ACUFO index ▶ Home ☰

Cette page en français

ACUFO:

◀ Previous case Next case ▶

Manchuria, China, in 1941:

Case number:

ACUFO-1941-01-00-MANCHURIA-2

Summary:

In their 1983 book “UFO's Over Modern China”, authors Wendelle C. Stevens and Paul Dong show this image:

The caption stated that the image is dated 1941, taken in Manchuria, and shows “a dark lens-shaped flying object” photographed “following 3 Nakajima bombers on a mission.”

In 1997, the erudite Italian ufologist Giuseppe Stilo wrote about this and the other alleged “Foo-Fighter” photographs that allegedly originated from Japanese air forces during World War II. He noted that he had found them in numerous books that gave no source for them; that ufologists specialized in the “Foo-Fighter“ were unaware 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 said, 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 issue of the Flying Saucer News.

The image in question in this file was described by Stilo as showing four large airplanes in flight in a cloudy sky with a gray disk in the upper right corner:

Stilo added that according to Wendelle Stevens and Paul Dong in their 1983 book UFOs Over Modern China, the planes on the image were “Nakajima bombers.”

Stilo explained that in the mid-1950s, Yusuke Matsumura was distributing mimeographed bulletins in English on behalf of a small group of enthusiasts called the “Flying Saucer Research Group”; that in 1958, in Yokohama, he formed the “CBA International (Cosmic Brotherhood Association)“ with the administrator in Japan of the American contactee George Adamski, Hachiro Kubota. He then launched the small magazine Flying Saucer News. Matsumura then claimed to have himself met the “Space Brothers”, who had taken him in their spaceship (etc.). From 1957 onwards, Matsumura distributed dozens of photos of unusual clouds, claiming that they were spaceships that he had photographed himself. He had ended up setting up a real apocalyptic cult and practiced fraud, getting money from his followers whom his extraterrestrial friends had to save from the imminent end of the world. He had continued to publish alleged UFO photos, doctored by him.

I found that this image was indeed published in the Flying Saucer News bulletin of the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” in Japon, for February - March 1963.

The CBA claimed that the "Scientific Research Department" browsed through publication in some Japanese University, and picked up this image; which they alimed, shows a UFO photograph They sais all the photograph they showed were taken by the Ichikoku Army Air Corps during World War II.

The specific caption of this image said that it shows a disc that closely follows a “Zuiju Type 99 Shikiba” - or something like that, as the text is barely readable in the copy I found. In any case, the caption said nothing about Manchuria, and gave no date at all, except WWII which would imply that the date is between 1941 and 1945.

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. It appeared on the top right corner as image (1).

The specific caption of this image said that it shows a disc that closely follows a “Zuiju Type 99 Shikiba” - or something like that, as the text is barely readable in the copy I found. In any case, the caption said nothing about Manchuria, and gave no date at all, except WWII which would imply that the date is between 1941 and 1945.

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.

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

[Ref. pdg1:] PAUL DONG AND WENDELLE C. STEVENS:

Photo caption:

[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.

The image below, Stilo said, shows four large airplanes in flight in a cloudy sky with a gray disk in the upper right corner.

Stilo adds that according to Wendelle Stevens and Paul Dong in their book UFOs Over Modern China, Aztec, 1983, p. 16, the planes were “Nakajima bombers”.

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. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:

Which reads: Case No. 447, January 1941, in Manchuria, numerous photos, Japanese Air Force: glows - orbs plus ovoid shapes follow and approach planes and airfields, with as a source DONG, Paul: UFOs Over Modern China Page No. 15.

Aircraft information:

The image is not of good enough quality, I was not able to positively identify the planes shown in the image.

The designation in the caption, which appears to read “Zuiju Type 99 Shikiba” does not correspond to any aircraft in any way.

Discussion:

Since 1949, Manchuria, in the northeast of China, along the Pacific, in the People's Republic of China, no longer corresponds to an administrative region.

Wendelle C. Stevens (1923-2010) was an American author and screenwriter of “UFO documentaries”, such as “Where Are All the UFO's?” (1996), “Contact” (1987) and “UFO's Are Real” (1979).

He wrote several books on UFOs; for example his highly contested “Message from the Pleiades” which presents as authentic the fake photos and tall-tales of the “contactee” Eduardo “Billy” Meier. He published two volumes of “UFO Photographs Around the World”, made of various UFO photos without any “filtering.”

Paul Dong wrote rather “esoteric” or “New Age” books, such as “Chi Gong: The Ancient Chinese Way to Health” or “China's Super Psychics”, and also, in the 1980s, a few books, and articles on UFOs in China in ufological journals such as Lumières Dans La Nuit, Flying Saucers Review.

As of the case discussed here, it is obvious that credibility is hardly assured and as for the quality of the report, it borders on the null. There is almost no information, only a description / interpretation of what anyone ca see on the image.

Another interpretation is possible: the so-called “lens-shaped object” could be an airplane.

The photo - I insist on the fact that I am not entirely sure that it is linked to what Larry Hatch's database tells - resembles in what it shows some other alleged photos of “Foo Fighters.” It has the same issues: almost everything is indistinct, and there is no contextual information except that the planes are Japanese military planes, the location Manchuria and the date, 1941.

Update on July 29, 2024:

With the source [fsn1], the origin of the image is now clear: the CBA UFO buffs found it in some book or magazine about WWII in some University library and thought it show a UFO following Japanese planes. They did not say it was in 1941, they did not say it was over Manchuria.

Evaluation:

Possible airplane.

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.
• [pdg1] * "UFO's Over Modern China", book by Wendelle C. Stevens and Paul Dong, UFO Photo Archives publishers, page 16, 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.
• [lhh1] * "*U* Computer Database", ufology database by Larry Hatch, USA, circa 2002.

File history:

Authoring:

Changes history:

Feedback  |  Top  |  Back  |  Forward  |  Map  |  List |  Home

This page was last updated on July 29, 2024.