5 of Australia’s most puzzling mysteries

As one of the most remote continents on the planet, rife with sparse inhospitable landscapes and deadly animals, it’s no wonder Australia has more than its fair share of unsolved mysteries and bizarre occurrences. From the unsolved satanic-like murder of Rack Man to UFO encounters and regular sightings of the Blue Mountains panther – here are six of Australia’s strangest unsolved cases.

1. Disappearance of Frederick Valentich

In 1978, pilot-in-training Frederick Valentich flew over the Bass Strait on a training flight when something bizarre unfolded.

Valentich was piloting a light plane, a Cessna 182L, during the training exercise when he radioed Melbourne air traffic control, reporting that he was being followed by an aircraft flying about 300 metres above him. The young man said the large aircraft was unknown to him and was flying at high speed. Not long after he reported the aircraft, which he described as shiny metal with a green light, had started orbiting above him.

The radio controller asked Valentich to identify the aircraft, to which the pilot responded with his haunting last words: “It isn’t an aircraft.” The radio controller then heard the sound of metal scraping before the airwave went quiet. A four-day air and sea search of over 2,500 square kilometres was launched but no trace of the man or his plane was ever found.

Theories speculate the young pilot became confused and made an error that caused him to crash, while others claim he encountered a UFO. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out what really happened.

2. Lasseter’s lost reef

Nothing captures the Australian imagination quite like the thought of striking lucky, so it’s no surprise that more than 100 years after it was allegedly discovered we’re still talking about Lasseter’s lost reef. It was 1897 when 17-year-old Harold Bell Lasseter allegedly stumbled across a large amount of gold in the Australian desert. Lasseter said nothing of his find until 1929, when he wrote to several Australian politicians telling them he had found a “vast gold-bearing reef in central Australia” years earlier and was hoping to rediscover it with their help.

The gold reef has since become known as Lasseter’s lost reef, and is one of Australia’s most enduring legends, eluding decades of treasure hunters and historians alike. The lost treasure has been the subject of numerous books, films and documentaries as well as the catalyst for countless adventures.

The fabled gold-rich reef was supposedly about 11.3 kilometres long, 1.2–2.1m high, and 3.7m wide and located west of the MacDonnell Ranges in central Australia.

While Lasseter claimed he revisited the region multiple times in search of the reef, a 1993 book by Murray Hubbard claims to have debunked the myth – claiming that Lasseter never stepped foot in the region until years after he allegedly found the reef – concluding the gold was nothing more than a wild story Lasseter had dreamed up.

3. The man on the crucifix

In 1994 fisherman Mark Peterson thought he’s snagged a huge haul when something tugged on his fishing line while out on the Hawkesbury River in NSW. Unfortunately, what he pulled from the water was far from aquatic. Peterson had pulled to the surface a heavy piece of steel in the shape of a crucifix with the remains of a person attached.

Peterson called the police immediately, who later confirmed they were the remains of a man between the ages of 21 and 41. The bones were anatomically arranged on the crucifix and the victim’s entire body was wrapped in plastic and wire.

Water had eroded the man’s fingerprints, making identification impossible. He was dubbed Rack Man and lay unclaimed in the morgue until 2018 when he was finally identified as 37-year-old Sydney man Max Tancevski.

Experts are still puzzled by the unusual circumstances surrounding his death. Police say the killing was unlikely to be gang or underworld related – instead hypothesising the involvement of a religious or satanic group. Experts say the welding on the frame suggest premeditation and that it could be the work of a serial killer – with more victims yet to be found.

4. The Somerton Man

In December of 1948, the body of a man was found on Somerton Beach in Adelaide. The man had no identification and all the labels on his clothes had been removed. The man had no visible injuries or wounds and as the investigation unfolded the evidence police uncovered raised more questions than answers.

Investigators theorised that the man must have died from a type of poison as he had no visible wounds. The case seemed unsolvable until police found a tiny scrap of paper rolled tightly and sewn into the waistband of the man’s pants. The piece of paper was torn from a book and had the words ‘Tamam Shud’ (a Persian phrase meaning ‘it’s finished’) printed on it. Days later a local businessman came forward and handed police a book, which he said was thrown through the open window of his car. When police opened the book they found the final page where the words Tamam Shud should have been torn out. The also discovered two more clues written on the back of the book: a sequence of letters — believed to be a code — and at least one phone number.

One of the numbers belonged to a nurse, who denied knowing the man but allegedly acted strangely when she was shown an impression of the man. Derek Abbott, an engineering professor from the University of Adelaide, who has spent years trying to solve the mystery of the Somerton Man, believes the nurse had a child with the man, though this is yet to be proven. The codes found on the back of the book have never been cracked, but many have theorised the case is closely related to spies and secret agents.

To this day, the story of the Somerton Man is still one of the country’s most baffling cold cases.

5. The Blue Mountain Panther

Housecat gone wild, escaped circus panther, or figment of the imagination – whatever it is, whispers of the Blue Mountain Panther have excited Aussies for years. There have been more than 500 sightings of big cats in the Lithgow region, as well as reports of giant paw prints, droppings and large scratch marks on trees, but still we’re no closer to finding out the truth.

A lucky few have managed to capture footage of the panther-like creature, including nursing student Alec McDonald, who videoed his encounter with what he estimated to be a 1.2 metre cat walking across the grass at the back of the Sydney Adventist Hospital in Wahroonga in July 2020.

Some have dedicated their lives to solving the mystery of the big cat, including former Australia Zoo big cat keeper Vaughan King, who told he ABC he believes there are multiple big cats roaming Australia. While King’s theory may sound bizarre, it’s likely he’s onto something.

Back when exotic animal circuses toured Australia, there were reports of animals escaping never to be found by their owners again. King says one former circus owner told him he lost three big cats in the Gympie region many years ago, and that they could still be living wild in the region today.

It’s also thought big cats smuggled into Australia by soldiers returning from Africa after World War II, could have bred and that their descendants could be the big cats many claim to have seen in recent years. Either way, you might want to keep your wits about you next time you’re visiting the Blue Mountains!