Fata Morgana & the Quest for UFO Evidence

By Allen Tiller, originally published on Paranormal New Zealand on 03/03/2014

 

 “Fata Morgana” sounds like the name of a sorceress from the legendary stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and believe it or not, that’s indeed where the term’s origins lie!
  However, it is also the name given to a complex atmospheric mirage that could explain at least some UFO reports in the Australian desert and outback, both day and night.

Many people report strange sightings in the Australian outback, day and night, of shimmering lights, glowing objects, and other unexplained phenomena, usually described as UFOs — unidentified flying objects. (Which, when you think about it, is a very broad category of objects, as anything you cannot identify that flies remains an unidentified flying object. The UFO community may need to create some more specific sighting categories — but that is a whole other area of discussion!)

  Have you ever driven your car on a hot summer’s day and noticed that watery mirage out on the horizon — the one you can never reach, but is always there? That is a type of mirage associated with hot surfaces, but it is more accurately described as an inferior mirage, rather than a Fata Morgana. The natural phenomenon behind these effects, however, is much more interesting than many people realise.

  A Fata Morgana can occur over land or sea. It is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction as light passes through layers of air with different temperatures and densities. Under normal atmospheric conditions, air tends to become cooler with increasing height. However, during a temperature inversion, warmer air can exist above a layer of colder, denser air.

  This is important because light rays bend as they pass through air of different densities. In a strong temperature inversion, the bending can become sufficiently pronounced to produce a superior mirage, where distant objects can appear elevated above their true position. Under more complex temperature profiles, multiple images can form, some inverted and some upright, stacked vertically and rapidly changing in appearance. This more extreme and complicated form is what is commonly called a Fata Morgana.

  What happens is that distant objects on or near the horizon become part of the mirage our eyes see. Because the light is refracted through layers of air with different temperatures and densities, the image can become distorted, stretched, compressed, inverted or vertically displaced.

Any object — let’s say a distant car on the horizon — can suddenly appear above the road, possibly distorted and apparently floating in the sky, moving quickly or changing shape. Sounds like some UFO sightings you’ve heard about, right?

 The interesting thing about these atmospheric mirages is that they can happen at night as well. In the Australian outback, the right combination of a warm day, a cool or cold night, calm conditions and relatively flat terrain can create the temperature structure necessary for unusual mirages to occur.

 Fata Morgana can make distant objects appear stacked horizontally or vertically, inverted, mirrored or distorted. In fact, it can distort objects so significantly that they become almost unrecognisable.

Now, before I go any further, we should distinguish a true Fata Morgana from an ordinary superior mirage or an inferior mirage. An ordinary superior mirage occurs when the miraged image appears above the true object. It is commonly associated with a temperature inversion, where colder air is trapped beneath warmer air. Light passing through these layers is refracted, causing distant objects to appear higher than they really are.

 A Fata Morgana is generally considered an extreme or particularly complex form of superior mirage. Instead of producing a simple displaced image, the atmosphere can produce multiple erect and inverted images that appear stacked on top of one another. These images can change rapidly, become stretched or compressed, and sometimes produce bizarre shapes that bear little resemblance to the original object.

 An inferior mirage, on the other hand, is the terminology used to describe the classic mirage most of us know, where what appears to be water can be seen in the distance, often beneath an object such as a sand dune, road or other landscape feature.

 This is the familiar “water on the road” effect seen on hot summer days. It occurs because the air close to a hot surface becomes warmer and less dense than the air above it, causing light rays to bend as they pass through the different layers. The apparent water is often actually a refracted image of the sky.

While both superior and inferior mirages are related to atmospheric refraction, there is more happening in a Fata Morgana. The temperature structure of the atmosphere can create multiple images and dramatic vertical distortions, making the phenomenon much more visually spectacular — and potentially much more confusing to an observer.

  As I said earlier in this article, a temperature inversion is an important part of many superior mirages and Fata Morgana effects, but the exact atmospheric structure is important. Under suitable conditions, a layer of air can act as an atmospheric duct, allowing light to travel much farther than it normally would while also being strongly refracted. This can allow distant objects or lights that would normally be hidden below the horizon to become visible to an observer.

