UFO Encounters along the Nullarbor Plain – PAUL NORMAN
Paul Norman was born and educated in the United States. With the exception of six years in the U.S. Navy and a short period as a publisher’s representative, he has been employed in various positions, including superintendent in hydro-electric stations and engineer-in-charge of thermal-electric stations.
He became interested in UFOs in 1953, after observing a strange object approach and hover over a power station in Tennessee. His interest was intensified when Major Donald Keyhoe was cut off a coast to-coast TV network while attempting to tell the public about official UFO investigations-an incident that prompted him to join the fight to end the cover-up.
In 1963 Paul Norman emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where he continues his research with the Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS) as Vice-President and Investigations Officer. In 1979 he joined MUFON as State Director for Victoria. He is also a member of BUFORA.
He opted for early retirement in 1976 in order to devote his time to UFO research. Since then he has traveled the world in search of answers to the phenomenon, spending summers in both the northern and southern hemispheres. He has contributed several articles for various UFO publications and organizations throughout the world
January 21 , 1988, commenced as a routine day for me. After awakening, I switched on my bedside radio for the morning news broadcast. There was mention that some sort of a UFO incident had occurred on the Eyre Highway near the remote Mundrabilla roadhouse about midway across the Nullarbor Plain in Western Australia.
After shifting from one station to another the story began to emerge as a significant case worth a follow-up investigation. A Perth woman , Faye Knowles, and her three adult sons, Patrick, Sean, and Wayne, had claimed that an unidentified flying object had picked up their 1984 Ford Telstar and given it a shake before dropping it back to the ground. I dressed hurriedly and rushed to the news agency for copies of the Melbourne newspapers to see what was being published about the incident. What made the story more interesting was that policemen were taking the re port seriously because of physical evidence to support the claim-and there were other witnesses. The Nullarbor Plain is a dry limestone, almost feature less landscape with little rainfall occurring during the year.
The plain extends to 180 miles west and 150 miles east of the state border between South Australia and Western Australia. The width from the Great Australian Bight is about 150 miles. The name Nullarbor means no trees. Only bluebushes and saltbushes survive the harsh desert climate. Underground, there are many caves with only a few having been explored. The openings to the caves are usually very small and hard to find. Some were formerly in habited by Aborigines.
After reading the newspaper versions about the event, I finally got a telephone call through to Judith Magee, Pres ident of the Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS), in Melbourne. She had been tied up all morning answering calls concerning the fast-breaking story. Judy passed on the information and said John Auchettl, VUFORS investigator, was already in contact with Mr. Frank Pangallo, Chief of Staff at the Channel 7 TV Station in Adelaide, who was interested in contacting someone who knew something about UFO investigation.
Meanwhile, more details were coming to light concerning the incident. The family had stopped at Mundrabilla before the restaurant had opened for business. Three truck drivers were waiting to have their breakfast. One driver, Graham Henley, from Melbourne, was the first person to talk to the family about thirty minutes after they had left the scene where the highlight of the activity had taken place.
Mr. Henley said that all four were distressed and in a state of shock. Two dogs were cowering inside the car in a state of fright as well. The car was covered with a black sooty substance, which was described as a fine silicon type material . Later, reports came from the police station at Ceduna, in South Australia, where the Knowleses stopped to make the report. The Ceduna police confirmed the excessive amount of black dust and said it was un known material and that a forensic policeman had taken samples for analysis. Policemen at Ceduna confirmed that the occupants were visibly shaken as well. One officer said that calls had come in from other people claiming to have seen flying objects within the same week, including an other truck driver who reported that his vehicle was being paced about the time of the Knowleses’ encounter and near the same location.