Last light: the Valentich mystery

When twenty-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich vanished off the coast of Cape Otway in October 1978, his final transmission to air traffic control recorded him saying, “That strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. It is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft”. These words caused a global sensation. Forty years on, those caught up in the event, from Fred’s girlfriend to the air traffic controller who spoke to him in those final minutes, continue to wrestle with what happened that night and in the days and weeks that followed. In this program, philosopher Patrick Stokes explores what the mystery of Frederick’s disappearance says about how we live with the past, and the power and limits of stories themselves.