [State Library of Western Australia]slwa.wa.gov.auState Library of Western AustraliaThe truth is not out thereThe file includes reports of UFO sightings from government officials and memb…
These assessments also help historians separate several different questions:
- Did a witness genuinely believe they saw something unusual?
- Did police regard that witness as trustworthy?
- Was the phenomenon ever identified?
The files sometimes support the first two questions while leaving the third unresolved.
As a result, reliability labels increase the evidential value of witness testimony without transforming it into proof of an extraordinary event. They make certain reports more historically interesting because they show that contemporary police officers considered the witnesses credible. They do not eliminate the possibility of misidentification, observational error or later conventional explanations.
Within the broader history of Western Australia’s country-town sighting clusters, that is perhaps the most important lesson. The police files preserve a record of trust. They show which witnesses local officers believed were honest and sober. What they do not do is settle the enduring question of what those witnesses actually saw. State Library of Western Australia+2Western Australian Government [slwa.wa.gov.au]slwa.wa.gov.auState Library of Western AustraliaThe truth is not out thereThe file includes reports of UFO sightings from government officials and memb…
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Endnotes
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Source: slwa.wa.gov.au
Link: https://slwa.wa.gov.au/stories/slwa-abc-radio/truth-not-out-thereSource snippet
State Library of Western AustraliaThe truth is not out thereThe file includes reports of UFO sightings from government officials and memb...
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Source: wa.gov.au
Title: stories the state archives collection
Link: https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/state-records-office-of-western-australia/stories-the-state-archives-collectionSource snippet
Those reporting UFO sightings would describe what they saw in...
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Source: abc.net.au
Link: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/perth-focus/ufo/12499372Source snippet
ABC News'UFO file' sheds light on strange encounters in Western...27 Jul 2020 — The UFO file holds dozens of police reports linked to si...
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Source: media.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Link: https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/ufo-files-from-the-uk-government/ -
Source: abc.net.au
Title: Files released on UFO sightings
Link: https://www.abc.net.au/pm/archive/articles/2008/05/14/s2245029.htmSource snippet
PM Archive14 May 2008 — They include the story of a 78-year-old man who said he'd been taken on board a spaceship but was told he was too...
Published: May 2008
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Source: naa.gov.au
Link: https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research/fact-sheets/alien-registration-records-held-perthSource snippet
Alien registration records held in PerthThe National Archives in Perth holds records relating to both periods of compulsory alien registr...
Additional References
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Source: reddit.com
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1kn7prl/possible_uapufo_over_perth_western_australia/Source snippet
Possible UAP/UFO over Perth, Western Australia: r/UFOsObject was moving strangely while flashing green, near the end lights turn off the...
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Source: reddit.com
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1nozn01/strange_lights_in_the_sky_over_wa_add_to/Source snippet
Strange lights in the sky over WA add to deepening mysteryStrange lights have been sighted across WA's Midwest, from the coast to hundred...
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Source: documents.theblackvault.com
Link: https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/australia/A13693_3092-2-000_30030606.pdfSource snippet
theblackvault.com000two documents attached are intended to focus on aspecto of the UFO problem that have tended to remain hidden. The rep...
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Source: thewest.com.au
Link: https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/was-ufo-history-revealed-state-records-show-the-skies-over-wa-have-seen-many-unidentified-flying-objects-c-8450517Source snippet
The West AustralianState records show the skies over WA have seen many UFOs5 Nov 2022 — Malcolm Quekett trawls through the Western Austra...
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Source: instagram.com
Link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBs7Gd6yood/?hl=enSource snippet
In the lead up to Halloween, we're diving into Perth's history of alien encounters. Many of the reports come from country towns across WA...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: malcolm quekett trawls through the western australian state records to reveal we
Link: https://www.facebook.com/thewestaustralian/posts/malcolm-quekett-trawls-through-the-western-australian-state-records-to-reveal-we/454895320083010/Source snippet
Malcolm Quekett trawls through the Western Australian...4 Nov 2022 — Malcolm Quekett trawls through the Western Australian State records...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/australias-forgotten-uap-record-now-part-disclosure-dr-andrew-btobcSource snippet
UFO sightings are retained in the national archival collection...Read more...
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Source: instagram.com
Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBs7Gd6yood/?hl=frSource snippet
Did you know the WA Police have a UFO file, full of reports...29 Oct 2024 — Did you know the WA Police have a UFO file, full of reports...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: List of reported UFO sightings
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reported_UFO_sightingsSource snippet
List of reported UFO sightingsThis is a list of notable reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) Washington and other...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/perthisok/videos/perth-ufo-sightings/915746570413733/Source snippet
ull of reports dating back to the early 50s?...
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