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Japan or the Pacific, between 1940 and 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1940-00-00-JAPAN-4

Summary:

This photo appeared on many “UFO” Websites, and on social networks, in the years 2000 - 2020, without ever having a relevant caption other than claims that it is a photo of a “Foo-Fighter” above a Japanese “Lily” bomber.

In 1997, the erudite Italian UFO researcher Giuseppe Stilo wrote about the series of alleged “Foo-Fighter“ photos which allegedly came from Japanese aviation during WWII He explained that ufologists specializing in «Foo-Fighter« were not aware of any well-documented reports that would be linked to these photos, and that consultations with these ufologists revealed that they have a unique and very questionable source, dating from 1963 and 1964: the Japanese “contactee” group “Cosmic Brotherhood Association”, led by Yusuke J. Matsumura who published this photo and other photos in the second issue of their 1963 newsletter Flying Saucer News.

Stilo said that this photo shows a front view of a Japanese plane Lily 99 on the ground with the propellers whirling, and a large white spot in the sky, to the left.

Stilo explained that in the mid-1950s, Yusuke Matsumura distributed mimeographed bulletins in English on behalf of a small group of enthusiasts called the “Flying Saucer Research Group”. In 1958, in Yokohama, he created the “CBA International (Cosmic Brotherhood Association)” with the administrator in Japan of the American contactee George Adamski, Hachiro Kubota, and launched the small magazine “Flying Saucer News”. Matsumura then claimed to have met the “Space Brothers” himself, who took him into their spaceship (etc.). From 1957 on, Matsumura released dozens of photos of unusual clouds, claiming that they were spaceships that he had photographed himself. He ended up setting up a real apocalyptic sect and practicing fraud, having money paid to him by his disciples whom his extraterrestrial friends were supposed to save from the soon to come end of the world, which did not happen. He continued to publish alleged photos of UFOs, faked by him.

I also found in the Flying Saucer News bulletin of the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (CBA) of February - March 1963, in a first series of these photos of alleged “Foo-Fighters” published by the CBA, that they told they found these photos in a University, and that the second series, published in in August 1964, were this picture appeared, that it was taken by the Ichikoku Army Air Corps during World War II.

Data:

Temporal data:

Geographical data:

Witnesses data:

Ufology data:

Classifications:

Sources:

[Ref. fsn1:] "FLYING SAUCER NEWS" - CBA:

In the ufology bulletin Flying Saucer News, of the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (CBA) of February - March 1963, a first series of these photos above of alleged “Foo-Fighters” was published by the CBA; which was the origin of the photo discussed here.

In the brief explanatory text in Japanese which accompanied them, the CBA stated:

[Ref. fsn2:] "FLYING SAUCER NEWS" - CBA:

In the ufology bulletin Flying Saucer News, of the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (CBA) of August 1964, a second series of these photos above of alleged “Foo-Fighters” was published by the CBA; the one dealt with in this file is on he top right corner.

In the brief explanatory text in Japanese which accompanied them, the CBA stated:

[Ref. gso1:] GIUSEPPE STILO:

This Italian UFO researcher discusses alleged “Foo-Fighter“ photos which would come from Japanese aviation during the Second World War, which were published in numerous books giving no source. He explains that ufologists specializing in «Foo-Fighter« are not aware of any well-documented reports that would be linked to these photos, and that consultations with these ufologists revealed that they have a unique and very questionable source.

The source, dating from 1963 and 1964, was the Japanese “contactee” group “Cosmic Brotherhood Association”, led by Yusuke J. Matsumura. They had published numerous photos, none of which had a source from Western ufology.

A first series was published by the CBA in the second issue of the 1963 newsletter Flying Saucer News.

Stilo commented the above picture:

Stilo explains that in the mid-1950s, Yusuke Matsumura distributed mimeographed bulletins in English on behalf of a small group of enthusiasts called the "Flying Saucer Research Group"; that in 1958, in Yokohama, he created the "CBA International (Cosmic Brotherhood Association)" with the administrator in Japan of the American contactee George Adamski, Hachiro Kubota, and launched the small magazine "Flying Saucer News". Matsumura then claimed to have met the "Space Brothers" himself, who took him into their spaceship (etc.). From 1957 on, Matsumura released dozens of photos of unusual clouds, claiming that they were spaceships that he had photographed himself. He ended up setting up a real apocalyptic sect and practicing fraud, having money paid to him by his disciples whom his extraterrestrial friends were supposed to save from the soon to come end of the world, which did not happen. He continued to publish alleged photos of UFOs, faked by him.

[Ref. www1:] ON THE WEB:

The photo never has any relevant caption; it appears on the Web in the 2000 - 2020, mostly on social networks, with titles claiming it is a photo of a “Foo-Fighter” above a Japanese bomber “Lily”.

[Ref. asi1:] ANDRE SPINELLI ET AL.:

The photo published in this manner appears in a scientific paper by this author and others, the caption means:

The article gives no sources or information about the image or the "Foo-Fighters". The abstract of the article says:

Note: this article is given as the only source of the photo when searching for the image via Google Lens.

Aircraft information:

The plane on the image is a Kawasaki Ki-48 Japanese light bomber, Army Type 99 (photo below). It was used during World War II from late 1940 and on, and its Allied reporting code name was “Lily”.

Discussion:

The light spot in the photo could be anything. No sighting report linked to the image exists.

As with the other photos of alleged “foo-fighters” near Japanese WWII planes, it seems likely that this too came from a publication by a Japanese group of UFO and aliens enthusiasts, the “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (C.B.A).

According to the American ufologist Jan Aldrich, a Japanese ufologist familiar with these photos, Jun-Tchi Takanashi, indicated that all the photographs of “Foo-fighters” of the C.B.A. were “false”, “without origin or pedigree.”

My opinion is that the Cosmic Brotherhood Association probably found the photo in some Japanese aviation book or newspaper or magazine, saw the light spot and decided it must be a UFO.

Update on July 19, 2024:

My idea is that at the time, Yusuke Matsumura did not have the equipement and / or the skills to fake photographs. He probably found the images he published in some Japanese book or magazine about Japanese aviation during WWII, and picked up all of them that showed what he believed to be UFOs, or what he wanted us to believe to be UFOs.

Stilo told that at the time, Yusuke Matsumura did this with "weird clouds" photographs; this adds some fuel to my idea.

If he had faked photographs, he would certainly have created more "impressive" UFOs than those.

Evaluation:

Probable photo artefact.

Sources references:

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

• [fsn1] * "Discs during World War II", article in the "Contactees" bulletin Flying Saucer News, by Yusuke Matsumura, of the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" (CBA), Japan, February - March 1963.
• [fsn2] * "Discs during World War II", article in the "Contactees" bulletin Flying Saucer News, by Yusuke Matsumura, of the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" (CBA), Japan, February - March 1963.
• [gso1] * "Il ritorno di foo fighters, article by Giuseppe Stilo, in the ufology magazine Rivista UFO, Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici (CISU), Italy, No. 20, page 8, December 1997.
• [www1] * Photo published on the Web, on numerous "UFO" Websites and social networks, 2000 - 2020.
• [asi1] * "Trabalho de Metodologia Científica - Ufologia", paper by André Spinelli Schiavni, Fernand Akl Faria Lasmar, Henrique Riberairo Rezende, Prof. Rudini Sampaio, UFLA - Federal University of Lavras DCC - Department of Computer Science, Lavras (MG), Brazil, received July 1, 2008, accepted July 2, 2008, at https://sites.dc.ufc.br/~rudini/ufla/ufla/2008i/com161.trab.ufo.pdf

File history:

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This page was last updated on July 21, 2024.