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Darkcast Diversion: F**k That Podcast
39 Plays20 days ago
Hello you lovely listeners and happy Friday! We had a busy week here in Cryptic-ville, so here's a little double feature to get you through to our next episode. We think you'll enjoy!
It's our friends over at F**k That pod, with two gripping tales. The Eastbound Four:The West Atlantic City Murders is first up. Covering the murders of Kim Raffo, Barbara Breidor, Molly Jean Dilts, and Tracy Ann Roberts in 2006, you won't want to miss it.
Then it's The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich which we had never heard of before and are happy to pass along and recommend, with the help of host Ash of course!
Check out their podcast wherever you listen to this one! Happy listening and catch you next week!
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:02
Speaker
Darkcast Network, indie pods with a dark side.
Engaging with the Podcast Community
00:00:31
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Fuck That. Two quick things before I get into this week's episode. Number one, if you don't follow the pod on Facebook, you should.
00:00:42
Speaker
It's at F that pod. There is a new discussion group. You can request to join. I'm involved in it as well as other people that follow the page. But most importantly, there are a lot of people that I've worked with in previous cases that are going to be active in discussions regarding their cases as well as other cases.
00:01:03
Speaker
So if that's something you're interested in, definitely check it out. Secondly, this is something that I've been really shitty about, but I am now becoming more active with is Patreon. It is at, you guessed it, F that pod.
00:01:17
Speaker
I'm going to have all of the archived episodes on there, as well as ad free episodes, case requests, general discussions, as well as some extras.
Introducing the 'Eastbound 4' Case
00:01:30
Speaker
In the last episode, I covered the Long Island serial killings from the very start in the early 90s all the way up to the recent events regarding the dirtbag that was arrested on Thursday, July 13th of 2023.
00:01:47
Speaker
I thought that that episode would be a good segue into this case, which is called the Eastbound 4, which Actually, there's many names.
00:01:58
Speaker
The Eastbound Strangler case, the Black Horse Pike murders. Take a pick. Many different weird monikers. But the reason why i thought that that would be a good segue into this case is for a couple of different reasons. Number one, with the recent events that happened with the Gilgol Four and the arrest of Rex Heuerman, lot of people...
Challenges Faced by Marginalized Sex Workers
00:02:21
Speaker
started chattering again about the possibility that these two cases are connected, which they aren't, by the way. But more importantly, i think what's important is the parallels between the two regarding the women involved.
00:02:39
Speaker
This case is another story about women that were in sex work or had struggles with substance use that were overlooked or judged by society and or authorities at certain points in the case. And I am hoping that because the recent events with the Long Island serial murders case shedding light again on this case, potentially we can see some movement and make some progress.
00:03:08
Speaker
Sex workers in the United States often operate on the fringes of legality because sex work is not legal in this country. And when I say sex work, that is obviously a much more all-encompassing term now, especially with the emergence of popular sites like OnlyFans.
00:03:27
Speaker
So in this episode, the sex work I am referring to encompasses the sex work that I discussed in the last episode, which involves both in calls and out calls, as well as johns.
00:03:42
Speaker
And a john is just the name that is given to the individual that is contacting the sex worker to engage in whatever they both agree upon. In calls are obviously when the John calls the person that's working and meets the person wherever they are.
00:03:59
Speaker
Out calls is the opposite. the sex worker will travel to wherever the John is. And obviously there are dangers involved in both in calls and out calls. However, there is a much greater risk of danger with out calls.
00:04:13
Speaker
So circling back to sex workers often being forced to operate on the fringes of legality due to the nature of their work, this puts them at an increased risk of violence.
00:04:27
Speaker
Tragically, these violent incidences, regardless of whether they are an assault or a sexual assault, or homicide go either unnoticed or unreported, and this perpetuates a cycle of silence and suffering that these individuals go through.
00:04:46
Speaker
But in spite of the alarming prevalence of violence directed towards sex workers, their struggles still remain to this day largely ignored or dismissed, relegated to the margins of public discourse.
00:05:01
Speaker
According to a research paper published in 2011, which I linked in the show notes, this
Uncovering the Mystery of Four Women's Deaths
00:05:07
Speaker
paper aimed to quantify homicide data among sex workers between 1970 2009.
00:05:14
Speaker
And while the number of serial murder cases declined during this period, the likelihood that the victim was a woman increased. Additionally, the likelihood that the victim was a sex worker increased as well.
00:05:30
Speaker
The study demonstrated that 32% serial murder cases between sex workers. nineteen seventy to two thousand and nine in the united states the victims were female sex workers While it is hard to quantify exactly the percentage of the population that sex workers comprise due to the fact that research is just limited, there are a few different studies that suggest that sex workers probably total between 1 to 2 percent of the population in the United States.
00:06:02
Speaker
And this is a generous number, so it's likely less. Considering the fact that this is such a small portion of the United States population that makes up this demographic, the fact that 32 percent of serial murder cases involving this population obviously suggests that female sex workers are typically the target for serial murderers in the United States.
00:06:28
Speaker
Now, keep in mind, this data does not include any homicides that fall outside of the parameters of belonging to a serial murder case.
00:06:38
Speaker
So this doesn't include any other homicide. This data also does not include other acts of violence that are perpetuated against female sex workers, like sexual assault, assault, sex trafficking.
00:06:56
Speaker
And obviously, it's not just female sex workers that this violence isn't unique to This applies to sex workers as a whole. But just for the sake of this case, I want to focus on this data specifically.
00:07:10
Speaker
And again, I wanted to share this data because the last episode I covered the Long Island serial killings. And the overarching theme amongst both is that the majority of the victims were sex workers. And for these marginalized individuals, violence becomes something that is all too common.
00:07:29
Speaker
And the stigma that they endure from society only further exacerbates their vulnerability.
00:07:50
Speaker
Located approximately 14 miles west of the heart of Atlantic City, New Jersey, lies Egg Harbor Township. Positioned between the Atlantic City Expressway and the Black Horse Bike, there exists a deserted service road lined by a series of motels that features a drainage ditch that feeds into Lakes Bay.
00:08:14
Speaker
On Monday, November 20th of 2006, two women were walking along the service road when their attention was drawn to something peculiar, jutting from the brush on the embankment at the roadside.
00:08:28
Speaker
Intrigued, the women cautiously approached, but they soon realized that it was a pair of bare feet. What started as curiosity quickly turned to horror as these two women discovered the lifeless body of a woman sloped down the embankment.
00:08:44
Speaker
The women were obviously fucked up by what they just discovered, and they immediately called 911. The woman who called stated, quote, me and my friend were taking a walk on the path by the railroad tracks there's a dead woman down there And very quickly, this somber scene became a crime scene,
00:09:02
Speaker
and the investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the woman's death was quickly set into motion However, what investigators did not know was that the discovery of the first woman would lead to three more.
00:09:17
Speaker
Fairly quickly into the investigation, Investigators were able to determine that one of the victims died of strangulation and another of asphyxia, but unfortunately the other two women were found in and advanced state of decomp, which left the causes of their death unfortunately shrouded mystery to this day.
00:09:40
Speaker
But investigators do believe that likely all four women died due to strangulation asphyxiation. All four of these women were abandoned along that service road, sloping down the embankment, and they were positioned with their heads all facing east towards the water and towards the center of Atlantic City.
00:10:00
Speaker
Additionally, all four women were barefoot, without any socks, and without any personal belongings on their person. What's important to note about the location where they were discovered is that these discoveries were made in an obscure and unfamiliar location to most.
