ACUFO-1942-12-09-SOMME-1
An article by Jerome Clark and Lucius Farish, in SAGA UFO Reports, in the Spring of 1975, tells that in December 1942, R.A.F. pilot B.C. Lumsden took off from England at 7 p.m. in his “Hurricane” fighter plane, heading for the French coast, using the Somme River as a navigation landmark.
An hour later, cruising at 7,000 feet over the mouth of the Somme, he notices two steadily climbing orange-colored lights, with one slightly above the other. He thought it might be tracer flak, but discarded this when he saw how slowly the objects were moving.
He did a full turn and saw the lights behind and on the right, but now they were larger and brighter.
At 7,000 feet, the lights stopped climbing and stayed level with Lumsden's Hurricane. Frightened, the pilot executed a full turn again, only to discover that the objects had hung behind him on the turn.
Lumsden had no idea what he was seeing, but he did not like it. He nose-dived down to 4,000 feet, and the lights followed his maneuver, keeping their same relative position.
Finally, they descended about 1,000 feet below him until he levelled out, at which point they climbed again and resumed pursuit. The two lights seemed to maintain an even distance from each other and varied only slightly in relative height from time to time, with one always remained a bit lower than the other.
Finally, as Lumsden's speed reached 260 miles per hour, he was gradually able to outdistance the lights.
Lumsden said: “I found it hard to make other members of the squadron believe me when I told my story, but the following night one of the squadron flight commanders in the same area had a similar experience with a green light.”
The case was published in several books and Websites in the 2000's, including “UFO-skeptical” ones, without further details and generally without citing the source; except that in Dominique Weinstein's catalogue of aircraft - UFO encounter the date was given as December 9, 1942. Weinstein also referred to a newspaper article titled “Wartime Experience”, without giving the date or the name.
I found of the Press article in in the newspaper Christchurch Star-Sun, Christchurch, New Zealand, for November 4, 1955. The full text read:
A wartime experience, similar to that of the NAC crew was described today by Mr. B. C. Lumsden, of Lower Hutt, who was flying a Hurricane on intruder operations over France in December, 1942, when he sighted two lights which followed him for about 15 minutes.
Mr. Lumsden took off from England at 7 o'clock at night and landed about an hour and a half later. He flew to the French coast and pinpointed himself over the mouth of the Somme.
He was flying at 7000 feet when he saw two dim amber or orange coloured lights climbing steadily side by side, with one slightly above the other. At first he thought it was tracer flak, but stopped thinking that because of the slowness with which the lights climbed. He did a full turn and still saw the lights astern and to port but larger and brighter than before.
The lights were then level with him at 7000ft and no longer climbing, Mr. Lumsden recalled. He again made a complete turn and found the lights were staying behind him, on the turn.
He jettisoned his long-range tanks and did diving turns out to sea. He flattened out at about 4000 feet and the lights followed his general direction, always astern. Following his change of height they descended to about 1000 feet below him but were soon climbing again when he stayed on a level course. At an indicated speed of 260 m.p.h., he gradually drew away from the lights.
Mr. Lumsden said the two lights seemed to maintain an even distance from each other, and varied only slightly in relative height from time to time. One was always slightly lower than the other.
At one stage he thought they might be wing-tip lights of another aircraft, but had they been so the other aircraft would have been flying right-wing down at the impossible angle of 20 to 30 degrees. He experienced no flak or searchlights on the flight.
“I found it hard to make other members of the squadron believe me when I told my story,” said Mr. Lumsden, “but the following night one of the squadron flight commanders, in the same area, had a similar experience with a green light.”
Another report of this case had appeared in a 1955 New Zealand newspaper. At that time, B. C. Lumsden lived in New Zealand and heard in the Press that the passengers and crew of an Auckland-bound National Airways Corporation Dakota from Wellington had seen mysterious “flying lights” traveling at high speed along their aircraft. Lumsden was then interviewed by a newspaper about his own sighting.
