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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Europe, in 1944 or 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-00-00-EUROPE-1

Summary:

In 2018 - 2024, a few sensation Websites about UFOs illustrate their articles with this photo, sometimes claiming it shows «Foo-Fighters» of WWII but giving no detail nor source:

In 2022, it also appeared in a book about the «Foo-Fighters» of WWII by French author Jean-Claude Sidoun, who said the image shows two luminous balls follwing a U.S. bomber, flying at the same speed as the bomber, and performing maneuvers that a conventional aircraft cannot perform.

I show below in this file that this photo is a fake based on a well-known photo of a «Liberty Belle» B-17.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	1944 or 1945
Time:	Day.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	2024
Reporting delay:	8 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:
State/Department:
City or place:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	?
Number of known witnesses:	0
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	UFO sensation Websites.
Visibility conditions:	Day.
UFO observed:	No.
UFO arrival observed:	N/A
UFO departure observed:	N/A
UFO action:	Fly along plane.
Witnesses action:
Photographs:	Yes.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Sensors:	[ ] Visual: ? [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [X] Photo: 1. [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	DD
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 5 7.62 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	1
ACUFO:	Modern photographic hoax.

Sources:

[Ref. www1:] ON THE WEB:

This image appeared in the Web apparently in 2018, to illustrate articles about the "Foo-Fighters" of WWII.

It never had any caption or source reference.

For example, it appears on the UFO Casebook Website, illustrating a copied "Foo-Fighters" article in which the image did not appear. (www.ufocasebook.com/foofighters2.html)

It appears at: www.paranormalcrucible.com/2020/03/general-douglas-macarthur-warns-of.html

Here it illustrates an article claiming that "General Douglas MacArthur Warns Of Alien Force Scouting Earth".

Here the image illustrated - it was removed - an article claiming: "WW2 Foo Fighter Mystery Solved: Radar Plasma Balls".
(www.deviantart.com/quintessencereality2/journal/WW2-Foo-Fighter-Mystery-Solved-Radar-Plasma-Balls-1006346542)

[Ref. jsn1:] JEAN-CLAUDE SIDOUN:

This French author show this image in his 2022 book about the "Foo-Fighters" of WWII:

The caption says that this image shows...

Two luminous balls escort an American bomber. They move at the same speed as the bomber, performing maneuvers impossible to achieve with a traditional aircraft. No one can say to this day what they are made of and why they are so interested in planes, both Allies and enmemies?

[Ref. uao1:] "UAAI.INFO" WEBSITE:

Foo Fighters were seen all over the world during World War II. They looked like balls of light or metal plates, and flew in swarms, closely following the fighter jets and flying as if surveying the battlefield. Here are some famous examples.

Aircraft information:

The U.S. B-17 «Flying Fortress» was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.

Discussion:

This alleged photo of «Foo-fighters», as usual presented without caption, without source, without date, without report, without any details, is a fake.

The fake was based on a well-known photograph by the Keystone agency of one of the B-17's «Liberty Belle» over Europe in 1944 or 1945:

«Liberty Belle» or «Miss Liberty Belle» was actually a name given to more than twenty B-17s and some B-24s of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II, but one of them had been widely publicized.

On the Western Web, the photo is found in 2024 on two Websites (and their copies), illustrating «UFO» articles unrelated to the photo or to the Foo-Fighters:

https://www.paranormalcrucible.com/2020/03/general-douglas-macarthur-warns-of.html
https://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2018/02/daily-2-cents-military-foo-fighter.html

And on 1 Website as illustration of a paragraph on the Foo-Fighters:

https://www.reymisterios.com/ovnis/foo-fighters-ovni.htm

The original image, in good quality versions, allows to read the serial number of the plane, "46915-M":

Several images of the same B-17 exist, and captions indicate that "46-915" was a B-17G of the 549th Bomb Squadron of the 379th Bomb Group of the 1st Air Division ot the U.S Army Air Foces, based at Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1944:

Evaluation:

Modern photographic hoax.

Sources references:

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

[www1] * Image illustrating WWII "Foo-Fighters" articles, on the Web since 2014.
[jsn1] * "L'Enigme des Foo-Fighters", book by Jean-Claude Sidoun, JMG publisher, France, page 87, 2022.
[uao1] * Illustrated article "World UFO Top Ten," (in Japanese), as of 2024, on the Website https://uaai.info

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	April 20, 2024	Creation, [uao1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	April 20, 2024	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	June 7, 2024	Additions [www1], [jsn1]. dans le Résumé, addition des informations de [jsn1].

This page was last updated on June 7, 2024.