The New York Times wrote in December of 1944 (the article can be ordered by those who have

a NY Times subscription) “The Germans have a new weapon...” referring to the German flying

saucers. On the German side, the reports by soldiers were that these remote-controlled white

German UFOs (balls) in the sky interrupted the electronic systems of the bombers and took quite

a few of them down; however, Germany did not have the material resources to massively build

these UFOs as they needed specific material and the Russians had already invaded the German

homeland. Instead, they snuck their best UFO scientists and material out of the country via U-

Boote; he fastest ones in the world and unbeatable in 1945. Mr. Bormann, Adolf Hitler’s

assistant, said in 1946 in Stockholm: “We will be back, but in a way the world will never forget.”

The NY Times made fun of it as not to scare the American bombers. If they had known that

some of them were taken down, American and British pilots would not have wanted to fly.

New York, NY New York Times - 14 December, 1944

Floating Mystery Ball

Is New Nazi Air Weapon

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, Allied Expeditionary Force; Dec. 13 – A new German weapon

has made its appearance on the western air front, it was disclosed today.

Airmen of the American Air Force report that they are encountering silver colored spheres in the

air over German territory. The Spheres are encountered either singly or in clusters. Sometimes

they are semi-translucent.

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, Dec. 13 (Reuter)–The Germans have produced a “secret”

weapon in keeping with the Christmas season.

The new device, apparently an air defense weapon, resembles the huge glass balls that adorn

Christmas trees.

There was no information available as to what holds them up like stars in the sky, what is in

them, or what their purpose is supposed to be.

Stars and Stripes (European Edition) - 16 December, 1944

2

‘Xmas Bulbs’ in Nazi Skies

New German Secret Weapon?

The Nazis inadvertently keeping in the Yuletide spirit, have produced a new secret weapon,

apparently for air defense, resembling the huge multi-colored glass balls used to decorate

Christmas trees.

These transparent spheres, colored silver and other shades, hang in the air either singly or in

clusters. No information has been revealed as to what holds them up like stars in the sky, what

they contain, or what their purpose is supposed [to be.]

[They have been] seen several times floating over German-held territory.

Despite the new “secret” weapon there won’t be a “Merry” Christmas in the Reich this

year. Instead, according to German radio, “Christmas this year must be marked by hard

work.” Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler nevertheless assured the Nazis that “this war will end in

victory for us.” Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Nazi chief of staff, warned the Wehrmacht to

continue giving the Hitler [salute.]

PROJECT 1947

UFO REPORTS - 1944

On the way out, I found a phone booth and called Splitt. [Orville Splitt, Pentagon Public

Relations magazine section]

"Foo fighters?" he said. "Sure, I remember those stories. You think those are your flying

saucers?"

I could hear him snicker.

"Just checking angles," I said. "Didn't the Eighth Air Force investigate the foo fighters?"

"Yes, and they found nothing to back up the pilots' yarns. Just war nerves, apparently."

"How about a look at the Intelligence report?" I asked.

"Wait a minute." Splitt was gone for twice that time, then he came back. "Sorry, it's classified."

"If all this stuff is bunk, why keep the lid on it?" I demanded. I was getting sore again.

3

"Look, Don," said Splitt, "I don't make the rules."

"Sure, I know – sorry," I said.

Flying Saucers Are Real by Donald E. Keyhoe, Fawcett Publications, Inc. 1950, New York, page

36

The American homefront was not exempt from strange things in the sky. On the banks of the

Clinch River at Oak Ridge, Tenn., a huge, black, windowless building, 525 feet long, 80 feet

wide, and 75 feet high, was constructed in record 70 days. In the middle of September, 1944,

this structure, a gaseous diffusion plant began operations. This unusual factory was designed to

prepare sufficient quantities of fissionable material for the United States' most important secret

weapon: the atomic bomb. Shortly after the plant started operations the area had a very odd

visitor:

“...about dusk on a September evening in 1944 a Mr. Nelson in the company of two other Oak

Ridge workers, A.C. Butler and Albert Profitt, were driving from Oliver Springs into Oak

Ridge. At a point about two miles out of Oliver a strange object showed up about fifty feet in

front of the car and at about the height of the windshield. Nelson said it was glossy white in

color, and the reflected light had a dimension of about thirty feet long and four feet wide. When

Nelson eased the car up to the object, it moved slowly away, and when he stopped the car, it also

stopped. Nelson claims that he called people out from a house by the roadside to see what they

were observing, and they were as dumbfounded at the sight as the three men were.