00:10:20
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This area was only considered something that was familiar to locals, and this desolate spot really lied tucked away from every other part of Atlantic City. It really was like on the outskirts and wasn't something that people knew about unless they patrolled and were familiar with the area.
00:10:38
Speaker
Because the location was somewhat desolate and wasn't really frequented by anybody that wasn't a regular, if that at all, this allowed there to be a large gap of time between the first murder and the last murder.
Remembering the Victims' Lives
00:10:53
Speaker
Kim Raffo, the first woman to be discovered, was left closest to the service road, away from the brush and the drainage area, almost directly behind the back door into the Golden Key Motel, which led authorities to consider the fact that perhaps the person that was responsible for these crimes wanted Kim to be found.
00:11:15
Speaker
Walking along the service road, it would have been obvious to the person that perpetrated the crime, unless they were a complete fucking idiot, that her body would have been discovered.
00:11:25
Speaker
So that led authorities to believe that it was intentional. Additionally, because the area was so desolate and just unfamiliar to anybody outside of the area, authorities also suspected that the killer was likely somebody that was a local and very familiar with the area.
00:11:43
Speaker
Kim Raffa was born in Brooklyn, New York, where she met her future husband, Hugh, in 1989 when they were both teenagers. The two fell in love, they married, and they moved to to Florida in the 1990s, eventually having two children.
00:11:59
Speaker
Kim and Hugh led what relatives said appeared to be a very tranquil and happy life. One of Kim's sisters described her as a quote, mom of the year, end quote.
00:12:10
Speaker
Kim volunteered not only with the PTA, but with the Girl Scouts and was also referred to as a Martha Stewart type of wife and mother. But in 2003, after Kim grew restless with the routine of her life, which I just want to stress, this is something that I think is very relatable.
00:12:30
Speaker
Get married. You have kids. Not that that isn't fulfilling, but I'm not saying this to belittle her because I think everybody can get kind of bored with repetition. And sometimes people need to switch things up. So Kim decided to enroll in a cooking class at a technical school.
00:12:48
Speaker
But it is here that she meets chef named Kenny Billicky. And this man turns her life upside down and not for the better. I might be saying his name wrong. I'm not going to lie. I didn't really read into it too much because I feel like this man is a little bit problematic and therefore I didn't put effort into it.
00:13:04
Speaker
I hope he's doing well, but I don't give a shit about how his last name is pronounced. So regarding Kim and Kenny's introduction and how they met, there is a lot of conflicting information, and I just could not figure out what is fact and what is fiction.
00:13:22
Speaker
So there's really two main ideas as to how this transpired, and I'm just going to give you both. Either Kenny and Kim met during this cooking class, moved to Atlantic City together.
00:13:35
Speaker
She left her husband and children behind wanting to start a new life. And the two, after living there for some time and working, fell into a life of partying that led to using drugs. or when Kim and Kenny met, he got her hooked on drugs, which led to her husband leaving with the children, which is understandable.
00:14:00
Speaker
I can't ascertain which one is true, but either way, Kim and Kenny moved to Atlantic City and the two had challenges with substance use. I want to quickly discuss Atlantic City and how it operates before I discuss Kim's life further because the dichotomy between the epicenter of Atlantic City and what remained is at the heart of this case.
00:14:26
Speaker
While Atlantic City is no longer what it was today, i mean, the casino areas just are not as poppin' as they used to be. Back around 2006, this was a huge area and the city was doing very well.
00:14:42
Speaker
Atlantic City had several well-known casinos like the Tropicana or like Trump's absolutely ridiculous and quite frankly tacky Taj Mahal But life in Atlantic City amongst the casinos looked really grandiose and lively, but life outside of the casino walls was very different.
00:15:03
Speaker
The casinos in the city generated a lot of wealth, but it created a vacuum that formed large pockets of poverty and crime around the city and the surrounding areas and outskirts.
00:15:15
Speaker
Pacific Avenue, which is a block inland from the boardwalk, is an area known as the track. And the track is a place where locals go to purchase drugs, use drugs, and where sex workers will often frequent, looking for an opportunity for work.
00:15:34
Speaker
When Kim and Kenny moved to Atlantic City, the pair found work at a casino restaurant where Kim waitressed. Kenny eventually lost his job due to his challenges with substance use, and he ended up turning to shoplifting.
00:15:50
Speaker
Kim eventually began working as a sex worker on the track. In September of 2006, two months prior to the discovery of these four women, Kim's former husband traveled to Atlantic City in an attempt to find Kim and hopefully remove her from the city.
00:16:10
Speaker
He told Kim he wanted to take her away from Atlantic City and to help her get back on her feet, and Kim ultimately agreed to this. Kim went to Long Island to stay with her ex-husband, where she remained for several weeks while she lived in sobriety.
00:16:26
Speaker
However, Kim made the decision to leave and return to Atlantic City in November. When Kim returned, she stayed with a friend that was a bartender at the restaurant she worked at prior,
00:16:40
Speaker
but she quickly fell back into the life that she had previously left behind. This friend is likely the last person that saw Kim on Sunday, November 19th, the day prior to the discovery of her body.
00:16:54
Speaker
Unconfirmed sources stated that Kim went with a John to the Taj Mahal casino, but left shortly after 5 a.m. to purchase drugs. Kim was found again the next day by the two women who were walking along the service road.
00:17:08
Speaker
Investigators believe she was strangled with a rope or cord and she was found with cocaine in her system. Kim was 35 years old when she was murdered. But instead of remembering Kim for the decisions that she made, i think that we should remember Kim as a woman who was a mother and was a wife and was known as a supermom who volunteered whenever she could.
00:17:34
Speaker
By all accounts, Kim was a doting wife and a doting mother prior to her involvement with Kenny. And I think we should remember her for that.
Barriers in the Investigation Process
00:17:44
Speaker
Barbara Breedore was originally from Pennsylvania, and she was known as a joyful and lighthearted young girl growing up.
00:17:51
Speaker
Barbara, unfortunately, was faced with the challenge of coping with her father's sudden death, and she had a really hard time making sense of this, which eventually caused her to leave Penn State University early.
00:18:04
Speaker
In 1997, Barbara had a daughter, which was something that she always wanted to do. She always wanted to become a mom. But unfortunately, the relationship with her boyfriend was abusive.
00:18:16
Speaker
So for that, among other reasons, she asked relatives in Florida to take care of her daughter for her. Barbara ended up renting a house near Atlantic City where she managed her family's boardwalk jewelry store.
00:18:30
Speaker
And in addition to that, she worked as a cocktail waitress at the Tropicana Casino. But Barbara's challenges with coping with the difficulties that she faced in life were just too much for her at the time, and she began to self-medicate in an attempt to cope with the challenges that she faced.
00:18:49
Speaker
Barbara's substance use obviously created instability in her life, and she eventually turned to sex work. Barbara disappeared on October 17th, and after her sisters, whom she was still very close with and in open communication with, attempted to report her missing to authorities,
00:19:07
Speaker
They were dismissed by the police due to her prior arrest for sex working charges. Really surprised by that because I've literally never heard of that happening before ever.
00:19:17
Speaker
Because of the authorities indifference to yet another person who turned to sex work in an effort to make ends meet, her body was not discovered until the discovery of Kim.
