“Unknown Power” Mystifies Farmer at Tarcutta.
A mysterious power which is said to be hurling plates 150 to 200 yards from a stationary milking machine, has led to an appeal from Tarcutta for a research officer of the C.S.I.R. at Canberra to investigate the occurrences. Scene of the mystifying events is the dairy farm of Mr Laurie Wilkinson, 11 miles from Tarcutta on the Oberne Road. According to Mr A. Portors, of Tarcutta, who has had more than 20 years’ experience of milking machines, the hurling of plates from the machine commenced eight days ago. He said that a five-stand milking machine was without motive power when the machine belt was turned to make an adjustment.
“A pulsator plate, composed of brass and bakelite, was hurled noiselessly from the machine in a northerly direction for 200 yards and fell on a stony ridge where it cut a mark 18 inches long and an inch deep in the soil,” he continued. “On the following day, the machine was examined by hand power, three pulsator plates disappeared before our eyes. The plates were found about 150 yards away.”
Mr Wilkinson is scared and has decided not to work the machine. He has since resorted to milking by hand. Mr Portors said that the hurling of the plate had occurred every day last week. “To-day,” he said, “a plate spun out of the open side of the milking shed. After a search for five minutes, it was located in a mud patch in the creek bed 150 yards away. A slight hase hung about the spot where the plate was found and there was a smell like that of a burning arc lamp, but the plate was cold when we picked it up.”
“We are frightened to operate the machine,” Mrs Portors told The Canberra Times. “We are mystified at the source of this unknown power which can hurl plates noiselessly for 200 yards, and want someone to investigate the whole affair.”
When the matter was reported to the C.S. and I.R. an officer immediately contacted Mr Portors and suggests that he should contact the agricultural officer in the district. If after an examination he could not offer any explanation, the matter should be reported to the Wagga City Engineer. It was pointed out by a C.S. and I.R. officer that a 60,000 volt power line was constructed near the scene of the mysterious happenings. “High tension wires sometimes become awry and remarkable things occur. It is possible that these wires have something to do with the phenomenon,” he said.
There is an electro technology division of the C.S. and I.R. in Sydney and if no solution is found by the agricultural officer and the Wagga City Engineer, the matter will be reported to it.
The Canberra Times, 19th January 1949.
Soaring milk plate sets poser.
Canberra: The phenomenon of part of a milking machine being hurled inexplicably 200 yards away is baffling residents of Tarcutta, New South Wales. So intrigued are they that an appeal has been made to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for a scientific officer to conduct an investigation. Mr A. Portors, garage proprietor, of Tarcutta, said today the phenomenon had been a daily occurrence for more than a week, although it had now ceased. “But I hope the cessation is only temporary, because I believe the matter should be fully investigated,” he said. Describing the incident which, he said, had been seen by at the fewest a dozen men, Mr Portors said that on the farm of Mr A. Wilkinson, at Open Creek, 11 miles from Tarcutta, while the milking machine was being turned by hand without the power connected a pulsator plate composed of brass and bakelite was suddenly hurled away to the north and was later found in a mud patch 200 yards away.
“Its speed was so great that it became invisible in flight. An extraordinary feature is that it entered the mud patch without a splash or causing a wide hole,” said Mr Portors. Mr Portors discounted a theory that the cause might be a power line. The nearest line, he said, was 11 miles away. He added the machine itself was mechanically perfect and in its pulsations the plate moved only half an inch.
Brisbane Telegraph, 19th January 1949.
Mystery in Tarcutta Dairy.
Canberra, Tuesday: Mysterious happenings on the dairy farm of Laurie Wilkinson, about 11 miles from Tarcutta on the Oberne Road were referred to C.S.I.R. officers at Canberra today for advice. Pulsator plates have been hurled two hundred yards from a milking machine by some unknown power for the last week. Alex Portors, of Tarcutta, reported the occurrences to the C.S.I.R today and said Wilkinson was too scared to use the machine and had gone back to hand milking.
C.S.I.R. advised reference to the electrical engineer at Wagga. It is believed that the cocurrence may have something to do with the new power line recently put through. Portors said that the plates were thrown from the machine first when it was being moved by hand. A plate was recovered on stony ridges two hundred yards to the north of the milking shed. Next day three plates hurled themselves noiselessly from the machine and were recovered about 150 yards away. On Monday a plate was found in the bed of a creek in a mud patch surrounded by a blue haze and had a smell like a burning lamp. It was not hot.
Portors rang Canberra and asked for advice as Wilkinson was scared and declined to touch the machine until the mystery was cleared up. C.S.I.R. was unable to advise as no expert in this line is available there, but suggested a report to the agricultural inspector and the Wagga electrical engineer. If it is not cleared up then, it will be referred to the scientific experts in Sydney.
Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), 19th January 1949.
“Flying Plates”
A Wagga mystery.
Dairy farmers baffled.
Canberra, Jan. 10.
“Flying Saucers” have grown into “Flying Plates” and are baffling farmers at the Tarcutta dairying district, near Wagga. Pulsator plates attached to a milking machine have been hurld 150 to 200 yards by some mysterious power. The plates are of solid brass, about 3 in long and 1 1/2 in wide and half an inch thick. They weigh about 13 oz. […]
Kargoolie Miner (WA), 20th January 1949.
Tarcutta Mystery.
Unknown power could be used, says engineer.
The mysterious power which had been playing tricks with a milking machine at Tarcutta could be put to use, a Tarcutta engineer said last night. Indications were that the power would be wasted because of official apaathy, he added. The engineer, Mr A. Portors, said he had received a discouraging reply from the Canberra section of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to his request for a scientific investigation. Mr Portors approached the C.S.I.R. in Canberra last Tuesday, after pulsator plates from the milking machine on Laurie Wilkinson’s farm at Tarcutta had, on several occasions, been hurled up to 250 yards by a “mysterious agency.”
