ACUFO-1944-11-00-LEYTE-1
A Japanese ufologist published in the Japanese ufology magazine UFO Researcher, Volume 17, No. 1, of 2007, the image below:
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The caption said that the photo this photo had the caption that it was a Japanese kamikaze plane that was intercepted by a Grumman F6F off Leyte in November 1944; but the ufologist who published it wondered what “this solitary cloud on the right was?”
| Date: | November 1944 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ? |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | 2007 |
| Reporting delay: | 6 decades. |
| Country: | The Philippines |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | |
| City or place: | Leyte |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 0 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 0 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | Japanese ufology magazine. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | ? |
| UFO observed: | No. |
| UFO arrival observed: | N/A. |
| UFO departure observed: | N/A. |
| UFO action: | N/A. |
| Witnesses action: | N/A. |
| Photographs: | Yes. |
| 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: [X] Photo: 1. [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | ? |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 6 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 1 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 1 |
| ACUFO: | Probable flak or photographic artefact. |
[Ref. urr1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "UFO REPORTER":
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- Old photos
The explanation is that it was a Japanese kamikaze plane which was intercepted by a Grumman F6F off Leyte (November 1944). What shape is that lonely cloud on the right? However, there was also a photo of an entirely white cloud-like object.
The Grumman F6F “Hellcat” (photo below) was a carrier-based fighter developed to replace the F4F “Wildcat” in the United States Navy. Although the F6F was an extrapolation of the F4F, it was much more powerful with a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 2000 HP engine. Often called “Wildcat's big brother”, the Hellcat, like the F4U Corsair, was the main fighter plane of the US Navy during the second part of the War War II.
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Its armament was 6 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns, or, for the F6F-5N version, 2 20 mm cannons and 4 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns.
The “Hellcats” achieved an amazing 19:1 kill ratio, downing 5,156 enemy aircraft in just 1944 - 1945, accounting for 75 percent of the Navy's aerial victories during the war.
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In the 1960's already, Japanese UFO buffs had explored WWII history books and picked up photos of “things” such as white blobs or dark spots on photographs; thinking they must be UFOs, they circulated such images in their bulletin, and many reached Western world UFO publications as WWI “Foo-Fighters”.
In this case also, there has been no reports of a UFO sighting linked to the image; the discoverer even indicated that it showed a kamikaze plane shot down by an American F6F fighter plane.
The Battle of Leyte, reconquest of the island occupied by the Japanese since 1942, by American naval and air forces took place from October 23 to 26, 1944.
It is true that the Japanese had used conventional A6M5 “Zeke” fighter planes as kamikaze suicide planes for the first time in Leyte at that time.
I tried to find this photograph in another source - hoping not for a “UFO” but for a better quality image and historical context information - but to no avail so far.
Probable flak or photographic artefact.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | July 24, 2024 | Creation, [urr1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | July 24, 2024 | First published. |
