Person
J. A. O'Farrell
Also known as O'Farrell, Shamus O'Farrell
- Lieutenant and pilot, Royal Australian Navy (Hawker Sea Fury), RAN air station Nowra
Lt J. A. O'Farrell was a Royal Australian Navy pilot at the naval air station at Nowra, New South Wales. On 31 August 1954 he reported two lights that paced his Sea Fury and were confirmed on Nowra's radar, one of the best-known Australian military sightings. His report and the radar operator's confirmation survive in the national archives.
Sources: National Archives of Australia (2018)
Facts and claims
- documented On 31 August 1954, returning to Nowra on a night flight in a Hawker Sea Fury, he saw two bright lights pacing his aircraft, each "a vague shape with the white light situated centrally on top". Nowra confirmed them on radar. His report is held in the National Archives of Australia. Source: National Archives of Australia: "Flying saucers – fact or fiction?" (2018)