Unsolved Paranormal Mysteries from Australia
DID you know Australia has a list of paranormal mysteries long enough to warrant a visit from Sam and Dean Winchester? From our very own Roswell to oil with healing powers weeping from the walls of a Sydney home, the land down under has a number of unsolved mysteries.
While sceptics are quick to dismiss these claims, there are a number of Aussies who believe the truth is out there.
In order to let you decided for yourself, we have pulled together a list of Australia’s most famous paranormal mysteries.
THE WESTALL UFO INCIDENT
It’s a 50-year-old mystery that has left the Melbourne suburb of Clayton South (sometimes known as Westall) divided, with witnesses wanting answers. At 11.00am on April 6, 1966, students and teachers from Westall High School and Westall State School, and members of the public reported witnessed Australia’s largest mass UFO sighting.
Witnesses claim three metallic objects manoeuvred silently through the sky, before landing in a paddock and then quickly flying away — leaving large circles of flattened grass with well-defined, discoloured edges behind.
In the hours following the incident, children as young as seven were confronted by men in sharp black suits and warned against talking, as emergency services and military swarmed the area.
Adding to the mystery, the film canister containing the footage aired on the Nine News 6.00pm bulletin on the night of the incident has since been found empty in the station archives.
Joy Clarke was 12 and a half at the time and vividly remembers the events that occurred that day.
“My personal belief is they weren’t of this world. They were definitely from somewhere else because I have never seen anything like it all,” she told news.com.au. “The army had arrived and the police were there. We were told we were hysterical and it didn’t happen, while men in black interviewed some of the other kids.”
Although federal and state government agencies refused to comment about the incident at the time, documents unearthed in 2014 offer an explanation for the sighting.
The government documents revealed a secret radiation-testing project known as the HIBAL program — which monitored atmospheric radiation levels using large silver balloons equipped with sensors — as the most likely culprit.
However, the paperwork for the launches scheduled for the day before the Westall incident have since been lost or destroyed. The landing site has since been turned into a memorial park to reflect the 1966 Westall UFO Incident, although the case remains unsolved.
THE MIRACLE HOUSE
More than a decade ago, a house in Western Sydney was drawn into the international spotlight after claims it had mysterious oil with healing powers weeping from its walls.
As the oil first appeared 40 days after 17-year-old Mike Tannous was tragically killed in a car crash 200m from the family home in September, 2006, his parents George and Lina believe the oil is his spirit.
According to Mr Tannous, the oil was first found in their deceased son’s room and has spread to new areas of the house. Apparently, Mike has twice written his birthdate, his name and also drawn a large number of religious symbols.
The family claim Mike was “hand-picked by God” and was responsible for a number of marvels, such as helping a woman told by doctors she would be unable to have another baby. After coming to the house to pray, she returned to the house one month later with a box of chocolates, exclaiming she had fallen pregnant.
“Mike is a messenger between us and God. He has healed so many people,” Mrs Tannous said.
Despite a number of believers, a Yahoo Answers thread has been dedicated to refute claims made by the family.
“Walls weep because materials under/on the paint, in the ceiling, but most of all in the air either leak through or are caught up in condensing steam from a shower,” wrote one user. “Seems to me that if God wanted to manifest himself to us on Earth it wouldn’t be by pouring 10W-40 Castrol on the walls of a house in Australia,” wrote another.
While many sceptics might question the claims, Archbishop Paul Saliba from the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese strongly believed this was the Lord’s work.
“I’ve been there many times and we cannot pinpoint exactly what’s happening. It is miraculous,” he told News Corp. Our church policy is that people have to look and see for themselves and make up their own minds and this takes time.”
There has been extensive testing on the mystery oil, but no explanation has been given of its source. All that has been discovered is that the oil contains water, gold and a safe level of uranium.
THE HAWKESBURY RIVER MONSTER
Everyone has heard of the Loch Ness, but did you know Australiamight be home to its own monster of the deep?
Aptly dubbed the Hawkesbury River Monster, the mysterious sea creature is obviously said to reside about 50 kilometres northwest of the Sydney.
In 2009, Cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy claims he saw the 12m giant surface in the Hawkesbury River. The dubious account saw Mr Gilroy explaining he spotted a dark shadow “with a longish neck’’ near Wiseman’s Ferry.
Having been searching for the beast since 1965, Mr Gilroy said he believed it was a plesiosaur from the Jurassic period.