THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1951: Eight V-2-shaped objects streak over a Queensland sheep station

On the afternoon of February 2, 1951, a man from Toowoomba was working a pumping plant on Woodlands Station, 20 miles southwest of Condamine, Queensland, when a belt broke. As he stopped the machinery he heard a high-pitched swishing noise, like a willy-willy approaching through the timber, looked up, and saw eight shining objects crossing the sky in formation.

Each was shaped like a V-2 rocket, about 40 feet long, with a straight exhaust trail about 40 feet behind, flying at an estimated 10,000 feet and gone in seconds. His wife, standing nearby, saw them glitter as they went away. The couple told the Army, the Royal Australian Air Force took statements, and in July 1953 the U.S. Air Attache in Australia sent the file to Air Technical Intelligence Center.

Date: February 2, 1951

Sighting Time: About 3:00 p.m. (the husband’s statement); about 4:00 p.m. (the wife’s statement)

Day/Night: Day (sun shining on the objects)

Location: Woodlands Station, 20 miles southwest of Condamine, Queensland, Australia

Urban or Rural: Rural (sheep station)

No. of Entity(‘s): 0

Entity Type: None observed

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)

Duration: A few seconds (“a very short time”)

No. of Object(s): 8

Description of the Object(s): Eight polished-metal objects, each shaped like a V-2 rocket with a tail fairing about 12 feet long, flying in formation with a straight exhaust trail about 40 feet behind each, with a swishing noise like a high-altitude jet.

Shape of Object(s): V-2 rocket-shaped, with a tail fairing

Size of Object(s): About 40 feet long, about 6 feet wide at the widest, with a 12-foot tail fairing (the witness called these very approximate)

Color of Object(s): Highly polished metal, glittering in the sun

Distance to Object(s): Not estimated; passed overhead

Height & Speed: About 10,000 feet; very high speed, which the witness compared to a tracer bullet

Number of Witnesses: 2 (a husband and wife; the owner of the homestead a mile away neither saw nor heard anything)

Special Features/Characteristics: Flew at 45 degrees before passing overhead; formation maintained constant speed and height; a straight vapor-like trail about 40 feet long from the tail; high-pitched swishing sound; the witness, a former wireless air gunner, said he had seen V-2s

Case Status: Reported by the U.S. Air Attache, Australia, to ATIC in 1953; no readable Blue Book evaluation on the released card

Source: U.S. Air Attache, Australia, report TR-202-53 (July 17, 1953) forwarding RAAF Intelligence interviews; Project Blue Book file

Summary/Description: A man and his wife on Woodlands Station near Condamine, Queensland saw eight highly polished, V-2-shaped objects, about 40 feet long, fly overhead in formation at about 10,000 feet with a swishing noise and straight exhaust trails. RAAF Intelligence interviewed both; the U.S. Air Attache forwarded the file to ATIC in 1953.

Detailed Report

This report is built from a covering letter and extract from the U.S. Air Attache in Australia, dated July 17, 1953, forwarding a report of a sighting of unidentified flying objects over Condamine, Queensland. The Air Attache wrote that the report was an extract from a file maintained by RAAF Intelligence and made available in answer to a request, and that the file’s existence became known to his office in discussions about other intelligence matters. The released copy of the Blue Book card is badly degraded and its conclusion box cannot be read.

The man’s statement, taken by RAAF Intelligence, says that at 1500 hours on February 2, 1951, while working his pumping plant at Woodlands Station, 20 miles southwest of Condamine, he stopped the motor to repair a broken belt. He then heard a high-pitched swishing noise “as though a willy-willy was approaching through the timber close by.” Looking up, he caught sight of eight objects flying at an angle of 45 degrees before passing overhead. He pointed and called to his wife, who was standing nearby. The objects were in sight for only a very short time because of their very high speed.

He had served as a wireless air gunner in the war and compared the speed to that of a tracer bullet fired from a .5-inch machine gun. He estimated the height at about 10,000 feet, and the sun shining on them showed a highly polished metal surface. He gave the size as 40 feet in length, about 6 feet wide at the widest, with a tail fairing about 12 feet long, noting the dimensions were very approximate because of the possible error in his height estimate. A sketch shows the formation. Asked what they looked like, he said, “They were shaped very similar to a V2 rocket,” which he had seen in England while serving with the RAAF and had read about in aircraft journals. The exhaust trail appeared to come from the center of the tail fin and extended back about 40 feet. The noise was similar to a jet traveling at high altitude at high speed, “not very loud — just a swishing noise.” He had them in view only briefly, and found them immediately when he looked up.

His wife’s statement places the sighting at 1600 hours. She heard a peculiar noise, saw her husband pointing and saying “Look,” and caught sight of about eight objects flying in a bunch at very high speed, going away from her. She could not describe their shape, but noticed they glittered as though made of polished material, and said they seemed to disappear like a flash. The couple decided to contact the owner of the homestead, who lived a mile away, but he was busy dipping sheep and had neither heard nor seen anything. The couple were flood-bound at the time, and on first reaching town they reported it to the Army. They had mentioned it to no one else except their parents.

The Hynek classification is DD (Daylight Disc), applied broadly: the objects were seen in full daylight, were not lights, and had a defined shape. No physical effects or entities were reported.

Researcher’s Notes

Eight Rockets? The Condamine Statements Against the Evidence

Classification: DD is the closest fit for objects seen in daylight with a defined outline, though the shape here is a V-2 comparison rather than a disc. No traces or effects were reported.
The V-2 Comparison: The witness knew V-2s from wartime service, which makes the comparison informed. He did not say the objects were rockets, only that they were shaped like them, and he gave an exhaust trail about 40 feet long behind each.
Time Difference: The husband says 1500 and the wife 1600. One hour is a large gap for two people working side by side, and the file does not reconcile it.
Sound and Speed: The witness heard a high-pitched swish before he looked up and compared it to a jet at high altitude and high speed. His speed comparison was to a tracer bullet. Neither is a measurement.
Late Report: The file reaches ATIC in July 1953, more than two years after the event, as an extract from RAAF intelligence files. Nothing in it shows any investigation beyond the interviews, and the card’s evaluation is unreadable.
Witnesses: Two witnesses from the same household, one a former wireless air gunner with a good reason to know aircraft. The homestead owner a mile away saw and heard nothing.

The Condamine report is a two-witness daylight case documented by RAAF interviews and delivered to Air Technical Intelligence Center by the American Air Attache two years later. It describes eight polished, V-2-shaped objects in formation at roughly 10,000 feet. The statements agree on the main story and disagree by an hour on the time, and the file records no evaluation.

“They were shaped very similar to a V2 rocket.”
The male witness, in his RAAF Intelligence interview on the February 2, 1951 sighting near Condamine, Queensland