“Finally, after Nelson had moved forward and stopped again several times, the light rose high

into the air and disappeared over Black Oak Ridge. The men reported the incident to the

superintendent of schools, and the FBI was contacted in Knoxville. Nelson said that at first the

FBI was very interested in the report but then they seemed to lose interest in it completely. He

assumed that they found out that the object was some sort of secret weapon being developed at

Oak Ridge and so it was no longer of any interest to them.”

Source: Loren Gross' manuscript, “The Mystery of Unidentified Flying Objects—A Prelude

1896-1949, September 1971” (revised in 1973), quoting an account from Lorenzen, Coral and

Jim, UFOs the Whole Story, New York, The New American Library, 1962, page 23-24,

reproduced with permission.

PROJECT 1947 Comment: The FBI figures in a number of early UFO reports. Besides this

Oak Ridge event, a 1945 Minnesota incident was supposedly reported to them and another by a

reporter from the Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal in October 1946. These incidents do

4

not figure in the UFO documents released by the FBI and indicate some possible areas for further

research.

The Allies were not the only ones puzzled.

The Axis forces were encountering similar phenomena:

“It was a September night in 1944. Somewhere near Epinal in the French province of Lorraine,

Private Immel and 500 other German soldiers were dug in, waiting for the Allied advance.

Suddenly, Immel saw an object hovering nearby. There was neither light nor sound.

‘It was silver-white, like dull aluminium,’ recalled Immel ... ‘It stopped a few feet from the

ground, above some railroad tracks near us... It was round and about 6 fert in diameter. But as it

got closer the shape changed to oval. I raised my rifle and fired. As soon as the bullet struok it,

it flared up into the brightest sunlight I'd ever seen.

‘Every one of the 500 men in my company opened fire on the ball of light. However, the next

morning, when we searched the area, we found nothing.’ ”

One of Germany's Axis partners, Romania, also had a visit from a strange aerial object:

“On a summer day in 1944, engineer George Zmeuranu was near the Vage [Vega] refinery,

Ploiesti, immediately following a bomb raid and 'one of the oil tanks was burning...'

‘Then I (Zmeuranu) noticed a pointed object coming from the north,...It was yellow...but with a

whitish tail which, when it met the clouds of smoke, seemed to shorten and vibrate in a strange

way.’

(The object) traveled at a high rate of speed. Over the burning refinery it turned, stopped

momentarily, then ziggagged (sic) toward the north and disappeared.”

Source: Flying Saucer Review Volume 15 #1, page 3.

UFO Sighting, Camp McCaine, Grenada, MS, - Summer, 1944

5

NOrth 7-

9434

NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE ON AERIAL

PHENOMENA

1536 Connecticut Avenue N. W.

Washington 6, D. C.

MAY 13

1958

REPORT ON UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT(S)

This form includes questions asked by the United States Air Force and by other

Armed Forces' investigating agencies, and additional questions to which answers are

needed for full evaluation by NICAP.

After all the information has been fully studied, the conclusion of our Evaluation

Panel will be published by NICAP in its regularly issued magazine or in another

publication. Please try to answer as many questions as possible. Should you need

additional room, please use another sheet of paper. Please print or typewrite. Your

assistance is of great value and is genuinely appreciated. Thank you.

1. Name MRS FRANCEEN ANDRON Place of Employment OIL PAINTER &

HOUSEWIFE - MOTHER

Address 504 EAST 89th St. N.Y,C. Apt 1A

NAME PROFFESSIONAL: (sic)

TZPORAH, FRANCEEN LEE

Occupation IN HOME STUDIO

Education HIGH SCHOOL

Special Training MUSIC, RELIGION,

TYPIST

2. Date of Observation SUMMER OF 1944 Time ? ABOUT NOON OR PAST

3. Locality of Observation CAMP MCCAINE, GRENADA, MISS

4. How long did you see the object? ABOUT 5 MIN (PERHAPS LONGER)

5. Please describe weather conditions and type of sky; i.e., bright daylight, nighttime,

dusk, etc?

