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Disappearance of Frederick Valentich · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ready for a deep dive into a real head scratcher.
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  We're talking about the disappearance of Frederick Vilentiche vanished, Yeah,
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  vanished gone ooof exactly, a young pilot just gone over
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  Australia's Bay Strait nineteen seventy.
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  Speaker 2: Eight, a case that still has people talking, debating, speculating.
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  Speaker 1: And that's why we're here to try and untangle it all.
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  What we know is this a routine training flight takes
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  a turn for the strange, frantic radio transmissions about a
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  mysterious object in this guy. Then silence.
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  Speaker 2: It's like stepping into a Twilight Zone episode.
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  Speaker 1: Seriously. Okay, so we're diving deep, official reports, eyewitness accounts,
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  all those theories, the plausible, the wild, the downright extraterrestrial.
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  We've got it all. We even have a few pop
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  culture connections that'll make you wonder if somebody watch Close
• 0:46
  Encounters of the Third Kind a few too many times.
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  Speaker 2: Well for research purposes, of course, of course. But that's
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  what's so fascinating about this case, right. It makes you
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  question what we think we know about the world, about
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  the skies above us.
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  Speaker 1: It's a mystery that just grabs you, pulls you in
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  exactly So let's at the stage. October twenty first, nineteen
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  seventy eight. Frederic Valentich, twenty years old, around one hundred
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  and fifty hours of flight time under his belt.
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  Speaker 2: A young pilot still finding his wings, so to speak, takes.
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  Speaker 1: Off from Moraben Airport near Melbourne in a Cessner one
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  eight two L routine training flight.
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  Speaker 2: Destination King Island, a short hop across the bas Strait
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  should have been a piece of cake, right, a milk run.
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  But as we know, it wasn't. And this is where
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  those details they start to.
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  Speaker 1: Matter, because something about this routine flight just went very
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  very wrong.
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  Speaker 2: It did, and one detail that stands out right away
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  is Valentish qualification. He held a Class four instrument rating.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, break that down for us, what does that even mean?
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  Speaker 3: It means he was qualified to fly at night, sure,
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  but big but here only if he could maintain visual
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  contact with either the ground or the horizon.
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  Speaker 1: Uh so, he could just rely on his instruments alone
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  he needed as.
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  Speaker 2: Visual exactly, which, as we'll see, becomes a pretty important
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  detail later because just wait, it's a good one.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. So Valentine is in the air about thirty minutes
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  into his flight, he contacts Melbourne Air Traffic Control routine
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  check in at.
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  Speaker 2: First standard procedure.
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  Speaker 1: So far, so good. Right, this is where we get
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  into the actual transmission. So bear with me. I'm gonna
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  channel my inner air traffic controller here.
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  Speaker 2: Do you have the actual recording?
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  Speaker 1: I wish? Okay, So goes a little something like this
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  Valentine Radios in Melbourne. This is Victor Hotel, Delta Sierra Juliette.
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  Is there any known traffic below five thousand?
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  Speaker 2: So far so normal, right, okay.
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  Speaker 1: Air Traffic Control responds, Delta Sierra Juliette, no known traffic
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  at this time routine. But then Valancic gets back on
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  Melbourne Delta Sier Juliette. I seem to have something. It's
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  got a long shape, can't identify it. It's for bright
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  It seems to me like landing lights.
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  Speaker 2: And that's where things start to go off the rails.
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  Speaker 1: Right, Valantage starts describing this large air He can't identify it.
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  He's got these four bright lights, and he says it
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  zoomed past him, moving incredibly fast.
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  Speaker 2: Something out of a movie.
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  Speaker 1: Totally, and hold on, it gets weirder. He says, this
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  thing is now orbiting above him orbiting.
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  Speaker 2: That's a specific choice of words, right, And.
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  Speaker 1: That's when he starts reporting engine problems. He's saying it's
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  rough idling, This unidentified object is closing in on him again.
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  And then these chilling words come through the radio. It
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  isn't an aircraft. Yeah, and then silence, just like that. Gone.
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  Those are his last words. Transmission cuts out after some
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  metallic scraping sounds. Yeah, and that's it. Frederick Volatich, The
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  Cessna vanished.
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  Speaker 2: Without a trace, leaving behind more questions.
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  Speaker 1: Than answers, a mystery for the Ages.
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  Speaker 2: It really makes you think, what could make a plane
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  just disappear.
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  Speaker 1: And not just disappear, but disappear in a place where
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  it feels like we should be able to find something,
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  some sign.
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  Speaker 2: The Bass Strait isn't exactly the Bermuda Triangle. It's a
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  busy shipping route.