Yesterday Mr Portors received a letter from Mr D.T. Dickson, chief of a C.S.I.R. division at Canberra, suggesting that the machine be inspected by a dairy expert and an electoral engineer before further reference to the C.S.I.R. If the experts and the engineer found there was a phenomenal power at work, their reports could be sent to C.S.I.R. headquarters at Melbourne, Mr Dickson added. (Only plant and insect research was carried on at Canberra). Mr Portors said he was disappointed that the Canberra officers had not referred the matter to their headquarters at once. It would be a waste of time to call in the dairy expert and an electrical engineer. This suggestion was just “side-stepping”, declared Mr Portors.
A power strong enough to hurl metal plates faster than the eye could detect for 200 yards and more obviously warranted official investigation, he continued. He believed the occurrences were evidence of a power which could be put to use only by the Government. Mr Portors said he was not prepared to say what his theory was, and he would not write it to C.S.I.R. headquarters because he might be ridiculed. “These people in the cities are apt to think everyone in the country is a nitwit,” he remarked. He added: “I have been in engineering since 1917, and I know that the milking machine is without any fault. The machine is perfect: I could get signatures from 20 adults, sensible men who have seen the phenomenon to swear to it.”
Mr Portors said he had not made up his mind whether to take the matter further, but he was inclined to think it would be no use doing so. “We have every proof that this thing does happen,” he said,” but if the experts do not hurry up there will be little or nothing to see. The only record of the occurrences are marks made by the plates in mud, which would disappear soon, and marks on some galvanised iron.” Mr Portors believed the queer behaviour of the plates was likely to recur only under exceptional circumstances, bu that scientists could detect the power responsible by other means. With “some amount of trouble,” the happenings might be made to recur, he added.
Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), 22nd January 1949.
“Bewitched” machine at Tarcutta normal.
The “bewitched” milking machine at Tarcutta has returned to normal. On Tuesday it was reported that the machine (on Laurie Wilkinson’s dairy farm 11 miles from Tarcutta) was being used again without anything queer happening. On Tuesday it was reported that for a week a mysterious force had been hurling pulsator plates from the machine as far as 250 yards. The C.S.I.R. has undertaken to investigate the occurrence.
Narandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser, 25th January 1949.
Plates Still Fly.
Tarcutta mystery baffles farmers.
Engineer sceptical.
“Flying plates” at a Tarcutta dairy farm still remain a mystery, and were flying again a week ago. Some three weeks ago much interest was aroused by a report that pulsator plates attached to a milking machine have been hurled 150 to 200 yards from the machine by some mysterious power on a dairy farm at Tarcutta.
“You might think we are ‘loco’ here, but I’ve got about 16 witnesses,” said Mr A. Portors, of Tarcutta, to a ‘Herald’ reporter, on January 19. “I’ve run an engineering business for 30 years, and I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this,” he said. “I’ve run an engineering business for 30 years, and I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this,” he said. The machine, which is owned by Laurie Wilkinson, started throwing the plates on January 10. It stopped doing it over a week previously, and stopped on January 18, added Mr Portors. “The plates are three inches long and an inch and a half wide. They weigh about 1 oz. At first they were only thrown down the yard.
“Wilkinson experimented, cutting the fibre faces off the brass plates and substituting leather, but they were thrown further. He became scared, and decided not to work the machine. He’s been milking by hand, but he’s shown visitors how the plates are thrown. Dairy farmers from all around here have come along to see the machine do it, and it has just flung the plates to glory. they’ve all been as amazed as we are, and nobody has been able to explain it.”
Pressed for a possible explanation, Mr Portors said: “There’s a build-up of power there. The power is only exerted for a fraction of a second, but the plate picks up tremendous speed, and the momentum carries it on. It’s always thrown in a northerly direction. It is noiseless, too. I’ve watched for a plate leaving the machine, but could not sight it. It’s so fast you just can’t see it.
“A slight haze hung about the spot where one plate was found embedded in the mud 150 yards from the machine. Evidently, when it entered the mud, it was travelling in a complete vacuum. The plates were thrown when the power was off and the machine belt was turned by hand.”
Wilkinson’s young son began to move one of the plates with an iron bar when suddenly the bar was wrenched from his hand. It became embedded in the concrete floor, and the plate was flung 200 yards away.
Mr Clem Gorman, of Earlwood, Sydney, who is holidaying with Mr Ray Donohue of Innisfail, dairy farmer, Tarcutta, said: “I saw it, but I wish to God I had not seen it. It is frightening. There’s no reason so far as I can see why this should happen and I’m a mechanical man. I wish I’d never seen it because it disturbs me greatly.”
The Wagga “Advertiser” reports that the plates have been flying again, and states after resting for a few days, the “unknown force” came to light again on Saturday and Sunday week.
A Tarcutta resident said last night that the left hand end pulsator plate flew off the machine on January 22. On the Sunday he said, two more of the plates disappeared, and one has not yet been traced. He said that several men, including some members of the R.A.A.F., Forest Hill, were witnesses of the “flying plates.”
The owner of the milking machine, Mr Wilkinson, is reported to have fenced off the machine with pig wire. He removed the wire to show visitors just what happened when the “unknown force” had been working. An electrical engineer from Forest Hill said the most amazing thing about the whole business was that the plates left the machine with a terrific velocity, and in some cases rose in elevation. He said that one of the plates had gone through the tin wall and another had sliced a small sapling.
The “Sunday Sun” reported that the machine on Friday last threw five pulsator plates so far that the owner cannot find them. It was stated that the machine has been throwing 13oz plates up to 250 yards since January 10. It throws the plates whether it is switched on or off.