HOT, CLEAR, SUNNY

6. Position of the Sun or Moon in relation to the object and to you.

SUN WAS IN BACK OF ME - FOR I DO REMEMBER BEING ABLE TO GAZE UP

WITHOUT TO (sic) MUCH TROUBLE

7. If seen at night, twilight, or dawn were the stars or moon visible?

8. Were there more than one object? YES If so, please tell how many, and draw a

sketch of what you saw, indicating direction of movement if any. ABOUT THREE

DISCS AND ONE RESEMBLING A CIGAR

[NOTE: SKETCH ON SPECIAL PAPER ATTACHED]

6

9. Please describe the object(s) in detail. For instance, did it (they) appear (solid), or only

as a source of light; was it revolving, etc? Please use additional sheets of paper if

necessary. THEY WERE REAL - OF INTELLIGENCE!!

10. Was the object(s) brighter than the background of the sky?. YES

11. If so, compare the brightness with the Sun, Moon, headlights, etc.

12. Did the object(s) — (Please elaborate, if you can give details.)

a. Appear to stand still at any time? YES, THEY WERE STATIONARY

b. Suddenly speed up and rush away at any time? YES

c. Break up into parts or explode? NO

d. Give off smoke? EXPLAINATION (sic) ON ATTACHED PAPER

e. Leave any visible trail? NO

f. Drop anything? NO

g. Change brightness? YES

h. Change shape? YES - (IN A WAY) WILL EXPLAIN

I. Change color? NO - YES " "

13. Did the object(s) at any time pass in front of, or behind of, anything? If so, please

elaborate giving

distance, size, etc, if possible.

14. Was there any wind? NO If so, please give direction and speed. SLIGHT

BREEZE, VERY SLIGHT

15. Did you observe the objec(s) through an optical instrument or other aid, windshield,

windowpane,

storm window, screening, etc? What? JUST MY EYES - IT WAS SO CLEAR

16. Did the object(s) have any sound? NO What kind? How loud?

17. Please tell if the ob{ect(s) was (were) —

a. Fuzzy or blurred.

b. Like a bright star.

c. Sharply outlined. VERY SHARPLY

7

Click Image for larger version

8

Download Document as .pdf File

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholms-Tidningen - 2 November, 1944

A light phenomenon of especially remarkable nature was observed around 6:00 in the evening,

on Wednesday [November 1], in the vicinity of Stallarholmen, east of Strangnas. Karl

Adamsson, an electrician, was bicycling north on a road toward Overselo Church, when he

suddenly observed a flashing light which repeated several times.

A grove of trees stood in his way, and when he came around that, the flashing ceased. Instead,

he saw at great height a kind of “fireball,” which shone with a dull golden light. It came from

the southeast at a very great speed. He saw it move toward the northwest a little more than half a

mile, whereupon the ball stopped and hung motionless in the air.

In a few seconds it continued, but this time back in the direction it had come from. When it had

covered a stretch of about a third of a mile, it stopped once again and remained motionless for

about five minutes, during which it continously shed a rain of sparks. The light gradually

diminished and in the end completely disappeared.

What the whole thing may have been no one has been able to figure out. Several persons noticed

the phenomenon.

Extract from: "From the Archives (2): UFO Phenomena in the Fall of 1944, by Anders

Liljegren/AFU, translated into English by A. Liljegren, page 2.

9

The following letter was retyped by AAF Intelligence from the handwritten original from Mr

Casimir J. Bidas, who had been a Gunner with the 783rd Bomb Squadron of the 465th Bomb

Group, 15th Air Force in Europe during WW II. Some of the names were incorrectly transcribed

and have been corrected using the resources of the 783rd Bomb Squadron website:

http://www.783rd.org/index.html

134-14 - 97th Ave.

Richmond Hill, New York

July 6, 1947

War Department

Attn: Army Air Forces

Washington. D. C.