00:19:29
Speaker
But at that point, Barbara's body was so badly decomposed that it was unfortunately impossible to determine the cause of death. However, authorities did reveal that she had a potentially lethal level of heroin in her system.
00:19:43
Speaker
Despite the challenges that Barbara faced, her sisters stated that they will forever cherish the memories of their happy childhood together in the Philadelphia suburbs and the summers that they spent together on the Jersey Shore.
00:19:56
Speaker
Barbara, who was 42 at the time of her death, had a life journey that was marked by ups and downs. But Barbara, like Kim, was more than the hardships she faced and the choices that she made.
00:20:08
Speaker
Molly Jean Diltz grew up in Blacklick, a small mining town in Pennsylvania. Tragically, as a teenager, she endured not only the loss of her mother, who was waiting for a heart transplant, but her brother as well, who died by suicide.
00:20:24
Speaker
Molly had a young child for whom she sought care for from relatives. Molly obviously had a very tragic life given the immense amount of loss that she had faced.
00:20:36
Speaker
So she decided to move to Atlantic City to start fresh and she worked as a fast food cook. Now, some sources say that Molly worked as a sex worker. Many others say that she did not.
00:20:48
Speaker
This has been unconfirmed and still remains a speculation. Personally, i don't think it really matters because her life was taken away and her choice of work doesn't fucking matter.
00:20:59
Speaker
Friends close to Molly did reveal that she struggled emotionally and often expressed thoughts of suicide, which I think, given the circumstances and all the challenges that she faced,
00:21:11
Speaker
is not surprising. In an attempt to cope with what she faced, Molly often turned to drinking. On October 7th, Molly left her residence and later vanished after reaching out to her family.
00:21:24
Speaker
Molly was the first victim among the four women and unfortunately, the cause of her death remains undetermined due to the advanced state of decomposition. Investigators believe that she was likely left there in a state of decomposition for at least a month.
00:21:41
Speaker
Molly had no traces of drugs in her system, but alcohol was found in her system. Molly was 20 years old at the time of her death. Molly's father, Werner, spoke very highly of her, emphasizing that Molly was a good woman and a devoted mother.
00:21:58
Speaker
One of her uncles said after her death that she was, quote, a warm and loving, caring kid. She had a lot of good to spread to the world, and it's just a shame that she won't be able to do that.
00:22:25
Speaker
Tracy Ann Roberts was raised in Newcastle, Delaware. During her teenage years, she dropped out of high school and briefly pursued a career as a medical assistant. After living in Philadelphia, Tracy began working as a dancer in Atlantic City.
00:22:41
Speaker
After Tracy's struggles with substance use worsened, she began to work as a sex worker. According to multiple sources, Tracy lived in the same group of buildings as Kim, and many sources additionally say that the two were friends.
00:22:57
Speaker
Similarly to Kim, there are two different narratives with Tracy as well. So I'm just going to give you both. And unfortunately, i have tried to determine which one was true and which one wasn't. And it's really just a 50-50 divide.
00:23:12
Speaker
Tracy did go missing in November, she One narrative says that she was shopping with a man named Dante, who I suspect might be the man that is in the second narrative, but I have no evidence of this. It's just my hunch.
00:23:27
Speaker
But she was shopping with this man named Dante. she ended up purchasing the outfit that she was wearing when her body was found. She told Dante that she was going to leave and would be back within the hour, but tragically, she never returned.
00:23:41
Speaker
Other sources say that she was last seen alive with a man who wanted to be her pimp. The man attacked her, hitting her in the throat, which led to her being hospitalized.
00:23:53
Speaker
And then after that, she disappeared. Either way, the circumstances surrounding Tracy's death pointed to asphyxiation. And she was found with large amounts of cocaine in her system.
00:24:06
Speaker
Tracy was only 23 when she was murdered. But I wanted to shed some light on this really tragic event. According to several sources, Tracy's daughter is either about to or has recently earned her graduate degree in economics.
00:24:24
Speaker
Early investigations determined that all four women either lived near or worked near the track and potentially may have all known each other somehow. A 41-year-old repairman was the initial focus of the investigation for quite some time.
00:24:42
Speaker
While this man's name is public, his reputation was destroyed due to this and he was thereafter referred to as the fifth victim in this. which I think might be like a little bit dramatic, but I can understand the sentiment behind it.
00:24:56
Speaker
So out of respect for this man's privacy, I'm going to keep his name private because he was never formally charged with anything and had no link to the crimes. You can Google this man's name.
00:25:08
Speaker
I'm going to refer to him as John Doe. So John Doe became a person of interest because he worked as a maintenance worker for the Golden Key Motel, which was again right off of the path where these women were found.
00:25:22
Speaker
And he stayed there for free in exchange for repairs. John Doe initially gained the attention of authorities because he contacted them to let them know, which side note, not really sure what the authorities were doing. Maybe they were partying hard at the Tropicana. I don't fucking know.
00:25:41
Speaker
Why the fuck would a serial killer call the authorities and say, hey, guys, I found this and you may like want to check it out and shit, you know, FYI. It wouldn't fucking happen. It wouldn't happen.
00:25:52
Speaker
So anyway, this man came under fire by authorities because he called them. He called them and said, hey, guys, I found a shoe on the roof of this motel that I work at and thought it may be related to the case.
00:26:04
Speaker
And the authorities were therefore like, but. We got our fucking guy. Case closed. Fuck him. Now, following an alleged, which hasn't been proven, and this is all kind of just messy and i wrote there's really no solid, concrete information out there, so I apologize
00:26:23
Speaker
It's really just undetermined to this day. But following an alleged domestic dispute between John Doe and his girlfriend, his girlfriend got pissed and called police to implicate him in these crimes, these murders.
00:26:38
Speaker
Authorities investigated John Doe's room at the Golden Key and his truck. They found no evidence implicating him in the murders. But in the room that he shared with his girlfriend, they found almost like a camera voyeuristic setup with a DVD that allegedly had still photos of his 15 year old.
00:27:00
Speaker
not officially stepdaughter. What's really fucked up about this, though, for a multitude of reasons, is that he was obviously apprehended based on this DVD, but investigators didn't bother with that.
00:27:13
Speaker
They apprehended him solely to interview him based on these four murders because that's what they honed in on him for. And when they didn't find any connection between him and the murders, they let him out when he was never charged with anything.
00:27:28
Speaker
So this led many people to say, well, he obviously didn't have anything to do with the DVD. John Doe stated that he had nothing to do with the DVD, that his girlfriend it did all of this. His lawyer says that his girlfriend did all of this.
00:27:44
Speaker
His friends, as well as people that like barely even know this man said his girlfriend did all of this. I don't know what's true what's not. Unfortunately, I wish I had an answer. But ultimately, he was let go and he was never charged with anything. But I think the real issue here is that authorities really apprehended this man because they had tunnel vision and they were just sure. up they picked up a scent. This has to be the guy.
00:28:09
Speaker
And when they realized he wasn't, they let him go. So nothing came about the DVD. And who knows what opportunities they may have missed.
00:28:20
Speaker
while they were focused on this man. John Doe still states that he is innocent to this day, and he still remains free of any charges to this day.
Societal Change and Unsolved Mysteries
00:28:31
Speaker
According to a book I read, the Eastbound Strangler Behind the Scenes of ID's Dark Minds, which I've included in the show notes, a source came forward to the journalist who co-authored the book.