Mr A.N. Fuller, M.P., has told Prime Minister Chifley that Tarcutta dairymen are worried about the mystery. Mr Chifley advised him to get the makers to send experts to examine the milking machine.
Yass Tribune-Courier, 1st February 1949.
“Fantastic and Utter Rot.”
Sunday Telegraph reports that Mr H. Dowsett, assistant engineer of the Southern Riverina Council investigated the milking machine last week. He found no evidence to support earlier reports and in a caustic report referred to a boy and a girl on the farm, between ages of 9 to 12 years, and commented:
“To those who have seen these plates vanish before their eyes, I can say: ‘Look again, but don’t look too hard.’ The plates, if found some distance from the dairy, have been thrown or placed in position. Marks on the ground and posts have been made by man or beast, and the whole situation is fantastic and utter rot. I would suggest that no further trouble will be experienced at least with the afternoon milkings, after the termination of the present school holidays.”
Tarcutta Mystery.
Farm owner threatened to sell out if problem not solved.
If the mystery of the “flying plate” milking machine at Tarcutta is not soon solved, Mr Laurie Wilkinson, owner of the farm on which the machine is installed, will sell out. He announced his intention of doing this to Councillor A. O’Brien, president of Kyeamba Shire Council, yesterday. Cr. O’Brien said last night that the peple who should be concerned at the mystery, such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, were not taking enough interest in the matter. “It seems to me that they won’t send a scientist down here until someone is killed or seriously injured. We don’t want that to happen,” said Cr. O’Brien. The machine “played up” badly yesterday morning.
“Mr Wilkinson was very distraught when I saw him today,” Cr. O’Brien said. He pointed out that Mr Wilkinson has a maimed hand, and because of the peculiar behaviour of the machine, he and his young son had to milk 50 cows by hand. Cr. O’Brien said Mr Wilkinson believed that if he installed a new machine on his property there was a strong possibility that it would also “play up.” He was not prepared to take the risk.
Mr O’Brien said plates had been thrown from the machine when the power was off and the works stationary. Cr. O’Brien telegraphed Mr Orsham yesterday and contacted Mr Fuller, M.H. R., by telephone. He asked both to make further representations for a scientific investigation of the mystery.
Mr A. Portors, Tarcutta engineer, last night completely discounted the suggestion by Wagga engineer, Mr J.H. Dowsett, that a young boy was responsible for the plates leaving the machine. He said one of the original plates had been found and placed on the machine at the weekend. A man had kept a careful watch on the machine, but the plate disappeared before his eyes on Sunday morning. “The man was the only person present at the time,” said Mr Portors. He pointed out that Mr Wilkinson had only had two trouble-free milkings in more than three weeks.
Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), 2nd February 1949.
Tarcutta’s flying pulsators; a strange phenomenon.
By John Esmond.
Strange happenings at the dairy of Mr Laurie Wilkinson, 12 miles up Tarcutta Creek from the village of the same name, have been given wide publicity since the first incident about the middle of last month. As most of those who have witnessed the disappearance of pulsators from this milking plant are personally known to me, when at Tarcutta last Sunday week, I spent some hours at the dairy, and talked over these happenings with Mr Wilkinson, Mr Alex Portors, garage proprietor at Tarcutta, and a radio expert who spent three days at the farm trying to form a theory on it, after witnessing the departure of three pulsators the previous week.
Notwithstanding allegations that trickery is at work, there is no doubt whatever that some form of static electricity, or other phenomenon, is operating at this dairy, and the integrity and veracity of several men I know well is beyond question, adn they have witnessed the happening, some of them more than once.
The dairy is built on well grassed undulating land rising from the creek valley, the homestead is about 140 yards distant, with a high hill rising about 600 or 700 yards to the west. Tarcutta Creek is about 200 yards to the east, and a small creek runs past the homestead to the north of the dairy into Tarcutta Creek. The milking shed is built on an east-west line, witha gable room; the engine room and cream room is attached to the western end, with a gable room running north and south. The floor is of concrete; walls of rooms are of [?] and vacuum pump are [?] the concrete floor.
The milking plant has been working for [?] years, and until the middle of [?] month behaved normally. Milking late one night Mr Wilkinson heard a rush of air into the vacuum lines, indicating that a pulsator had been displaced by push and pull rod that operates them, as sometimes happens. He was surprised to find three pulsators out of the four in the cowshed were missing. They were found next morning at varying distances, mostly in a northerly direction from the shed. Since then around 20 pulsators have been thrown from the machines, up to 140 to 150 yards in some cases; five have not been recovered.
On Monday evening last the radar expert and Mr Portors were standing in the engine room; milking had finished and machinery had stopped. On the flat surface of the vacuum pump were a 1 lb grease tin and a 2oz. tobacco tin, both containing oil or grease. The larger tin rose about 5 or 6 feet, and then crashed to the floor at a tangent, landing alongside the radar man. There is an iron partition about 6 feet high between engine and milk rooms, with a door opening on the back wall.
On his way into Tarcutta on Tuesday morning Mr Wilkinson informed me that during the morning milking the larger tin, which had been replaced on the vacuum pump, came over the partition into the milk room, and crashed to the floor. The 2oz tobacco tin went over the front wall into the milking shed. He was then on his way to Tarcutta to ask the local police officer to go up and see what was happening, in the hope that his report would induce the visit of some high-ranking scientist to investigate the happenings. He is concerned that someone will be struck by a flying pulsator, and seriously injured or killed.
That static electricity or some other phenomenon is operating is supported by a recent experience of another dairyman whose place is about four miles nearer Tarcutta than Mr Wilkinson’s. Working late one night he noticed flashes coming from the composite belt driving his vaccum pump as it ran over the pulley thereof. He held a flat file close to the pulley, and then placed a car headlight bulp against the other end of the file. The bulb burst, and the shock threw him against the wall close behind him. The continued friction of pulsators on their base, and of the belt and pulleys, may possibly have developed an electrical field; for some violent force is necessary to hurl these pulsators up to 150 yards from the dairy.
