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 13, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-04-13-JAPAN-1

Summary:

In the History book “Blankets of Fire - U.S. Bombers over Japan During World War II”, by Werrell P. Kenneth, published by the Smithsonian Institute, in 1998, we can read that in April 1945, during bombing raids over Japan, the B-29's aircrew began reporting “a threatening occurrence” in the night skies. On April 13, 1945, seven crews saw “balls of fire”, “weaving crazily across the sky, some hitting the ground, some exploding”, and according to one of the Bomb Group mission report, “they were circular or spherical in shape, left a faint trail until they exploded of began to disintegrate.”

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	April 13, 1945
Time:	?
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1945
Reporting delay:	Hours.

Geographical data:

Country:	Japan
State/Department:
City or place:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	Several.
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	WWII History book.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
UFO action:	Maneuvers, crash, disintegrate, explode
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: Several. [ ] 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:	3
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. wkt1:] WERREL P. KENNETH:

In April [1945] the [B-29's] aircrew began reporting a threatening occurrence in the night skies. On the 13th, seven crews saw "balls of fire" weaving crazily across the sky, some hitting the ground, some exploding. According to one of the bomb group summary, "they were circular or spherical in shape, left a faint trail until they exploded or began to disintegrate."

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:

The source “Blankets of Fire: U.S. Bombers Over Japan During World War II”, by Kenneth P. Werrell, published by the Smithsonian Institution Press, is a non-ufology scholarly book that covers the American strategic bombing doctrine, logistics, and operations in the Pacific during World War II.

Unfortunately, the information is not detailed enough, and it is not possible to determine among the phenomena described in the book, the ones that would be mundane and the one that, possibly, were not mundane.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[wkt1] * "Blankets of Fire - U.S. Bombers over Japan During World War II", book by Werrell P. Kenneth, Smithsonian Institute Press publishers, USA, page 181, 1998.

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 9, 2024	Creation, [wkt1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	July 9, 2024	First published.

This page was last updated on July 9, 2024.