UFO 'dive-bombs' couple

AN ELDERLY couple claim they had a close encounter with a UFO while travelling along a Territory highway.

Lawrie Fuchs, 70, and his wife Gwen, 69, were returning to their home town of Elliott following a trip to Queensland last Friday when they say the UFO swooped them as they drove along the Barkly Highway.

Estimated to be about six metres wide, they say the object passed the vehicle with such speed that its slipstream forced their Mazda sedan into the middle of the road.

They were travelling in a westerly direction and were about 55km east of the Threeways roadhouse when the incident occurred.

"It was about 4pm when suddenly we saw a dark, silvery flash and heard a loud sound as it passed,'' Mr Fuchs said.

"It was travelling at a terrific speed, very bloody fast, and there was no warning at all.

"I'm sure it dive-bombed us but I can't imagine why.''

"I do a lot of bush work and over the years I've seen a number of strange, unexplained things,'' he said.

Mrs Fuchs said she saw a little flash just below the sun visor then heard a loud whoosh as it passed over.

"I actually thought it hit the car, but there were no marks,'' she said.

Mr Fuchs, a mechanic who has lived in Elliot for 40 years, says he took the incident in his stride.

"I don't talk about it much because sometimes people don't take you seriously.''

Last week, another man reported seeing a UFO near Tennant Creek. Alan Martin, who is deaf, was obviously shaken by his experience. The Aboriginal man in his 40s had bought alcohol and headed alone into scrub land to avoid being humbugged.

He described seeing a disc-shaped object at close range. His drawing indicated it had red, green and blue lights. - ntn