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.

◀ Previous case Next case ▶

Germany, in January or February 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-01-00-GERMANY-1

Summary:

The ufology group National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) was one of the largest ufology group in the USA in the 1950 - 1970. In their archive, there was a paraphrased article of the newspaper Wyoming State Tribune, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA, for June 30, 1947.

It told on page 20 that the “flying discs” of 1947 recalled the memories of Don Driscoll, who flew with the 9th Air Force over Germany during the winter months of 1945.

In January and February 1945, he was flying a mission one morning when he saw several shiny, spherical objects hanging in the air only a few hundred feet and below the plane.

He noticed small flashes from the sun reflecting off them.

He told that one pilot in the flight drew closer and described them as glass balls. The objects were all at the same altitude.

He told that this was reported to Air Intelligence, and that others saw this several times in different locations.

One week after his first experience, Driscoll said, he saw three objects in the shape of the three feathers, in the three feathers whiskey ad. He drew near them, but they remained motionless.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	January or February 1945
Time:	Morning.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1945, 1947
Reporting delay:	Hours, 2 years.

Geographical data:

Country:	Germany
State/Department:
City or place:

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Newspaper.
Visibility conditions:	Day.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:
Witnesses action:
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	Flying discs.

Classifications:

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, machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	3
ACUFO:	Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources:

[Ref. nip1:] NICAP:

Cheyenne Wyoming State Tribune, Monday, June 30, 1947 - p. 20:

FLYING DISCS RECALL MYSTERY IN WAR (Paraphrased)

(Don Driscoll, flying with the Ninth Air Force over Germany during the winter months of 1945 -- January & February -- was flying a mission one morning and saw several shiny, spherical objects hanging in the air only a few hundred feet and below the plane.

(He noticed small flashes from the sun reflecting off them.

(One pilot in the flight drew closer and described them as glass balls; the objects were all at the same altitude.

(Reports were made out to air intelligence.

(Reported seen by others several times in different locations.

(One week after his first experience, he again saw three objects in the shape of the three feathers, in the three feathers whiskey ad. He drew near them, but they remained motionless.)

Aircraft information:

Nothing is said about the planes involved except that they belonged to the 9th Air Force of the American Air Force.

As one of the pilots is said to have approached the objects, it is likely that they were fighter planes rather than bombers; they could have been P-47 “Thunderbolt” or P-51 “Mustang”.

Discussion:

The 9th Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Forces was activated in April 1942, and operated in World War II in the Western Desert Campaign in Egypt and Libya, then in France, the Netherlands and Germany.

The 9th Air Force grouped both bombers and fighter planes.

In December 1944 through January 1945, Ninth Air Force fighters and bombers were critical in defeating the German army during the Battle of the Bulge. In the entire winter, they operated across France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Neither the Allies nor the Germans had anything in the air that might have looked like glass balls reflecting the sun.

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources references:

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

[wst1] ? Article in the newspaper Wyoming State Tribune, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA, page 20, June 30, 1947.
[nip1] * Archive of the ufology group National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), USA, undated, the 1950 - 1970's.

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	April 27, 2024	Creation, [nip1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	April 27, 2024	First published.

This page was last updated on April 27, 2024.