The newspaper told that in December 1942, a New Zealand Hurricane pilot, Flight Sergeant B. C. Lumsden, who finished the war as a Flight-Lieutenant, and who is now secretary of the New Zealand Timber Merchants' Federation, was then a member of No 8 Squadron, Royal Air Force, and was flying a coal-black Hurricane fighter with long-range tanks on an intruder mission over France.
The newspaper explained that his note on the incident which can be read in his log book, appeared in an intelligence report which was circulated throughout the Allied forces. The newspaper quotes parts of this document:
“December 9, 1942 -- climbed to 7000ft while flying along French coast until he found himself at mouth of the Somme. Deciding to get a little further south before setting course, so as to miss Abbeville, he turned sharply right.”
“Just as he straightened up on a southerly course he saw to the east two dim amber or orange-coloured lights climbing steadily almost side by side, but one slightly above the other.”
“Thinking at first that these were tracer flak, he was at once struck by the slowness with which they climbed. He turned a full circle to starboard, and again saw the lights to the north-east, behind him on his left, but rather larger and brighter. They were now on a level with him at 7000ft, an no longer climbing.”
“He turned sharply to port and made a complete orbit - and found that the lights were keeping behind him on the turn. He jettisoned his long range tanks to obtain more maneuverability and turned tightly to port, only to find that the lights still stayed behind.”
“He then did diving turns out to sea and flattened out at 4000ft, heading north-north-east. The lights followed his general direction, always astern, and descended to about 1000ft below him, soon climbing again when he remained on a level course.”
“The Hurricane continued to fly on a course of 320deg at an indicated speed of 260 m.p.h. and gradually drew away from the lights, which appeared to continue to follow. When about five to ten minutes from the English coast, which he recrossed at Hastings, he lost sight of them.”
“The lights had been visible altogether for 15 min. They appeared to remain at an even distance from one another, except for brief periods when they drew closer together. They varied slightly in relative height from time to time, but the starboard one was always slightly lower than the other. Had they been wingtip lights, the aircraft carrying them would have been flying starboard wing down to an unusual and almost impossible degree.”
When asked what were the first reactions of those who heard his story, Mr Lumsden grinned. “The usual - the sort of reactions they give to people who say they spotted a flying saucer,” he said. “The implication is - 'give up drinking, old man, it isn't doing you any good'.”
The newspaper tells of a sequel:
A dour and doubting character on the same squadron took off next night to cover the same area, determined to lay “Lumsden's Lights” to rest, but he came back shaken and thoughtful.
His report was promptly dubbed “Lumsden's Lights Mk II.” His story was that he had been followed closely by a green light, which kept squarely behind him no matter what he did. Finally, in cloud, he managed to get away from it. He spent no further time in searching.
| Date: | December 9, 1942 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 08:00 p.m. |
| Duration: | 15 minutes. |
| First known report date: | 1955 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 13 years. |
| Country: | France |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Somme |
| City or place: |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Reporting channel: | Military report, the Press. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Night, ground visible. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Approaches, follows, outdistanced. |
| Witnesses action: | Turned, escaped. |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Puzzled, frightened. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 1.
[ ] Airborne radar: N/A. [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | NL |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 8 Browning 7,62 mm machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 3 |
| ACUFO: | Possible extraterrestrial craft. |
[Ref. crm1:] CEDRIC R. MENTIPLAY:
|
By Cedric R. Mentiplay
The passengers and crew of an Auckland-bound National Airways Corporation Dakota from Wellington who on Monday night saw mysterious “flying lights” traveling at high speed along their aircraft are only the most recent witnesses in a strange and unexplained phenomenon which for at least thirteen years has been baffling scientists.
The lights were similar in all respect to those reported in December, 1942, by a New Zealand Hurricane pilot. But on that occasion they appeared in enemy skies in France, over the mouth of the river Somme.
