Knowles family encounter, Nullarbor
- Date
- 20 Jan 1988
- Place
- Eyre Highway, about 40 km west of the Mundrabilla Roadhouse, Nullarbor Plain, Australia
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Faye Knowles and her three sons, driving east across the Nullarbor before dawn, reported a glowing light 'like an egg in an egg cup' over the road that chased them, lifted their car and dropped it, bursting a tyre and leaving black ash and dents on the roof. The story was in the press within two days (sources give 20 or 21 January, and some place it in South Australia rather than Western Australia). Police and UFO groups inspected the car repeatedly and found nothing unusual; the residue proved to be clay and salt and the tyre damage was consistent with high-speed driving. Meteorologist A.T. Brunt suggested a temperature inversion distorting a distant truck's headlights.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
Distorted vehicle headlights in a temperature inversion, a blown tyre and road dust; no anomalous trace was found on the car
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- Yes: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- Yes: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- The Press (Christchurch), 22 Jan 1988, via Papers Pastpaperspast.natlib.govt.nz
- The Skeptic: The 1988 Nullarbor UFO mystery, solvedskeptic.org.uk
On the map
31.85° S, 127.85° E, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map