00:28:43
Speaker
Now this woman told him that she was with Kim the night of her murder and that the pair were partying with three Johns at a hotel. According to the source, one of the Johns she described as being a very sketchy and wired person.
00:28:59
Speaker
The man allegedly had a fixation on feet. Remember that all four of the women were found barefoot without any socks or shoes. According to her, the man kept putting his hand around Kim's neck and the source left later in the evening after feeling uncomfortable when the three men became physical, but in an aggressive way.
00:29:21
Speaker
But immediately when she heard about the discovery of Kim's body, she told police about the encounter. And according to this woman, when she told them about the encounter, they did not take her seriously and they told her they already had their guy, likely referring to the John Doe that I had just mentioned.
00:29:40
Speaker
Circling back to the top of the episode, I mentioned that in light of the recent events in the Long Island serial murder case, new light has been shed on this case.
00:29:50
Speaker
However, many people began to question a link between the two. But on August 1st, Atlantic City Prosecutor's Office announced that there was no connection.
00:30:02
Speaker
and this was done after they collaborated with Suffolk County Police to examine evidence. The investigation into the murders of Kim Raffo, Barbara Bredor, Molly Jean Diltz, and Tracy Ann Roberts remains ongoing to this day.
00:30:19
Speaker
it will be 17 years this November. The Golden Key Motel, near where the women were found, was demolished in the summer of 2015. While investigators ultimately determined that there was no connection between the recent Long Island serial murder arrest and these murders,
00:30:38
Speaker
The community remains hopeful that the recent attention brought to this case could lead to new information, or maybe someday, an arrest. The tragic stories of the four women murdered will hopefully compel society to change the narrative surrounding sex workers and substance use.
00:30:57
Speaker
These women's lives deserve justice. Their stories deserve to be heard. And their deaths demand a meaningful action to create a safer and more compassionate world for all.
00:31:10
Speaker
Anyone with information about the unsolved murders should call the Atlantic City's Prosecutor's Office at 609-909-7800, or you can visit acpo.org slash tip slash new to submit an anonymous tip.
00:31:27
Speaker
And I will include this information as well as any other relevant information in the show notes. If you liked what you heard today, please subscribe. Leave me a review across any platform.
00:31:40
Speaker
You can find the podcast on all social media at F that pod, except for Instagram at F that underscore pod. Don't forget to check out the web website F that pod.com and check out the podcast on Patreon at F that pod.
00:32:44
Speaker
Darkcast Network, Indie Pods with a Dark Side.
Curious Anecdotes and Listener Engagement
00:33:11
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Fuck That. Before I get into the episode, I wanted to give a shout out to Rachel, who is the newest member of my Patreon.
00:33:24
Speaker
Also, I need to share this really bizarre fact that I learned yesterday, and if anybody knows the reasoning behind this, please tell me why, because I read a bunch of weird theories. Nobody could really explain why. But apparently some Mexican cartels are customizing the magazines of their guns with Lana Del Rey's face on them.
00:33:46
Speaker
She's a singer. And I just I need to know why, because it is the weirdest thing I've ever come across. I think maybe ever.
00:33:57
Speaker
So yeah, it blew my mind. I figured it would blow your minds as well. And if anybody knows why, let me know because I really need to know the reason behind this. It's going to drive me insane.
00:34:09
Speaker
All right, let's jump into the episode. Frederick Valentich is an Australian pilot who disappeared during a training flight. Frederick has been missing for 45 years, 4 months, and 19 days, and his disappearance is considered to be Australia's most famous case of an alien abduction.
The Enigma of Frederick Valentich's Disappearance
00:34:32
Speaker
Frederick was born on June 9th, 1958, and I couldn't find really anything on his mother, but his father Guido was heavily involved in his disappearance.
00:34:43
Speaker
But what I do know is that both of his parents were born in Italy, and they subsequently moved to Australia, which was where Frederick was born. Starting at a young age, Frederick was fixated on UFOs and the thought of an alien invasion.
00:35:01
Speaker
Who doesn't enjoy a good tall gray, am I right? Those are my favorite aliens. But anyway, his father did disclose that Frederick's fascination was somewhat a concern and that he was sometimes preoccupied with the thought of what could happen if there ever was an alien invasion.
00:35:20
Speaker
Which is valid. I've seen Mars attacks. I've played Duke Nukem. I know how that goes and I'm i'm not here for it. Shortly before the flight where he would disappear, there are a lot of sources that say that Frederick had disclosed to some people that he had seen a UFO moving very quickly throughout the sky.
00:35:41
Speaker
I'm going to talk more about aliens later in the episode, but before you judge this guy and think he's crazy, honestly, there's a lot of people out there that believe in aliens and UFOs.
00:35:52
Speaker
So honestly, this really is not something far-fetched to believe in. What Frederick was most passionate about was flying and becoming a pilot.
00:36:04
Speaker
In fact, this is what he dedicated his life to. At the age of 20, in 1978, he applied to the Royal Australian Air Force twice, and he subsequently was denied, but he then ended up joining the Air Training Corps.
00:36:23
Speaker
I'm going to give a really brief overview of where he was at as a pilot prior to this flight where he disappeared. And then I'm going to go into it more in depth after the investigation. But just to give you a quick idea of where he was at as a pilot.
00:36:38
Speaker
At the time, he was studying part-time to become a commercial pilot. So the kind of pilot that will take you to Florida when you want to go on vacation. If that's where you want to take a vacation, there's a lot of other better places, but I'm not here to judge. Anyway.
00:36:54
Speaker
He also had a private pilot's license at the time with 150 flight hours, as well as his night rating. What I mean by that is he had a class four instrument rating, which he earned on May 1978.
00:37:10
Speaker
But this allowed him to fly at night only VFR, not IFR. VFR means visual flight rules. It is also called VMC, so visual meteorological conditions.
00:37:24
Speaker
So that means that he was able to fly in conditions where there was adequate visibility at night. However, if the visibility was subpar, that would require a pilot to use VFR.
00:37:38
Speaker
IFR or instrument meteorological conditions. So he was not instrument rated to fly in conditions that required you to use only instruments because of the visibility.
00:37:50
Speaker
And that is a difficult certification to achieve. At the time, he was not pursuing an instrument rating. He was pursuing his commercial pilot license, his CPL, and he had a really hard time with these certification exams.
00:38:06
Speaker
Unfortunately, he failed all five of the CPL exams twice. And the month prior to his disappearance, he had failed three more CPL exams. so According to the investigation conducted by the Australia Department of Transport, prior to Frederick's last flight, he told his family, some friends, and his girlfriend that he only had one subject left that he needed to pass in order to gain his CPL.
00:38:35
Speaker
This was unfortunately not true. he also told them that he was attending classes twice a week to help him study for his CPL. And his father, gu Guido, was helping him pay for his commercial license. But nobody knew what training organization he was taking those classes with.
00:38:56
Speaker
Frederick was also involved in some incidences while flying, which I will also elaborate on later when I get into the report. Saturday, October 21st, 1978 was a beautiful day.
00:39:10
Speaker
Super sunny, barely any clouds, just a perfect day. Not the kind of day that you see in New England ever, by the way. Late afternoon, evening, Frederick traveled to the Morabin Airport, which is right outside of Melbourne, for a training flight that he had scheduled.
00:39:30
Speaker
And that airport is one of the largest aviation education facilities in the world. It has 15 flight schools with over 650 instructors. Frederick was well known at the airport and he booked a Cessna 182 light aircraft, which is a four seater single engine plane.