The name of the pilot was Flight Sergeant B. C. Lumsden, who finished the war as a Flight-Lieutenant, and who is now secretary of the New Zealand Timber Merchants's Federation. At the time of the encounter he was a member of No 8 Squadron, Royal Air Force, and was flying a coal-black Hurricane fighter with long-range tanks on an intruder mission.
From his note on the incident, which can be read in his log book, was made an intelligence report which was circulated throughout the Allied forces. It was the first mention of these strange visitors, which were christened by R.A.F. intelligence officers as “Lumsden's lights.”
At 7000ft
Here is part of that summary:
“December 9, 1942 -- climbed to 7000ft while flying along French coast until he found himself at mouth of the Somme. Deciding to get a little further south before setting course, so as to miss Abbeville, he turned sharply right.
“Just as he straightened up on a southerly course he saw to the east two dim amber or orange-coloured lights climbing steadily almost side by side, but one slightly above the other.
“Thinking at first that these were tracer flak, he was at once struck by the slowness with which they climbed. He turned a full circle to starboard, and again saw the lights to the north-east, behind him on his left, but rather larger and brighter. They were now on a level with him at 7000ft, an no longer climbing.
Kept Behind
“He turned sharply to port and made a complete orbit - and found that the lights were keeping behind him on the turn. He jettisoned his long range tanks to obtain more maneuverability and turned tightly to port, only to find that the lights still stayed behind.
“He then did diving turns out to sea and flattened out at 4000ft, heading north-north-east. The lights followed his general direction, always astern, and descended to about 1000ft below him, soon climbing again when he remained on a level course.
“The Hurricane continued to fly on a course of 320deg at an indicated speed of 260 m.p.h. and gradually drew away from the lights, which appeared to continue to follow. When about five to ten minutes from the English coast, which he recrossed at Hastings, he lost sight of them.
“The lights had been visible altogether for 15 min. They appeared to remain at an even distance from one another, except for brief periods when they drew closer together. They varied slightly in relative height from time to time, but the starboard one was always slightly lower than the other. Had they been wingtip lights, the aircraft carrying them would have been flying starboard winf down to an unusual and almost impossible degree.”
When asked what were the first reactions of those who heard his story, Mr Lumsden grinned. “The usual - the sort of reactions they give to people who say they spotted a flying saucer,” he said. “The implication is - 'give up drinking, old man, it isn't doing you any good'.”
Many Sequels
But there was a sequel, the first of many.
A dour and doubting character on the same squadron took off next night to cover the same area, determined to lay “Lumsden's Lights”. He returned shaken and thoughtful.
His report was promptly dubbed “Lumsden's Lights Mk II.” His story was that he had been followed closely by a green light, which kept squarely behind him no matter what he did. Finally, in cloud, he managed to get away from it. He spent no further time in searching.
“That is why the experience of Captain W. T. Rainbow, First Officer S. G. Trouce, and others aboard the N.A.C. aeroplane sounds so familiar to me - and somehow so reassuring,” said Mr. Lumsden.
“According to this week's report, the New Zealand light was well-behaved. The French ones, on the other hand, seemed to be piloted by mischievous types and darned good fliers. Anything that could dive, turn, and keep station with a Hurricane in those days certainly knew its way about the air.”
There was no war-time explanation of the mysterious lights, and there has not been a complete feasible one since.
Reputation
According to some authorities, that part of France and the Channel gained quite a reputation for such visitations.
But the lights seemed to have emigrated to New Zealand now - or rather to have extended their influence all round the world. Experiences similar to that of last Monday night have been reported from Europe, America, and Australia.
[Ref. wee1:] UNKNOWN NEWSPAPER:
|
A wartime experience, similar to that of the NAC crew was described today by Mr. B. C. Lumsden, of Lower Hutt, who was flying a Hurricane on intruder operations over France in December, 1942, when he sighted two lights which followed him for about 15 minutes.
Mr. Lumsden took off from England at 7 o'clock at night and landed about an hour and a half later. He flew to the French coast and pinpointed himself over the mouth of the Somme.
