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 >

Parma, Italy, on February 22, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-02-22-PARMA-1

Summary:

The Saturday Night Uforia historical ufology Website indicated in 2011 that one of the sightings by 416th Night Fighter Squadron airmen, coming from the February 22, 1945 Mission Report, told:

"Rotating white beacon at Parma. 10 or 12 miles East of Parma at 4000', strong white light which lasted about 4 minutes. It seemed to be stationary. No traffic observed."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	February 22, 1945
Time:	?
Duration:	4 minutes.
First known report date:	February 22, 1945
Reporting delay:	Hours.

Geographical data:

Country:	Italy
State/Department:	Emilia-Romagna
City:	Parma

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	?
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:	Stationary, turns off after 4 minutes.
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: 2 [ ] Airborne radar: Not reported. [ ] Directional ground radar: Not reported. [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	?
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	1
ACUFO:	Possible flare.

Sources:

[Ref. sua1:] WEBSITE "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA":

And again [a sighting by 416th Night Fighter Squadron from the Mission Report] on February 22, 1945...

Rotating white beacon at Parma. 10 or 12 miles East of Parma at 4000', strong white light which lasted about 4 minutes. It seemed to be stationary. No traffic observed.

The source is indicated to be the Daily Operations Report of the 416th Night Fighter Squadron in Italy.

Aircraft information:

The de Havilland DH.98 "Mosquito" was a British multirole aircraft, which served as a fighter-bomber, torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The code name for these missions was "Bluestocking".

Its armament was 4 7.62 mm Browning machine guns and 4 20 mm Hispano cannons.

Its pilot and its navigator were seated side by side, the navigator being shifted back about thirty centimeters for shoulder width.

Discussion:

The 416th Fighter Squadron of the United States Army Air Forces was equipped with British Beaufighters from 1943 to 1944, and after advanced night fighter training with the Royal Air Force, it deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. It flew combat missions until Victory Day, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation.

In February 1945, the 416th NFS operated British de Havilland Mosquitos, and it was based at Pomigliano Airfield, Italy, with detachments at Tre Cancello Landing Strip, Italy.

The fact that the witnesses (Mosquito crew of 2, side by side, makes it likely that there were 2 witnesses) did not think the lights were flares does not mean that they were extraordinary. The lights may have been boats on fire, for example.

I am not convinced that the crew would not have been capable of identifying a flare. But in all seriousness, I have no reason to prefer to think that it was a "real Foo-Fighter".

The thing was at 4000 feet and lasted 4 minutes; this may have been a parachute flare, dropped from an enemy aircraft, rather than a ground-launched flare. "Spin" can happen with flares.

Evaluation:

Possible flare.

Sources references:

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

[aaf1] ? Mission Report, 416th Night Fighter Squadron, US Army Air Forces, February 22, 1945.
[sua1] * "the foo fighters of world war II - Part Three of Three Parts", web page on the Saturday Night Uforia website, 2011, at https://saturdaynightuforia.com/html/articles/articlehtml/foofightersofworldwariipartthree.html

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	December 26, 2023	Creation, [sua1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	December 26, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on December 26, 2023.