UFO Stalks Bus!

 

The Port Lincoln Times reported in October 1988 that an Ansett bus driver, Mr Peter Chapman, reported a UFO sighting to police. Chapman claimed that about 12:15 am he witnessed a ‘bright white light’ near Mundrabilla Station, about 70 kms from the South Australian – West Australian border.

 In his report to police, he stated the object was around three meters in diameter, with no distinguishable features. It hovered on the right side of the bus, at approximately 150 meters away. The light then moved closer to the bus and followed along the Nullarbor Plain for about ten kilometres, at about 120 kilometres an hour.
There were seven passengers on board the bus, all witnessing the event. The UFO sighting was reported directly to the Eucla police.[1]

 UFO Research Australia, a group formed to document and investigate UFO sightings, dismissed Mr Chapman and his seven witnesses. They claimed it was most likely the light they saw was the planet Jupiter. They issued the following statement,

The organisation has checked meteorological and astronomical data which suggests the cause of the observation was a mixture of seeing the planet Jupiter and a misperception of vehicle lights.[2]

 

  The UFO sighting caused a stir in Australian media with many scrambling to find scientists to interview about the phenomenon. The Canberra Times sought out South Australian Meteorologist, Mr Alan Brunt.
 Brunt, who was cited as one of the few scientists to have studied optical meteorology, stated there were dozens of causes of unusual lights in the atmosphere. He stated the best approach was to try and eliminate all other phenomena at the time. He examined the upper air temperatures at the nearest weather station, approximately 100 kilometres away, at a place called Forrest, which showed a marked temperature inversion with warm air overlaying colder air, and cloudless skies.  There was high air pressure over the head of the Great Australian Bight; the skies were almost cloudless, with very light winds. Brunt stated,

 

Light travels in straight lines when we are dealing with a homogeneous medium. The atmosphere is homogeneous except when there are sharp discontinuities in the air column. One of the main discontinuities is a pronounced temperature inversion during cold weather when there is a sharp difference in the air above and below the inversion.

 This causes refraction, and the path of light is bent downwards, giving the impression the object seen is much higher than it really is. Light reacts the opposite way during hot weather to produce a mirage, when objects seem to be displaced from their true position.  The most common example is when motorists think they see water ahead of them on a bitumen road but what they are really seeing is the sky.[3]

Brunt’s explanation can be diluted down to this: the lights seen are time mirages caused by refraction. They appear when a light from a truck’s headlights strikes a temperature inversion, bends the light, and bounces it back to earth. This optical illusion is known as Fata Morgana – which I wrote about in 2014 – you can find that explanation here: https://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2026/08/fata-morgana-quest-for-ufo-evidence.html

  So does Brunt’s explanation account for all UFO sightings on the Nullarbor Plains? Probably not; there’s probably a myriad of other possibilities.
 Does it explain Chapman and the passengers' UFO sighting?  What are your thoughts?

Written and researched by Allen Tiller © 2026

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[1] 'UFO on Nullarbor', Port Lincoln Times, (20 October 1988), p. 1.

[2] 'UFO was probably Jupiter', The Canberra Times, (28 October 1988), p. 13.

[3] Flying saucers of Nullarbor just an illusion', The Canberra Times (15 October 1989), p. 19.