This is where it gets a little weirder.

  A Fata Morgana can cause not only horizontal distortions but also significant vertical distortions, making a recognisable image into something totally unrecognisable to the human eye. The phenomenon can also produce considerable apparent magnification or vertical stretching.

  For a Fata Morgana to be visible to you, the viewer, the atmospheric conditions and temperature profile must be suitable for strong refraction. The geometry between the observer, the distant object and the atmospheric layers is also important. It isn't simply a matter of having hot air over cold air — the strength and structure of the inversion determine what kind of mirage is produced.

So, taking all that into account, it boils down to this…

  If you have the right weather conditions — say, a really hot day followed by a cool or cold, relatively calm night — an atmospheric temperature inversion can develop close to the ground. In suitable terrain, particularly flat or gently undulating country where cold air can become trapped, distant lights or objects may become visible through atmospheric refraction.

  And this is not just theoretical. In an experiment investigating the mysterious Min Min lights of the Australian outback, a distant vehicle was positioned approximately 10 kilometres away, beyond a slight rise in the landscape. Under suitable atmospheric conditions, observers were able to see the vehicle’s light apparently floating above the horizon. The following morning, a spectacular Fata Morgana was also observed under the same general atmospheric conditions.

 This is particularly interesting when considering reports of mysterious lights in remote parts of Australia. A distant car headlight, campfire or other light source can potentially be refracted by the atmosphere and appear to be somewhere it isn't, possibly even appearing to move as the observer or atmospheric conditions change.

  This does not debunk every UFO sighting, of course, far from it. But it certainly makes you think about many of the sightings you read about that happen in the Australian outback. Could Fata Morgana, superior mirages and other forms of atmospheric refraction be responsible for some of these sightings? The answer is quite possibly yes.

  But the important point is that each sighting needs to be considered on its own evidence. A strange light seen near the horizon under strong inversion conditions may have a very different explanation from a close-range object observed overhead.

And that is what makes the search for UFO evidence so interesting!

For more on how the effect works, please follow this link:

http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/mirages/mirintro.html

Further Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_(mirage))

http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/19-04-2003/2614-light-0/

http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/04/05/terrifying-ufos-or-fata-morgana-mirages/

Researched and Written by © Allen Tiller, 2014 (re-edited 2026)

www.allentiller.com.au

 A Haunting at Olympic Field – Coober Pedy

 Coober Pedy, South Australia is, known for its opals and underground housing. The outback location was originally home to the Antakirinja Yunkunytjatjara people, who knew the area as ‘Umoona’. Europeans first called the area the Stuart Range Opal Field, named after John McDouall Stuart, who explored the area in 1858. In 1920 a post office was established at the location, so a new name was chosen, ‘Coober Pedy’ which is an aboriginal term for ‘white man in a hole.’[1]

 On the outskirts of the town of Coober Pedy sits the Olympic Opal Field. It is claimed that during the late 1980s, in the evening, miners would report seeing the ghost of an old miner wearing a wide-brimmed hat, carrying a lantern, walking across the field. The miners would investigate, only to see the apparition disappear before their eyes.

  It is not known who the apparition may have been in life, but 3 men have died on Olympic Field. Those three men, Yanni Vosvouris, Nick Nathanael and Gregory Digaletos were killed when a cave collapsed on them in 1980. A cross marks the location of their deaths.[2]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

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[1] ‘History,’ Coober Pedy Retail, Business & Tourism Association, (2025), https://www.cooberpedy.com.

[2] ‘1990 0102,’ Coober Pedy Historical Society, (2023), https://www.cooberpedyhistoricalsociety.org.au/items/1990-0102/.

A Haunting at Melrose - St George’s Folly

 

 The original owner, and builder, of the North Star Hotel at Melrose, was William St. George. The North Star Hotel was originally licenced in 1854, operating from a simple log hut.[1] Such were the profits from his hotel, which allowed St George to build his mansion. The house featured cedar fittings throughout and was believed to be the first in South Australia to have a corrugated iron roof. Unfortunately, St. George never got to enjoy his home, as he was killed in an accident at Roseworthy.