00:39:50
Speaker
The weather forecast was clear and he filed a flight plan to King Island, which is one of the Tasmanian islands across the Bass Strait. The Bass Strait is a channel of seawater that is between the Australian coast of Victoria and the island state of Tasmania.
00:40:07
Speaker
And at this point, various bodies of water meet within the strait between the Tasman Sea's Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, which creates strong currents and waves.
00:40:19
Speaker
I did look into the weather in this area. I also looked at the weather at altitude. And what's interesting is typically at altitude, the wind will be stronger, but at altitude, it's a lot less.
00:40:34
Speaker
But sometimes the weather in this area can be super unpredictable, especially with squalls and bad weather coming in. I'm going to talk about the weather that particular day in depth later on.
00:40:48
Speaker
But overall, all the conditions that day on the ground, additionally at altitude for a flight, they were more than ideal conditions. With that being said, after Frederick's disappearance, the Bass Strait did get a moniker, which is the Bass Strait Triangle, because the currents can be really strong, the waves and the wind can be strong.
00:41:13
Speaker
There have been a decent amount of shipwrecks there. So once this happened, it got the nickname of the Bass Strait Triangle. but Suffice it to say, the weather is much worse for people that are in the water on boats.
00:41:30
Speaker
Okay, so when pilots are flying, they typically try to reduce the time spent flying over water. You can typically land a plane in an emergency on land.
00:41:41
Speaker
Can't really do that over the water. So the typical flight plan to King Island from that airport was to fly along the coast, and I'll post photos of this on social media from the Department of Transport because they have a lot of nice images where they highlight the flight pattern.
00:41:59
Speaker
Anyway, so you fly along the coast to the western entrance to the strait by Cape Otway. After that, it's 50 miles or 85 kilometers across the strait, so over water between Cape Otway to King Island.
00:42:15
Speaker
According to the investigation summary report, Frederick submitted a flight plan for a night VMC flight, so those are the conditions I had mentioned earlier, which he was certified for, from the airport to King Island and back.
00:42:29
Speaker
And he did this after he obtained a meteorologic briefing just around 5.23 p.m. The cruising altitude in his flight plan 5. below 5,000 feet with estimated time intervals of 41 minutes during the first stretch of flight to Cape Otway.
00:42:49
Speaker
And from there to King Island, it would take an additional 28 minutes. 69 minutes of flight time nice Frederick did not arrange for aerodrome lighting, which is just airport lighting, to be illuminated for his arrival at King Island. And he advised the briefing officer and the operator's representative that he was traveling to King Island to pick up three friends.
00:43:15
Speaker
And he brought four life jackets with him on his flight. However, prior to his flight, Frederick told his family, girlfriend, and some friends a totally different story.
00:43:26
Speaker
He told them he was flying to King Island to bring back crayfish. At 6.10, the plane that he was flying was refueled to capacity with a departure time of exactly 6.19.
00:43:38
Speaker
six nineteen After Frederick departed, he established two-way radio communications with Melbourne Flight Service Unit. Frederick reported his arrival at Cape Otway exactly 41 minutes into his flight, which is exactly how long it was supposed to take, at 7
00:44:13
Speaker
The next transmission that Melbourne FSU received from Frederick was received exactly six minutes and 14 seconds past seven o'clock.
00:44:23
Speaker
And this was recorded. i am going to read the transcript starting with Frederick and it alternates between him and FSU. So just know that it's Frederick FSU and on and on.
00:44:35
Speaker
There is one part where Frederick speaks twice, which I'll note, but just so I don't have to keep saying who's speaking, just know that that's the order of dialogue. Frederick radios in and says Melbourne. This is Delta Sierra Juliet, which is the call sign for that aircraft.
00:44:51
Speaker
And in small aircrafts, you'll see this on the tail of the plane. It'll say, in this case, DSJ. And that is how the pilot will address air traffic control and air traffic control will address the pilot.
00:45:03
Speaker
Or in this case, it's the Melbourne flight service unit. So anyway, Frederick radios in and says, Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet. Is there any known traffic below 5,000? Delta Sierra Juliet, no known traffic.
00:45:18
Speaker
Delta Sierra Juliet, seems to be a large aircraft below 5,000. Delta Sierra Juliet, what type of aircraft is it? Delta Sierra Juliet, I cannot affirm. It is four bright, it seems to me like landing lights.
00:45:33
Speaker
Delta Sierra Juliet? Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet. The aircraft has just passed over me at least a thousand feet above. Roger, and it is a large aircraft? Confirm.
00:45:45
Speaker
ah unknown, due to the speed it's traveling, is there any Air Force aircraft in the vicinity? Delta Sierra Juliet, no known aircraft in the vicinity. Melbourne, it's approaching now from due east towards me.
00:45:58
Speaker
And then it says open microphone for two seconds, which essentially means that he's holding on to the button to communicate via radio, but he's not saying anything. And there's going to be a lot of this from here on out.
00:46:11
Speaker
Frederick then radios in again and says, Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems to me that he's playing some sort of game. He's flying over me two, three times at speeds I could not identify.
00:46:23
Speaker
Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, what is your actual level? My level is four and a half thousand, four, five, zero, zero. Delta Sierra Juliet and confirm you cannot identify the aircraft.
00:46:36
Speaker
Affirmative. Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, stand by. Melbourne, Delta Sierra Juliet, it's not an aircraft. It is. Open microphone for two seconds. Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, can you describe the aircraft?
00:46:51
Speaker
Delta Sierra Juliet. As it's flying past, it's a long shape. Open microphone for three seconds. Cannot identify more than that as it has such speed.
00:47:03
Speaker
Open microphone for three seconds. Before me right now, Melbourne. Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger. And how large would the object be? Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems like it's stationary.
00:47:15
Speaker
What I'm doing right now is orbiting, which essentially means that he's just flying in a circle. And the thing is just orbiting on top of me. Also, it's got a green light and sort of metallic, like it's all shiny on the outside.
00:47:27
Speaker
Delta Sierra Juliet, Delta Sierra Juliet, open microphone for five seconds. It's just vanished. Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, would you know what kind of aircraft I've got? Is it a type military aircraft?
00:47:42
Speaker
Delta Sierra Juliet, confirm the aircraft just vanished. Say again, Delta Sierra Juliet, is the aircraft still with you? Delta Sierra Juliet, it's, uh, open mic for two seconds.
00:47:54
Speaker
It's now approaching from the southwest. Frederick then says again, Delta Sierra Juliet, the engine is rough idling. I've got it set at 23, 24, the thing is...
00:48:06
Speaker
To my understanding, rough idling is not a good thing. And what he means by, I've got it set at 2324, he means 2300 to 2400 RPMs.
00:48:19
Speaker
Delta Sierra Juliet, Roger, what are your intentions? My intentions are ah to go to King Island, ah Melbourne. That strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. Open microphone for two seconds.
00:48:32
Speaker
It is hovering and it's not an aircraft. The second that he reported that he had a rough running engine and his intention was still to continue his flight to King Island, the alert phase was declared and the aerodrome emergency procedures were activated at King Island and King Island Flight Service was recalled to duty.
00:48:54
Speaker
FSU called in Delta Sierra Juliet and Frederick responded with Delta Sierra Juliet Melbourne with open microphone for 17 seconds. And that was the end of communication.
