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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Japan, on April 1, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-04-01-JAPAN-1

Summary:

According to U.S. ufologist Kevin Randle, ufologist Keith Chester found a military report about a case over Japan on April 1st, 1945, in which an entire B-29 aircrew saw a long, red streak of flame, coming up off the ground. The object climbed steeply, turned right, and came around the front of the aircraft, but well ahead of it. Circling around the plane, the UFO then approached from the rear, and it exploded without doing damage to the B-29.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	April 1, 1945
Time:	?
Duration:	?
First known report date:	2007
Reporting delay:	Hours, decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	Japan
State/Department:
City or place:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	10 or 11
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Ufology books.
Visibility conditions:	?
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	Yes.
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
UFO action:	Climbs from the ground, circles plane, explodes.
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: 10 or 11. [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	?
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 12 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Unidentified, insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. kre1:] KEVIN RANDLE:

The author described a case over Japan on April 1st, 1945:

A different crew, according to the government files, saw something coming up off the ground. It was a long, red streak of flame, observed by everyone on the aircraft. The object climbed steeply, turned right, and came around the front of the aircraft, but well ahead of it. Circling around the plane, the UFO now approached from the rear, and then it exploded without doing damage to the B-29.

Kevin Randle said the official report containing this case was found by Keith Chester, and the mission was a bombing raid on the Mitsubishi plant in the night on April 1, 1945.

Aircraft information:

The Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” was the heaviest bomber of the U.S. Army Air Forces, 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.

Discussion:

As I do not have the military report, I do not think I should to risk an explanation for this observation of non-null but nevertheless moderate strangeness.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[aaf1] ? Mission Report, U.S. Army Air Forces, 1945
[kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, 2007.
[kre1] * "The Government UFO Files - The Conspiracy of Cover-Up", book by Kevin D. Randle, Visible Ink publishers, USA, page 7, 2014.

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	July 10, 2024	Creation, [kre1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	July 10, 2024	First published.

This page was last updated on July 10, 2024.