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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Germany, in 1941:

Case number:

ACUFO-1941-00-00-GERMANY-1

Summary:

In the years 1990 - 2000, the American Joseph Trainor published on the Web a bulletin called UFO ROUNDUP with ufological news and occasionally old cases, presented without sources references and without verification.

In his December 30, 1999 issue, he wrote that in 1941, German aviator Hannah Reisch [sic, Reitsch] had seen a UFO speed by at an altitude of 20,000 meters while she was testing in flight a precursor of the Messerschmitt Me-163 "Komet."

To date, I have found no other mention anywhere of such an event.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	1941
Time:	?
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1999
Reporting delay:	6 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	Germany
State/Department:
City:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	1

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	UFO Web newsletter Joseph Trainor.
Visibility conditions:	?
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Flies.
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: 1 [N/A] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	?
Armed / unarmed:	Unarmed.
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	1
ACUFO:	Probable sensation publication invention.

Sources:

[Ref. jtr1:] JOSEPH TRAINOR:

1941 - German aviatrix Hannah Reisch [sic] sees a UFO speeding by at an altitude of 20,000 meters (66,000 feet) while flight-testing a forerunner of the Messerschmitt 163 Komet.

Aircraft information:

The Messerschmitt Me-163 "Komet" (photo below)was designed by Alexander Lippisch, and was the only operational rocket fighter plane of World War II, entering the war in a very limited manner in 1944. It was the fastest plane of the WWII with peak speeds of over 950 km/h, but a flight endurance of only 7 minutes.

Discussion:

Hanna Reitsch (1912-1979) was a German aviator, test pilot, holder of more than 40 records. A Luftwaffe officer and fervent nazi, she participated in combat during the Second World War.

In 1941, she did carry out test flights on the Messerchmitt Me-163 "Komet" rocket plane, at the Augsburg and Peenemünde test centers in Germany.

Nowhere on the Web, in my ufological library and in the hundreds of ufological magazines, have I been able to find the slightest allusion to what Joseph Trainor reported.

I do not think he invented the story himself, but his source was certainly not among the most credible...

Evaluation:

Probable sensation publication invention.

Sources references:

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

[jtr1] * "A Century of UFOs", list by Joseph Trainor, on his Web newsletter UFO ROUNDUP, Volume 4, No 36, December 30, 1999.

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	November 8, 2023	Creation, [jtr1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	November 8, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on November 8, 2023.