The nearest power line is 11 or 12 miles distant, and can have no part in it, as a dozen dairies are much closer to it than Mr Wilkinson’s.
Each pulsator weighs 13 ozs, they measure about 3 ins long by 12 ins wide, with a flat machined surface which slides on the fixed portion of the vacuum line where each milking machine is located, with a master pulsator in the engine room.
It would be interesting to know whether any dairyman amongst your readers, using machines, has ever lost a pulsator from his machine, and perhaps put it down to theft or other action. If so I would be glad to hear from him. The sliding pulsators are normally held in place by the push rod which rests in a semi-circular portion on top of the pulsator, and are therefore most likely to be thrown from the machine. Mr Wilkinson had them in his car on Tuesday morning, taking them to Tarcutta to have iron loops welded on to them, so that he could attach each by stout chain and staple to the bargeboard carrying the overhead machinery. His left hand is crippled and almost useless in hand milking, and the whole business is telling on his nerves to such a degree that he will sell out if he cannot get normal use from his machines.
The Corowa Free Press, 8th February 1949.
Milking machines take wing again.
Mr. L.A. Wilkinson, of Tarcutta, near Wagga, wants “the right kind of people” to come to his dairy farm and elucidate the mystery of his flying milking machines. For the best part of a year, somebody or something, has been dismantling his milking machines, and other farm machines, and hurling parts into the paddocks.
During the past fortnight he had been milking his herd by hand, until kindly neighbours lent him their milking plant and yards, because bits of his milking machines had re-entered the aviation field. Mr Wilkinson says that during the past year this ghostly power has:
Dismantled a diesel engine, a McCormick-Deering engine and a separator and four-stand milking plant; Lifted and moved half a waggon axle weighing 65 lb; Screwed a bolt six inches long its full length into the top of a post; Hurled one piece of the milking plant half a mile.
The Land (Sydney), 21st October 1949.
Mad Milker of Tarcutta.
Sydney, Sat.
Farmers and others in the Tarcutta district of the Riverina are challenging Canberra scientists to investigate their famous mad milking machine. Five months ago they invited the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to send a scientist to Tarcutta to discover why the milking machine kept hurling off its pulsator plates and other parts. The C.S.I.R.O. did not accept the invitation. It told the machine’s owner, dairy farmer L. Wilkinson, to send for an expert from the makers. This expert, and local engineers and neighbouring dairymen, have tried to make the machine behave, but have failed. Now the dairymen are looking in the direction of Canberra.
Mr Wilkinson, a hard-headed farmer, does not believe in poltergeists (obstreperous ghosts), but he has had enough of the machine. When he wants to milk his cows he takes them to a neighbouring farm.
Farmers say the machine shows a sort of intelligence to its tantrums. When wire-netting was placed on one side to catch the parts, the machine changed the direction of the throw.
A Tarcutta engineer, Mr A. Portors, said: “Canberra scientists may laugh at a distance, but let them try to explain these happenings.”
Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld), 30th October 1949.
Mr L.A. Wilkinson, the Tarcutta dairyman whose “flying milking machines” created such a sensation a year or so ago, is still a very worried and very puzzled man. The mystery just won’t clear up, or clear out, or whatever it is that ghost-like visitants do when the time comes for a fade-out. Recently the poltergeists have played up so badly that for two weeks the plagued victim of these mysterious pranks was forced to do his milking by hand till a neighbour came to the rescue by placing his yards and plant at the unfortunate man’s disposal. On and off, these extraordinary capers have been going on for more than a year with these results: The dismantling of a Diesel engine, a McCormack-Deering engine, a separator and a 4-stand milking plant, as well as lifting half a waggon axle, 65-lb in weight. Machine parts were sent flying at terrific speed, and one 6-inch bolt was driven right into a post. Other parts ploughed along the ground for some distance and to a depth of 1 1/2 inches. One object was hurled more than half a mile away, and milk taps whizzed through the air for a distance of 14 chains. A ghostly and unnerving sort of performance.
The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer (NSW), 18th November 1949.
The Great Tarcutta Mystery.
Early this year the world received with scepticism a story that a family at Tarcutta was being terrorised by some strange force which was causing parts of a milking machine to fly, unaccountably, through the air. A scientific investigation was unable to explain the phenomena. They have, however, been reported at intervals ever since, with serious effects upon the health of Mr Lawrence A. Wilkinson, the farmer who owns the machine. At the request of reputable residents of the district, “The Sunday Herald” last week sent a reporter and photographer to Tarcutta to make a first hand investigation of the mystery.
11 months of strange events in… the ‘Haunted’ Farm.
Scientists puzzled as tins float in air.
First-hand story.
Early this year weird, unaccountable happenings began to terrorise visitors to the lonely dairy farm of Mr Lawrence A. Wilkinson, near Tarcutta. In Mr Wilkinson’s “haunted” milking shed parts of a milking machine mysteriously flew off in all directions. These events have continued throughout the year. In broad daylight scared neighbours have reported having watched tins rise in mid-air. Recently, a 2 1/2 lb brass part of the machine disappeared, to be found 250 yards away. Some people believe it is supernatural. The experts don’t know. What do you think?
A “Sunday Herald” reporter visited the farm last week. Here is his story:
Mr Wilkinson’s “haunted” milking shed is on a hillside in the heard of the fertile Tarcutta Valley, 48 miles from Wagga. Hundreds of metal parts, weighing from 2oz to 2lb, have been flung as far as 250 yards. A cast-iron axle weighing 65 lb was lifted 2 ft off the ground with a noise which Mr Wilkinson describes as “a terrific bang.”