He was flying at 7000 feet when he saw two dim amber or orange coloured lights climbing steadily side by side, with one slightly above the other. At first he thought it was tracer flak, but stopped thinking that because of the slowness with which the lights climbed. He did a full turn and still saw the lights astern and to port but larger and brighter than before.
The lights were then level with him at 7000ft and no longer climbing, Mr. Lumsden recalled. He again made a complete turn and found the lights were staying behind him, on the turn.
He jettisoned his long-range tanks and did diving turns out to sea. He flattened out at about 4000 feet and the lights followed his general direction, always astern. Following his change of height they descended to about 1000 feet below him but were soon climbing again when he stayed on a level course. At an indicated speed of 260 m.p.h, he gradually drew away from the lights.
Mr. Lumsden said the two lights seemed to maintain an even distance from each other, and varied only slightly in relative height from time to time. One was always slightly lower than the other.
At one stage he thought they might be wing-tip lights of another aircraft, but had they been so the other aircraft would have been flying right-wing down at the impossible angle of 20 to 30 degrees. He experienced no flak or searchlights on the flight.
“I found it hard to make other members of the squadron believe me when I told my story,” said Mr. Lumsden, “but the following night one of the squadron flight commanders, in the same area, had a similar experience with a green light.”
[Ref. jcf1:] JEROME CLARK AND LUCIUS FARISH:
Royal Air Force pilot B.C. Lumsden observed two classic foos while flying a Hurricane interceptor over France in December 1942.
Lumsden had taken off from England at seven p.m., heading for the French coast, using the Somme River as a navigation point. An hour later, while cruising at 7,000 feet over the mouth of the Somme, he discovered that he had company: two steadily climbing orange-colored lights, with one slightly above the other. He thought it might be tracer flak but discarded the idea when he saw how slowly the objects were moving. He did a full turn and saw the lights astern and to port but now they were larger and brighter.
At 7,000 feet they stopped climbing and stayed level with Lumsden's Hurricane. The frightened pilot executed a full turn again, only to discover that the objects had hung behind him on the turn.
Lumsden had no idea what he was seeing. All he knew was that he didn't like it. He nose-dived down to 4,000 feet and the lights followed his every maneuver, keeping their same relative position. Finally they descended about 1,000 feet below him until he levelled out, at which point they climbed again and resumed pursuit. The two lights seemed to maintain an even distance from each other and varied only slightly in relative height from time to time. One always remained a bit lower than the other.
At last, as Lumsden's speed reached 260 miles per hour, he was gradually able to outdistance the foos.
“I found it hard to make other members of the squadron believe me when I told my story,” Lumsden said, “but the following night one of the squadron flight commanders in the same area had a similar experience with a green light.”
[Ref. ibl1:] ILLOBRAND VON LUDWIGER:
B.C. Lumsden, a pilot in the British Royal Air Force, saw two classic 'foo fighters' while flying over France in a Hurricane interceptor in December 1942. He had taken off from England at about 7 p.m. and was flying towards the French coast. After about an hour, when he was cruising at about 7,000 feet above the mouth of the River Somme, he spotted two steadily rising orange lights. At first he thought they were anti-aircraft shells, but these objects were flying too slowly for that. When Lumsden had turned 180 degrees, the things appeared larger and brighter.
At 7,000 feet, the objects stopped climbing and seemed to be accompanying his plane. The pilot began to get scared after he had not found a chance to shake off the pursuers even after another loop. Even after a sudden dive to 4000 feet, the 'Foo Fighters' followed him at a constant distance. Finally, the objects dived to 1000 feet, then rose again and disappeared over the horizon. The distance between the objects remained the same the whole time. Only the relative altitudes occasionally fluctuated slightly. However, one of the two 'Foo Fighters' always remained a little lower than the other. Lumsden was just able to keep up at a speed of 260 miles per hour.
“It was very difficult for me to convince the comrades in the flight squadron of my observation,” Lumsden recalls today, “but the following night the squadron commander had a similar experience with a greenish glowing body of light (Clark/Farish, p. 45-46).
