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Manchuria, China, in 1940:

Case number:

ACUFO-1940-00-00-JAPAN-3

Summary:

In the 2020s, we find this so-called photo of “foo-fighters from the Second World War” on the Web:

I also found it in the 1967 book “Flying Saucers Are Hostile” by Brad Steiger and Joan Whritenour, with the only indication that it came from the files of August C. Roberts.

The picture is more detailed in Paul Dong and Wendelle Stevens's 1983 book, UFO's Over Modern China: the case is located in Manchuria, China, the date is “1940”, and their account says:

As a flight of Mitsubishi Ki-21-Ia Army Type 97 Sally Bombers of 1937 vintage warm up at dawn at a secret Japanese airfield in Manchuria, 4 mist-shrouded bright objects appeared over the airdrome and passed down the flightline. An alert Japanese Imperial Army Cameraman caught this strange intrusion on official film.

A major piece of information about this picture came up in 1997 when Italian UFO researcher Giuseppe Stilo discussed the series of alleged “Foo-Fighter“ photos which would come from Japanese aviation during the Second World War; which were published in numerous books giving no source. He explained that ufologists specializing in «Foo-Fighter« were not aware of any well-documented reports that would be linked to these photos, and that consultations with these ufologists revealed that they have a single and very questionable source.

The source, Stilo explained, dating from 1963 and 1964, was the Japanese “contactee” group “Cosmic Brotherhood Association”, led by Yusuke J. Matsumura. They had published numerous photos, none of which had a source from Western ufology.

Stilo said a first series of these alleged photos was published by the CBA in the second issue of the 1963 newsletter Flying Saucer News.

Stilo explained that in the mid-1950s, Yusuke Matsumura distributed mimeographed bulletins in English on behalf of a small flying saucers buffs group, "Flying Saucer Research Group"; that in 1958, in Yokohama, he created the "CBA International (Cosmic Brotherhood Association)" with the administrator in Japan of the American contactee George Adamski, Hachiro Kubota, and launched the small magazine "Flying Saucer News". Matsumura then claimed to have met the "Space Brothers" himself, who took him into their spaceship (etc.). From 1957 on, Matsumura had released dozens of photos of unusual clouds, claiming that they were spaceships that he had photographed himself. He ended up setting up a real apocalyptic sect and practicing fraud, having money paid to him by his disciples whom his extraterrestrial friends were supposed to save from the soon to come end of the world. He continued later to publish alleged photos of UFOs, faked by him.

Of the picture discussed in my file, Stilo commented that it showd two Japanese twin-engine Mitsubishi 21 Sally (Type 97) on the ground and, above the second of them, four oval lights.

Stilo added that according to Wendelle Stevens and Paul Dong in their book UFOs Over Modern China, Aztec, 1983, p. 15, the photo is from "Manchuria, 1940".

I found in the Flying Saucer News bulletin of the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (CBA) of February - March 1963, in a first series of these photos of alleged “Foo-Fighters” published by the CBA, that they told they found these photos in a University, and that the second series at least, pubilshed in their August 1964 and including the image discussed here, were taken by the Ichikoku Army Air Corps during World War II.

Data:

Temporal data:

Geographical data:

Witnesses data:

Ufology data:

Classifications:

Sources:

[Ref. fsn1:] "FLYING SAUCER NEWS" - CBA:

In the ufology bulletin Flying Saucer News, of the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (CBA) of February - March 1963, a first series of these photos above of alleged “Foo-Fighters” was published by the CBA; which was the origin of the photo discussed here.

In the brief explanatory text in Japanese which accompanied them, the CBA stated:

[Ref. fsn2:] "FLYING SAUCER NEWS" - CBA:

In the ufology bulletin Flying Saucer News, of the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (CBA) of August 1964, a second series of these photos above of alleged “Foo-Fighters” was published by the CBA; the one dealt with in this file was thone one on the top left.

In the brief explanatory text in Japanese which accompanied them, the CBA stated:

[Ref. bsr1:] BRAD STEIGER AND JOAN WHRITENOUR:

[Ref. wsd1:] WENDELLE STEVENS AND PAUL DONG:

[Ref. gso1:] GIUSEPPE STILO:

This Italian UFO researcher discusses alleged “Foo-Fighter“ photos which would come from Japanese aviation during the Second World War, which were published in numerous books giving no source. He explains that ufologists specializing in «Foo-Fighter« are not aware of any well-documented reports that would be linked to these photos, and that consultations with these ufologists revealed that they have a unique and very questionable source.

