While UFOs tend to be dismissed as science fiction these days, in the Cold War 1970s-era there was genuine paranoia about them. Dedicated UFO centres were established in each state, and the  1978 disappearance of Tasmanian Frederick Valentich received worldwide attention. 

Ivan Soliani, whose family owned the famous Yenda Shoe Store, was the man who took the photo and featured in the front page story. 

He was working as The Area News pre-press photographer at the time, and things got more surreal when he faced death threats after Tuesday. Now a 59-year-old granddad living in Sydney, he relives that infamous week. 

Tell us about the night of the UFO sighting

A friend and I had gone to the movies, and we went home to his place in Bilbul. At about 11pm at night we were talking outside his house when we saw this bright light in the sky. 

It wasn’t moving, it was flashing ultra bright colours, like red, green and blue, and a constant white. I got the camera out and took a few photos. If it were any closer I would’ve freaked out. 

Did anyone else see the UFO?

Yeah the police said they saw it, and so did staff at Griffith base hospital.

What happened to the photos you took?

I had to send them to the UFO Centre, along with the negative. I never got them back. 

What was the reaction? 

I got an extreme amount of attention. All the national media wanted to talk to me. I actually went to the snow to escape. 

That week got even more strange, didn’t it? 

Yeah it was pretty full on after Don Mackay’s disappearance. We got death threats, phone calls from people saying “don’t print anything else about the mafia”. 

We would check under our cars for bombs before we drove home, but that may just have been paranoia. 

What’s something you miss about the MIA? 

There were no speed limits on country roads back then. I could get from Yenda to Griffith in under seven minutes.

Sydney would take just over five hours. We would go to Canberra for a can of coke.