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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 Breisach and Strasbourg, France, on February 8, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-02-08-BREISACHAMRHEIN-1

Summary:

Ufology sources indicate that on February 8, 1945, a crew of a Beaufighter night fighter of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron was between Breisach and Strasbourg, returning from an intruder mission, when they reported that for approximately one minute they had observed a “yellow light at 9,000 feet” that “was ten miles northwest of Strasbourg.”

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: February 8, 1945
Time: Probable night.
Duration: 1 minute.
First known report date: February 8, 1945
Reporting delay: Hours.

Geographical data:

Country: France
State/Department: Bas-Rhin
City or place: Between Breisach-am-Rhein and Strasbourg.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 1 or 2
Number of known witnesses: 1 or 2
Number of named witnesses: 0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: Military operations report.
Visibility conditions: Probable night.
UFO observed: Yes.
UFO arrival observed: ?
UFO departure observed: Yes.
UFO action: ?
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.
[ ] Airborne radar: ?
[ ] Directional ground radar: ?
[ ] Height finder ground radar:
[ ] Photo:
[ ] Film/video:
[ ] EM Effects:
[ ] Failures:
[ ] Damages:
Hynek: ?
Armed / unarmed: Armed, machine guns and 20 mm cannons.
Reliability 1-3: 2
Strangeness 1-3: 2
ACUFO: Probable German V-2 rocket.

Sources:

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 86

February 8, 1945

Between Breisach and Strasbourg, France

A 415th NFS Beaufighter crew was returning from an intruder mission when they reported that for approximately one minute they observed a “yellow light at 9,000 feet” that “was ten miles northwest of Strasbourg.”

Sources: 64th Fighter Wing Mission Report, 415th NFS, February 7/8, 1945, NARA / Strange Company, Keith Chester, 2007

(Ref. nip1:) "THE NICAP WEBSITE":

Feb. 8, 1945; Nr. Strasbourg, France

Yellow light. (Page 133 Ref.1)

The reference 1 is described at the end of the document as “Strange Company (2007), Keith Chester”.

[Ref. snu1:] "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA" WEBSITE:

That February the early days of month brought reports from the 415th [...] ; a report that “10 miles northwest of Strassbourg [sic]” a crew had watched “a yellow light at 9,000 feet” [...]

3. The February, 1945 reports of [...] a yellow light near Strassbourg, [...] come from Keith Chester's book Strange Company, which gives as its source various operations reports.

[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:

Date: Feb. 8, 1945

Location: Near Strasbourg, France

Time:

Summary: Yellow light.

Source:

Aircraft information:

The Bristol Type 156 “Beaufighter”, nicknamed “Beau”, was a British multi-role aircraft developed during WWII. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber; it proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain.

Originally, armament consisted of four 20mm cannons and six 0.303-in machine-guns but many variants were built; for example, versions had the ability to additionally carry eight rocket projectiles, some had a Vickers 'K' gun, Beaufighter TF.Mk X was used for anti-shipping operations.

The Beaufighter Mk VIF was fitted with the Mark VIII radar.

Below: Beaufighter Mk VIF of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron.

Beaufighter VIF 415th NFS.

The Beaufighters served with the U.S. Army Air Forces until the end of the war, but most were replaced by the P-61 “Black Widow” beginning on March 20, 1945.

Discussion:

Map.

We are told that this happened while the plane was between “Breisach” - Breisach-am-Rhein in German or Vieux-Brisach in French, opposite Neuf-Brisach in France, and Strasbourg.

We are told that the light was 10 miles northwest of Strasbourg; it would therefore have been in France, in the Bas-Rhin, above Truchtersheim (blue dot on the map below).

Carte.

Of course, it is by no means obvious that the distance given as 10 miles is correct. If the distance is greater, the thing is on France, on Germany, on Luxembourg, or on Belgium, or on the Netherlands.

It is possible that the distance was known thanks to the on-board radar set or ground radar station; nothing is said about this.

The crew did not report the light as a “foo-fighter” or anything clearly unusual.

On February 8, 1945, between 00:29 a.m. and 10:50 a.m., several V-2 rockets were successfully fired from Den Haag, in the Netherlands, and one from Hachenburg - Hillscheid (Site 604).

Hachenburg, in Germany, is almost due North of Strasbourg. But Den Haag is in the right direction.

Thus, it is vrey possible that the light was a German V-2 rocket.

Evaluation:

Probable German V-2 rocket.

Sources references:

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

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 26, 2024 Creation, [dwn2], [nip1], [sua1], [tai1].
1.0 Patrick Gross April 26, 2024 First published.

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This page was last updated on April 26, 2024.