Australian UFO Abduction Study Centre

History

Keith Basterfield ran the Australian UFO Abduction Study Centre from GPO Box 1894, Adelaide, South Australia 5001. The newsletter served both as a research publication and as outreach to isolated experiencers who had no one else to discuss their encounters with. Basterfield noted in Volume 2, Number 2 that he had spoken to large numbers of experiencers since the previous issue, many of whom contacted him after radio interviews. His concern was practical: how to reach people "out there, isolated and puzzled by their own events with perhaps no-one else to talk to about them."

The archive holds two issues, both from Volume 2 (Numbers 2 and 3), suggesting a publication that began in 1992 or early 1993 with Volume 1. The newsletter published first-person experiencer accounts with permission, including a detailed narrative from "Denise of Victoria" who described visitations beginning in March 1989 by small grey beings (105 to 120cm in height, large black eyes, light grey in colour, small facial features) who focused on herself and her six-year-old son over an eighteen-month period.

The newsletter's tone was supportive rather than investigative. Where American abduction researchers like Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs were building theoretical frameworks, Basterfield's publication prioritised giving experiencers a safe venue to share accounts and find others with similar experiences. The content covered cases from Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, and Victoria.