00:49:05
Speaker
There is no record of any further transmissions from Frederick's aircraft. And this exchange lasted for just under six minutes. The investigation into Frederick's disappearance was conducted by the Australian Department of Transport took four years to complete, and it noted that the reason for the disappearance of the aircraft had not been determined.
00:49:31
Speaker
Frederick was listed as missing and presumed dead after a coronial inquiry. The alert phase of SAR, which is search and rescue procedures, was declared at 7.12 and at 7.33 when his aircraft did not arrive at King Island, the distress phase was declared and search action was commenced.
00:49:54
Speaker
A very intensive air, sea, and land search was continued until October 25th of 1978, four days later, but there was absolutely no trace of the aircraft found.
00:50:07
Speaker
It was through this investigation that they were able to determine that Frederick had told everybody at the airport that he was going to pick up friends from King Island, but this directly contradicted what he told his girlfriend and family, that he was going to pick up crayfish,
00:50:22
Speaker
What is strange is there was absolutely no evidence of any passengers at King Island waiting for him to pick them up. Additionally, he didn't have any orders for crayfish except for one, which was from a member of the Air Training Corps.
00:50:38
Speaker
But Frederick did not order crayfish from King Island before his flight, and apparently during his flight, there were no crayfish available at King Island.
00:50:51
Speaker
For those of you in the United States that are wondering what the fuck a crayfish is, i too was wondering that. They are crawdads. I'm sure you all know what that is.
00:51:02
Speaker
Crawfish. Crawdad boil, you know, when they just dump them on the table and shit. A crawdad boil. That's what I'm talking about. So he didn't have a crayfish order in for King Island, and he didn't have any homies that he was allegedly supposed to pick up at King Island, which is very strange.
00:51:21
Speaker
It gets weirder. Frederick told his girlfriend that he would meet her at 7.30 that evening, which obviously it would have been impossible. he was still flying to King Island at that point in time.
00:51:33
Speaker
He was chatting with FSU at 7.12, and then he would have had a 69-minute flight back, so that would have been impossible, and he was aware of that because this was not his first flight to King Island.
00:51:47
Speaker
Even stranger, he did tell his father that he would be home after his flight that evening. i mentioned earlier that in his flight plan, Frederick did not request aerodrome lighting, which I initially didn't find to be strange.
00:52:03
Speaker
But as I was reading through the Department of Transport's report, they noted that the King Island flight services unit was closed, which Frederick was aware of. So this meant that there would be no other lighting and nobody that he would be able to communicate with on King Island. And they stated, quote, it seems possible that he may not have had any intention of proceeding to King Island.
00:52:31
Speaker
The report continued, quote, his girlfriend has stated that he has perspired perfusely and his voice changed in any unexpected or out of the ordinary situation it was particularly noticed while monitoring the recorded communications containing his detailed description of the other vehicle's maneuvers that his voice remained matteroffact and completely normal If it had been the pilot's intention to disappear, a number of directions of travel were open to him to maintain communication for the period he did while operating below 5,000 feet.
00:53:08
Speaker
However, it is unlikely that such a document would have been available to him and his possible tracking directions would be listed to known coverage areas. This is the part that I found to be the most interesting. quote Had the flight proceeded as planned and the aircraft did crash into the sea, it is most probable that wreckage would have been sighted.
00:53:30
Speaker
The aircraft disappeared without trace and no wreckage was located or information received concerning the whereabouts of the aircraft and its occupant. It therefore is not possible to determine the cause of the disappearance, but it seems likely that the aircraft did not crash in the sea between Cape Otway and King Island.
00:53:51
Speaker
I want to continue to read from the report because I think it has a lot of really good information, and this is part of the investigator's report. Or note, rather.
00:54:02
Speaker
So it says, notes of a conversation with the OIC, which I'm assuming is the officer in charge of King Island on October 24th of 78, Brian Jones. He was on duty from 0800 1500 on saturday which is eight to three.
00:54:17
Speaker
At 1500, he put through a closing request to MLFS, which is the flight service, stating lights out as no planned flights do and no request for lights.
00:54:27
Speaker
He was pulled out of the golf club by Melbourne about 1915, so 715, after the aircraft had reported engine problems. He put on the airfield lights at 1935, 735.
00:54:40
Speaker
so seven thirty five At the same time, his assistant had just arrived to also put the lights on for a departing Cessna, which had been held up for passengers. And this is again on King Island.
00:54:53
Speaker
That same Cessna that was held up on King Island was immediately used for a quick search around the island with the assistant as an observer from eight o'clock to 825.
00:55:05
Speaker
Nothing sighted, weather absolutely clear with unlimited visibility. There was another plane that arrived at 1800 hours, which is six o'clock with a band that was due to depart around three o'clock the next morning.
00:55:21
Speaker
They have an agent who has a key for the lights on that island. Again, this was an additional plane that was used for a quick search at a thousand feet, so super low altitude at eight o'clock to 8.55 with Brian Jones, who was the officer in charge as an observer.
00:55:39
Speaker
He noted that you could see the Cape Otway lights, which is where the last transmission came in. That is that one last point that you fly to before you're flying directly over the straight to King Island. And he noted that you could see the Cape Otway lights flashing from the lighthouse as well as all of the island lights.
00:55:58
Speaker
Excellent visibility with a clear sky. No clouds, very starry. Many fishing boats around the island had their lights on and could be seen for miles. Additionally, the officer in charge spoke to the Cray Fisherman and none were ordered for that night, they had confirmed.
00:56:16
Speaker
In fact, they had sold out in the afternoon and didn't have any left. He noted that the pilot had not booked into the hotel and they do not recognize the name of the pilot, Frederick, but the aircraft had been down to King Island before, so it was something that the aircraft could handle.
00:56:50
Speaker
During the course of the search into Frederick's disappearance, there were two big issues that were noted in the investigation. And it is written in a way that it is unclear and vague.
00:57:05
Speaker
So bear with me. The first states that search time was lost by the optimum aircraft. I'm assuming what they mean by that is the search plane. But again, it doesn't really say.
00:57:17
Speaker
Then it says, indirecting a surface vessel, which I'm assuming is a boat, to the position of a possible oil slick and debris for retrieval. The way this reads to me is that search time was lost because this search for the oil slick and debris was happening at the same time that all of this was going down, which implies that it's probably not related, it I don't know.
00:57:44
Speaker
It is very unclear. It then states that the second problem is when the light aircraft without integral navigation systems found possible debris out of sight of land, they had to climb to a fixed position. And when they did that, they lost sight of said debris.
00:58:01
Speaker
So again, two very unclear statements. They do not state yes or no, this debris could be related, but who knows. The way it reads to me is that the search was going on with the the search plane while all of this was going on. It was probably not related, but I could be wrong. And that the second debris that they mentioned is a different debris site.
00:58:28
Speaker
Anyway, it's confusing. Let's move on. On October 25th, which is the following day, Frederick's father, Guido, visited the office that was conducting the investigation for the purpose of hearing the tape recording that he made before his disappearance. And they noted certain statements that he made during that conversation.
00:58:52
Speaker
At the time of his disappearance, Frederick was working for an army disposals firm. And Guido was under the impression that he was attending lectures for his CPL at an airport on Tuesday nights from one o'clock to five o'clock on Saturday afternoons.
00:59:11
Speaker
And by an airport, I mean Moorabbin, so the airport that he flew out of. What was odd is that he did not know the organization, which I mentioned earlier. Nobody knew the organization, nor did anybody know the alleged lecturer.
