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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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North Sea, on April 7, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-04-07-NORTHSEA-1

Summary:

In his 1981 book "Project Identification" about the UFO question, US scientist Harley D. Rutledge reported that Professor Louis Sewell of the mathematics department at SEMO had two sightings as a navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress.

One of them took place at mid-morning on April 7, 1945. Captain Sewell and his comrades were in a formation of nearly 1,000 aircraft over the North Sea on their way to a target near Berlin, when suddenly, out of the sun, a German fighter dived at their B-17 from the side, and leveled ooff for a swift attack.

The "German fighter" had no wings, only a fuselage showed. Instead of firing, this object continued the familiar German fighter tactic of getting quickly away from the bomber formation in a rollout dive, as if to prepare a climb for altitude for another attack.

After diving out of range of the B-17's guns, the craft executed an impossible maneuver: it stopped in the sky. At that moment, Sewell was looking down on the object between his B-17 and the sea. Then, said Sewell, the object "darted up and out of sight at about two thousand miles per hour."

During the debriefing after the mission, Sewell told his story as did his comrades on his B-17, as did flight crews from other B-17s who saw the object. Sewell's radio operator turned over several photographic exposures of the object to intelligence officers. No one from the crew ever learned of the disposition of the film.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: April 7, 1945
Time: Mid morning.
Duration: ?
First known report date: 1981
Reporting delay: 4 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:
State/Department: Over the North Sea
City:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 1 to 5
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 1

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: Witness to ufologist Harley D. Rutledge.
Visibility conditions: Day.
UFO observed: Yes.
UFO arrival observed: Yes.
UFO departure observed: Yes.
UFO action: Approaches, stops in air, goes awa at 2000 mph.
Witnesses action:
Photographs: Yes, unavailable.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation: UFO.

Classifications:

Sensors: [X] Visual: 1 to 5.
[ ] Airborne radar:
[ ] Directional ground radar:
[ ] Height finder ground radar:
[ ] Photo:
[ ] Film/video:
[ ] EM Effects:
[ ] Failures:
[ ] Damages:
Hynek: DD
Armed / unarmed: Armed, 5 7.62 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3: 2
Strangeness 1-3: 3
ACUFO: Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources:

(Ref. hre1:) HARLEY D. RUTLEDGE:

Scan.

Professor Louis Sewell of the mathematics department at SEMO had two sightings as a navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress. At midmorning on April 7 1945, Captain Sewell and his comrades were in nearly 1,000 aircraft over the North Sea on their way to a target near Berlin. Suddenly, out of the sun, a German fighter dived at Sewell's aircraft from the side, leveling off for a swift attack. It was quite a maneuver for a craft with no wings! Only a fuselage showed. Instead of firing, the object continued the familiar German fighter tactic of getting quickly away from the bomber formation in a rollout dive. Now a climb for altitude would be preparatory for another attack.

After diving out of range of the B-17's guns, the craft executed an impossible maneuver: it stopped! At that moment, Sewell was looking down on the object between his B-17 and the sea. Then, Sewell said, the object "darted up and out of sight at about two thousand miles per hour."

During the debriefing after the mission, Sewell told his story as did his comrades on his B-17, as did flight crews from other B-17s who saw the object. Sewell's radio operator turned over several photographic exposures of the object to intelligence officers. No one from the crew ever learned of the disposition of the film, put that was SOP (standing operating procedure).

Like many of our Project sightings, here is an early case of imitation - a craft mimicking the attack procedure of a German fighter. Why was no attack made? Perhaps armament had not been added. Who would use an advanced technology for display purposes? Are many of the plasma-like balls of light we observe in the Project the same as the foo fighters of World War II?