Some observers believe this inexplicable behaviour is a poltergeist phenomenon. That is to say, it originates in a force unknown to science that manifests itself in moving furniture in haunted houses, breaking crockery, and throwing heavy objects without human or mechanical intervention. If so, the happenings at the Tarcutta dairy are probably the most astonishing examples of poltergeist behaviour in the history of psychic research.
When I visited the farm last Thursday a weird change had come over the milking shed. In an effort to stop the machine from flying to bits, Mr Wilkinson had tied every moving part to the walls and rafters with bits of chain, wire and rope, giving the appearance of one of those fabulous machines drawn by humorous artist Heath Robinson. Yet parts of the machine, both moving and stationary, continue to fly about, twisting the heavy iron dog chains that secure them as if they were soft copper wire.
Mr Wilkinson said that since January 10, when the first incidents were observed, every single moving part of his milking plant has been thrown off by some mysterious force. Twelve of them are still missing.
When the outside world first heard of the mysterious events at the “haunted” milking shed they were viewed with suspicion and ridicule.
But such facile explanations are derided by no fewer than 15 eye-witnesses, all of whom were present at different times when objects were flying about. None can offer a reasonable explanation. One man even spent a night in the milking shed in a vain attempt to solve the mystery. Mr Wilkinson called in machinery experts from the company which sold him the machine. They told him it was in perfect order. He called in mechanics from Tarcutta and Wagga. They said there was no mechanical defect anywhere. Dairy inspectors from the N.S.W. Department of Agriculture came to the farm. They said the machine was running perfectly and could not account for its weird behaviour. Public Works Department engineers and police officers examined the machine, and were equally nonplussed.
Scientists of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation last month failed to locate the source of the mysterious happenings. Their report has unleashed a whole chain of speculation. All sorts of explanations are offered. Among them are these: – Mechanical Defect. No. The agents for the milking machine, departmental experts, at least three independent milking machine experts, and three farmers who use the same type of machine all testify that Mr Wilkinson’s plant is in perfect working order. Magnetic Disturbance . No. Most of the working parts which fly off the machine are of brass, which is non-magnetic. Tests for ground magnetism are also negative. Radio Beam. No. Several radio beams to guide aircraft cross above Mr Wilkinson’s dairy, but radio experts from the R.A.A.F. station at Forest Hill, Wagga, are satisfied that the electrical impulses are far too weak to cause the phenomena.
Hypnotism. No. Too many people, too many times, have seen the phenomena to justify this hypothesis. Trickery. No. Suspicion was first turned on Mr Wilkinson’s son Robin, aged 15, by a letter published in “The Daily Advertiser”, Wagga, on January 29. The writer said: “I suggest that no further trouble will be experienced, at least with the afternoon milkings, after the termination of the present school holidays.” But when the holidays ended and the boy returned to school the strange happenings continued. They also continued when he was absent at Albury for three weeks last winter. Underground Mineral Force. This solution has not been tested. Poltergeists. Poltergeists, or “racketing spirits” as they have been called, are known to psychic research as the forces responsible for moving inanimate objects in so-called haunted houses. The phenomena at the Tarcutta dairy bear a strong resemblance to other well-documented cases in other parts of the world.
Investigator believes a poltergeist is cause of trouble.
By a member of the Magic Circle (London).
After a visit to Mr Wilkinson’s so-called “haunted” dairy and a careful study of all the evidence, I am convinced that the whole affair is of poltergeist origin. Poltergeist is a word used in psychical research to cover all sorts of strange happenings, such as the movement of heavy objects, loud noises and rushes of cool air, which cannot be explained by any physical force known to science.
When I went to Mr Wilkinson’s dairy I had two things to settle in my mind. Was the rampaging milking machine in a state of neglect and disrepair? And was there any loophole for trickery? The answer to the first question was patently “No.”
Mr Wilkinson himself is too stolid and hard-working a farmer to want to play tricks on himself. The continued disintegration of his milking machine has imposed a tremendous physical strain upon him and reduced his nervous system to a wreck. Then what of his son, Robin. Here is a strong, healthy boy of 15, obviously interested in machinery, always doing odd jobs in the dairy and – most suspicious circumstance of all – the indefatigable retriever of missing engine parts. But I am convinced Robin intentionally was not responsible for these strange goings-on. The evidence of eye-witnesses is that although he was present when some phenomena were happening, he was miles from the place when other things happened. Yet it was the boy Robin who gave me a clue. He said, in answer to my question, “Not much happens while I’m away.”
That was it. The history of psychical research in other countries proves that nearly all poltergeist phenomena occur in the presence of a human agent, usually an adolescent boy or girl. In other words, I think it is reasonable to susspect that the absurd happenings at Mr Wilkinson’s farm are of poltergeist origin and that the human agent in the case is Mr Wilkinson’s son.
(The Magic Circle is the leading and oldest society of amateur and professional magicians in England).
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They saw weird sights at Tarcutta Dairy.
When I visited Mr Lawrence Wilkinson’s dairy near Tarcutta I met 11 of the 15 people who have actually been present in the dairy at different times when heavy objects were flying. Here is what some of them told me:-
Mr Alexander Portors, garage proprietor, Tarcutta. – “I was standing in the creamery with some friends watching the master pulsator, which had been flying off. Mr Wilkinson walked into the engine-room and turned off the engine. He had only just left the engine-room when an empty 1lb grease tin, which had been standing on the top of the vacuum pump, began to rise slowly in the air. We saw it spinning as it rose. It cleared a 6ft wooden partition with 18 in to spare, then turned and fell with terrific force to the ground about 18in from where I stood. A peculiar thing about it was that it seemed much bigger than it really was – as big as a football. I suppose that was because it was spinning diagonally. We were so astonished we thought we’d see what would happen to an empty 50-cigarette tin. We put it on the top of the moisture trap of the vacuum pump. A minute or so later it also rose over the 6ft partition.
