UFO Research Queensland is a voluntary, non-profit association established in 1956 to receive, record and research UFO sightings and close encounters. We are situated in the city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. UFO Research Queensland’s official policy is that there now exists, and has for many years, a large body of well attested sightings which are so unambiguous that the only reasonable inference is that extraterrestrial vehicles are flying through our atmosphere, landing on the ground, and entering our oceans. It is also official that certain accounts of face to face meetings with the occupants of these vehicles are true and honest and provide an important body of further documented information.

As the number of witnesses coming forward who have had sightings and close encounters with UFO’s increases across the world, governments can no longer keep knowledge of the UFO phenomenon from society. We welcome and invite all who are interested in the UFO phenomenon and desire to face the unknown by gaining further knowledge.

By becoming a member you will receive our bi-monthly magazine UFO Encounter keeping you well informed on the subject. You will also receive free entry to our public meetings. Most of all, you will be contributing to our ongoing efforts of documenting UFO activity, disseminating this information and building a better understanding of the phenomenon. You will also be demonstrating a concern over the authorities’ handling of UFO matters.

Our organisation maintains records of our research as well as exchanging information in collaboration with other UFO groups and independent researchers within Australia and overseas. We hold that the proper handling of the UFO phenomenon is vital to our future well being, and we strive to help our society to achieve this.

Your support and involvement is vital.

OUR TEAM

President: Sheryl Gottschall

Sheryl developed a deep interest in the UFO phenomenon, catalysed by her father-in-law who attended a UFO meeting in Brisbane in the 1960s, where the famous alien contactee, George Adamski, was guest speaker.  In 1988 she joined UFO Research Queensland, and three years later was asked to take on the role of President. In 1992 Sheryl and her late husband, Dr Martin Gottschall, established the first close encounter support group in Brisbane, facilitating 3 support group in total during the 1990s.

On a parallel path Sheryl also has a life-long interest in the paranormal which began in her teenage years, but in 1980 she began seriously studying the phenomenon of Near Death Experiences (NDEs). Soon after she joined the International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDs) and in 1995 hosted Dr Ken Ring for the Brisbane leg of his Australian tour where he presented research for his future book Mindsight: Near Death and Out Of Body Experiences In The Blind.

Dr Rings book “The Omega Project: Near Death Experiences, UFO Encounters, and the Mind At Large” (1992) ignited Sheryl’s interest in the connections between UFOs and NDEs which was also being reported in the lives of UFO witnesses she was interviewing. Some years later in 2012, she established the monthly Afterlife Discussions group, an associated IANDS chapter now known as Strange Encounters, where she continued to find links between UFOs and the afterlife in the stories experiencers shared. 

In 2021, Sheryl was invited to become the Australian representative for the International Coalition for Extraterrestrial Research (ICER), the first truly global international UFO organisation which aims to prepare the public for alien contact.

She speaks about the UFO phenomenon, the Afterlife and Strange Encounters at public meetings, podcasts, conferences, community groups, schools, libraries and has given hundreds of media interviews. Sheryl has written for many UFO and New Age magazines and in 2018 was a regular guest on the weekly Spooky Action radio show. In 2019 she co-hosted the weekly Strange Encounters radio show, then in 2022 she co-hosted the Strange Encounters podcast on you tube. She continues her role as president for UFO Research Queensland, receiving and documenting UFO reports from the public as well as hosting the monthly online member meetings.

Sheryl has had many paranormal and UFO experiences herself including an NDE, OBEs, bi-location, automatic writing, UFO sightings and contact with “greys”. Recently retired, she previously offered clinical hypnotherapy for clients and taught a wide variety of workshops on esoteric subjects which enrich her understanding of UFO and paranormal phenomena.

Vice – President: Barry Taylor

Barry witnessed his first UFO at age 11 but it was not until a close encounter in 1970 that he became actively involved in UFO research. From 1996 to 1999, while living in Grafton New South Wales, Barry witnessed numerous UFO “waves” and “flaps” during both day and night observations, many of which he captured on film.

In 1997, during a period of high UFO activity, his interest developed into full research and video analysis. Over time, Barry observed many different types of UFOs and developed proven techniques to see them, resulting in some very close encounters.

Barry has been a guest speaker at several UFO conferences and seminars with UFOR NSW and presented his experiences to a wide audience there. A lifetime of UFO experiences has been published in his book, UFO DOWN-UNDER – How to see UFOs and photograph them.

Public Relations: Dr Gemma Regan

Gemma is the Scientific Advisor and Media Publicist for UFO Research Queensland and hosts her long-running weekly live paranormal radio show The Witching Hour on 4ZZZ (102.1FM), exploring the esoteric and paranormal. She combines her life of UFO and supernatural experiences with her scientific training to research the esoteric and paranormal.

Gemma has a Ph.D in Biological Anthropology, B.Sc.(Hons) Biological Sciences, Grad Diploma Education Science, Diploma Parapsychology, Diploma Clinical Hypnotherapy, Diploma Instructor of Meditation and Yoga Nidra.

Editor: Lee Paqui

Lee Paqui has had a life-long curiosity about UFOs and is a long-time member of UFO Research Queensland. She is the Editor of the organisation’s bi-monthly magazine ‘UFO Encounter’, and her principle interests focus on the extraterrestrial influence on ancient civilisations and human development.  

Lee undertook a combined science and arts degree in Melbourne and was a member of the Astronomical Society of Victoria for a number of years. A defining experience was listening to career astronomers talk about observing lights in craters on the Moon that travelled in circles or straight lines, while showing no intellectual interest in understanding what those lights might have been. This was when Lee realised that the secrets of the universe were not to be found in the sciences and she opted for the ‘other’ path instead. 

Lee has witnessed a number of unexplainable ‘lights in the sky’ over the years and had many paranormal experiences in her youth that opened up a new realm of understanding. She writes for ‘UFO Encounter’ magazine and has also contributed to ‘Spheres’, ‘UFO Data’ and ‘New Dawn’ magazines. Lee is enthusiastically suckered in by conspiracies and is waiting impatiently for our planet’s next great geological upheaval. She also likes pineapples. 

Treasurer: John Conlon