ACUFO-1945-00-00-GERMANY-2
At the time when the American TV show We the People talked about “flying saucers” - i.e. August 1, 1952, Richard B. Martin, of Hartford, Connecticut, USA, wrote a letter to the ufology group National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP); which can be found in their archives.
He reported that in Germany, towards the end of the World War II, in the early evening, he was flying a fighter plane with other pilots from his squadron, returning from a mission.
In the 10 o'clock direction, he then saw a rectangular light, the size of which he could not give, nor the distance. Thinking that it might be a reflection, he maneuvered his plane to make sure about this, and thus found that it was not a reflection, it did not move.
He was certain that the thing was clearly rectangular and that it shone like a diamond.
He alerted the squadron leader about it, but the latter took no interested in it. Martin did not remember whether he talked about it during the debriefing.
| Date: | 1945 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Beginning of the evening. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | August 1, 1952 |
| Reporting delay: | 7 years. |
| Country: | Germany |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | |
| City or place: |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 or 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Reporting channel: | Letter to ufology group NICAP. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Beginning of the evening. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | No. |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| UFO action: | None. |
| Witnesses action: | Moves plane to check if it is a reflection. |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | UFO? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 1 or 2.
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 8 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 2 |
| ACUFO: | Insufficient information. |
[Ref. rmn1:] RICHARD B. MARTIN - NICAP ARCHIVE:
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Richard Martin
Aug 1
Dear Sir,
A T.V program tonite prompted me to write this letter. After watching the program of We the People with an authentic review of this Flying Saucer I noticed the side views were oval shaped. This connected with what I saw over Germany near the end of the last war. It was early evening, we were flying fighters, returning home from a mission. Off to about 10 o'clock I saw a rectangular light, it looked like this however, not knowing how big it was I couldn't tell how far away it was. I didn't have my goggles over my eyes and I
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kicked the ship around a little thinking it might be a reflection but it wasn't. It didn't move. I called it in to the squadron leader, I believe he passed it off with a remark. I don't remember whether or not I reported it at interrogation or not. Whatever it was it was definitely rectangular and glowed like a diamond. I don't know what you will think of this but here it is for what its worth.
Yours Truly,
Richard B Martin
68 Franklin Ave
Hartford Con
History Sources indicate that the 367th Fighter Squadron operated over Europe only on Republic P-47 “Thunderbolt” from 1943 to the end of World War II.
The Republic P-47 “Thunderbolt” was a powerful single-seat, single-engine fighter plane used to defend the bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces during their daytime raids over the Germany.
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The TV show about flying saucers mentioned in Martin's letter was an episode of the show We the People, aired on August 1, 152 on the NBC network. It was produced by the editors of Life, American's most popular magazine, that just published their famous article “Have we visitors from outer space?” about UFOs in the April 7, 1952 edition. The article was defending the extraterrestrial visitors theory for some UFO sighting reports, detailing ten UFO incidents which they found most credible. The Office of Public Information in the Pentagon then released a statement saying “The article is factual, but Life's conclusions are their own.”
In various History sources, I was able to find that Richard B. Martin, from Hartford, Connecticut, USA, joined the 367th Fighter Squadron on November 10, 1944. On April 12, 1945, he was promoted a 2nd Lieutenant.
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After being based in England, the 367th Fighter Squadron of the of the 358th Fighter Group of the 9th Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Forces used these air bases:
Cretteville (A-14), France, 4 July 1944
Pontorson (A-28), France, 14 August 1944
Vitry-le-François (A-67), France, 15 September 1944
Mourmelon-le-Grand Airfield (A-80), France, 16 October 1944
Toul-Croix de Metz Airfield (A-90), France, 20 November 1944
Mannheim-Sandhofen Airfield (Y-79), Germany, 8 April 1945
A newspaper article said:
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Flight Officer Richard B. Martin of Hartford, who formerly worked as an auto mechanic at the Katz Body Shop before entering the Army, is credited, in a dispatch from the First Tactical Air Force Fighter Base in France, with destroying a German ME-109 plane recently in an exciting dogfight. The dispatch quoted him as saying:
“We were heading for our original target when the ground controller called and vectored us to the vicinity of Karlsruhe. We contacted about five ME-109 at 14.000 feet. When one of the flights bounced the Germans, they turned into the squadron and split us up.
“Then I spotted two above me, and finally caught then at 22.000 feet. One turned into me and we made a headon pass, neither of us firing. He turned left, then right, and finally I got on his tail when he turned away from me. After climbing after the German and firing short bursts, I finally closed to 400 yards and gave a long burst. Pieces started flying off, then the right wing flew off and he started spinning. The pilot bailed out.”
Flight Officer Martin's usual work, the dispatch said is that of attacking targets and troops ahead of the Seventh Army but his unit often tangles with the Luftwaffe. He is a son of John Martin of 68 Franklin Avenue. His wife, Mrs Mary C. Martin, lives at 2978 main street.
There was no other mention of this case in ufology sources as far as I know.
Unfortunately, regarding the sighting, Richard B. Martin did not provide enough information.
By the action of moving his plane about to check whether it could be a reflection, his common sense remark of not being able to give a size or a distance, his report to another witness, we see that he had the right attitude at the time. From the fact that he reported the matter to NICAP following the program We the People on UFOs, we understand that for him what he saw was indeed an “unidentified”, or even an extraterrestrial craft.
But he failed to specify whether the thing was in the sky or on the ground.
He does not specify whether he saw a rectangular shape as seen from the front or whether he saw a rectangle in perspective.
From these facts we can easily reassure ourselves by thinking that it was a reflection of the sun on something on the ground: a greenhouse, a swimming pool, a rectangular body of water.
Insufficient information.
* = 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 | June 24, 2024 | Creation, [rmn1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 24, 2024 | First published. |