“On another occasion I was called in by Mr Wilkinson to repair his engine. I was standing in the milking shed with all the machines in view when I heard a loud rush of air, and on looking up found that one of the pulsators that produce the suction for the milking machine was missing. We later found it in the grass outside the shed, a distance of about 30 yards. The shed is open on two sides and the pulsator would meet no obstruction in its flight. After this I made further tests and found the machine was throwing off more pulsators, some of which were later found 150 yards away, nearly all in a northerly direction from the bails.”
Mr R.V. Donohoe, mechanical engineer, Tarcutta. – “I was standing at the door of the milking shed with Mr Portors on the day the pulsators flew off. One moment they were there, the next moment they were gone.”
Miss Veronica Donohoe, Tarcutta. – “I was standing in the separator-room with my father, Mr Portors, and Mrs Portors when I saw the grease tin rise in the air and crash at my feet with a loud bang. I got a terrible fright.”
Mr Edward W. Brown, drover, Tarcutta. – “I went to Mr Wilkinson’s dairy one day with Mr Portors to see what was the matter with his milking machine. We examined the pulsators, made sure they were fixed firmly on, and then started up the engine. Suddenly the master pulsator flew off. After the master pulsator went we had a look at the other pulsators and found two of them were missing.”
A Radio and Electrical Engineer (name suppressed at his request). – “When I first heard about the strange events at Mr Wilkinson’s dairy I didn’t believe them, but I thought I’d go out and see for myself. I went, and as a result of what I saw I visited the dairy again and again, as many as 20 visits in all, sometimes spending whole week-ends there. I was with the party of people who saw the grease tin and cigarette tin rise in the air, but there were many other remarkable experiences.
“I once kept the master pulsator block in the creamery under observation for four hours. Suddenly I became aware that it had gone. We found it later 50 yards away in the paddock. One Sunday, sometime in August, I was looking through the engineroom door when I saw the lid of a cream can lift itself off the creamery shelf, rush through the air and strike the opposite wall. No one was present when this happened but myself. Mr Wilkinson’s boy was in the cottage 100 yards away. It’s impossible to explain these things by any known law. I’ve thought of magnetic deflection and electrical interference, and at one time I made a lot of electro-physical tests with instruments I brought to the farm for the purpose, but all my tests proved nothing. It’s the biggest mystery I’ve ever experienced.”
Mr Wilkinson’s 15-year-old son, Robin, fixing a chain to prevent an observation glass being thrown from the milking machine. An investigator believes a poltergeist is the cause of the strange events at the farm and that Robin is the agent.
Mr Lawrence Wilkinson, owner of the dairy near Tarcutta, where astonished neighbours have seen parts flying from a milking machine and tins floating in mid-air. Experts cannot account for these mysterious happenings. Some people believe they have a supernatural cause.
Scene of the Tarcutta mystery. White lines show the paths taken by flying pieces of metal. The 2lb machine part which the boy, Robin Wilkinson, is picking up was found 250 yards from the “haunted” milking shed.
The Sunday Herald, 4th December 1949.
Scientists puzzled by mystery of “haunted” farm.
All kinds of theories, some serious, some jocular, were advanced in Sydney yesterday to account for the strange happenings reported to have terrorised residents at Mr Lawrence Wilkinson’s “haunted” farm near Tarcutta. For 11 months, it is claimed, parts of a milking machine have been flying mysteriously in all directions, and metal objects have been seen floating in mid-air. Speculation ranges from black magic and evil spirits to a new theory of gravitation. Yesterday, the president of the Kyeamba Shire Council and president of the Tarcutta and District Progress Association. Mr A.A. O’Brien, invited scientists to investigate the mystery. He said: “If there’s any hidden source of energy in the vicinity of Mr Wilkinson’s dairy it should be thoroughly investigated in the public interest. If it costs money we are prepared to assist financially.”
The president of the Psychic Research Society, Mr H.L. McLoskey, said: “We should welcome an opportunity to investigate the happenings. They appear to be definitely of poltergeist origin, that is to say, they come within the category of those occurrences associated with the movement of inanimate objects which cannot be explained by any physical force known to science. Poltergeist activity is common in other parts of the world, but rare in Australia, though that may be because a great deal of evidence has never been investigated. In fact, far too much poltergeist activity in this country has been allowed to remain on the threshold of legend instead of being brought into the light of day.
“What particularly interests me in the Tarcutta case is the presence of a 15-year-old boy when the activity is most pronounced. The history of this sort of thing shows that you usually find an adolescent boy or girl present when the phenomena occur. They seem to possess some psychic force that is responsible for producing the phenomena, a force that disappears as they grow older.”
Officers of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation who visited the “haunted” farm last October reported they were “satisfied the occurrences are not related to any new source of energy.” They added: “It does not appear, therefore, that any scientific investigation, such as this organisation, with its present far from unlimited resources, could undertake, would be of any value in explaining the happenings.”
A Sydney physicist, Mr Leonard A. Gulson, advanced a new theory. He said: “Thousands of miles below the surface of the earth, far below the earth’s hard crust, vast masses of molten matter rotate at great speeds, setting up gravitational turning torques about a line drawn at right angles through the centre of each rotating mass. Now if the centre lines from two or more of these great rotating masses of molten metal cross at a point near the earth’s surface an increased force or torque will be created at that point. And if this point where the forces cross is above the earth’s surface, a distinct lifting and turning motion will be created at that spot, causing stationary objects to be whirled or whisked first upward and then outward toward the direction of whatever force is the stronger. Naturally, it is only at very rare occasions when such converging forces would cross in the ether at a point low enough to the earth’s surface to be observed by man in the manner experienced on this farm, and, in any case, the phenomena would disappear in time as the moving masses of molten matter harden and the angle of their forces change direction. This theory is a more scientific and reasonable way of accounting for the mysterious behaviour of metal objects on Mr Wilkinson’s farm than suppositions about ghosts, black magic, and poltergeists.”
