A Close Encounter. I'm Jason Horton.

I'm Rebecca Leeb.

And this is Ghost Town.

On October 21, 1978, a 20-year-old pilot vanished under bizarre and unexplained circumstances

that entangled his longtime obsession with flight with his longtime obsession with UFOs.

With an ominous radio correspondence, experts have been pouring over for nearly 50

years. On this episode, we'll be discussing a Twilight Zone-like disappearance, one with many outlandish

explanations, ins and outs, and nuanced clues. Today on Ghost Town, the mysterious disappearance

of Friedrich Valentich.

Born June, Friedrich Valentich was a young Australian man obsessed with flight.

He had about 150 total hours flying time, a membership in the Air Training Corps, and a class

four instrument rating. But Valentich still had a bit to learn. He had been rejected twice from

enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force. But because of inadequate educational qualifications, he was rejected. In 1978, the 20-year-old was studying part-time to become a commercial pilot, but had a poor achievement record, having twice failed all five commercial license examination subjects, and in the fall of

1978, he failed three more commercial licensed subjects. He had also been involved in multiple

flying incidents, including straying into a controlled zone in Sydney, and twice deliberately

flying into a cloud. Valentitch planned on piloting a Cessna 182L on October 21, 1978, bound for King Island.

While the motivation for his flight is ultimately unknown, he had two different stories about why he was heading to the island off Tasmania.

He told flight officials that he was going to the island to pick up some friends, and he told everybody else that he was going to pick up crayfish.

Both proved to be untrue, but I am getting ahead of myself.

In addition, Valentitch had also failed to inform King Island Airport of his intention to land his plane there, going against standard procedure.

So, on the evening of October 21, 1978, given all of his background and these conditions,

Friedrich Valentitch set out for King Island in a Cessna 182L, registered under the letters VHDSH.

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