ACUFO-1945-00-00-FUJIYAMA-1
In 1945, Lieutenant-Colonel Jo Chamberlin was a war correspondant and visited the airmen of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron inEastern France. He heard from them about the mysterious lights that followed their planes, which were dubbed "Foo-Fighters", and published the first and famous background article about it in the Amrican Legion magazine in December 1945.
Chamberlin also learned that similar phenomena were occuring on the Pacific theater where in 1944 and 1945, crews of the US B-29 bombers also told of "balls of fire" that sometimes followed their planes, sometimes despite evase actions, and never attacking them.
One of the cases Chmberlin told about was:
"During the last months of the war the crews of many B-29s over Japan saw what they described as "balls of fire" which followed them, occasionally came up and almost sat on their tails, changed color from orange to red to white and back again, and yet never closed in to attack or crash, suicide-style."
"One B-29 made evasive maneuvers inside a cloud, but when the B-29 emerged from it, the ball of fire was following in the same relative position. It seemed 500 yards off, three feet in diameter, and had a phosphorescent orange glow. No wing or fuselage suggesting an aerial bomb or plane was seen. The ball of fire followed the B-29 for several miles and then disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared in the dawn light over Fujiyama."
| Date: | Before september 1945 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Dawn |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | Decembre 1945 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 9 months. |
| Country: | Japan |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Shizuoka and Yamanashi |
| City: | Mount Fuji |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | Several. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | Jo Chamberlin. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Night and dawn. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Follows despite evasive action. |
| Witnesses action: | Evasive action. |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: Several.
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | NL DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 12 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 3 |
| ACUFO: | Possible extraterrestrial craft. |
[Ref. jcn1:] JO CHAMBERLIN:
One B-29 made evasive maneuvers inside a cloud, but when the B-29 emerged from it, the ball of fire was following in the same relative position. It seemed 500 yards off, three feet in diameter, and had a phosphorescent orange glow. No wing or fuselage suggesting an aerial bomb or plane was seen. The ball of fire followed the B-29 for several miles and then disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared in the dawn light over Fujiyama.
[Ref. gld1:] GORDON LORE AND HAROLD DENEAULT:
At about the same time [1945], a B-29 near Fujiyama tried unsuccessfully to outrun a "ball of fire" that stalked the bomber for several miles. The circular, phosphorescent orange glow, about three feet in diameter, took a position 500 yards behind the B-29. The pilot made evasive maneuvers, heading for the nearest cloud. When the aircraft emerged, the ghostly light tagged along in the same relative position. It disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared in the dawn light over Fujiyama. The object's departure was extraordinary. One second it was in view, the next, completely out of sight.
The source is said to be the article by Jo Chamberlin in The American Legion Magazine in December 1945.
[Ref. sua1:] WEBSITE "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA":
[...] illustrates the difficulty of discerning which is conventional and which is not, when reviewing reports from the Pacific air war.
A situation which is summarized in Jo Chamberlin's December, 1945, article in American Legion magazine...
During the last months of the war the crews of many B-29s over Japan saw what they described as "balls of fire" which followed them, occasionally came up and almost sat on their tails, changed color from orange to red to white and back again, and yet never closed in to attack or crash, suicide-style.
One B-29 made evasive maneuvers inside a cloud, but when the B-29 emerged from it, the ball of fire was following in the same relative position. It seemed 500 yards off, three feet in diameter, and had a phosphorescent orange glow. No wing or fuselage suggesting an aerial bomb or plane was seen. The ball of fire followed the B-29 for several miles and then disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared in the dawn light over Fujiyama. Some B-29 crews said they could readily lose the ball of fire by evasive maneuvers, even though the ball kept up with them at top speed on a straight course; other B-29 crews reported just the opposite.
The Boeing B-29 "Superfortress" was the heaviest bomber of the US Army Air Force, used in operations from May 8, 1944 and on. Its maximum speed was 574 km/h.
Its defensive armament was 12 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns.
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The "last months of the War" would mean the few months before September 2, 1945.
The report makes it clear that the following light was not an aerial bomb, not an airplane, the usual strange features that it followed despite evasive action, despite the cloud, and that it never attacked the B-29, is there.
Possible extraterrestrial craft.
* = 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 | December 30, 2023 | Creation, [jcn1], [gld1], [sua1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | December 30, 2023 | First published. |
