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Within 1950 Venus Case

What Two Airline Crews Learned From Venus

Comparing the Canberra sighting with M.

36 sources 3 graphics

On this page

  • The Canberra crew's uncertain distance estimates
  • Porteous's plotted sighting over South Australia
  • Why measured position changed the conclusion
Preview for What Two Airline Crews Learned From Venus

Introduction

The 1950 Canberra airline sighting is often remembered because the crew initially believed they were following an unknown aerial object before later accepting that Venus was the most likely explanation. An overlooked comparison from the same year helps explain why experienced pilots could reach such different conclusions. In March 1950, another Australian airline crew flying across South Australia also saw striking alternating coloured lights associated with Venus, but they identified the source correctly because they were able to determine its position by astronomical measurement rather than by visual impression alone. This comparison is valuable within the Australian Capital Territory’s UFO history because it shows that the crucial difference was not pilot experience but the quality of the evidence available at the time.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

Crew Comparison illustration 1

The Canberra crew’s uncertain distance estimates

The Trans-Australia Airlines crew near Canberra encountered a brilliant light before dawn that appeared to alternate between white and red. As they changed heading and altitude, the light seemed to maintain its relative position and even appeared to respond to their manoeuvres. In the darkness, with few visible stars and no obvious ground references, the pilots had no reliable way to estimate how far away the light actually was. A single bright point against a dark sky provides almost no depth cues, making it surprisingly easy to mistake a distant celestial object for something much nearer.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

The uncertainty over distance shaped the crew’s interpretation. If the light were nearby, its apparent movement could suggest another aircraft or an unknown object. If it were effectively at an infinite distance, however, the same apparent motion could simply result from the aircraft changing course while the planet remained fixed on the horizon. Because the crew could not independently establish its position, they initially treated the sighting as potentially involving an aerial object rather than an astronomical one.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

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Porteous’s plotted sighting over South Australia

A useful comparison came from an Australian National Airways flight roughly two months earlier. First Officer M. Porteous reported seeing an impressive display of alternating green and red lights while flying between Ceduna and Adelaide on the Perth–Adelaide service shortly before dawn. Visually, the phenomenon was dramatic enough to resemble many contemporary “flying saucer” reports.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

The crucial difference was that the aircraft’s navigator was carrying out celestial navigation at the time. By taking astronomical observations—commonly known as “star shooting”—the crew could plot the exact position of the bright object against the sky. Those measurements showed that the source was Venus. As the planet climbed to about 15 degrees above the horizon, the coloured flashing effect disappeared, consistent with changing atmospheric conditions rather than the behaviour of a nearby aircraft.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

Unlike the Canberra crew, Porteous’s flight therefore moved quickly from an unusual visual experience to a confident identification supported by measured positional data instead of appearance alone. The coloured lights were real observations, but the object’s location could be verified independently.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

Crew Comparison illustration 2

Why measured position changed the conclusion

The comparison illustrates an important principle in aviation observations: identifying an unfamiliar light depends far more on establishing its position than on describing its appearance.

Both airline crews reported features that could easily encourage a more exotic interpretation:

  • exceptionally bright light before sunrise;
  • alternating red and lighter colours;
  • experienced professional observers;
  • an initially puzzling visual display.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

What separated the cases was the available evidence. The South Australian crew had an independent astronomical fix that demonstrated the light remained where Venus should be. The Canberra crew had only visual impressions gathered while manoeuvring an aircraft in darkness, leaving distance and position open to misinterpretation until later consideration of the astronomical circumstances.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

This distinction also explains why witness experience alone cannot determine whether an aerial report remains unexplained. Highly experienced pilots may accurately describe what they saw while still being unable to determine what produced the visual effect if no independent positional information exists.

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What the comparison means for the Canberra case

The South Australian example neither proves nor disproves every detail reported near Canberra. Contemporary astronomers initially questioned whether Venus alone could account for every aspect of the Canberra sighting, particularly the reported height and changing colours, showing that the discussion was more nuanced than a simple dismissal.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

However, the Porteous case demonstrates that Venus was capable of producing remarkably similar reports from professional airline crews under comparable dawn conditions. More importantly, it shows how the presence or absence of objective positional measurements could determine whether a spectacular sighting remained mysterious or was confidently identified.