[Ref. cti1:] JEROME CLARK AND MARCELLO TRUZZI:
A typical sighting of foos took place in December 1942 over France. A Royal Air Force pilot in a Hurricane interceptor saw two lights shooting from near the ground toward his 7,000- foot cruising altitude. At first he took the lights to be tracer fire. But when they ceased ascending and followed him, mimicking every evasive maneuver he made, the pilot realized they were under someone's intelligent control. The lights, which kept an even distance from each other all the while, pursued him for some miles.
[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
1942, December 9
in flight, over France
B.C. Lumsden, an RAF pilot, aboard his Hurricane interceptor plane, had left England at 7 p.m. He took the Somme (in France) as his landmark and as he flew over the Somme estuary at an altitude of around 2300 meters, he discovered he had company: two orange lights climbing steadily, one slightly above the other. At first he thought he saw enemy planes, but when he noticed the slowness of the objects he turned and then saw the lights larger and brighter. At 2300 meters altitude, they remained at the height of the plane, and the frightened pilot turned again, then discovering that the two lights had followed him; Lumsden didn't know what it was, he just knew he didn't like it. He nosedived with his aircraft descending to 1300 meters, and saw the lights descending to 300 m below his altitude, where they plateaued. Then they went back up and gave up chasing the plane, always one a little higher than the other. (Jeroen Wierda - Pufori - The Mysterious Foo Fighters of WWII - 19.5.1997 - collected on the Internet)
[Ref. dcr1:] DR. DAVID CLARKE AND ANDY ROBERTS:
The authors report that one of the first recorded Foo-fighters encounters by R.A.F. aircraft came from B. C. Lumsden, flying a Hurricane interceptor over France in December 1942.
He had taken off from England at 7 p.m., he headed for the French coast, and one hour later, cruising at 7,000 feet over the mouth of the River Somme, he noticed two steadily climbing orange-coloured lights, one slightly above the other. He first thought the lights might be tracer flak shells, but he discarded this when he saw how slowly they were moving. He did a full turn and saw the lights astern and to port, now they were larger and brighter. At 7,000 feet the lights stopped climbing and stayed level with his plane. He was frightened pilot, performed another full turn, but he saw that the objects had stayed with him. He then tried a nose-dive to 4,000 feet, and the lights followed his manoeuvre. The lights finally they descended to about 1000 feet below his plane, so he levelled out, and the lights climbed again and resumed the pursuit, seemingly maintaining and even distance between them, varying only slightly in height one from another from time to time, with ne always remaining a little lower than the other. Lumsden's speed reached 260 mph, and he gradually outdistanced the UFOs.
He is quoted saying “I found it hard to make other members of the squadron believe me, but the following night one of the squadron flight commanders in the same area had a similar experience with a green light.”
The authors say that Lumsden's account reached the Air Ministry in 1942.
[Ref. jck2:] JEROME CLARK:
The erudite author indicates that one evening in early December of 1942, an RAF Hurricane interceptor piloted by B. C. Lumsden departed from England on its way to the French coast. As he cruised at 7,000 feet over the mouth of the Somme River, Lumsden noticed flashes that he took to be tracer fire; but on second look, he was less sure because the lights were moving too slowly to be bullets, and they were getting bigger and bigger.
When they reached his altitude, they were no longer ascending but moving level with his airplane. Lumsden made a sharp, full turn, but the objects kept pace with him from behind. He then suddenly plummeted 3,000 feet, but the objects matched his movement and stayed at their usual distance to his rear, maintaining the same distance from each other, though occasionally varying in relative height. Finally, as his plane reached 260 mph, they moved a thousand feet beneath him, and soon they were gone.
Lumsden said: “I found it hard to make other members of the squadron believe me when 1 told my story, but the following night one of the squadron flight commanders in the same area had a similar experience with a green light.”
