UFO Over the Bass Triangle? The Disappearance of Fred Valentich

August 12, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

On the morning of October 21st, 1978, 20-year-old Fred Valentich dressed for work in the Melbourne suburb of Avondale Heights. He still lived with his parents and three younger siblings, working as a shop assistant while studying for his commercial pilot's license. That evening, after a full day of work and a meteorology class, he ate a fast-food dinner at the beach, then drove to Moorabbin Airport for a solo flight to King Island and back across the Bass Strait. He submitted a flight plan, attended a weather briefing, and took off at 6:19 PM. The weather was clear, the sun was setting, and he was certified to fly at night—though this would be his first time navigating this route after dark. He told his father he would return home that night. He told his girlfriend Rhonda he would pick her up for a date. He told his briefing officer he would pick up passengers. None of those plans came true.

The Last Transmission

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What you'll learn

1 UFO Over the Bass Triangle? The Disappearance of Fred Valentich
2 Timestamped Outline
3 (00:07) **The Mysterious Disappearance** - A father's request for his son's final audio recording sets up the case of Fred Valentich, a 20-year-old pilot who vanished over the Bass Strait in 1978 after reporting a strange object following his plane
4 (04:50) **Fred's Final Day** - The episode reconstructs October 21, 1978, beginning with Fred's morning routine and his preparations for a solo flight to King Island
5 (07:52) **The Radio Transmission Begins** - Fred takes off at 6:19 PM and reports to flight service officer Steve Roby at 7:00 PM, right on schedule, before steering over the Bass Strait toward King Island
6 (09:44) **The Object's Description** - Under Steve's questioning, Fred provides increasingly detailed and unsettling descriptions of the mysterious craft
7 (11:02) **Final Words and Silence** - Fred's last transmission ends with his most famous statement, followed by 177 seconds of metallic clanging and then silence

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

On October 21st, 1978, 20-year-old pilot Fred Valentich disappeared while flying across the Bass Strait, off the southeastern coast of Australia. Moments before vanishing, Fred described a bizarre encounter over the radio. He claimed an unidentified object seemed to be harassing him – moving at impossibly fast speeds, disappearing and then reappearing, and hovering above his Cessna. His final transmission? “That strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. It is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft.”

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