St. George was carting furniture from Adelaide to George’s Knob, ten kilometres south of Melrose in the Flinders’ Ranges when his horses fell into an unseen railway ballast pit, toppling his cart and killing him. William St George was buried at Gawler Cemetery, which is now Pioneer Park in 1863.[2]

His house became derelict and was frequented by squatters. A 1904 newspaper article in the Evening Journal detailed graffiti on the internal walls of the house, one stated ‘I can’t sleep here tonight; this great windy house seems to haunt a fellow.”[3]
It became rumoured that the house was haunted. The Evening Journal claimed that “a party of superstitious people recently slept on the premises with loaded guns, but the ghost did not come that night.”[4]

Eventually, the property was purchased by J. H. Angus and became a part of the Willowie Pastoral Company. It was renovated and lived in by a pastoral overseer for the company John Ross and his wife Lyn. The house then became known as Rosslyn Estate.[5]

From the 1^st of November 1920, the house was occupied by Ernest Benjamin Pitman.[6]Pitman received the property from the Soldier Settlement Branch. Soldiers who were honourably discharged from Australia’s Imperial Forces and served overseas were entitled to assistance from the South Australian Government purchased land and assisted in erecting buildings, purchasing seeds and general improvements of the property.
In his book, Ghosts and Haunting of South Australia, author Gordon de L. Marshall interviewed Keith Pitman, son of Ernest. Keith stated that in the 1920s his father first witnessed a ghost. During daylight, the ghost came out from the cellar, it was a skeleton dressed in a shroud. According to Keith, his father was sitting near a window when he witnessed the ghost walk alongside the house, through a 3000-gallon water tank, and out to a paddock, some 400 meters from the house. There it stopped.
Ernest went and investigated the location and found the remnants of an old grave, but no headstone.[7]

The family believed that another ghost haunted the old home, that of William St George. They believed St. George would open doors in the house. The family never felt uncomfortable around this ghost. Keith Pitman sold Rosslyn in 2002.[8]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

[1] North Star Hotel, Melrose Community Development Association, (2022), https://www.melrose-mtremarkable.org.au/historic-buildings/
[2] 'MOUNT REMARKABLE', South Australian Register, (29 October 1863), p. 3.
[3] 'WHEN MELROSE WAS YOUNG.', Evening Journal, (29 September 1904), p. 2.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] ‘PITMAN Ernest Benjamin Hundred of Wongyarra, Sections 381/3 1 Nov 1920.’, GRG35/320 Record of land held by soldier settlers - Soldier Settlement Branch 1917-1931, State Archives of South Australia, vol 2, (2019), p. 83, https://archives.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/GRG35_320_1917-1931_Record_of_land_held_by_soldier_settlers.pdf.
[7] Gordon de L. Marshall, Ghosts and Haunting of South Australia, (2012), p. 214-15.
[8] Melrose land sale sets new record, The Flinders News, (2017), https://www.theflindersnews.com.au/story/5124039/melrose-land-sale-sets-new-record/.

A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel

- Part VII -

Conclusion + Ghost Stories.

At the end of my first post in A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel, I mentioned that there were several recorded deaths at the hotel. Each week I have supplied research on those deaths. Starting with watchmaker Dugald Wilson who fell into the basement, dying in the hotel that evening. Then Margaret ‘Maggie’ Salmon who suicided by poison in 1866. The next death was another suicide, that of August Fix who shot himself in an outlying building in 1908. In 1915 George Moran, son of the original owner, Thomas Moran died suddenly from a cerebral haemorrhage, and in 1931, the death of Irene Wight, followed by her husband Harry Castle Wight in 1932, who died ‘suddenly’.

So how do these deaths fit in with the local ghost stories?

The Mount Remarkable Hotel is alleged to be haunted by three (or more) ghosts. The first is a young woman who it believed may have drowned in the cellar. The second is thought to be the spirit woman and the third is a male who presents himself as a shadow person.
Owners have reported hearing people running through the unused upstairs section of the hotel. Poltergeist-like activity is also reported, with witnesses claiming to watch a bar stool topple over of its own volition, and cups from the pokies room being found on the floor in the morning during the opening of the room, which wasn’t there the night before.

