The March 1969 issue of the Australian UFO Bulletin runs to two pages. It is the shortest issue in the archive’s collection, and its entire content is organisational. No sighting reports. No reprinted articles. No international correspondence. Just the infrastructure of a volunteer society preparing for a busy year.
The meetings had moved again, this time to the Horticultural Hall at 31 Victoria Street, Melbourne, next to the I.O.O.F. hall and opposite the Trades Hall. The new venue seated at least 150 in covered seats and had supper facilities. Meetings continued on the first Friday of each month at eight o’clock, with the April meeting brought forward to 28 March because of Good Friday.
The society badge was now available: blue, gold, and white, the size of a five-cent piece. Tie bar, one dollar. Screw type, seventy-five cents. Brooch, sixty cents. An order form was attached to the bulletin.
The full 1969 programme reveals the breadth of what a suburban Melbourne UFO society considered its territory. March: films, presented by Keith Evans. April: an RAAF lecturer. May: ESP, presented by a Mr. Jolly. June: a recruiting exhibition show. July: another RAAF presentation, this time on propulsion problems. August: Ivan Sanderson tapes. September: a lecture by the Director of the Australian Archaeological Society. October: more selected films. November: tapes from a Mr. Arnett, with selected sightings. December: a surprise lecture, followed by a pre-Christmas social function.
The two RAAF lectures are the most striking entries. In earlier issues, VUFORS documented the Air Force “speaking from both corners of the mouth,” debunking sightings publicly while treating them seriously through intelligence channels. By 1969, the relationship had apparently reached a point where RAAF officers would stand before the society’s membership at the Horticultural Hall. Whether the lectures confirmed or dismissed the phenomenon is not recorded in this issue.
Assistant Sightings Investigating Officers were being sought, particularly in country areas. The Australian Flying Saucer Review’s eighth issue, delayed by printer problems, was finally in production and would be larger than previous issues. The librarian was now Les Bristol, who reported books overdue and warned of fines. A discussion night was planned for 9 April at the home of Mrs. Judith M. Magee in Brighton, on the subject of “U.F.O’s, Prophecy and the Bible.” The ladies were asked to bring a plate.
Two pages. A badge, a hall, a programme, a librarian, and a plate of sandwiches for Brighton. The documentary record of a volunteer organisation keeping itself alive between the sightings.