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  Speaker 1: You'd think there'd be something, some trace. And it's not
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  just the plane vanishing into thin air. It's Valentiche himself,
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  a young man just starting out in life. Gone. It's
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  enough to make you wonder if we're really alone in
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  this universe, you know, or if there are forces at
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  play that we just can't comprehend.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it.
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  Speaker 1: So we have that final eerie message from Valentic about
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  it not being an aircraft, and then nothing, just static.
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  Speaker 2: It's unsettling, to say the least, to.
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  Speaker 1: Put it mildly. Now, the Australian authorities they didn't just
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  sit on their hands. They launched a massive search and
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  rescue operation.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, We're talking planes, helicopters, ships, They even had
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  volunteers combing the shorelines.
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  Speaker 1: But the Base Straight, it's a big play, a lot
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  of water, and.
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  Speaker 2: It's not exactly a stranger to rough weather either.
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  Speaker 1: Right, So what are the chances of finding anything? A
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  meedle in a haystack feels easier.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's the thing about the Base Straight. It's a
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  well traveled shipping lane. You'd think if a plane went
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  down there'd be some sign.
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  Speaker 1: Of it, something a life jacket, a piece of the plane.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, But for years nothing. And there's always an until
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  in these stories, isn't there?
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  Speaker 1: Right, So spill it? What's the until? In this case?
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  Speaker 2: Five years later, nineteen eighty three, a piece of metal
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  debris washes up on Flinders Island. That's about one hundred
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  and eighty miles from where Valentage disappeared Flinder's Island.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so not exactly right.
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  Speaker 2: Next door, not even close. But here's the kicker. Experts
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  identify the debris as an engine cowl flap from get
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  this a Cessna one two.
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  Speaker 1: No way from Valenti's plane.
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  Speaker 2: They managed to match it to the serial number range
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  It was consistent with Valentich's plant.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, talk about a long shot, but hold on an
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  engine cowl flap, that's what like a small part of
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  the engine. You'd think if that survived, there'd be more.
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  Speaker 2: Right, that's the million dollar question. It's like finding a
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  single piece of a jigsaw puzzle, but the rest of
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  the puzzle is still missing.
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  Speaker 1: So did this discovery actually tell us anything or just
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  make the whole thing even more confusing.
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  Speaker 2: It's a classic case of one piece of evidence more
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  questions than it answers. Did the cowl flat break off
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  during a malfunction and just drift for years before washing ashore?
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  Was it ripped off during a crash? And if so,
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  where's the rest of the wreckage?
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  Speaker 1: So many questions, so wonder people came up with all
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  sorts of theories to try and explain what happened to Valantage?
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  Speaker 2: And we've got to cover those theories because they range
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  from the plausible.
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  Speaker 1: To the let's just say more creative explanations exactly.
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  Speaker 2: But it's important to approach each theory with a critical
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  but open mind. We've got to look at the evidence
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  or the lack thereof, and see where it leads. And
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  sometimes the simplest explanation might be the most likely.
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  Speaker 1: Which brings us to I think the most straightforward theory.
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  We've got disorientation. What are we talking about here?
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  Speaker 2: It's exactly what it sounds like. This theory suggests that
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  Vantage simply became disoriented during his flight. It happens more
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  than you might think, even to experienced pilots.
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  Speaker 1: Really, even with all the training and instruments.
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  Speaker 2: Especially at night, especially over water. Night flights over water
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  are particularly tricky because you don't have the same visual
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  references right.
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  Speaker 1: Like landmarks or lights on the ground to help you
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  keep your.
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  Speaker 2: Bearings precisely, and the lack of visual cues can play
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  tricks on your mind. You can start to misjudge your altitude,
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  your speed, even your direction.
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  Speaker 1: You're basically flying blind, even if you can see.
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  Speaker 2: Your instruments in a way. Yes, And if a pilot
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  isn't careful, if they don't rely on their instruments and training,
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  it can lead to a very dangerous situation very quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So disorientation definitely a real concern for pilots, and
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  it could explain a lot.
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  Speaker 2: But there's always a butt, isn't there, Especially with a
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  case this shrouded in mystery.
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  Speaker 1: It's the elephant in the room, isn't it. Yeah, we
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  have to address the UFO theory.
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  Speaker 2: We do because it's the theory that's captured the public's
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  imagination for decades.
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  Speaker 1: And for good reason. I mean Valentich's own words. They
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  fuel the fire. Right. That whole orbiting comment that's pretty
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  tough to explain away is just a case of the wobbles.
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  Speaker 2: That word orbiting. It suggests intention, maneuverability, Like this wasn't
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  just some random, unexplained phenomenon. It suggests something else.