But this theory is derided by Professor V.A. Bailey, professor of physics at the University of Sydney. “Such a nebulous theory is unknown to me,” he said. “It cannot be regarded as a serious solution of the problem. It is possible that the University of Sydney would send qualified investigators to look into the matter, but we should first have to know more about the investigation carried out by the C.S.I.R.O., which is an extremely competent body, with a great many competent scientists on its staff.”
Finally, the “Herald” received a call yesterday from a man who claims to have experienced similar phenomena in Burma and Java, where such occurrences are attributed to “black magic.” “Take it from me,” he said, “the remedy for the sort of thing that’s been troubling Mr Wilkinson is prayer. An extraordinary case of stone-throwing I heard about in Burma in 1941 was cured from the moment a group of Christians assembled at the spot and prayed.”
The Sydney Morning Herald, 7th December 1949.
Mysterious force lifts shed roof.
Bowral, Thurs. A milking shed was mysteriously unroofed at Mandemar, 15 miles from Bowral, this morning. The shed is on the property of Mr W.H. Richards. This morning Mr Richards, who had been in the shed a few minutes previously, heard a crash. He turned and saw that the shed had been unroofed. Mr Richards found buckled iron roofing sheets 80 yards from the shed. Mr Richards said he did not think a whirlwind had carried the roof away. Only a faint breeze was blowing at the time.
(Several residents of Tarcutta – 200 miles south of Bowral – have said they saw heavy objects moving under a strange force at the dairy farm of Mr Lawrence Wilkinson. A milking machine pulsator flew 150 yards.)
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 16th December 1949.
Former Amberley Man’s Observations.
“Flying Plates” mystery due to whirlpool!
Recent on-the-spot observations of the “flying plates” mystery on a dairy farm near Tarcutta in the Wagga district of New South Wales have convinced Mr H.W. Radel, formerly of the Amberley R.A.A.F. Station, that the strange occurrence warrants investigation by scientists. In an eye-witness’s account of the phenomenon, Mr Radel yesterday described how pulsator plates of a milking plant and other metal objects in the dairy at different times suddenly were hurled by an invisible force hundreds of yards out of the building. Their flight was noiseless, and was too fast for the eye to follow, he said. Interested persons and machinery experts had been baffled by the mystery.
Mr Radel some time ago was transferred from Amberley to the Ground Training School at Wagga. He is at present spending leave at Amberley. A successful diviner, he wondered if there was underground water in the area, the influence of which might be a contributing cause of the mystery, and in his periods off duty spent some time at the dairy observing the strange movements of the metal plates, and checking his theory. He believes a subterranean whirlpool immediately beneath part of the dairy building may be a cuase of the erratic behaviour of the metal parts.
Place of the mystery is a dairy farm owned by Mr L.A. Wilkinson, about 11 miles from Tarcutta. The mystery first manifested itself on January 10, 1949, and has recurred periodically ever since, Mr Radel said yesterday. However, he had heard reports of earlier unusual happenings in the area, including the sudden movement of pieces of rock, and of cattle, alone in open ground, being struck by stones.
The area in which the dairy is situated is bounded on the western side by a range of hills about 1000 ft high. The hills end abruptly on the bank of Tarcutta Creek, which curves round from the east to the southern side of the land. To the north of the property are stony ridges. The dairy is an L-shaped building with a concrete floor. In the foot of the “L” are two rooms, one housing the milk vat, etc., and the other the engine, vacuum pump, and shafting of the milking plant. The remainder of the building accommodates the cattle stalls and the milking board on which are affixed the milk tube to the vat, the air tube to operate the milking machine, and a rod which gives a sliding motion to the pulsator plates on the air line.
The mystery began when for no apparent reason pulsator plates, each 3in. long, 1 1/2in. wide, and weighing about 13 oz., suddenly were hurled from the pipe on which they slide, and were found some distance away in the dairy yard. On the lower surface of each plate was a fibre washer fitted into the brass, and in an effort to remedy the “disappearing act” of the plates, Mr Wilkinson cut off the fibre and substituted leather. The result – the plates were still thrown from the pipes, but they travelled greater distances, up to 205yds from the plant.
Thinking the machine might be at fault, Mr Wilkinson arranged for the makers of the machine to send an expert to check it, but the technician found no mechanical defect. Since then, at varying intervals, the plates still have been hurled off the air pipe and out into the yard. The speed of their flight was so great it was impossible for human eyes to follow the course, Mr Radel said. At one moment they were working satisfactorily on the plant, the next instant one was likely to have disappeared, and would be found later about 200yds away.
The plates always have been thrown in a northerly direction, out through the open side of the building, and have never struck a metal object or a human. In an effort to prevent the loss of the plates, which cost 30/ each, Mr Wilkinson had a metal guard placed over the milk board so that when the plates were thrown off, they would be caught in the guard and could be replaced on the pipe. However, when another plate flew off the pipe it ploughed a furrow in the wooden board the depth of a finger, turned a right angle at the end of the guard without striking an iron wall opposite the end, and finished in a wooden box in a corner of the building.
