665 // Frederick Valentich - UFO Mystery?

Missing

Crawlspace Media

Society & Culture, True Crime, News

3.7 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this new episode, Crawlspace Media's Tim Pilleri and Lance Reenstierna discuss the mysterious vanishing of Frederick Valentich over the skies of Australia on October 21st, 1978. In 1978, 20-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich vanished over Australia’s Bass Strait after radioing that a strange, metallic craft with a green light was hovering above him and was "not an aircraft." His final transmission concluded with 17 seconds of an unidentified metallic scraping sound, after which he and his plane disappeared completely. Despite massive search efforts, no wreckage, oil slicks, or debris were ever found, leaving the case as one of history's most haunting and debated aviation mysteries. The information discussed is based on official Australian government records, contemporary news reports, and investigative analyses. Check out Quince: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://quince.com/MISSING⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Check out Mint Mobile: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mintmobile.com/missing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sources: Australian Broadcast Company’s podcast episode: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-history-listen/valentich-mystery/10980258. National Archives of Australia (Official File V116/783/1047): https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=10491375. The Black Vault (Consolidated Declassified Documents): https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/the-frederick-valentich-disappearance-october-21-1978/. Skeptical Inquirer (Detailed Scientific Analysis by McGaha & Nickell): https://skepticalinquirer.org/2013/11/the-valentich-disappearance-another-ufo-myth/. Aviation Safety Network Record: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/10007. National Archives of Australia (UFO Policy & Reports): https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/defence-and-war/unidentified-flying-objects-ufos. RAAF Unidentified Aerial Sightings (UAS) Reports: National Archives of Australia (Series A9755): https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/flying-saucers-fact-or-fiction. Internet Archive (OCR/Text Version): https://archive.org/stream/AustralianUFOFiles/B1497_V116-783-1047_10491375_djvu.txt.Unsolved Mysteries: https://unsolved.com/gallery/ufo-disappearance/. Main podcast theme by Kevin Macleod. Check out his work at⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://incompetech.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Additional music by David Williams. See his work at⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠http://williamsflutes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Missing: IG: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/MissingCSM/⁠⁠⁠⁠. Youtube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/missingcsm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. FB:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/MissingCSM⁠⁠⁠⁠. X:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/MissingCSM⁠⁠⁠⁠. Spotify:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/0yRXkJrZC85otfT7oXMcri⁠⁠⁠⁠. Apple:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/missing/id1006974447⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Crawlspace: IG:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/Crawlspacepodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. TT:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@crawlspacepodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. FB:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/Crawlspacepodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. X:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/crawlspacepod.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Spotify:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/7iSnqnCf27NODdz0pJ1GvJ⁠⁠⁠⁠. Youtube:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/crawlspace⁠⁠⁠⁠. Apple:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crawlspace-true-crime-mysteries/id1187326340⁠⁠⁠⁠. Check out our entire network at⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://crawlspace-media.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's before me right now, Melbourne.
0:02.0	How large would the object be?
0:05.0	Seems like it's stationary.
0:07.0	What it's doing right now is orbiting.
0:09.0	The thing is just orbiting on top of me.
0:11.0	It's also got a green light and a sort of metallic, like...
0:15.0	It's shiny on the outside.
0:17.0	... I....you know....you know....and...
0:21.6	...you...
0:22.6	...and... In today's new episode of missing, we dive into the disappearance of Frederick Valentiche over the skies of Australia on October 21st,
0:59.4	1978. And this information that we're about to discuss is based on official Australian
1:06.3	government records, contemporary news reports, and investigative analyses.
1:12.9	And we just want to give a special shout out to our listener, Lianna, who commented on our
1:19.0	ghost blimp episode on Spotify and kind of pointed us in the right direction to this story.
1:25.2	So thank you so much for your comment.
1:27.6	And Tim, we have that comment here.
1:29.6	Yep, Liana says, interesting episode.
1:31.6	You guys may want to check out the disappearance of Frederick Valentiche in Australia in 1978,
1:39.9	who vanished while flying a small aircraft.
1:43.2	His last words were, it's not an aircraft. So that
1:48.7	certainly piqued our interest and we looked into it and this is absolutely a case that we wanted
1:53.3	to discuss. So please let us know what you think on YouTube or Spotify. And please follow us on
	...

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