I can find no corroborative evidence for death by drowning in the cellar. One would expect that such an event would require an inquest and that the inquest would be published in a newspaper. The second alleged spirit, without a description of what she looks like, could literally be anyone, but one could assume that the female spirit may be Maggie Salmon or Irene Wight.
The third alleged spirit that appears as a shadow person could literally be anyone, but again, one can make an assumption that the spirit may be Dugald Wilson, George Moran or Harry Wight. Without a proper description and a proper paranormal investigation done by professionals, it is hard to identify or conclude who any spirit is in any location.

Other alleged ghostly activity at the Mount Remarkable Hotel is poltergeist activity. With claims that cups appear in places they shouldn't be on opening the hotel. Often, things like cups left in a room are related to memory or misinterpretation. A person closing a hotel may think everything is away, having a brief look before locking up, then return the next day and be surprised when something is where it should not be, having missed it the night prior. However, there is always the possibility of a spirit moving things – there has been prior evidence of this in South Australia at the North Kapunda Hotel, The Port Admiral Hotel (Port Adelaide), and The British Hotel (North Adelaide).

Although I have linked ghosts to known deaths and made assumptions, this is unreliable and should not be regarded as evidence of the named people being ghosts in this location. If there are spirits haunting this hotel, they remain unidentified, and could literally be anyone who has passed through the building, or simply urban legends...

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel – Part VI – Sudden Death.

 A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel 

– Part VI – 

Sudden Death.

Harold Wight served during World War One in Egypt, where he contracted Malaria. At the time of his embankment, he and Irene were living at 162 Jetty Road, Glenelg.[1]Harold Castle Wight and Irene Pearson Wight (nee Taylor) had one child Nina Marie Castle Wight.

Prior to owning the Mount Remarkable Hotel, Harry and Irene owned the Aurora Hotel at Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide. Harry was prosecuted in court for illegally supplying liquor on Christmas day and fined 10 pounds and 1-pound costs.[2]
 

Only a few years later the Wights were in trouble again for the illegal supply of liquor, however, this time they were found innocent.

Harry Castle Wight (48), on complaint, charged with a breach of the Licensing Acts, 1917 to 1927, section 183, at Mount Remarkable Hotel, Melrose; complaint dismissed. Tried at Melrose on 22/1/29. Evidence obtained by M.C. Jones.[3]

Wight bought the Mount Remarkable Hotel from Clarence Fuller in 1928. In 1929, Wight tried to sell the Mount Remarkable Hotel and its furniture and fittings.[4]

Irene died at the Mount Remarkable hotel on 25 august 1932, aged 43 years. Harry died on 29 March 1932 at the Mount Remarkable Hotel, aged 46 years.[5]They were both buried at Saint Jude’s Cemetery in Brighton, South Australia.[6]

After the deaths of the Wights, the hotel was sold to Herbert Ey.[7]

Next Week: A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel - Part VII - Conclusion + Ghost Stories.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023.

[1] ‘WIGHT Harry Castle: Service Number - 15400: Place of Birth - Adelaide SA: Place of Enlistment - Adelaide SA: Next of Kin - (Wife) WIGHT Irene,’ National Archives of Australia, https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/418631.
[2] 'ILLEGAL SUPPLY OF LIQUOR.', The Advertiser, (26 January 1926), p. 7.
[3] ‘Harry Castle Wight’, South Australia, Australia, Police Gazettes, 1862-1947, AU5103-1929 SA Police Gazette, (1929).
[4] 'Advertising', The Advertiser, (18 December 1929), p. 9.
[5] 'Advertising', The Advertiser, (30 March 1932), p. 4.
[6] 'Family Notices', News, (26 August 1931), p. 12.
[7] J.L. (Bob) Hoad, Hotels and Publicans in South Australia, (1986), p. 390.

A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel – Part IV - Station Hand Suicide.

 A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel 

– Part IV - 

Station Hand Suicide.