Gentlemen:

After reading an article about the flying discs which appeared in the paper recently, I decided to write

this letter.

My first acquaintance with it was during the war when I served as a gunner on a B24 in the Fifteenth Air

Force. In the latter part of the year 1944, coming from a mission over Europe this matter was seen by

several of our crew members. This was reported after the mission to the S2, during interrogation and

written in the report.

This was a bit out of the ordinary at the time to believe, and many arguments arose as to the fact that it

could be a wing tank jettisoned from a fighter escort, however the men said it was not of this nature.

Later possibilities arose that it was "chaff" being dispersed from the aircraft. The answer was given that

this object so called a disc was from 15 to 20 feet in diameter and of silvery substance as given in the

report by Sgt. Bantktt [Puckett] and S/Sgt Diulrooney [Mulrooney].

Should these records still be available this matter could be confirmed. It was the 55th wing 465th Bomb

Grp and 783 Sqd under the name of Lt Harold - Thornersnew [Shoener].

I was on Lt Thornersnew's [Shoener's] crew until he was killed on Jan 20, 1945 with those who witnessed

the so called flying disc, and I am one of the three original crew members left.

10

As I have previously mentioned, this matter coulld be confirmed in those S2 reports. The exact date is

not known, however one of the following dates is the time when the disc was seen:

10-12-44 11-6-44 12-19-44

10-13-44 11-18-44 12-20-44

10-16-44 11-20-44 12-27-44

10-20-44 12-6-44 12-29-44

11-1-44 12-11-44

11-4-44 12-15-44

Sincerely yours,

/s/ Casimir Bidas

NOTE; Unable to decipher proper name correctly - [illegible]

New York, NY New York Times - 21 December, 1944

BERLIN'S DEVICE FUTILE

Silver Spheres Above City Have No Effect

Special to The NEW YORK TIMES.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20—No “detectable effects” have been noted from the mysterious “silver

balls” that American pilots recently reported were floating over Berlin, an official Army Air

Forces spokesman said today.

The objects were described as silver, or silver-covered, but the AAF does not know whether they

are metal, the spokesman said. He added that the descriptions had been contained in newspaper

reports and that headquarters here had had no reports from the theatre.

11

Newsweek Magazine - 25 December, 1944

The Silver Spheres Puzzle

A massive assault by the United States Army Air Force based in Britain and Italy last week

brought the air war in Europe to a new peak of [illegible word] and technique. At a season when

bad weather ordinarily reduces air activity, the Eighth, and Fifteenth Air Forces surpassed all

previous records and in a single day sent 2,100 heavy bombers and 1,150 fighters against the

Reich.

From Britain, 1,600 heavies, escorted by 800 fighters flew in five waves stretching over 300

miles. They were manned by 16,800 airmen: they carried 4,000 tons of explosives and

incendiaries. Once over Germany, in cloudy weather that grounded the Luftwaffe and required

Americans to use electronic bombing devices, the Fortresses attacked rail yards at Frankfurt and

Giessen; the Liberators bombed rail yards at Hanau. From the south the Fifteenth's heavy

bombers hit Moosbierbaum oil refinery near Vienna.

But though German defense was limited to anti-aircraft fire, the German was still ready for

battle, still ingenious in defense. Dispatches heavily censored by Supreme Headquarters

revealed that American pilots have recently encountered a new phenomenon over Germany:

glittering Christmas tree ornaments. Sometimes translucent, floating single or in clusters, the

balls are presumably a new form of aerial interference. Recalling the Americans and Germans

use of tinfoil strips dropped by attacking planes to confuse Radar instruments on the ground,

Hanson Baldwin, military analyst of the New York Times, made this educated guess on the new

German weapon.

“The new 'silver spheres' might represent...the reverse of this idea. Such spheres drifting about

in the sky, might interfere with and confuse the radar in attacking planes, thus making 'blind'

bombing impossible, or far more inaccurate than it normally is.”

