Rex Gilroy

Early Career and Museum Founding

Rex Gilroy was born on November 9, 1943, in Australia and began his paranormal research career in 1959 when he documented his first unidentified sky object. His early academic interests included butterfly studies and anthropology, which informed his later approach to cryptozoological fieldwork. In 1965, he founded and directed the Museum of Natural History in Katoomba, New South Wales, in the Blue Mountains region, housing butterfly and fossil collections. This museum served as a base for his decades-long investigations into unexplained phenomena across Australia.

The Burragorang Valley "Space Base" and Blue Mountains Research

Gilroy's most significant UFO claim emerged from his investigations in the Burragorang Valley beginning in 1965, where he alleged the existence of a massive underground UFO complex—what he termed "the largest and most famous" extraterrestrial installation in the Blue Mountains region. Over subsequent decades, both he and his wife Heather reported witnessing numerous departures and arrivals of craft allegedly emerging from camouflaged openings in the terrain. This claim became the centerpiece of his UFO research, driving his 50+ year focus on the Blue Mountains Triangle—an area he identified as a UFO hotspot. In October 2015, at age 72, he established the Blue Mountains UFO Research Club to coordinate skywatch operations and organize expeditions searching for alleged underground spacecraft entrances.

Gilroy documented hundreds of UFO sightings and close encounter cases throughout Australia, maintaining extensive archives of witness interviews, photographic evidence, and field reports. His methodology emphasized firsthand investigation and documentation of lay accounts rather than conventional scientific analysis, a distinction that would define both his influence and his controversial standing.

Published Works and Alternative History

Gilroy was a prolific author whose works spanned UFO research, cryptozoology, and ancient astronaut theory. His UFO-specific publications include Australian UFOs Through The Window Of Time (featuring hundreds of sightings and ET abduction cases), Blue Mountains Triangle - UFOs, and The Pyramids of Destiny. Broader works include Mysterious Australia (1995; 2003 second edition), Pyramids in the Pacific (2000), URU, The Lost Civilisation of Australia (2005), Giants from the Dreamtime, and The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot. His bibliography extends from 1968 to 2014, with published contributions in Origin magazine (1969–1970), Psychic Australian (1976–1977), Paranormal and Psychic Australian (1978), and Australasian Post (1984–1990).

Gilroy explicitly positioned his work outside mainstream academia, stating his books were "not written for the approval of a university professor, but for the average Australian reader." He emphasized "ancient astronaut evidence" and "time window" concepts, framing UFO activity as part of a broader pattern of extraterrestrial visitation throughout human history.

Legacy and Credibility

Gilroy achieved minor celebrity status through media coverage by the Sydney Morning Herald, Discovery Channel, and SBS television, gaining international recognition in paranormal research circles. However, his extraordinary claims remained unvalidated by mainstream science. He was widely described as "eccentric, controversial, and sometimes divisive" by Australian media, and his theories conflicted with scientific evidence (for instance, sonar mapping contradicted his Lemuria hypothesis). Nevertheless, he is credited as "the Father of Australian Yowie research" and documented over 3,000 Yowie (Australian Bigfoot) reports during his career, inspiring new generations of cryptozoology researchers in Australia and beyond. Gilroy died on April 9, 2023, at age 79, leaving behind extensive archives that continue to circulate in paranormal research communities.