The plates usually are thrown off when the milking plant is in operation, driven by the engine, but instances have occurred when the power was turned off and the machine belt turned by hand, Mr Radel added. On other occasions, other metal objects in the dairy have been moved mysteriously, he went on. A tin, milk taps, and parts of the milking plant also had been hurled great distances. A half dray axle, weighing 65 lb, was resting on the floor of the dairy on one occasion. While Mr Wilkinson was away from the dairy temporarily he heard a loud noise, and on investigating found that the half axle had been moved on to the driving shaft. An impression in the concrete floor showed that the mysterious force had lifted up the heavy object and, in falling back, it had dented and chipped the concrete in an outline of itself before rebounding and coming to rest on the shafting.
On other occasions parts of two engines had suddenly been stripped off and were found hundreds of yards away. To prevent these disappearances Mr Wilkinson had attached chains to most of the movable objects in the dairy, but the chains often had been broken by the great force lifting the objects, Mr Radel said. It was impossible to keep bolts on machinery secure as they continued to spin out of the nuts and threaded holes.
Mr Radel, who has divined for water successfully on many occasions, moved around the area with a rod to locate the position of any underground water supplies. He said he found that an underground stream, about 1000ft deep followed the course of Tarcutta Creek, and at a spot immediately below part of the dairy there was a subterranean whirlpool about 4ft in diameter which exerted a terrific force on his divining rod. The vacuum pump and part of the shafting of the milking plant were situated just above the edge of this underground whirlpool, he said, and he considered this set of circumstances may be contributing to the strange movements of the parts.
He recalled an incident in the Coalstoun Lakes area near Biggenden about 15 years ago, when an aquaintance who had divined an underground stream there had told him of the mysterious disappearance of tools and metal objects while he was working, and of their discovery some distance away from the site. A well sunk there had maintained for a level of 90 ft. of water for some time, then suddenly had dried up.
Mr Radel said yesterday he considered the mysterious force at Tarcutta warranted investigation by scientists. “It is a mighty force,” he added, “and my observations have convinced me it is a job for scientists.”
Two electrical experts from Melbourne recently had observed the phenomenon, but had gone away baffled, he added.
Queensland Times, 5th January 1950.
Found support for theory on “flying plates” cause.
Further observations at the “flying plates” dairy farm at Tarcutta, near Wagga, N.S.W., have convinced Corporal H.W. Radel that his theory regarding the cause of the mystery is sound. After he had been transferred from Amberley to the R.A.A.F. Ground Training School at Wagga, Col. Radel last year made on-the-spot observations on the dairy farm where pulsator plates of a milking machine and other metal objects in the milking shed suddenly were hurled by an invisible force hundreds of yards out of the building. He described the strange occurrences in an interview early in January while he was spending leave in Ipswich.
Now transferred back to Amberley from Wagga, Cpl. Radel yesterday explained that objects still were moving from the milking shed, though more infrequently. He described recent further investigations he had made on the dairy farm, which is owned by Mr Lawrence Wilkinson. A successful water diviner, Cpl. Radel on his visits to the farm last year moved round the property with a rod to locate the position of underground water supplies. He said he found an underground whirlpool about 4ft in diameter at a spot directly below the dairy. The vacuum pump and part of the shafting of the milking machine were immediately above the edge of this subterranean whirlpool. The underground water exerted a terrific force on his divining rod, and he concluded that the effect of the whirlpool on the milking plant’s parts was contributing to the strange movements of the metal objects in the dairy.
On his recent visit to the dairy, Cpl. Radel was accompanied by two companions. When one of them, Cpl. Cyril Peake, saw him cutting a divining rod he asked for directions in its use to see if he, too, had the ability to use it. Although he had not divined before, Cpl. Peake found the rod responded for him and soon he had become adept in its use to locate underground water. As a check on his own observations, Cpl. Radel asked his companion to try the rod in the vicinity of the milking shed, and Cpl. Peake also located the whirlpool directly under the shed.
Together they carried out an intensive test with their rods over the area surrounding the milking shed and found that one small underground stream flowed from the direction of Tarcutta Creek into the whirlpool and another subterranean flow ran from beneath a gorge in a mountain range on the western side of the farm into the whirlpool. Their rods indicated, however, that there was no outlet from the whirlpool.
Corporal Radel’s theory is that water flowing into the whirlpool from these two sources builds up a terrific pressure in the underground pool which has an effect on the milking plant above ground, causing the sudden, swift movement of the pulsator plates and other metal objects. He hopes to have his theory tested in two ways. For some months now the Tarcutta district has been experiencing a spell of dry weather which, he said yesterday, would cause a consequent reduction in the flow of underground streams. That is the reason, he believed, why the “flying plate” incidents have been occurring infrequently lately. When the district has copious rains again he expects that the resulting increased flow underground will cause intensified activity of the mystery force.
Another test he hoped will prove his theory is the sinking of a well on the course of the underground stream flowing from the mountain gorge into the pool beneath the milking shed. A local prospector seeking mineral deposits in the mountains began sinking a hole above the course of the stream and had reached a depth of 20ft. when a hand injury caused him to postpone further work. At the beginning of this month, however, he resumed the excavation with the object of tapping the underground stream and obtaining a water supply which would be piped to Mr Wilkinson’s farm. Cpl Radel’s divining indicated the water would be reached at a depth of 60ft. Cpl. Radel believes that when the well taps the underground stream it may act as a safety valve to the pressure in the underground whirlpool, allowing water to rise up the well when pressure in the pool mounts. In this way, he considers, the whirlpool’s effect on the milking plant may be reduced considerably with a consequent lessening of the movement of the pulsator plates and other articles.
On Cpl. Radel’s recent visit to the milking shed he found that Mr Wilkinson had taken every precaution to prevent further disappearances of parts of the plant and other things in the shed. Practically every movable object had been anchored firmly to the building by chain or pieces of heavy wire, and articles in constant use, like milk cans, were kept behind barricades.
Queensland Times, 10th February 1950.