Stars and Stripes - 28 December, 1944

12

TAKE IT FROM HERE

By Ed Clark

OVER GERMANY, CHRISTMAS EVE, 1944 — The three-quarter moon was brightly cold in

mid-heaven, a sort of icy floodlight for the frozen ground below. It gave just enough light to

outline the night fighter as she revved up on the runway before taking off into the sharp contrasts

of bright glare and dark shadow. The pilot looked over his ship before clambering aboard. He

was 1st Lt. George R. Schrock, Willoughby, Ohio, tall, lean and young, but a veteran of many

lone missions into the night. Everything looked all right. He didn't have any small talk, not even

for his navigator, 2nd Lt. Edmon J. Kantack, from Greenleaf, Kansas.

All the last-minute conversation was made by the mechanic, Sgt. L. J. Belser, a Texan from the

little town of San Augustine. He wished the moon were fuller, not because he had a girl, but for

the crew. It sounded funny, he knew, but he guessed the plane was the only girl he much cared

about. He asked the pilot if he’d put up his stocking.

“No,” said Schrock, “not until after we get back.”

Nobody said “Merry Christmas.”

The battle lines were easy to find. Thousands of feet below, gun and shell flashes brightened the

moon glow. Here and there, the ground was red with embers, the burning wrecks of buildings,

farmhouses perhaps just tiny shacks, caught in the front.

The young men and their lone ship were on an intruder mission. They were to look for enemy

troop and supply movements behind the lines, to shoot up every train and truck they could

13

find. Christmas Eve didn't have much to do with their job. Signals and instructions came over

the radio. The plane moved almost like a hawk, swerving and swinging, losing altitude and then

picking it up again. Sometimes, a bend of the Rhine or some canal reflected the moonlight from

far below, or stretch of a road or railroad cut into the darkness of the horizons. Far to the east,

some German cities, feeling themselves too distant to bother with total blackout, glowed dully.

A little flak came up here and there, harmlessly, but otherwise the plane might have been in the

middle of some desert. Finally, the navigator ended the flight into Germany, and started back

home.

Near the German side of the front, a pair of headlights suddenly gleamed brilliantly white. The

night intruder changed course, dived and came across the road almost at tree-top height, guns

hammering briefly. White fires spotted the road and the vehicle. The intruder swooped past and

lost itself in the night. A few seconds later a cheery voice came over the radio, gave the ship

landing instructions and wished the crew “Merry Christmas.”

PROJECT 1947 Comment: Material from the front in World War II was subject to

censorship. Perhaps this is why Ed Clark does not identify the unit he flew with nor the fact that

he saw a foo-fighter during this flight. The 415th Night Fighter Squadron gave Sgt Ed Clark his

Christmas Eve flight, and while operational reports do not mention foo-fighter encounters on

Christmas Eve, the unit history does report that the foo-fighters were active on this night.

Details of Clark's sighting only came out years later after he had returned to the US and wrote a

column about his war time experiences.

Seattle, Wa. Seattle Daily Times - 29 June, 1947

Man Recounts Shooting Foo Fighter in WW II

Harre Cowe, 12538 15th Ave. N. E., recalled today that flying lights were among the

unexplained mysteries of air fighting in Europe during the Second World War.

Cowe said 23 night-fighter crews in a squadron to which he was attached reported seeing the

strange lights while flying over the Rhine Valley.

Lights Kept Up

“The first crew to see them noticed that the lights seemed to be flying right with the airplane,"

Cowe said. “The boys didn't know what they were, and tried evasive action, but the lights

seemed to stay right with them.

14

“The boys were afraid they'd be grounded if they reported the lights, so they kept still about

them. But the following night another crew saw the same thing and reported it. After that, all

the crews in the squadron with the exception of two had the same experience.

“Finally, one of the boys decided to shoot at one of the lights to see what would happen, and he

blasted away. There was an explosion that rocked the plane and bent the plexiglass dome on it.

“Nobody ever did offer any explanation for the lights, which the boys called 'foo fighters'. We

just set it down as something that the Germans were trying out and let it go at that.”

PROJECT 1947 Comment: The headline on the Seattle Times news item did not mention "Foo

Fighters", this is a Project 1947 header. This news story is one of several personal accounts from

WW II in which the claim is made that UFOs were fired upon. These personal accounts are

supported by official documents for the same period which state that "foo-fighters" or "balls of

fire" were fired upon.