[Ref. fpr1:] FRANCOIS PARMENTIER:
Writing on the topic of UFO disinformation, this author indicates that after being pursued over the Somme, France, in December 1942, by two luminous balls, the English pilot B.C. Lumsden made a report which was added to others and forced the Royal Air Force to take a stand. Not wanting to worry the pilots or deny their observations, the R.A.F. cautiously put forward the hypothesis of a German pyrotechnic weapon being developed, and called the phenomenon “the thing”, the “light” or even “Phenomena”. François Parmentier wonders whether this was the first example of disinformation about UFOs, and believes it is likely because official documents unearthed by David Clarke and Andy Roberts show that experts did not believe in a German origin of the foo fighters.
[Note: I do not think that this could be a first fact of disinformation on UFOs for the very simple reason that the general public was, in 1942, totally unaware of such episodes.]
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:
472: 1942/12/00 01:00 10 1:38:00 E 50:12:00 N 3311 WEU FRN SMM 6:7
SOMME ESTUARY,FR:RAF METEOR PILOT:NLTS RISE/GND:CHASE PLANE:DROP+LAND AGAIN!
Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 330: IN-FLIGHT
[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:
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Early in the evening B.C. Lumsden, pilot of a RAF Hurricane fighter flying at an altitude of 7,000 feet saw two bright lights that rose from the ground toward his aircraft. He turned and observed the lights which climbed slowly and became bigger. At 7,000 ft, the lights stopped climbing and stayed level with the plane. They positioned themselves behind the plane at the same altitude. The pilot made another full turn but the lights stayed behind him. Then he nosedived down to 4,000 ft, and the lights followed his every maneuver, keeping the same relative position. Finally they descended about 1,000 ft below him, but when he leveled out, they rose again and resumed pursuit. The two lights maintained an even distance from each other and varied only slightly in relative height from time to time, one remaining slightly lower than the other. Finally the pilot was able to shake them off.
Sources: “Wartime Experience”, newspaper article, Project 1947, Jan Aldrich / UFO Encylopedia volume 2, Ist edition, Jerome Clark / Lumieres dans la Nuit (LDLN) N°330.
[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
Dec. 1942; French coast, over mouth of Somme River
Two amber and orange lights, flying in unison; not aircraft. (Page 36 Ref.1)
[...]
References:
Ref. 1, Strange Company (2007), Keith Chester
[Ref. pmy1:] PAT MALONEY:
There were scattered reports of similarly strange aerial encounters during the rest of 1942. British bomber crews witnessed weird lights over Aachen, Germany, on the night of August 11, then again over Osnabrück on August 17 and over the Somme in occupied France in December.
[Ref. sst1:] S. N. STRUTT:
This author says that a typical sighting of Foo Fighters took place in December 1942 over France, when a Royal Air Force pilot in a Hurricane interceptor saw two lights shooting from near the ground toward his 7,000-foot cruising altitude. He first thought the lights were tracer fire from enemy positions, But when they ceased ascending and followed him, mimicking every evasive manoeuver he made, he realized they were under someone's intelligent control. The lights, which kept an even distance from each other all the while, pursued him for some miles.
This author states that the foo fighter was a German flying weapon called “tortoise” built to disrupt the Allied planes navigation and communications systems.
[Ref. ekl1:] EGON KRAGEL:
This French author indicates that one day in December 1942 at 7 p.m., B.C. Lumsden, British RAF pilot, took off from England in his Hurricane, to carry out a control mission over the French coast.
At 8 p.m., he flew over the mouth of the Somme at an altitude of 2,000 meters. The flight was going smoothly, but suddenly, he saw two orange lights coming up from the ground to meet him, and they started to follow him.
Lumsden first thought it was a tracer shot from a flak gun, but he quickly changed his mind because these projectiles were moving too slowly. He then begun a tight turn. To port, the lights suddenly appear larger and more intense, they stopped their ascent and stayed level with the aircraft. The pilot panicked, he took a second sharp turn, for no use, the lights kept right on his tail. He then started a dive, diving to 1,200 meters, but the lights were still there, sticking to his wake.