00:59:26
Speaker
His father went on to state that there were no problems at home. Frederick didn't have any financial issues. He very much wanted a career in aviation, and he was really excited about eventually being able to join the Royal Australian Air Force.
00:59:45
Speaker
What I thought was most important of this conversation was that he stated that Frederick was a firm believer in UFOs. He had saved articles and information on UFOs and read Chariot of the Gods as well as other books.
01:00:00
Speaker
He went to see movies on the subject and... This interest started when he was at school about six years ago, so when he was 14. And his belief was strengthened recently when he was allegedly allowed to see the Royal Australian Air Force's confidential files on UFOs.
01:00:19
Speaker
And apparently he wouldn't discuss these details with his family as they were confidential. There's nothing to suggest that this actually happened, so... This is all just what his father is stating based on dialogue with Frederick.
01:00:34
Speaker
He then further states that Frederick's mother saw a UFO one night. She called Frederick and he apparently saw it too. It was a large light, 10 times larger than a star.
01:00:45
Speaker
It was stationary for a while and then it moved off at a great speed. He stated that this happened to Frederick about eight months ago, so eight months prior to his disappearance. his father eventually became convinced that UFOs existed.
01:00:59
Speaker
So this entire family, Frederick did have sisters, but his father, his mother, and him firmly believed in aliens and the existence of them as well as UFOs. His father further stated that Frederick was worried about attack from UFOs and what they could do but he had told them that there was nothing that they could do therefore there's no point in worrying about it.
01:01:23
Speaker
He then stated that he's unsure about what him and his girlfriend had planned that night. He knew that Fred was going to be home and thought something about his girlfriend's statement was fishy. His girlfriend stated that they had plans.
01:01:38
Speaker
There's really nothing to suggest that she had anything to do with anything. So I think at this point, it's the day after. It's just a grieving father trying to rationalize things.
01:01:50
Speaker
One of the components of this investigation was an official pilot investigation in which they conducted a thorough background and history of Frederick. I'm going to read through a lot of it, and there's going to be some overwhelmingly negative aspects of his career, especially in piloting.
01:02:08
Speaker
And I just want to say that I'm not going over that to make Frederick look bad in any way, but I think it's a critical piece to the investigation. In high school, he had some difficulties. He fell below average in geography, English, science, and graphics, which I feel like graphics is fucking irrelevant. Who gives a shit?
01:02:29
Speaker
And he failed math a and B. This was in 1974.
01:02:36
Speaker
In 1976, he applied to the Royal Australian Air Force and the test results were very low scores, indicative of low IQ, fit for unskilled work only.
01:02:50
Speaker
In 1977, he enrolled in RMIT, which is the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, but he subsequently withdrew in July 2017. He had his student pilot license issued on February 24th of 1977. It says solo June, so I'm assuming that he was able to fly solo in June of 1977, but it doesn't state any further.
01:03:17
Speaker
It states that he passed the basic aeronautical knowledge on his third attempt on August 11th 1977.
01:03:27
Speaker
He passed the restricted private pilot at his second attempt in September. His restricted PPL, so private pilot license, was issued September 23rd of 1977 with 57 flying hours.
01:03:41
Speaker
It's really impressive that he accomplished 100 flying hours in a year, by the way. That is a lot. It then discusses his PPL theory exams. So he passed his NAV exams at his second attempt.
01:03:55
Speaker
He passed his aircraft performance and operations exam at his fifth attempt and his air legislation he passed at his third attempt. Now, I know that all of this can look overwhelmingly negative, but at the end of the day, he ended up passing these exams.
01:04:13
Speaker
It may have taken him more than one attempt, but he passed. And I think that shows, honestly, tact and dedication on his part. Other points that they note in this is that his pilot logbook was not found, but it is possible that he had that with him on his flight.
01:04:31
Speaker
They stated that at the time of his disappearance, he was working as a shop assistant, but he devoted pretty much all of his energy into flying. As a boy, he had been an air-training corpse cadet. In 1977, after he started flying, he returned to the corpse as an unpaid civilian helper.
01:04:49
Speaker
He was later taken on with the rank of airman. He was well thought of by friends and acquaintances. He was determined to succeed as a pilot. And as I had mentioned, unfortunately, this was a lie, but he had told everybody that he passed some CPL theory exams. He failed every single one.
01:05:06
Speaker
But this could have been a shame thing. This could have been a shame response. So, for example, there was one person that they interviewed that was an instructor that failed him his first time unrestricted, but he called him an average pilot.
01:05:20
Speaker
He said it was OK on instruments, never mentioned UFOs. In another interview, however, somebody said that he was a sensible pilot. He didn't drink, he didn't do drugs, no mention of UFOs.
01:05:32
Speaker
Another person called him quiet, sincere, sensible, didn't drink, didn't smoke. Another instructor called him an average pilot. So even given his background with the trouble he got into prior to taking this last flight where he disappeared and failing his exams before he subsequently passed, there were multiple people interviewed that said he was, yeah, he was an okay pilot, but nobody said he was a bad pilot or that he had no business to fly planes.
01:06:02
Speaker
Now I want to get into in-depth the meteorologic conditions according to the Bureau of Meteorology. And today I learned what the fuck Zulu time is, which is apparently something that they use for flying. Why they don't just use regular fucking time is beyond me. But 0800, when I read this document, is 6 p.m.
01:06:26
Speaker
in Australia Zulu time. So at 0800 on October 21st of 1978, again, 6 p.m., conditions were perfect for night flying.
01:06:38
Speaker
Although a trace of Strato Cumulus at 5,000 to 7,000 feet and scattered Cirrus at 30,000 feet were reported, no cloud was detectable between the Victorian ranges and the northern Tasmania coast on the infrared satellite pictures at 0600 and 0900.
01:06:57
Speaker
That's 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. There was no turbulence and visibility was excellent. An airborne aircraft over King Island at 8 o'clock that evening, which would have been way after this last transmission came in, could clearly see the light from the Cape Otway Lighthouse.
01:07:17
Speaker
So visibility was ideal. You could see the lighthouse from Cape Otway, from King Island, which when he radioed in, he was right after Cape Otway. Who knows how far he made it, but vice versa. And then again, there were the fishing boats that they stated during the search and rescue. They could see the lights from the fishing boats in the air.
01:07:40
Speaker
so Suffice it to say that this was the perfect flight condition and that there was nothing weather-wise that should have impacted Frederick's flight.
01:08:06
Speaker
After Frederick's disappearance, particularly when people found out that he was implying that there was a UFO circling him, the media went absolutely insane and really just perpetuated the idea that a UFO had abducted Frederick. It was a complete media circus, totally honing in on this one probability and completely ignoring any other possibility of what happened to Frederick.
01:08:36
Speaker
As I had mentioned earlier, Frederick and his family believed in aliens and the existence of UFOs. So keep that in mind when I read the following.
01:08:47
Speaker
According to the Department of Transport's investigative report, quote, Frederick's father was convinced and remains so, according to subsequent media publicity, that his son was captured by a UFO and that he would be returned when they had finished investigating him.
01:09:02
Speaker
Frederick showed a great interest in UFOs and had a collection of books, articles, and clippings on the subject, but father did not think that his son was convinced of their existence as he himself was.
01:09:14
Speaker
In an interview with The Age, which is a Melbourne-based paper, his father stated, quote, I'd rather it was a UFO than a plane crash. And I really want to drive the point home that In extreme grief like this, it is so common for people to believe something that everybody else might perceive as far-fetched.