Alexandria, Louisiana Daily Town Talk - 20 April, 1980

UFO Sightings Aren't That Unusual; Several in Area Have Seen Them

By Richard Sharkey, Town Talk Staff Writer

[Extract:]

....Kent Courtney, 1413 Texas Ave., said he saw a UFO in 1944. Since that time he's discovered

that about one of every 20 persons he told has in turn told him of their own UFO encounter.

....Courtney spotted a UFO while he was piloting a transatlantic flight from Brazil to Africa

during World War II.

“I had no interest in UFOs until a couple of them came and flew alongside of us,” Courtney

explained.

All of that changed after the sighting. Courtney, now an art gallery owner, became an avid

researcher of information related to UFOs and extraterrestrial happenings.

15

During the 1960s, Courtney compiled a UFO scrapbook and subscribed to a newspaper clipping

service to get his hands on everything reported about UFOs. At the time he was a syndicated

radio announcer and included UFO reports as a regular part of his broadcasts.

He said many World War II pilots reported seeing “bogies” or UFOs during flights.

“Pilots were amazed these little fellows were only four, five, and six feet across and they'd fly on

the wingtip,” Courtney said.

“Some of them traveled as fast as 1,000 miles an hour, an unheard of speed at the time,” he

said. “Whatever they are..whoever they are, they have discovered space travel that we don't

know yet.”

Courtney's sighting occurred in 1944 while he was a [sic] flying a transport place over the South

Atlantic at about 10,000 feet altitude.

It was a night flight. “We were scheduled to arrive in Africa at dawn,” Courtney recalled. It was

dark but the four cockpit pilots could see the horizon in the distance.

“Then this bright pair of lights showed up in front of us. These lights were too far to be the

lights of an airplane,” he said.

The lights sped rapidly toward the plane's nose but separated and went around just before it

reached his plane, he said.

“We were just aghast and all of a sudden they were coming up from behind,” Courtney

said. “They flew alongside of us for four or five minutes. They were within a city block of us.”

He said he didn't see a detail craft but saw bright yellowish lights from some type of craft.

When the plane touched down in Africa, Courtney and the other pilots reported the sighting.

“We were advised by the Army and Air Force to keep it to ourselves,” Courtney noted.

“The official view of the Air Force was to quell the investigation, to stop it cold.” He said he

talked with numerous World War II pilots who had seen UFOs.

Courtney isn't naive enough to believe every UFO sighting is authentic. “For every authentic

report, there would be some guys trying to get in on the publicity bandwagon.”

Asked his theory on why UFOs have never made contact with government officials, Courtney

said the extraterrestrial beings are probably superior and would have nothing to gain from such

an encounter.

“They are observing a lesser breed.” Courtney said. “Why should they bother?”

16

Bomber Paced By UFO – August 10, 1944

Capt. Alvah M. Reida, during his military flying career, was an airplane Commander on B-26's,

B-24's and B-29's. At the time of the sighting, he was based at Kharagapur, India, in the 468th

Bomb Group, 792nd Squadron, XX Bomber Command. All quotes from his report, on file at

NICAP).

“I was on a mission from Ceylon, bombing Palembang, Sumatra. The date was August 10, 1944,

time shortly after midnight. There were 50 planes on the strike going in on the target at about 3

minute intervals. My plane was the last one in on the target and the assignment was for us to

bomb, then drop photo-flash bombs, attached to parachutes, make a few runs over the target area,

photographing damage from the preceding planes. The weather was broken clouds, with an

overcast above us. Our altitude was 14,000 feet, indicated air speed about 210 mph.

While in the general target area we were exposed to sporadic flak fire, but immediately after

leaving this area it ceased. At 20 or 30 minutes later the right gunner and my co-pilot reported a

strange object pacing us about 500 yards off the starboard wing. At that distance it appeared as a

spherical object, probably 5 or 6 feet in diameter, of a very bright and intense red or orange in

color. It seemed to have a halo effect. Something like this:

My gunner reported it coming in from about five o'clock position at our level. It seemed to throb

or vibrate constantly. Assuming it was some kind of radio controlled object sent to pace us, I

went into evasive action, changing direction constantly as much as 90 degrees and altitude about

2000 feet. It followed every maneuver for about 8 minutes, always holding a position of about

500 yards out and about 2 o'clock in relation to the plane. When it left, it made an abrupt 90

degree turn, up and accelerating rapidly; it disappeared in the overcast.”

