ACUFO-1942-02-22-PAPUANEWGUINEA-1
In 1973, under the pseudonym “Patrice Gaston”, a French author published his book “Disparitions mystérieuses - Le cosmos nous observe” (“Mysterious Disappearances - The Cosmos Observes Us”).
He claimed that there had been a disappearance of the crew of an American B-17 bomber in New Guinea in 1943, that the plane had been found intact in 1972, with nothing missing on board, as “on most ships deserted in the open sea”, “the machine guns were still loaded, the bombs were in their place and the Thermos bottles were still full”, the “equipment was still in excellent condition. No trace of a skeleton was found”, and whereas the crew “could have left behind them some trail”, there was “no trace of it.”
In reality, the plane had made an emergency landing in a swamp in Papua New Guinea, not in 1943, but on February 22, 1942, and the crew, far from having “disappeared”, had safely walked through the jungle to Port Moresby in 36 days.
The aircraft, B-17E number 41-2446 of the 19th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces, has been restored and can be seen at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, USA.
| Date: | February 22, 1942 |
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| Time: | ? |
| Duration: | N/A. |
| First known report date: | 1973 |
| Reporting delay: | Decades. |
| Country: | Papua New Guinea |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | |
| City or place: |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 0 |
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| Number of known witnesses: | N/A. |
| Number of named witnesses: | N/A. |
| Reporting channel: | French book about "mysterious disappearances." |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | ? |
| UFO observed: | No. |
| UFO arrival observed: | N/A. |
| UFO departure observed: | N/A. |
| UFO action: | N/A. |
| Witnesses action: | |
| Photographs: | N/A. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | N/A. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | N/A. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | N/A. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | N/A. |
| Sensors: |
[ ] Visual:
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | N/A. |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, eleven 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 1 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 1 |
| ACUFO: | Author invention or misunderstanding. |
[Ref. pgn1:] PATRICE GASTON:
But are the clouds still the cause of the disappearance of the crew of this American B-17 flying fortress?
This fortress was found intact in 1972. Its disappearance strangely coincided with that of this Japanese division: in New Guinea, and the same year, in 1943...
Nothing was missing on board, as on most ships deserted in the open sea. The equipment was still in excellent condition. No trace of skeletons was found. The crew could have left behind some kind of trail. There was no trace of it.
The machine guns were still loaded, the bombs were in place and the Thermos bottles were still full.
The U.S. B-17 “Flying Fortress” was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.
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The history of the B-17 plane is clear and well-known, and there is no “cosmic mystery” and even less “UFO” in this affair.
The B-17E serial 41-2446 was built at Boeing Seattle, delivered to U.S. Army Air forces on December 6, 1941. Armament was installed at Sacramento Air Depot, and it was flown to Hawaii on December 17, 1941, to be used by the US Navy as a search plane.
In February 1942, Japanese Troops invaded Rabaul on New Britain and established a base. This threatened the rest of New Guinea and Australia. On February 20, 1942, 41-2446 was thus ordered to Garbutt Field, Townsville, in Queensland, Australia, in the U.S. Army Air Forces 19th Bombardment Group.
During the February 22, 1942, raid on Simpson Harbor, Papua New Guinea, when 41-2446 was to drop its payload, the bomb bay malfunctioned. The crew had to go around for a second pass, where they managed a clear drop over their target. Japanese fire was intense and a flak round managed to punch a hole through the starboard wing. Fortunately, it didn't detonate. While the crew hoped to make it to Fort Moresby, fuel wouldn't let them, and Captain Fred Eaton thought he was setting down the bomber in a wheat field; but they actually landed wheels-up in the middle of Agaiambo swamp. All crew members survived, and made it to Port Moresby in 36 days.
The wreck was re-discovered in 1972 by a RAAF helicopter pilot (March 1992 issue of National Geographic.
After spotting the wreckage, the pilot landed on the aircraft's wing and found the semi-submerged plane eerily intact, with machine guns were in place, and even the coffee thermoses were intact. They nicknamed the plane “Swamp Ghost”.
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After that, some trekkers started visiting the aircraft, stripping the B-17 of its instruments, guns, and even flight yokes.
The wreck was recovered in May 2006, and after some travels, it arrived on United States Ford Island, Hawaii, where it was restored for display at the Pacific Aviation Museum.
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(“B-17E Swamp Ghost Preservation”, Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor, 2017), www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org
Author invention or misunderstanding.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
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| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | August 1, 2024 | Creation, [pgn1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | August 1, 2024 | First published. |
