By MIKE CONLEY
Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thirty years ago, a young pilot took a trip into the unknown from which he would never return.

On Oct. 21, 1978, Frederick Valentich filed a flight plan with an airport in Melbourne, Australia. He was headed to King Island in Tasmania. Valentich was only 20 years old with about 150 hours of flight experience. His plane was a small, single-engine Cessna 182L.

Valentich departed the airport that evening and radioed the Melbourne Flight Service Unit to let them know of his presence. Visibility was good and winds were light. His Cessna was flying over the sea at a cruising speed of around 160 miles per hour, according to a Web site.

Some time later, Valentich contacted Melbourne air traffic controller Steve Robey and requested information on other aircraft at his altitude. Robey told him that there was no known traffic at that level.

Valentich radioed back and reported that he could see a large unknown aircraft with four bright landing lights. He couldn't make out what kind of craft it was but said that it passed about 1,000 feet overhead. It was moving at a high speed. Valentich then reported the aircraft was approaching him from the east and speculated that the other pilot might be purposefully toying with him, according to the Web site.

Read more...