Incident · 31 August 1954 · RAN air station Nowra, New South Wales
Nowra Sea Fury incident (Australia, 1954)
Also known as Sea Fury incident, Nowra 1954
On the night of 31 August 1954, Royal Australian Navy pilot Lt J. A. O'Farrell was returning to the naval air station at Nowra, New South Wales, in a Hawker Sea Fury when he noticed one, then a second, bright light flying near his aircraft. He radioed Nowra, which confirmed that the objects were showing on radar; they then departed to the north-east at high speed.
O'Farrell's detailed report and the radar operator's confirmation survive in the RAAF's UFO records at the National Archives of Australia, which says the nature of the objects "still remains a mystery".
Sources: National Archives of Australia (2018)
Facts and claims
- documented Lt J. A. O'Farrell, flying a Royal Australian Navy Sea Fury back to Nowra at night, reported two bright lights that kept pace with his aircraft, each "a vague shape with the white light situated centrally on top". Nowra confirmed the objects on radar before they left to the north-east at tremendous speed. His report and the radar operator's confirmation are held by the National Archives of Australia. Source: National Archives of Australia: "Flying saucers – fact or fiction?" (2018)
Connected files
Documents
People
- J. A. O'Farrell (witnesses)