 

On 12 November 1908, Martin Jacobson was doing his rounds as an ostler at about 6am for Moran’s Hotel, Melrose, when he came across August Fix. Fix was an elderly local resident who worked for the Willowie Pastoral Company. Fix was in an outside room of the hotel that Jacobson had neglected to lock. Fix was very drunk, but not disturbing anyone, so Jacobson let him be and got on with his job.
Later that evening, at 8am, Jacobson returned to check on Fix. He found the man dead. Fix had shot himself through the right temple with a small-bore rifle.

Mounted Constable Siggins deposed during the inquest that he had been summoned to the hotel at 9:20am. Siggins examined the crime scene and waited for Coroner Lewis George to arrive.[1]

Dr Hann gave medical evidence that there was,

a small bullet wound in the right temple. Edges of the wound were scorched. The course of the bullet seemed to travel through the base of the brain. There was no wound of exit, but bleeding from the left cut and from the nose and mouth. In his opinion, a cartridge of the size produced would be sufficient to make the wound and to cause death. It was quite possible for the deceased to have fired the rifle according to the direction of the wound.[2]

Mr H. M Mair, manager of the Mount Remarkable Station deposed that Fix had not worked since October 31st. He had taken to drinking heavily and had a wife living in Nuriootpa, to whom Fix had sent a telegram the morning of his suicide. In another report, it is stated Fix’s wife lived in Angaston.[3]

After a short retirement the jury found:

We are unanimously of opinion that the deceased met his death by a bullet wound in the head, fired, from a rifle by his own hand while in a fit of temporary insanity.[4]

Next week: A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel – Part V – Like Father, Like Son.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

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[1] 'SUICIDE AT MELROSE.', The Advertiser, (16 November 1908), p. 6.
[2] 'THE COUNTRY.', The Register, (16 November 1908), p. 6.
[3] 'SUPPOSED SUICIDE.', The Express and Telegraph, (13 November 1908), p. 4.
[4] Ibid.

A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel – Part III - Death by Strychnine.

A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel 

– Part III - 

Death by Strychnine.

In 1886 Margaret ‘Maggie’ Salmon was in the employ of publican Edwin Worden of the Mount Remarkable Hotel.[1]Maggie had worked at the hotel for about 14 weeks but had recently given notice to Worden that she intended to leave. On Saturday the 4^th of September, Worden had discussed with Salmon the neglect of her duties but did not sense any feelings of ill will towards himself from Salmon. Nor did he sense any melancholy from the young woman.

Monday 6 September 1886 Mr Worden saw Maggie in the morning, and she seemed not her usual self. He was told later that evening, that Maggie had admitted to taking strychnine and was laying sick in bed. Maggie died just a few hours later.

An inquest was held the following day where Mrs Worden stated she did not see the girl at dinner and enquired where she might be. She found Salmon lying on her bed, not willing to work. Salmon stated nothing was wrong.
Mary Croft, another employee of the hotel stated during the inquest that she had seen Salmon by the kitchen mantle. As she passed Salmon, the girl ran to the table, then weeping, ran to her room. She questioned Salmon in her room, where Salmon admitted to taking the strychnine. Salmon then asked to see her brother and priest.[2]

Another witness, Jane Leewee stated that on the Saturday prior to Salmon's death, she had remarked that she would like to be buried in Leewee’s backyard.[3]

The jury concluded that ‘the deceased died from strychnine administered by her own hands, and there is no evidence to show that she had any reason for so administering it.'[4]

 

A year before, Margaret Salmon, an employee at the Huntsman Hotel in North Adelaide was charged with stealing from the premises of her employer. She was found guilty and sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labour, despite protesting her innocence. Perhaps this is the same Maggie Salmon, and perhaps this is, in part, why she moved as far north as Melrose. Perhaps, her past was threatening to catch up with her, but before it could, she ended her life.[5]

Next week: A Haunting at the Mount Remarkable Hotel – Part IV - Station Hand Suicide.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

[1] J.L. (Bob) Hoad, Hotels and Publicans in South Australia, (1986), p. 389.
[2] 'CORONERS' INQUESTS.', Adelaide Observer, (11 September 1886), p. 34.
[3] 'CORONER'S INQUEST.', South Australian Register, (9 September 1886), p. 7.
[4] 'STRANGE DEATH AT MELROSE.', South Australian Weekly Chronicle, (11 September 1886), p. 10.
[5] 'LAW AND CRIMINAL COURTS.', South Australian Register, (24 October 1885), p. 3.