17

Capt. Reida added: “During the strike evaluation and interrogation following this mission, I

made a detailed report to Intelligence, thinking it was some new type of radio controlled missile

or weapon.”

Reproduced from: "NICAP: The UFO Evidence," 1964, Page 23

1943 or 1944

"...Was the enemy picking up some kind of ray emitted by the U-boat — infrared, heat rays,

electronic rays of various kinds? Even the most outlandish suggestions were considered. For

example, Lieutenant Hans-Helmuth Bugs, aboard the U-629, surmised that the Allies were

cunningly using some sort of strange new aircraft: he reported that his vessel had been

approached abeam by a flying disk that winked white, yellow and red."

Source: The U-boats by Douglas Botting

Time-Life Books, Chicago, IL

ISBN 0-8094-2675-7

1979

Pg. 155

No reference to the date of the sighting is given. However, based on its location in the book one

would logically infer that it occurred in 1943, or more likely 1944.

England - September, 1944

Extract from a letter from Dr. Ted Peter, Professor of Systematic Theology at The Pacific

Lutheran Theological Seminary to MUFON and Dr. Richard Haines 30 September, 1986:

"I have an item that I think you could stick in your file in the appropriate place. A couple of

weeks ago I appeared on the local CBS noon news to discuss UFOs and religion. The station,

KPIX Channel 5 TV in San Francisco, received a telephone call from a UFO witness which I

followed up.

18

"His name is Jeffrey Wilks, an Englishman. The event takes place between nine and ten o'clock

on a September night in 1944. Mr. Wilks was a lieutenant in the British Royal Air Force (RAF)

and was at that time a spotter for an anti-aircraft battery. He identified it as unit 606 of the

Heavy Aircraft Battery located near the regimental headquarters near Dover. The specific night

in question was the night when they bombed Burlogna*.[?] They were watching the bombing

from their position in England. Mr. Wilks also reported that that night their anti-aircraft radar

was out of commission. Consequently, as a spotter he was particularly alert.

"Coming back from the bombing raid an RAF plane (evidently with two engines) with one

engine on fire drifted overhead. Shortly thereafter, perhaps within ten minutes, came the

unknown. He described it as a long black cylinder shaped object with no wings and a red glow

on the rear. It made no noise as it approached. When it was directly overhead it turned and

became completely vertical. Then it climbed in this vertical direction at an extremely high rate

of speed and disappeared into the sky in a matter of seconds. Mr. Wilks says it was completely

cloudless night and that there were more than 100 witnesses. At this time, of course, there were

no words such as 'flying saucers' or 'UFOs', so they did not have any term to designate it.

"As a spotter for the RAF, Mr. Wilks was very familiar with the V-1 bomber, which he and his

troops had code named 'diver.' He said he knew the sound, shape, and behaviour of the

divers. The unknown object which he describes here was clearly larger than a

diver. Furthermore, Mr. Wilks emphasized that it made no sound. He also emphasizes that he

knew well the German rocket planes that were being experimented with at the time. The

unknown object did not fit this category either.

"As an aside, Mr. Wilks mentioned that following the war he went into military intelligence

work. He speaks fluent German and did considerable research through interviews and other

similar methods to ascertain just what the Germans were doing with their military

experimentation. I asked him if he had ever encountered the "Foo Space Fighters." No, he said

he never heard anything about them."

*September, 1944 saw sustained attacks on German positions in Boulogne, France, by allied

aircraft and ground troops. Fighting was also taking place in Bologna, Italy, but by 1944 the

allies had airfields in Southern Italy which would afford more sensible landing places for

damaged aircraft, rather than making the journey all the way back to England. It seems likely,

therefore, that "Burlogna" was actually Boulogne in France.