01:09:35
Speaker
To me, this seems like something that would be easier to digest than his son dying in a plane crash because it leaves it open that when they're done investigating him, he could return.
01:09:47
Speaker
So i get it. In extreme grief like this, a lot of people will believe something that's easier. So now I want to jump into theories and I want to start with aliens.
01:10:00
Speaker
When I say that, I don't know if any of you have seen that meme. It's like this guy with a little bit of a goatee and he has crazy hair and he's got his hands like next to his head.
01:10:12
Speaker
think it's from the History Channel and it just says aliens. I got to post it on social media. But every time I say that, I just think of this guy from the History Channel with just disheveled hair and it just says aliens.
01:10:24
Speaker
Anyway, but what I thought was really interesting is that after his disappearance, so many people suddenly started spotting UFOs. I'm going to read through two different reports in this investigation from the Department of Transport where they received phone calls from people that swore that they saw UFOs, which I think is really interesting, honestly, especially because one of them comes from a very credible source.
01:10:51
Speaker
At approximately 1,800 hours on October 22nd, 1978, so that's 6 p.m. the next day, I received a telephone call at my home front. I'm going to leave the person's name out of it.
01:11:02
Speaker
You can look up this investigative report online, but I don't want to name anybody. So this man stated that he was a responsible person, an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve, and he did not wish to create the opinion that he was a nut.
01:11:18
Speaker
I respect that. Lead off with that. So this guy stated that at around 6.55 on the previous night, so when Frederick was in his flight that evening, he was traveling from Mount Waverly in a southerly direction along Huntingdale Road. Mount Waverly is a suburb in Melbourne, so super close.
01:11:42
Speaker
He further states that he observed a shower of very bright metallic scintillations, which I'm not going to lie, that's a new word for me, outside of physics. So I know that word in the context of physics, but this doesn't apply. So outside of physics, when we're not talking about light and photons, it's just like...
01:12:00
Speaker
flashing beams of light. So picture the way I understand it. You're wearing a diamond ring. You got your windows open and the light kind of hits the diamond and it causes like those lights to kind of beam off of it.
01:12:13
Speaker
And that is what scintillation means outside of physics. So he sees these weird lights in the sky at an angle of about 45 degrees. How the fuck this dude is able to determine that is beyond me.
01:12:28
Speaker
But I digress. But he states at an angle of about 45 degrees from the horizontal, 1.5 degrees of are in vertical plane and one degree are in the lateral plane.
01:12:40
Speaker
This is like so precise. i don't know if the dude had like a really intense protractor in the trunk of his car, but this is what it says from the report. So apparently it was followed by a dark trail moving from south to north. At first, he thought it to be a meteor shower, but Apparently, he then thought it was ah UFO sighting.
01:13:03
Speaker
Then a man named Jon Snow, he was driving his car on Saturday night, the same night at around 11.45, when his 11-year-old son saw a greenish-white light of some length flash quite fast across the sky to the south.
01:13:20
Speaker
But Jon Snow himself, nor anybody else in his family, had saw the light, just his 11-year-old son Five years after Frederick's disappearance, an engine cowl flap was found washed ashore on Flinders Island, which is located just east of King Island.
01:13:40
Speaker
In July of 1983, the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation asked the Royal Australian Navy Research Lab about the likelihood that this cowl flap could have traveled to the position it ended up in from the region where Frederick's aircraft had disappeared.
01:13:57
Speaker
And they noted that, quote, the part has been identified as coming from Cessna 182 aircraft between a certain range of serial numbers, end quote. But these serial numbers did include the aircraft that Frederick was flying in at the time of his disappearance.
01:14:13
Speaker
So super vague, but not ruling out the fact that it could have come from his plane. In 2013, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronomer, really weird combo, but I digress, co-authored an article for the Skeptical Inquirer, which is subtitled The Magazine for Science and Reason.
01:14:35
Speaker
Take it for what it's worth and how you will. But according to the article, quote, as it happens, a computer search of the sky for the day, time, and place of Valentich's flight reveals that the four points of bright light he would almost certainly have seen were the following.
01:14:52
Speaker
Venus, which was at its very brightest, Mars, Mercury, and the bright star, Antares. These four lights would have represented a diamond shape given the well-known tendencies of viewers to connect the dots.
01:15:05
Speaker
and so could well have been perceived as an aircraft or a UFO. In fact, the striking conjunction was shaped as a vertically elongated diamond, thus explaining Valentich's saying of the UFO that it's a long shape.
01:15:19
Speaker
As to the UFO's other characteristics, the metallic or shiny appearance could have been due to the power of suggestion alone. Having connected the dots, Valentich would likely have gone on to fill in the areas as solid, even metallic.
01:15:32
Speaker
We must remember that Valentich's impressions are those of someone who was confused about what he was seeing. The green light could have been part of this confusion also. Remember, Valentich's first description of the UFO involved only four bright white lights.
01:15:47
Speaker
He made no mention at the time of a green one. It could actually have been nothing more than the Cessna's own navigation lights on the right wing tip. that green light or its reflection on the windshield could easily have been superimposed onto the UFO sighting, end quote.
01:16:01
Speaker
Other theories suggested that Frederick staged his own disappearance or that he possibly became disoriented and began flying upside down or inverted. If this did actually happen, this would allow him to see his aircraft's lights reflecting off of the water. But the problem is, with the specific model Cessna that he was in, it would not have allowed him to fly inverted for a long time because the fuel system that it had was a gravity feed fuel system.
01:16:31
Speaker
So if it was inverted, that gravity would not be feeding the fuel system. Therefore, the engine would have cut off not long after the plane inverted. So who knows? It's plausible, but whether it's probable or not is beyond me.
01:16:46
Speaker
Another theory is that Frederick committed suicide, but a lot of people believe that based on interviews with several people that knew him, as well as doctors, that this was a less plausible theory.
01:16:59
Speaker
At the end of the day, we just don't know what happened, and I'm not sure that we ever will. Frederick's disappearance would not be the last. A few years later in 1981, another aircraft disappeared without a trace in and the forests of New South Wales.
01:17:15
Speaker
To this day, no trace of the aircraft or its occupants have been found. However, there are a lot of other factors that go into play with that disappearance regarding freezing over and weird temperature conditions, but a lot of people like to link the two, so i figured I would mention it as well.
01:17:35
Speaker
Frederick Valentich's disappearance is the perfect mixture of mystery, intrigue, and a dash of i want to believe. The theories are all over the place from a simple case of pilot error to him skipping town to start his new life, maybe as a crayfish salesman.
01:17:54
Speaker
His story is frustrating, fascinating, and it makes you want to flip the table and declare ufos did it. But here's the thing. We're probably never going to know what really happened to Frederick.
01:18:07
Speaker
Frederick's story is one that over decades has invited speculation, conversation, and maybe a little bit of hope and intrigue that there's more out there than we can see from the little planet that we call home.
01:18:21
Speaker
So whether you're a skeptic with your feet firmly on the ground or a believer with your eyes on the stars, the story of Frederick Valentich is a wild ride without a clear destination.
01:18:33
Speaker
And maybe, just maybe, that's exactly how it should be. After all, his father stated that he'd rather believe it was a UFO than a plane crash. So maybe we should just keep it that way.
01:18:47
Speaker
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01:19:00
Speaker
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01:19:14
Speaker
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