 Ghost Plane at Hawker

 

DH-82A Tiger Moth - photo courtesy of Temora Aviation Museum

Mounted Constable L.F. Butcher of Hawker received several enquiries on Friday 26 August 1948 regarding a low flying Tiger Moth biplane that was seen at 8:15am, then disappeared!

 Railway workers witnessed the plane flying low near the township when it suddenly disappeared into a hillside. Afraid there had been a crash, they alerted the local authorities.

Enquiries to the Civil Aviation Department found that all planes from as far away as Broken Hill, Whyalla and Albany were checked, and none matched the plane, nor its flight path. M.C. Butcher enquired with locals in the area, and no one had seen, nor heard the aircraft flying in the vicinity of Hawker.^[1]

M.C. Butcher stated in the newspapers "It's a complete mystery."

 The authorities would not believe a ghost plane could ever fly in our skies, so launched an investigation. It was widely rumoured that either a Tiger Moth or Puss Moth had been seen illegally flying somewhere near Beltana, South Australia. However, Mr A.V. Lauchland, an officer in charge of the Parafield Airport stated that there was no way the unregistered pilot could buy aviation fuel without a current registration. The Civil Aviation Department investigated through the Disposals Commission on the sales of light planes in the state.^[2]

 238 km's south of Hawker, at Clare, Meggitt’s Ltd. was using a Tiger Moth to crop dust with DDT, in fields around the Clare region. The same planes were being used in Queensland and New South Wales for the same purpose.^[3]
 So perhaps, one of the Tiger Moths had made its way to Hawker as well?

 It was never determined if the Tiger Moth seen at Hawker was a ghost plane or an illegal pilot. However, a similar style of plane was once flown over the skies of Kapunda by my Great uncle. Long after his death, and the plane being sold and removed from the area, a phantom Tiger Moth has been seen silently flying over the township from time to time…

 

Researched and Written by Allen Tiller © 2022

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[1] '"Ghost" plane in north', News, (27 Aug 1948), p. 1., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129908639.

[2] 'Is 'phantom' plane unregistered?', News, (28 Aug 1948), p. 1., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129899109.

[3] 'Linseed Dusting in Clare District by Aeroplane', Northern Argus, (18 Nov 1948), p. 7., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97816206.

Ghost of Glenloth Well Mine

Located on the Eyre Peninsula, Glenloth Well is approximately an hour and fifteen minutes south-west of Kingoonya near Lake Harry. Glenloth Well is home to the Glenloth Goldfields, a natural deposit of Gold and Hematite that was noted by the Government Geologist in 1893.

 By 1904, a mine and extraction building was constructed. A five-stamp battery mill (a type of machine that crushes rocks instead of grinding them) was built, powered by a 14-horse engine with a vertical boiler, drawing water from Lake Harry.

A small settlement was established to process the mine. The closest towns today are Kingoonya (32 km northeast), Glendambo population 77 (74 km east), and Tarcoola (87 km north-west).

In 1936, a daughter of an owner of the East-West Mine at Glenloth Goldfields, Yvonne Marie Heylen, wrote to The Mail newspaper, telling of a local ghost story.

Her article is as follows:

“Last week one of the old miners who was working as a tributer on our mine told father that there was a ghost down one of the old underlie tunnels, near where he was working. He said he could hear weird noises and sounds of running feet at night.
Next night he took his carbide lamp and crawled along the old abandoned tunnel or 90 ft. when suddenly his lamp went out.

 In the darkness, two yellow eyes of fire appeared before him, and the next instant' he received a heavy blow on the head from the ghost. Scrambling along on hands and knees, the poor miner came out of the tunnel as fast as he could and gave the alarm.

Father and one of my brothers took candles and ropes and went to investigate. They discovered that the ghost was Billie our billygoat, who had been missing for several days.