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  Speaker 1: Something intelligent, something not from around here. I remember this
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  is nineteen seventy eight.
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  Speaker 2: A year after Close Encounters was released.
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  Speaker 1: The UFO craze was at an all time high.
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  Speaker 2: It was everywhere in movies, on TV and magazines.
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  Speaker 1: You can't tell me that wasn't in the back of
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  everyone's minds, Right, especially a young guy like Valentich, who
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  we know was interested in UFOs.
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  Speaker 2: It's certainly possible it influenced his thinking. But we also
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  have to remember there were those other witnesses who reported
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  seeing strange lights in the sky that night.
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  Speaker 1: Right. If it wasn't just Valentiche, if other people were
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  seeing something unusual.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it adds another layer of complexity to the whole thing,
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  doesn't it. Eyewitness testimony is a trolley thing, though our
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  memories are far from perfect, easily influenced, especially in situations
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  that are out of the ordinary.
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  Speaker 1: So are you suggesting these witnesses might have just misinterpreted
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  what they saw. Maybe they saw a plane or satellite
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  or or.
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  Speaker 2: Something entirely natural. That happens a lot, especially with cases
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  like this one. People see something unusual in the sky
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  and their minds automatically jumped to the most exciting explanation.
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  Speaker 1: But exciting doesn't always mean accurate exactly. Speaking of which,
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  we had to talk about those photographs, the Roy Manifold photos.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, the Manifold photographs. Those are legendary and UFO circles.
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  Speaker 1: For those who haven't gone down that rabbit hole. What
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  are we talking about here? What did these pictures supposedly show?
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  Speaker 2: Manifold he was a farmer lived near Cape Botway, not
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  too far from where Valentiche disappeared. He claimed he saw
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  this object rising out of the water and he managed
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  to snap a few pictures of it.
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  Speaker 1: And what did these pictures show?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it? The grainy
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  blurry open to interpretation. Some people they look at those
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  photos and they see a classic flying saucer shape. Others
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  not so much. They see nothing more than a blurry
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  blob that could be.
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  Speaker 1: Anything, the trick of the light, a bird, a smudge
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  on the lens.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, Which brings us back to that same problem we
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  keep running into with this case, lack of clear cut evidence.
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  Speaker 1: We're always left with more questions than answers. But let's
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  play Devil's advocate here for a moment. Let's say there
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  was something truly out there that night, something unexplained, something otherworldly.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, let's say there was. How does that explain Valentitia's disappearance?
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  Did they abduct him? Did his plane get caught in
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  some kind of extraterrestrial tractor beam?
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  Speaker 1: See That's the thing about these theories. They're fun to
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  think about, they really are, but they usually lead to
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  more questions and even wilder theories. Maybe the answer is
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  much simpler, even it's less exciting.
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  Speaker 2: You're talking about the meteor shower theory.
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  Speaker 1: I am the forgotten theory because it just doesn't have
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  that same wow factor? Does it?
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't, But it might be the most plausible explanation
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  we have. Remember, there was a pretty significant meteor shower
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  over southeastern Australia.
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  Speaker 1: That night, multiple reports of bright meteors.
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  Speaker 2: Now imagine you're Valentage, You're alone in the cockpit, it's
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  a night flight over water, and suddenly you see this
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  incredibly bright, fast moving object.
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  Speaker 1: Easy to misinterpret that, right, especially when you're already a
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  little on edge, maybe even a little disoriented.
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  Speaker 2: It could have been the final straw, the thing that
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  pushed him over the edge.
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  Speaker 1: So after all this, where do we even begin to
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  land this plane? What's your gut feeling about the disappearance
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  of Frederick Valantage?
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  Speaker 2: If I had a definitive answer, I'd be writing a book,
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  not talking on a podcast. The truth is, we may
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  never know for sure what happened to Frederick Villantage.
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  Speaker 1: And that's the frustrating part, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: It is, But it's also a reminder that we don't
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  have all the answers. There are still mysteries in this
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  world that defy explanation, and that's okay.
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  Speaker 1: It keeps things interesting, it.
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  Speaker 2: Does, and it reminds us to keep an open mind,
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  to question what we think we know, and to never
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  stop searching for answers even when they seem impossible to find.
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  Speaker 1: Well said, well, folks, there you have it. The baff
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  case of Frederick valantiche a young pilot, a routine flight
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  gone wrong, a series of strange events, and then silence.
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  Was it disorientation? Was it something truly out of this world?
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  Or was it something else? Entirely we leave that for
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  you to decide. But one thing's for sure. This is
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  a mystery that will continue to fascinate and entreat us
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  for years to come.