Ghosts, UFOs, aliens and yowie stories from Bundaberg
With enough paranormal activity to fill a season of the X-Files, these extraordinary experiences from one regional city forced some people to change where they shop, others to flee, and still others to question everything they thought they knew about life and the universe.
Bundaberg
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From ghosts in shopping malls to aliens spotted inside hovering UFOs, Bundaberg residents have shared some truly strange and frightening encounters over the years.
With enough paranormal activity goings-on to fill a season of the X-Files, some of the most extraordinary experiences have forced people to change where they shop, and others to simply flee.
Shopping mall ghost
Thousands of shoppers head to the Hinkler Central shopping centre in the heart of Bundaberg every day, but what most do not know is that the popular mall is rumoured to be haunted.
Things get really weird after the doors close for the night, according to a former cleaner.
From a little boy to a lady in white, some believe the spooky happenings may be linked to old graveyards once in the vicinity.
Michael Cavanagh told the NewsMail of a number of different spirits seen and felt in the CBD mall.
One was a lady in white, another was a young boy on the escalator. Then there was the mischievous shadow figure and the items that move about on their own.
Young girl in old arcade
Another Bundaberg shopping precinct some believe is haunted is Rounds Arcade on Bourbong St.
Multiple storekeepers in the mid-century shopping hub have had their share of unexplainable encounters, with sightings of a young girl who appears all too realistic.
Buzz Superfood Bar’s Tracey Amos tells the tale of the strange time a young girl came in to the store asking to use the bathroom, only they never saw her leave.
Ms Amos said in 2022 staff often felt like someone was waiting at the counter to be served, only to turn around and find no one there.
“Some mornings you’ll be here and a shadow goes past the window and you think someone’s coming and no one’s there,” she said.
A former employee had her own eerie encounters, feeling something tugging at strands of her hair.
Hovering UFO
A Bundaberg woman said her life changed forever after seeing a UFO hovering over a Bundaberg home.
As it moved away, blue flames shot out of the UFO and it turned into something that looked like a star, she said.
The woman said it was then she sat down to process what had happened, and turned around to find her young daughter behind her, saying “don't worry mummy, they’ll come back”.
Barolin St ghost
A man recounted the terrifying moment a female ghost reached for his car door, before realising more ghostly figures were watching.
“...From what I did see of her face, she looked like she'd been crying and her eyes were very sunken,” he said.
“She looked extremely sad and tired.”
The man has never been able to explain the paranormal encounter.
Ghost that appears to brunettes
Legend has it a ghost haunts the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, but that she is most likely to appear to other women who have long, dark hair like herself.
“It starts with an unbearable chill...” a gallery worker says.
Strange objects in clouds
A Bundaberg woman was looking through photos she‘d taken of the sky only to notice two strange objects within them.
The sighting followed another woman coming forward to describe a large, circular object hovering in the sky.
‘Hairy man’ in bush caves
An article published in 1934 tells the tale of a “hairy man” who was believed to live in the Bundaberg region.
Reports at the time suggested indigenous locals would stay well away from Mundubbera‘s Auburn Falls area west of Bundaberg.
Dense scrub and giant gum trees are reported to have created the perfect environment for the “hairy man”, a mysterious, humanoid creature said to unleash a terrifying bellow.
Politician‘s claim UFO caused son’s death
A heartbreaking story, mainly lost to time, is that of former politician Lindsay Earle Hartwig.
Mr Hartwig rose to prominence in various political roles, including Monto Shire Council chairman from 1964-70, he was also a councillor for many years and was elected the Nationals’ Member for Callide from 1972-86.
But in the 1970s, a terrifying event unfolded after Mr Hartwig found his teenage son Graham lifeless by a large burn mark at his property.
“He had a strange mark on his face, which the doctor refused to let me see,” the late Mr Hartwig told media.
He believed his son had passed away from exposure to a UFO.
Yowie terrifies Bundaberg family
A Bundaberg family told of how they had considered packing up and leaving town after a frightening incident at Moore Park Beach.
Two sisters had decided to take a walk on the beach around 6pm before spotting a large, humanoid creature walking on all fours before standing up on its back legs.
They described it as massive, fast, brown and hairy with arms past its knees and about nine feet tall.
UFO in the water
Most people think of UFOs as something in the sky, but one Bundaberg man claims to have seen one under the water in the Burnett River.