Billie was soon rescued and taken out of the tunnel.

Yvonne Marie Heylen. Glenloth Goldfield.”

 While in this case, it turned out to be a goat and not a ghost haunting the old mine-shaft, the moral of the story here is; don’t crawl into deep dark places on your own, you never know what you might find!

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2018    
The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal.

References:

1901 'IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. FIND OF GOLD AT GLENLOTH WELL.', The Register (Adelaide, SA: 1901 - 1929), 26 April, p. 7. , viewed 27 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56068329.

1936 'The Ghost in the Mine', The Mail (Adelaide, SA: 1912 - 1954), 14 November, p. 7. (MAGAZINE), viewed 26 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55732930

Gee, L.C.E. & Brown, H.Y.L., (1908), Record of The Mines of South Australia, 4th ed., Government Printer, Adelaide, South Australia.

Record of Mines, (1980), Summary card No:8, Gairdner S 5315/Harris
Noble R.J., Just J. and Johnson J. E., (1983), Catalogue of South Australian Minerals-1983, Government Printer, Adelaide, South Australia

COCKBURN: A Murder of Crowe

COCKBURN: A Murder of Crowe

Cockburn is a small town in South Australia’s outback, on the border of New South Wales. Cockburn is 50km’s west of Broken Hill and 462 Km’s north-east of Adelaide.

The little community began in 1886 after the South Australian Government struck a deal with the New South Wales government to exploit ore deposits in nearby Silverton, Thackaringa and Umberumberka.

The NSW Government turned the deal down, and local business identities instead, built their own line from Silverton to the SA border.

By 1892, 2000 people were calling Cockburn home, and the town boasted two hotels, a butcher, two general stores, schools and churches.

In 1929, Daniel Crowe, his wife Clara and six children moved to the small community. Daniel worked a shunter for the South Australian Railways Department and lived in provided railway cottages in the town.

 Earlier in the year, Daniel and Clara lost their eldest son, Daniel Jnr. in an accident at Peterborough.

Things had not been good between the couple since the death of their eldest son, and over time Daniel became suspicious that his wife was cheating on him with a man named Kennedy.

One-day Daniel wasn’t feeling good and decided to go to the doctor at Broken Hill. He asked Clara to go with him and she replied; “Not on your life. I have to see a friend tonight.”
 Daniel replied; “I am nothing?”
To which Clara replied; “Yes. You are alright, but I think that I have met better!”

Daniel left to see his doctor in Broken Hill. On his way back into Cockburn he noticed Kennedy acting suspiciously, ducking and weaving through train carriages as if trying to avoid him.
Daniel burst into his home and asked Clara; “What is the strong of this?”
 Clara screamed back; “Go to Blazes! Why did you not stay in Broken Hill, you’re not wanted here!” and stormed off into the bedroom.

 The following morning, Clara, the 15-year-old daughter of Daniel and Clara Snr. awoke at 7am, she lit the fire in the kitchen readying it to make breakfast. Younger sister Kathleen, went into her mother’s room to rouse her. Suddenly a scream ripped through the house, and Kathleen came back in the room, and fighting through tears, said to her brothers and sisters “Mummy is dead!”

The night before, Daniel had stormed out of the house and made his way to the rail siding, where he knew a bottle of Lysol was stored. He then made his way back to the family home, loaded his rifle, and snuck into the bedroom.
 He squatted at the foot of the bed, and shot his wife one time in the face, somehow not waking the entire household.

At 3:30 in the morning, he was seen by eldest daughter Clara, who had been disturbed by the sounds of something falling over, entering the kitchen and getting a bottle of beer, then muttering to himself “Now that’s done”, before exiting the back door of the house.

 Eldest Daughter Clara ushered her siblings off to a neighbour’s house and alerted the police. They arrived and found Clara Snr. dead in her bed, 50 yards out from the rear of the house, they found the unconscious body of Daniel laying on the ground.

Daniel was taken away and placed in Parkside Mental Hospital in Adelaide, under suspicion of murder and attempted suicide by poison.