Within the wider history of UFO reports in the Australian Capital Territory, the comparison serves as a reminder that early aviation sightings often hinged less on witness credibility than on whether crews possessed the navigational tools needed to distinguish a distant celestial object from an apparently moving target. That lesson has become one of the strongest reasons why historians and sceptical investigators regard the Canberra incident as a persuasive example of Venus being mistaken for an unknown aerial phenomenon, even though the original experience genuinely puzzled the crew at the time.[Garage Graphics History]garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.comflying saucer over australia 1950Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023…Published: November 15, 2023

Crew Comparison illustration 3

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Endnotes

1. Source: time.com
Title: science saucer blue book
Link:https://time.com/archive/6610271/science-saucer-blue-book/

2. Source: time.com
Title: science visitors from venus
Link:https://time.com/archive/6614002/science-visitors-from-venus/

3. Source: garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.com
Title: flying saucer over australia 1950
Link:https://garagegraphicshistory.blogspot.com/2023/11/flying-saucer-over-australia-1950.html?m=1

Source snippet

Garage Graphics HistoryFlying Saucers over Australia, 1950November 15, 2023...

Published: November 15, 2023

4. Source: ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com
Link:https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-classic-canberra-[airport-sighting

Source snippet

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena - scientific research: The classic Canberra Airport sighting of 1965 - UFO or Venus?December 10, 2018 —...

Published: December 10, 2018

5. Source: ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com
Link:https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2011/09/australian-flying-saucer-reports-pre_3984.html

Source snippet

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena - scientific research: Australian 'flying saucer' reports 1950 Jan to JunSeptember 2, 2011 — UNIDENTIFIE...

Published: September 2, 2011

6. Source: olliesgarage.com.au
Link:https://www.olliesgarage.com.au/about

7. Source: ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com
Title: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena
Link:https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2011/12/

Additional References

8. Source: naa.gov.au
Title: NAAFlying saucers – fact or fiction? | naa.gov.au
Link:https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/flying-saucers-fact-or-fiction

Source snippet

28, 2018 — Wednesday, 28 February 2018 Many Australians were so convinced they had seen a flying saucer that they re...

Published: February 28, 2018

9. Source: nma.gov.au
Title: Rare FJ Holden finds a home in Canberra | National Museum of Australia
Link:https://www.nma.gov.au/about/media/media-releases-listing-by-year/2004/rare-fj-holden-finds-a-home-in-canberra

Source snippet

June 7, 2004 — 7 June 2004 A rare unrestored FJ Holden — which sat in a garage for years after its owner was startled by her first encoun...

Published: June 7, 2004

10. Source: youtube.com
Title: Night Flying Ground Lesson: Visual and Flight Illusions
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsZHfZz4Vr8

Source snippet

767 Pilot Dives Plane To Avoid Collision With The Planet Venus This video details an actual aviation incident where commercial airline pi...

11. Source: canberrahistory.org.au
Title: genges garage braddon
Link:https://www.canberrahistory.org.au/resource/16710/genges-garage-braddon.html

Source snippet

Genge's Garage, Braddon (Photograph) < Catalogue | Canberra & District Historical Society#16710 - GENGE'S GARAGE, BRADDON Resource ID Loc...

12. Source: canberrahistory.org.au
Title: genge garage braddon
Link:https://www.canberrahistory.org.au/resource/16713/genge-garage-braddon.html

Source snippet

Genge's Garage, Braddon (Photograph) < Catalogue | Canberra & District Historical Society#16713 - GENGE'S GARAGE, BRADDON Resource ID Loc...

13. Source: youtube.com
Title: 767 Pilot Dives Plane To Avoid Collision With The Planet Venus
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJYv9YHPsDA

Source snippet

Sleepy Pilot Nosedives After Mistaking Venus For Another Plane...

14. Source: youtube.com
Title: Xiaoshan Airport UFO: Pilot [Witness Accounts]({{ ‘witness-accounts-52f635/’ | relative_url }}) and Planet Venus
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it-6F4Kqvbk

Source snippet

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World - U.F.O.s...

15. Source: universe-people.com
Link:https://www.universe-people.com/english/svetelna_knihovna/htm/en/en_kniha_flying_saucers_have_landed.htm

16. Source: nma.gov.au
Link:https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/highlights/molly-goodall-fj-holden

17. Source: gutenberg.org
Link:https://www.gutenberg.org/files/66639/66639-h/66639-h.htm