This article Mitchell Men: Medium Bombers At War: Air Force, Part 56 references one such raid

on Boulogne by Canadian Mitchell Bombers.

October 29, 1944 - Near Munich, Germany

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This was taken from the August 1994 issue of The Raven, newsletter of the 301st BG

association. An interesting mention of a "Foo Fighter" or UFO. Just a line but of possible

interest:

The 15th AAF began night raids, calling the operation "Lone Wolf." The (LW) after the date

designates a Lone Wolf mission.

The following account by William A. Schultz, a 419th pilot, describes the use of RADAR on one

af the few missions of this type flown by the 15th AAF.

Oct. 29 Mission #365 - Munich West M/Y [Marshaling Yard] (night mission)

Twelve pilots were selected from the 5th Wing (B-17s) to fly the first night mission by the U.S.

Army Air Force in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. As one of the pilots, my scheduled

bomb drop was 2:15 A.M. The crew assembled for briefing and was jeeped to our plane at 10:00

P.M., take off was 10:30. Our twelve plane bombing intervals were approximately 15

minutes. This nuisance raid was significant in that not only was the mission at night, but we

were equipped with twelve 500 pound bombs with six instantaneous explosives and six delayed

action fuses from 5 to 72 hours. Demoralizing!

In flight, over the Adriatic, the crew test-fired our guns about 10:45 P.M. We saw tracer flashes

ahead and signaled with our scope light the proper call letters. As we approached the north shore

of the Adriatic enroute to Munich, we could see by the moonlight heavy cloud formation over

the Alps. It had to be a cold front coming down from Germany. At 20,000 feet there was a

"saddle back" in the frontal mass of clouds and we picked this to go through. We encountered

severe down drafts and lost 1000 feet of altitude in seconds, then through the opening, we

encountered up drafts that made the plane rise like an elevator another 2000 feet. As we

approached Innsbruck, the IP, we were above the clouds at 26,000 feet when we encountered

tracer shells coming toward our plane. T/Sgt. Dominick Walicki, crew chief and top turret

gunner yelled, "Ju-88 at 10 o'clock!" It looked like a twin engine aircraft. We immediately dove

down into the clouds. I told the crew members to hold their fire as we had no flame dampeners

on our guns and we did not wish to give our position away to other enemy aircraft that might be

in the vicinity.

Note:

Our plane was equipped with a "Mickey Scope" (radar) that could "see" through the clouds. The

Mickey navigator informed me when we were over the IP and gave directions to the West

Marshaling Yard at approximately 1:45 A.M. We had broken out of the high scattered clouds

when a strange phenomenon occurred. A light blue colored ball of fire approximately three feet

in diameter appeared about 40 feet off of our right wing tip. It actually flew along with us for

about 30 seconds with streams of fire trailing down, but it was too large to be a plane. To this

day, I don't know what it was.

(End of part about the "UFO").

20

As we approached the west side of Munich, we encountered heavy antiaircraft fire and surmised

that we were too close to the German Airdrome S.W. of Munich where the Me-262s were being

manufactured. Upon encountering heavy flak, we made a sharp turn to the left to avoid the

concentration. The navigator said to take a 90 degree course to the target. This of course put us

right through the middle of the flak, but the correction was made and I related to Lt. Jess Miller,

our bombardier, to keep the bomb bay doors closed until we were about one minute from the

target. The flak was intense. We made the drop and immediately dove and banked at 45 degrees

to our right, approximately 200 feet. Our tail gunner, Sgt Orvin Larson, relayed to me the track

of shell bursts, and taking evasive action, rolling 45 degrees to our left, there would be a cluster

of shell fire at the point where we made the turn. That old B-17 was creaking from the strain of

doing over 200 MPH during the evasive dives. Over the target, we were hit at the chin turret and

that was disabled. The windshield in front of the pilot was cracked. The rudder became like a

sieve and my radio operator, Sgt. Stempien, had his oxygen mask hose cut by a piece of

shrapnel. Shortly after taking evasive action, the #2 engine was hit and feathered. Sgt. Phil

Smith, the right waist gunner, advised that he thought the #2 engine was on fire and this was

extinguished and the prop feathered before we lost our hydraulic oil.