He was questioned by police but denied remembering anything to do with the incident.

Daniel Crowe faced magistrates at Gladstone Gaol, with his attorneys issuing a statement of insanity as his defence.

The Jury hearing the case could not decide one way or the other over the charge of murder, so Daniel Crowe was left indefinitely in the Parkside Asylum. He died in 1962.

Cockburn is now a town of about 25 people, with one pub….

© 2018 Allen Tiller

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Bibliography

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1929 'COCKBURN TRAGEDY', Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW: 1888 - 1954), 12 September, p. 2. , viewed 07 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46579207

1930 'COCKBURN TRAGEDY', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1889 - 1931), 13 February, p. 11. , viewed 07 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73795383

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Gaol or Hospital? Stories From The Gladstone Gaol: Part IV

Gaol or Hospital?

Stories From The Gladstone Gaol: Part IV

  Gladstone Gaol was built in 1879 at great expense to the colony, and many questioned why such an imposing building was erected in such a remote location. During its many years of operation, it rarely housed hardened criminals, other than those awaiting transfer to Adelaide Gaol. There were no long-term serious offenders kept within its walls. Those serving lengthy sentences were transported to Adelaide Gaol, while Gladstone was used primarily to house drunks, debtors, and other low-level offenders.

Looking down on the inside of the tower
© Allen Tiller

More often than not, however, the gaol housed the sick, the elderly, and the disabled. It became common practice to transfer frail and ill prisoners from Adelaide Gaol and other prisons throughout the South Australian colony to Gladstone to spend their final days. Many were elderly women who would ultimately pass away within its walls.

One such example was reported in the following newspaper article. I also mentioned Eliza Evershed in Part One of this series. She, too, was transferred from Adelaide Gaol and died at Gladstone. It seems to have been a common theme, doesn't it?

The South Australian Advertiser

Tuesday, 1 December 1885 – Page 5

"Caroline F. C. Grahlow, an old woman, died in gaol yesterday. An inquest on the body was held at the gaol by Mr Ingram J.P., Mr Stewart being foreman of the jury.

The evidence of the doctor, matron, and the keeper was taken, and a verdict was returned that death occurred from natural causes.

The woman's age was 65. She was sentenced in Adelaide to four years' hard labour for burning a dwelling-house and had served nearly eighteen months of the term. She had been ailing ever since her arrival here, and a fortnight ago the doctor asked for a remission of the remainder of her sentence owing to her suffering, but the order for her release only came here this morning. Up to the time of her death, she did not acknowledge the crime for which she was sentenced.

Mrs Rofran, sister of the deceased, arrived by train from Adelaide this afternoon with a coffin, and the remains were taken back on this evening's train for interment in Adelaide. It seems that the Government will persist in weeding out all cripples and dying people from the Adelaide Gaol to this one.

Since its establishment, the Gladstone Gaol has been nothing better than a hospital, and many complaints have been made, but to no purpose. It is said that most of the prisoners here are invalids from Adelaide. The case of the poor woman who died yesterday is a most pitiable one and should be enquired into."

Between the walls of Gladstone Gaol
© Allen Tiller

By the end of 1885, little had improved at Gladstone Gaol, as this article from the South Australian Weekly Chronicle demonstrates.

South Australian Weekly Chronicle

Saturday, 19 December 1885

"Another Sick Prisoner from Gladstone Gaol"

"Gladstone, December 16.

A prisoner has been released from the gaol in order to go into the Adelaide Hospital. The poor woman had to be carried into the train this morning. She is utterly helpless and in a pitiable state.

A male and a female warder from Adelaide came for her, and under their charge the prisoner was taken away. Dr Hamilton ordered her removal. This is another instance of sending prisoners here in a frail condition, making this prison an asylum for sick criminals."

Although Gladstone Gaol was built to house prisoners, it appears to have spent much of its existence functioning as a hospital and transfer station for the sick, the elderly, debtors, and inebriates, rather than as a prison for serious offenders.

While there were several escapes over the years, only one escapee was never recaptured. The gaol also witnessed a number of deaths within its walls—but none were the result of execution, riots, medical experimentation, or firing squads.