we have some new information on this puzzling case:
“Adelaide researcher Keith Basterfield has been following the case since the disappearance in 1978, but had been told by the Government in 2004 the official file had been lost or destroyed. He “found” it when searching through an online National Archives index on an unrelated topic. The file has since been digitised and uploaded on the archive’s website.”
So we have skeptic Keith Basterfield to thank for the recent government “document dump” that gets this new information ‘out there.’ Basterfield explains that the newly-released files reveal that “parts of aircraft wreckage with partial serial numbers were found in Bass Strait five years after the disappearance.” Also, one pilot searching at the right time and place saw debris that appeared to be from a Cessna, but before he could get a good fix on its position it apparently sank. This makes it extremely likely that Valentich’s aircraft simply crashed into the water in the darkness, although it falls short of conclusive proof.
Those interested in reading the 315-page official file still need to go out of their way to find it, however, via a seven-step process outlined by Mr Basterfield, which he perhaps charitably denies is another attempt to hide information. He says: 1. Go to National Archives of Australia. 2. Click on search the collection 3. Click on Begin your search 4. Up comes RecordSearch 5. In the keywords box type VH-DSJ 6. Up comes this file 7. Click on the View digital copy icon. (Miles Kemp, Adelaide Now, Fri, 06 Jul 2012)
If that is too complicated, and you really don’t want to read all 315 pages in this maddeningly slow way, there is a nice summary of these findings in Basterfield’s Blog entries of June 28, July 3, and August 24, 2012. You can also download the first set of documents from scribd. From the documents: A number of reports of a fast moving brilliant white light were received from various parts of the country. Mt Stromlo observatory advised that the night of the 21st was the peak of the meteorite stream with 10–15 sightings per hour achieved.