[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1945, April 7

above the NORTH SEA

In the morning the pilot and crew members of a USAF B17 observed an object resembling a fuselage which was maneuvering near their aircraft. (PROJECT ACUFOE, Catalog 1999, Dominique Weinstein)

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:

534: 1945/04/07 10:00 1 2:30:00 E 52:00:00 N 3333 OCN ATL NSE 7:C
NORTH SEA:BOMBING RAID:FUSELAGE DIVES/1000 PLANES:STOPS/MIDAIR:SHOOTS^/2000mph
Ref# 31 RUTLEDGE,H.D.:PROJECT IDENTIFICATION Page No. 250: IN-FLIGHT

[Ref. dwn1:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

April 7, 1945

North Sea

At mid-morning, Capt. Louis Sewell (navigator) and the crew of a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress were in nearly 1,000 aircraft over the North Sea on their way to a target near Berlin. Suddenly out of the sun, a "German" fighter dived at Sewell's aircraft from the side, leveling off for a swift attack. It was quite a maneuver for a craft with no wing. Only a fuselage showed. Instead of firing, the object continued the familiar German fighter tactic of getting quickly away from the bomber formation in a rollout dive. After diving out of range of the B17's guns, the craft executed an impossible maneuver: it stopped! At that moment Sewell was looking down on the object between his B-17 and the sea. Then the object "darted up and out of sight at about 2,000 mph. The object was seen by crews on other B-17s. They all were debriefed and Sewell's radio operator turned over several photographic exposures of the object to intelligence officers. (Sewell had another sighting of UAP on May 7, 1945 over the Atlantic Ocean)

Sources: Project Identification, Harley D. Rutledge, 1981, p.250 / Project 1947, Jan Aldrich.

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 119

April 7, 1945

North Sea

At mid-morning, Capt. Louis Sewell (navigator) and the crew of a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress were in nearly 1,000 aircraft over the North Sea on their way to a target near Berlin. Suddenly out of the sun, a "German" fighter dived at Sewell's aircraft from the side, leveling off for a swift attack. It was quite a maneuver for a craft with no wing. Only a fuselage showed. Instead of firing, the object continued the familiar German fighter tactic of getting quickly away from the bomber formation in a rollout dive. After diving out of range of the Bl7's guns, the craft executed an impossible maneuver: it stopped ! At that moment Sewell was looking down on the object between his B-17 and the sea. Then the object "darted up and out of sight at about 2,000 mph. The object was seen by crews on other B-17s. They all were debriefed and Sewell's radio operator turned over several photographic exposures of the object to intelligence officers. (Sewell had another sighting of UAP on May 7, 1945 over the Atlantic Ocean)

Sources: Project Identification, Harley D. Rutledge, 1981, p.250 / Project 1947, Jan Aldrich.

(Ref. kre1:) KEVIN D. RANDLE:

In Europe, a B-17 crew flying over the North Sea toward Berlin on the morning of April 7, 1945, saw something very strange. The navigator, Captain Louis Sewell, thought they were being attacked by a German fighter. According to the government files, Sewell said that the fighter dived ac them, leveled and then rolled under the B-17. It did not attack and they realized it wasn't a fighter but something that looked more like a V-2. le was maneuvering intelligently, bur it didn't seem co have any wings.

Importantly, the object, which held its position relative to the B-17 for a short time and then accelerated to "two thousand miles an hour," was seen by others in the fonnation. The radio operator in Sewell's aircraft took several pictures of the object. Once on the ground, the film was taken away and the crew heard nothing more about ic, which, according co Sewell, wasn't all chat unusual.

Here was something that was seen in the daylight, was seen by others in other aircraft, and which was photographed. Like the Japanese "beam" weapons, those photographs disappeared into the great maw of the military machinery.

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

April 7, 1945: North Sea

A wingless object, able to stop in mid-flight and travel thousands of miles per hour. (Page 158-159 Ref.1)

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

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

Date: Apr. 7, 1945

Location: North Sea

Time:

Summary: A wingless object, able to stop in mid-flight and travel thousands of miles per hour.

Source:

Aircraft information:

The US B-17 "Flying Fortress" was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.

B-17 formation.

Discussion:

Map.

A second sighting by Capt. Sewell is reported by Harley D. Rudledge.

I managed to find out that the witness was Louis Barfield Sewell (photo below), deceased at 88 on February 19, 2014, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. He was born April 12, 1925, in Hornersville, Montana. In 1943, during his senior year of high school in Doniphan, Montana, he joined the Army Air Corps. He served as a navigator on a B-17 during World War II in the 92nd Bomb Group.

Louis B. Sewell.

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial craft.

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 December 19, 2023 Création, [hre1], [gvo1], [lhh1], [dwn2], [kre1], [nip1].
1.0 Patrick Gross December 19, 2023 First published.

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This page was last updated on December 19, 2023.