Bobby Dunbar

On August 23, 1912 a 4 year old child disappeared in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. At the end of an 8 month long nationwide search, authorities believed that they had found the missing child. The Dunbars identified the boy as their son, Bobby Dunbar. However, another woman, Julia Anderson claimed that the child was not Bobby Dunbar, but was in fact her own son, Charles Anderson. A battle ensued, after which, custody was awarded to the Dunbars.

The real Bobby Dunbar had been on a fishing trip near Swayze Lake when he disappeared. When the child thought to be Bobby Dunbar was found, he was in the company of a man by the name of William Walters from Mississippi. Walters was convicted of kidnapping and America rejoiced over the return of Bobby Dunbar to his parents. When Julia Anderson came forward to claim the child for her own, she stated that she had allowed the boy to go with William Walters on a tinkering journey. At that time, Walters was granted an appeal for a new trial. However, the city never went through with the new trial due to concern for costs. Also, Julia Anderson was made out to be a woman "of loose morals", leading the courts to turn down her claim to custody of Bobby/Charles Dunbar/Anderson.

The Dunbars raised the boy as Bobby and he went on to have 4 children of his own. He died in 1966. After his death, one of his granddaughters, Margaret Cutright, became intrigued by the old mystery and began to conduct her own investigation. In 2004, her efforts led to conclusive DNA evidence that the boy raised as Bobby Dunbar was not a blood relation to the Dunbar family. This means that William Walters had been wrongfully convicted all those years ago. The fate of the real Bobby Dunbar is still unknown. Cutright's opinion is that he fell into the lake while on the fishing trip and was eaten by an alligator. I can't decide which is stranger: that no one knows for certain what happened to Bobby Dunbar, or that an unknown boy (possibly Charles Anderson) lived his whole life without knowing his own true identity.

The Valentich Disappearance

Frederick Valentich was a 20 year old Australian pilot who disappeared on October 21, 1978. Valentich was flying a Cessna 182L over Bass Strait in Australia on his way to King Island, Tasmania when he vanished under mysterious circumstances. Just before his disappearance, Frederick reported from his radio that he had spotted a strange aircraft hovering dangerously close to his plane. The Valentich disappearance became the focus of the media's attention and one of the most famous documented UFO stories. No trace of Frederick Valentich or his airplane was ever found. The ensuing Department of Transport investigation concluded that the reasons for the disappearance could not be determined.

Valentich was a good pilot with a Class 4 instrument rating and 150 hours of flight experience. His mission that day was to log more flight experience as part of his pursuit to gain his commercial license. The weather was excellent for flying that day with good visibility and wind conditions. After about an hour into the flight, Valentich contacted the tower at Melbourne to inquire about other known aircraft in the vicinity. When he was told that there were no other known aircraft, Valentich reported seeing a large, unidentifiable aircraft passing over his own plane that bore four large lights on one side. He reported the unknown aircraft to have approached from the east at very high speed. He also stated his opinion that the pilot of the mysterious aircraft was "toying" with him. Due to its speed, the only thing he was able to ascertain about the craft was that it was long in appearance. He then came back on the radio to report that the thing was hovering over him, that it was shiny, and that it had a bright green light on it. At this point, the unknown craft "vanished", and Valentich began to question the tower as to military exercises in the area. The attendant at the tower in Melbourne was very confused and began asking Valentich lots of questions regarding the experience when Valentich reported that the thing had returned, approaching from the southwest this time. He stated that his intentions were to continue on to King Island. He went on to say, "it is hovering and it's not an aircraft". After this, strange noises could be heard over the radio waves for 17 seconds, at which time all contact with Frederick Valentich and his Cessna were lost.

A search and rescue mission was immediately undertaken by air and by sea and continued until October 25, 1978. The particular airplane that Valentich was piloting was equipped with a safety mechanism that allowed the aircraft to remain afloat for several minutes after a crash landing in the sea. No trace of any aircraft was ever discovered. The Department of Transport even launched an official investigation into the case but was unable to determine the cause of the disappearance. The strange sounds that were heard over the radio at the end of Valentich's last transmission were also analyzed to no avail. Researchers were not able to determine any kind of pattern to the noises.

There have been many theories as to what happened to Frederick Valentich, but no answers. There has actually been an "update" to this mysterious happening. Many people, however, question the validity of the information that is known about this update. Decide for yourself. You can read about it here.

Foo Fighters

Foo fighters were first spotted and named by Allied aircraft pilots during World War II. Foo fighters were basically unidentified flying objects (also described as "mysterious aerial phenomena") seen in the skies over the Pacific Ocean. First reported in November 1944, the foo fighters were initially thought to be a weapon of the enemy. However, the mysterious experiences were also reported by Axis forces and the cause remains unknown to this day.

The foo fighters were reported to be fast-moving, round, glowing objects that would follow aircraft. Sometimes they were said to resemble Christmas lights and pilots claimed that they seemed to toy with them before vanishing. Pilots reported that these objects would fly in formation with their aircraft and seemed to be under intelligent control. Foo fighters have never been reported to display hostile behavior. No aircraft could outmaneuver them and they could not be shot down. However, on one occasion, the pilot of a B-29 aircraft did manage to hit one, at which time the foo fighter burst into several pieces and fell to the earth below, setting several buildings afire.

Foo fighters have also been reported by ships at sea and appear to be invisible to radar. One theory is that these events could have been caused by ball lighting. Another is extraterrestrials. No one knows for sure.