The source, dating from 1963 and 1964, was the Japanese “contactee” group “Cosmic Brotherhood Association”, led by Yusuke J. Matsumura. They had published numerous photos, none of which had a source from Western ufology.

A first series was published by the CBA in the second issue of the 1963 newsletter Flying Saucer News.

Stilo commented the above picture:

Stilo added in footnote (14) that according to Wendelle Stevens and Paul Dong in their book UFOs Over Modern China, Aztec, 1983, p. 15, the photo is from "Manchuria, 1940".

Stilo explains that in the mid-1950s, Yusuke Matsumura distributed mimeographed bulletins in English on behalf of a small group of enthusiasts called the "Flying Saucer Research Group"; that in 1958, in Yokohama, he created the "CBA International (Cosmic Brotherhood Association)" with the administrator in Japan of the American contactee George Adamski, Hachiro Kubota, and launched the small magazine "Flying Saucer News". Matsumura then claimed to have met the "Space Brothers" himself, who took him into their spaceship (etc.). From 1957 on, Matsumura released dozens of photos of unusual clouds, claiming that they were spaceships that he had photographed himself. He ended up setting up a real apocalyptic sect and practicing fraud, having money paid to him by his disciples whom his extraterrestrial friends were supposed to save from the soon to come end of the world, which did not happen. He continued to publish alleged photos of UFOs, faked by him.

[Ref. gfn1:] WEBSITE "GREY FALCON":

This photograph appears without caption, with the general remark:

Aircraft information:

The stationed airplanes in the image are Mitsubishi Ki-21, allied code name “Sally” or “Gwen”. It was a Japanese heavy bomber used during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War over western China, India, Malaya, Burma, Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, and northern Australia.

Discussion:

As with the other alleged photos of “foo-fighters over Japan”, the image appears on the Web in “collections” of such photos, or as illustration of “foo-fighters” articles. What is never found is a date, a place, and a sighting report.

I note that most of the other, similar “Japan foo-fighters” photos came from a book by Paul Dong called “UFOS over Modern China” (1983), and, from U.S. ufologist Jan Aldrich, we learn that the images in the book originated with the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (C.B.A) UFO group in Japan, of which late ufologist Jun-Tchi Takanashi said that all their “foo-fighters” photographs were spurious, published without pedigree.

Thus, firstly, the image has no credibility.

Then, while it is not impossible that it was an honest, authentic wartime photo of Japanese “Betty” bombers, calling the bright spots “foo-fighters” is a bold statement. These bright spots may also be fault on the negative or the print, or some reflections. For example, the photo could have been taken from inside a barrack, behind a window, and the spots would be the reflections of the lamps in the room onto the window.

Update on July 23, 2024:

With the sources I now found, [fsn1], [fsn2], [gso1], the predigree of the image is clearer.

The process was certainly that some people of the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" had been browsing thought photographs of World War II in History books at one or more universities in Japan, and picked up any of then that showed bright spots or dark spots, interpreting them as UFO.

There was evidently no UFO sighting report attached to these images.

Evaluation:

No credibility, probably not UFOs.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

• [fsn1] * "Discs during World War II", article in the "Contactees" bulletin Flying Saucer News, by Yusuke Matsumura, of the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" (CBA), Japan, February - March 1963.
• [fsn2] * "Discs during World War II", article in the "Contactees" bulletin Flying Saucer News, by Yusuke Matsumura, of the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" (CBA), Japan, February - March 1963.
• [bsr1] * "Flying Saucers Are Hostile", book by Brad Steiger and Joan Whritenour, Award Books publishers, USA, 1967.
• [wsd1] * "UFO's Over Modern China", book by Wendelle C. Stevens and Paul Dong, UFO Photo Archives publishers, page 13, USA, 1983.
• [gso1] * "Il ritorno di foo fighters, article by Giuseppe Stilo, in the ufology magazine Rivista UFO, Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici (CISU), Italy, No. 20, pp 7-8, December 1997.
• [gfn1] * "Foo-Fighters - Photographs", Web page on the GreyFalcon Website, not dated, as of January 2024, at http://foofighters.greyfalcon.us/photos.html

File history:

Authoring:

Changes history:

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This page was last updated on July 23, 2024.