ACUFO:

In the scientific journal La Nature, an observation is reported that is not unrelated to the Gallipoli cloud, although there are notable differences in form...

“It was in Le Mans, at the beginning of the summer of 1941,” the witness declared.

The Luftwaffe had occupied the old Le Mans airfield, at the Circuit de la Sarthe, and maintained several groups of Messerschmitt 109s, not very fast, but extremely maneuverable. The German pilots were on permanent alert, and several times I observed Messerschmitts flying in groups in broad daylight from quite close up.”

“The weather was magnificent, a Sunday as far as I can remember, and at about 1 p.m. the very clear sky contained only a few large cumulus clouds, which were very far apart from each other. At about 1 p.m. the whole town heard the din of the planes taking off in haste, and I could see that the cause of the alert seemed to be in one of the large cumulus clouds which, at that moment, was flying very slowly over the airfield. One could see the Messerschmitts circling as if in a panic around the cloud, diving into it at full speed, coming out in a candle or sideways, and starting their maneuvers again, a truly very pretty spectacle, but which must have been terribly dangerous for the pilots. Was this an exercise ordered by the camp commander or an alert? I never knew, but it was curious to observe the terrified looks of the German soldiers and officers stationed in the city, who followed the spectacle from the windows of the houses.”

“I was then able to observe that the cloud which, on its arrival, seemed to have its base around 300 meters and to culminate around 1,000 meters, began to bud and, when it moved away from the airfield to move away from the city, it had taken the form of a very tall pyramid, with perfectly clear contours and brilliantly lit by the sun; its very sharp point must probably have been around 3,000 meters, according to a height visible on the horizon and its probable place on the ground. My observation point was 4 kilometers from the airfield and the cloud was about 5 kilometers away when I observed its summit.”

What can we conclude from such an observation, except that the behavior of the Messerschmitts would have been absurd if the cloud, by its nature, presented no danger. Finally, the terrified looks of the officers at their windows would have made no sense if it had simply been an exercise.

“Something” in the sky, colossal, surrounded by a cloudy mist, attracted the attention of the aviators who hastened to go and see what was going on, at the risk of breaking their necks in perilous acrobatics. They entered the cloud, but superficially, since they immediately came out in a dive or sideways, as if they wanted to avoid a solid object, a collision...

1941

Early Summer

One Sunday 1941 1:00 p.m. It was in Le Mans (France), at the beginning of the summer of 1941. The Luftwaffe had occupied the old Le Mans airfield, at the Circuit de la Sarthe, and was maintaining several groups of Messerschmitt 109s, not very fast, but extremely maneuverable. The German pilots were on permanent alert and, several times, I observed quite closely at group flights of Messerschmitts in broad daylight. The weather was magnificent, a Sunday as far as I remember, and around 1:00 p.m., the very clear sky contained only a few large cumulus clouds, clouds which were very far apart from each other. About 1 p.m. the whole town heard the din of the planes taking off in haste, and I could see that the cause of the alarm seemed to be in one of the large cumulus clouds which, at that moment, was flying very slowly over the airfield. One could see the Messerschmitts circling as if in a panic around the cloud, diving into it at full speed, coming out in a dive or sideways, and starting their maneuvers again, a truly very beautiful display, but which must have been terribly dangerous for the pilots. Was this a drill ordered by the camp commander or an alarm? I never knew, but it was curious to observe the terrified looks of the German soldiers and officers barracked in the town, who followed the show from the windows of the houses. I was then able to observe that the cloud, which, upon its arrival, seemed to have its base at about 300 m and to peak at about 1000 m, began to bud and, when it moved away from the aerodrome to move away from the city, it had taken the form of a very high pyramid, with perfectly clear contours and brilliantly lit by the sun; its very sharp point must probably have been at about 3000 m, according to a height visible on the horizon and its probable place on the ground. My observation spot was 4 km from the airfield and the cloud was about 5 km away when I observed its summit.