ACUFO:

ACUFO is my comprehensive catalog of cases of encounters between aircraft and UFOs, whether they are "explained" or "unexplained".

The ACUFO catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file.

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Between Blackstone and Richmond, Virginia, USA, on December 23, 1944:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-12-23-BLACKSTONE-1

Summary:

In a 2022 monograph, ufologist George M. Eberhart indicated that he learned from US ufologist Jan Aldrich that on December 23, 1944, in the night, US Navy Lieutenant George Arents III and copilot Lieutenant Elon Forster were flying a military DC-3 at 9,000 feet between Blackstone and Richmond, Virginia, USA, when they noticed a cigar-shaped object hovering below them at about 4,000 feet.

The object appeared to be 200 feet long and had two horizontal rows of blue-lighted windows and a flaming exhaust coming out of its tail.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	December 23, 1944
Time:	Night.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1992, 2022
Reporting delay:	5 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	USA
State/Department:	Virginia
City:	Between Blackstone and Richmond

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	1 or 2
Number of named witnesses:	2

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Ufologist Jan Aldrich.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Flies.
Witnesses action:
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Sensors:	[X] Visual: 1 or 2. [N/A] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Unarmed.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Possible meteor, possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources:

[Ref. get1:] GEORGE M. EBERHART:

1944

[... other cases...]

December 23

Night. Navy Lt. George Arents III and copilot Lt. Elon Forster are flying a military DC-3 at 9,000 feet between Blackstone and Richmond, Virginia, when they notice a cigar-shaped object hovering below them at about 4,000 feet. It appears to be 200 feet long and has two horizontal rows of blue-lighted windows and a flaming exhaust coming out of its tail. (Jan Aldrich)

[... other cases...]

The link on "George Arents III" leads to https://fr.findagrave.com/memorial/184270993/george-arents where we learn that George Arents III was born on April 22, 1916 in Rye, Westchester County, New York, USA, that he died at 76 on May 30, 1992 in Burbank, Los Angeles County, California, USA.

Aircraft information:

The Douglas DC-3 was a twin-engine propeller transport aircraft, undoubtedly the best known in the world, between 1936 and 1945. Its speed and range revolutionized air transport.

More than 13,000 units were produced, several of which are still flying today.

Its military transport version was designated Douglas C-47 "Skytrain" or "Dakota".

Discussion:

There is an airfield both at Blackstone and Richmond. The distance between the two places is only about 70 km.

George Arents III or George Arents, Jr. (below) (21 April 1916 - 30 May 1992) was known as an American racing car driver. He participated to the French race "24 heures du Mans" 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962.

I managed to find out he had lived e in Armonk, New York, had been a student at Harvard University in 1932, that he had piloted at Westchester airport, New York., that he had bought a Fairchild 24 small plane in July 1936, that he had been a Transport Plane Commander in U.S. Navy at some time.

I found nothing about "Lt. Elon Forster".

The source is given as "Jan Aldrich". This case must have been shared directly from this well known US ufologist ("Project 1947") to George Eberhart, as I found no trace of it elsewhere.

The sighting is quite strange, but it cannot be totally excluded that it was a meteor. "cigar-shaped", "flaming exhaust coming out of its tail" would fit nicely; "hovering below them at about 4,000 feet" would not fit much, and "two horizontal rows of blue-lighted windows" would not fit that much either.

Evaluation:

Possible meteor, possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources references:

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

[jah1] ? Ufologist Jan Aldrich, USA.
[get1] * "UFOs and Intelligence: A Timeline", electronic document compiled by George M. Eberhart, 2022.

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	November 11, 2023	Creation, [get1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	November 11, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on November 11, 2023.