He said he thought a submarine was about to surface when he was sitting beside the river one day and saw strange lights below the water.
Another local weighed in after reading about the man’s encounter, saying he believed the object was a USO - an unidentified submerged object.
Big cats
Do big cats roam the wilds around Bundaberg? Some local residents believe so.
“There has been quite a few sightings, but you get so rubbished about it you don't bother telling anybody,” one resident said of their encounter.
Bunyips
Newspapers going back as far as the 1900s told tales of bunyips in the Bundaberg region - strange creatures that would be sighted in the Burnett River.
In about 1904, a local resident, his wife and their 14-year-old daughter saw two strange creatures about three-and-a-half feet (one metre) tall, come out of water holes and run towards them.
Reports said the creatures looked like little men covered in long, dark hair.
Mysterious sounds in the sky
In 2022, Bundaberg locals were left baffled by a series of strange, loud booms coming from the sky.
Mining companies and Bureau of Meteorology experts could not explain them.
Theories for explanations ranged from atmospheric pressure waves to some joking it might have been aliens.
Alien ‘expedition’ at Lake Monduran
A UFO specialist hosted a UFO expedition at Lake Monduran in November 2022.
The event was organised by Encounters Down Under podcast host Anthony Goodall.
The plan involved using CE-5 communication, a form of meditation, to encourage extraterrestrial life to come forward.
Mr Goodall said his group did manage to spot something interesting.
“Was a great event and a good turnout with about 10-15 of us,” he said.
“Had a great time sky watching.”
The podcast episode based on the event can be found here.
Luke the Spook
Luke the Spook is one of the region‘s most famous ghost tales - a man who apparently once lived in Childers who is said to have spent his afterlife haunting the Grand Hotel.
In recent years, investigators have captured images and video they think could prove the existence of the mysterious spirit.
Strange light and sonic boom
In 2021, a strange light was captured on video over Bundaberg.
Resident reported seeing a large sphere of light moving down from the heavens, which was prominent enough to be captured on video.
The event remained unexplained, with the possibility that it may have been related to a Chinese satellite re-entering the atmosphere.
A ghost that followed a house
Back in the 1990s a man purchased a Quay St home and moved it to a property at Maroondan.
While unsure of the home‘s age, he knew it dated back to at least 1945 and believed it was built for a bank manager and his family.
But soon after the home was settled in its new countryside location, odd things started happening.
Glowing light would fill a bedroom and a strange dry haze had been left in rooms where this glow had happened.
The home‘s owner tracked down its previous occupant only to find out he had experienced lights going on by themselves in the night.
Two ghosts appear in man‘s home
A Moore Park Beach man saw two separate ghosts at his home - a young soldier and a middle aged woman.
He says the woman walked into his yard then disappeared, while the soldier appeared at the front of his house.
The ghost in flanno
Strange noises, appliances switching themselves on, unexplainable slamming doors and the occasional sighting soon became par for the course while Bundaberg‘s Darryl Brown lived in a Bargara home, which he guessed was about 60 years old.
He said the ghostly man haunting the home was about 60, thick-set and wore jeans and a flanny.
Man sights aliens in craft
A retired railway worker recalled one night in the 1960s he'll never forget.
Victor Olsen said he was on a driver‘s assistant shift when he saw an alien craft in front of the train, which had been travelling from Bundaberg to Maryborough.
“In front of us was a UFO - it was round and it was spinning and it was red,” he said.
Shockingly, Mr Olsen said he saw figures aboard the craft.
Video claims to show a mystery dog walker
Last but not least, a spooky video from a reader which has not previously been reported (above).
A reader submitted the video, saying they thought it showed a ghostly dog walker.
Tell us what you think in the comments.
Ghostly house appears in photo
Avid photographer Kenneth Reid was photographing fog at South Kolan when he decided to snap a few pictures not too far from the river in 2016.
At the time, nothing seemed unusual.
“It wasn‘t until we got home that we looked through the photos,” Mr Reid said.
“It was really foggy that morning.”
Mr Reid, who lives at South Kolan, said he wasn‘t sure whether the image depicted a trick of shade and shadow or something a little more other-wordly.
“There was actually a house down there some time that was bulldozed,” he said.
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Originally published as Ghosts, UFOs, aliens and yowie stories from Bundaberg
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