When he straightened his aircraft, the two spheres were 300 meters below him, then in one go, they caught up with the aircraft, resuming their stalking. In desperation, Lumsden accelerated and ended up losing this curious phenomenon.
He is quoted saying: “I had a hard time convincing my unit members but the next night one of the squadron commanders had a similar experience in the same area with a green light.”
The author says that Lumsden's report was given to the Air Ministry, and added to a number of similar statements, the witnesses being unaware that three months earlier, on September 23, 1942, concerned about the increasing number of sightings, the Department's Operational Research Section had written an official, classified report entitled “Note on Recent Enemy Pyrotechnic Activity over Germany.
The source is indicated to be “Out of the Shadows”, by David Clarke and Andy Roberts, Piatkus, 2002.
[Ref. twf1:] "THE WHY FILES" WEBSITE:
December 1942, B.C. Lumsden reported two Foo Fighters whilst piloting an RAF Hurricane over France. Lumsden was flying over the mouth of the River Somme (France) at 7,000 ft. when he observed two steadily climbing orange-coloured lights, one slightly above the other. He realised that they were not flak because of the fact that they were moving slowly. When they reached 7,000 ft. they stopped climbing, staying level with his aircraft. Somewhat worried Lumsden tried to evade the objects but they followed his every move and kept level with him, even when he dropped to 4,000 and then 1,000 ft. Only when he pushed the speed up to 260m.p.h. did he leave the lights behind.
[Ref. ute1:] A "UFO TIMELINE" ON THE WEB:
1942,
December - Somme Estuary, France An RAF Hurricane fighter pilot reported 2 bright lights that came from the ground, chased the plane, then moved away
[Ref. wia1:] "WIKIPEDIA EN":
Pilot Officer Bryan Lumsden, a New Zealander flying with No.3 Squadron's Night Flight, encountered two amber or orange-colored lights that followed him on an intruder mission over northern France in December 1942. One light was higher than the other, which appeared to rule out wing-tip navigation lights from an aircraft. The lights pursued him until he reached the English Channel. Another pilot from his unit experienced a similar phenomenon the following evening, with a green light. The story was eventually published in the Christchurch Star-Sun newspaper's 4 November 1955 edition. (21)
The source (21) is described as: “Rendall, Graeme (2021). UFOs Before Roswell: European Foo Fighters 1940-1945. Reiver Country Books. p. 50-53. ISBN 9798464991583.”
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In 1942, the Hawker “Hurricane” was a rather outdated fighter plane, both by the Supermarine “Spitfire” which replaced it and by German fighter planes.
Its maximum speed was 550 km/h or 341 mph.
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Above: night fighter version of the Hurricane.
The estuary of the Somme, “Baie de Somme”, is in the North of France, 100 km from England across the Channel.
The strangeness of the report resides in the aspect of the two lights, not compatible with an airplane; and the behavior of the lights, following the maneuvers of the Hurricane without ever firing at it. This behavior also clearly excludes any known natural phenomenon.
No German or Allied plane showed two orange lights visible upfront, with one remaining constantly slightly above the other.
Possible extraterrestrial craft.
* = 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 | September 27, 2023 | Creation, [wee1], [jcf1], [drc1], [jck2], [fpr1], [lhh1], [nip1], [dcn2], [twb1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | September 27, 2023 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | October 22, 2023 | Addition [ekl1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | November 1, 2023 | Addition [crm1]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [crm1]. In the discussion, removed "The primary source, for now, remains unknown. There are hints about a newspaper article, but I could not find it so far." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | November 8, 2023 | Addition [gvo1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | April 17, 2024 | Addition [ute1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | April 24, 2024 | Addition [wia1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | May 3, 2024 | Additions [sst1], [cti1]. |
| 1.7 | Patrick Gross | July 26, 2024 | Addition [ibl1]. |
