ACUFO-1941-00-00-DEVILSSEA-1
A photo on the Web in the 2020's claims to show “three planes” that are “supposed Japanese torpedo bombers, over the Pacific's Devil's Sea, in 1943.” And, “In the far corner of the snapshot are UFOs.”
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Subsequently, I found an earlier source, the 1983 book “UFO's Over Modern China” by Wendelle C. Stevens and Paul Dong.
There, we are told that the photo was taken in 1941 on the China Sea:
“An alert Army Air Force cameraman photographing a trailing formation of three Japanese Air Force fighter aircraft succeeded in capturing a second formation of six mist-shrouded objects in a line abreast formation above and beyond the Japanese fighters. There was a scattered to broken layer of newly developing small clouds at a level below the aircraft, but there was no cloud development anywhere else in the clear blue sky. The six cloud-like objects paced the fighter formation for a time and then just disappeared.”
In 1997, erudite Italian UFO researcher discussed the whole series of alleged “Foo-Fighter“ photos which were claimed to come from Japanese aviation during World War II, including this one. He noted these photos were published in numerous books giving no source, and that ufologists specializing in «Foo-Fighter« were not aware of any well-documented reports that would be linked to these photos, that consultations with these ufologists revealed that they have a unique and very questionable source.
The source, Stilo said, dating from 1963 and 1964, was the Japanese “contactee” group “Cosmic Brotherhood Association”, led by Yusuke J. Matsumura. They had published numerous such photos, including this one, none of which had a source from Western ufology.
Stilo explained that in the mid-1950s, Yusuke Matsumura started 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 an 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. He continued to publish alleged photos of UFOs, faked by him.
I finally found the primary source, indeed the "Contactees" bulletin Flying Saucer News, by Yusuke Matsumura, of the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" (CBA), Japan, from February - March 1963, which published this photo, among others.
The bulletin claimed that these photos were the result of research by the "CBA Scientific Research Department" which had "studied the University's records and eventually obtained various valuable data. All the photographs presented here were taken by the Ichikoku Army Air Corps during World War II."
The bulletin also stated that the photo was taken at the end of the Great War - so in 1945, not in 1945 - that the planes in the image are thos of an aircraft carrier, and that they were flying over the Pacific Ocean.
| Date: | 1945 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Day. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | February 1963 |
| Reporting delay: | 2 decades. |
| Country: | Japan |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | |
| City or place: | Devil's Sea, the Pacific. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | ? |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | Japanese "contactees" bulletin. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Day. |
| UFO observed: | ? |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| UFO action: | ? |
| Witnesses action: | |
| Photographs: | Yes. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[ ] Visual: ?
[ ] Airborne radar: N/A. [ ] Directional ground radar: N/A. [ ] Height finder ground radar: N/A. [X] Photo: 1. [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 1 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 1 |
| ACUFO: | No credibility, probably not UFOs. |
[Ref. fsn1:] "FLYING SAUCER NEWS" - CBA:
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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:
As we already reported in detail in last month's issue, during World War II, the astonishing incident in which Boeing B-17 “Superfortresses” collided with a disk occurred not only in Europe but also in the eastern airspace. The CBA Scientific Research Department studied the University's records and finally obtained various valuable data. All photographs shown here were taken by the Ichikoku Army Air Corps during World War II.
The photo discussed here is number 3, the second from the top on the left.
The caption says:
(3) At the end of the Great War, a group of carrier-based attack aircraft were flying over the Pacific Ocean and a group of mysterious luminous UFOs flying above it was beautifully captured.
[Ref. pdg1:] PAUL DONG AND WENDELLE C. STEVENS:
1941, China Sea.
An alert Army Air Force cameraman photographing a trailing formation of three Japanese Air Force fighter aircraft succeeded in capturing a second formation of six mist-shrouded objects in a line abreast formation above and beyond the Japanese fighters. There was a scattered to broken layer of newly developing small clouds at a level below the aircraft, but there was no cloud development anywhere else in the clear blue sky. The six cloud-like objects paced the fighter formation for a time and then just disappeared.
The image is:
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Photo caption:
1941, China Sea. A Japanese Army Air Force cameraman photographing a trailing formation of fighter aircraft captured a second group of six mist-shrouded objects in the sky above.
[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.
The image below, Stilo said, was of three fighter planes flying in tight formation and, at the top left, six elongated planes are visible.
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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. gfn1:] WEBSITE "GREY FALCON":
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This photograph appears with the caption:
Interestingly enough, with all the sightings and reports, and all the gun cameras and high altitude photographs, no truly GOOD pictures of Foo Fighters from the period have surfaced.
[...]
These three planes are supposed Japanese torpedo bombers, over the Pacific's Devil's Sea, in 1943. In the far corner of the snapshot are UFOs.
The planes in the photo are not very distinct; they could be Kawasaki Ki-61 “Tony” fighter planes, or Aichi B7A “Grace” or Yokosuka D4Y “Judy” attack planes.
The “Devil's Sea” (Japanese: Ma no Umi), (below), also known as the “Devil's Triangle”, the “Dragon's Triangle”, the “Formosa Triangle” and the “Pacific Bermuda Triangle”, is a region of the Pacific Ocean, south of Tokyo, sometimes considered as a “paranormal” location, in the manner of the “Bermuda Triangle” and other many sea areas where claims of “unexplained” disapperances of planes and ships are alleged.
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The three vague lighter spots in the corner of the photo could be just about anything. To think that these are extraterrestrial spacecraft requires, in my opinion, an act of great faith...
No known account corroborates such a thing.
The origin of the photo is never indicated on the Web. Most of the other similar photos of “Foo-Fighters over Japan” come from a book by Wendelle Stevens and Paul Dong called “UFOS over Modern China“ (1983), and, according to the American ufologist Jan Aldrich, we learn that the images in the book come from the UFO group “Cosmic Brotherhood Association” (C.B.A) in Japan, of which the late ufologist Jun-Tchi Takanashi declared that all their photographs of “Foo-Fighter” were dubious, published without pedigree.
As I now found sources [fsn1] and [gso1], the pedigree of the image is clearer:
Japanese UFO enthusiasts of the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" went to a Japanese univertity and browsed some Japanese history books of magazine about WWII; they picked up photos where they thought UFOs were appearing, and published them in their Flying Saucer News bulletin, in two series, the photo discussed here being printed as number 3 in the February - March 1963 issue.
For this photo, we see that for the CBA, it was taken at the end of the war, therefore in 1945, and not in 1941.
No credibility, probably not UFOs.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | January 29, 2024 | Creation, [gfn1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 29, 2024 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | May 6, 2024 | Addition [pdg1]. Addition of the information of [pdg1] in the Summary, case year changed. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | July 27, 2024 | Additions [fsn1], [gso1]. Addition of the information of [fsn1] and [gso1] in the Summary. In the Discussion, addition of the "Update on July 17, 2024" part. |
