ACUFO:

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What the 415th saw at night was borne out in part by day. West of Neustadt, a P-47 pilot saw “a gold-colored ball, with a metallic finish, which appeared to be moving slowly through the air. As the sun was low, it was impossible to tell whether the sun reflected off it, or the light came from within.” Another P-47 pilot reported “a phosphorescent golden sphere, 3 to 5 feet in diameter, flying at 2,000 feet.”

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The Strange Mystery Of The FOO FIGHTERS

During the closing months of the war our fighters chased weird colored balls of fire that suddenly disappeared.

By Harold T. Wilkins

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There is the case of a U.S. bomber pilot of the 8th U.S. Air Force. He reported that he saw 15 foo fighters following his plane at a distance, with their lights winking on and off. A U.S. P-47 pilot saw 15 foo fighters by day at or near Neustadt in the same Rhenish area, some 40 miles west of the Rhine and 55 miles northwest of Strasbourg.

Here is his report:

“We were flying west of Neustadt when a golden sphere, which shone with a metallic glitter, appeared, slowly moving through the sky. The sun was not far above the sky line, which made it difficult to say whether or not the sun's rays were reflected from it or whether the glow came from within the ball itself.”

A second P-47 (Thunderbolt) pilot also saw the same or another “golden, or phosphorescent, ball which appeared to be about four or five feet in diameter flying 2,000 feet up.”

By this time the higher-ups in the U.S. Air Force had been forced to take notice of die increasing reports of level-headed pilot-observers. It was no longer enough to wave these reports away with a smile and half-serious reference to hallucination and combat-neuroses. Nor were the men satisfied at the explanation that they were flares. Whoever saw a flare that behaved as did the foo fighters? Flares are not maneuverable!

The final attempt at a brush-off came from New York, in January, 1945, when “scientists insulted the intelligence of the men of 415th. The New York scientific wallahs said the men of the 415th and the 8th Air Force had been seeing St. Elmo's lights! It may be noted that St. Elmo's lights are seen on sea and land in times of electrical meteorological conditions. They have been seen at the top of Pike's Peak, from ships' mast-heads, and from the tops of towers and spires. In the days of Julius Caesar there was one occasion when these lights flashed from the tops of the spears of his legionaries. In our own time the White Star Liner Germanic, in mid-Atlantic, ran into a heavy thunderstorm at 1 a.m. Electrical flames one-and-a-half-inch long jetted from the foremast truck and small balls, one-half inch to two and one-half inches long, ran up and down the mast but were tied to it.”

But what possible resemblance could there have been between these weird foo fighters, under intelligent control, and St. Elmo's lights?

A U.S. P-47 pilot saw 15 foo fighters by day at or near Neustadt in the same Rhenish area, some 40 miles west of the Rhine and 55 miles northwest of Strasbourg.

Here is his report:

“We were flying west of Neustadt when a golden sphere, which shone with a metallic glitter, appeared, slowly moving through the sky. The sun was not far above the sky line, which made it difficult to say whether or not the sun's rays were reflected from it or whether the glow came from within the ball itself.”

A second P-47 (Thunderbolt) pilot also saw the same or another “Golden or phosphorescent, ball which appeared to be about four or five feet in diameter flying 2,000 feet up.”

There is the case of a U.S. bomber pilot of the 8th U.S. Air Force. He reported that he saw fifteen of these Foo Fighters following his plane at a distance with their lights winking on and off. The fifteen Foo Fighters were seen, by day, at or near Neustadt, in the same Rhenish area, some 40 miles west of the Rhine, and 55 miles due north of Strasbourg, and the observer was a U.S. pilot flying a P.47 machine.

Here is his report:

“We were flying west of Neustadt when a golden sphere, which shone with a metallic glitter, appeared, slowly moving through the sky. The sun was not far above the sky line, which made it difficult to say whether or not the sun's rays were reflected from it, or whether the glow came from within the ball itself.”

A second P.47 pilot also saw the same, or another “golden, or phosphorescent ball,” which “appeared to be about four or five feet in diameter, and flying 2,000 feet up.”

... but it was not long before [After December 24, 1944] a U.S. pilot, flying a P-47, encountered fifteen of the “Foo Fighters” in broad daylight over Neustadt.

Some time in late 1944, a P-47 pilot west of Neustadt, Germany, saw “a gold-colored ball with a metallic finish” moving slowly through the air. The sun was low in the sky so the observer could not tell if the sun was reflecting off the object or if the object had its own light source. A “phosphorescent golden sphere” three to five feet in diameter was seen by another P-47 pilot in the area.

When these reports became known, other pilots told of their observations. The lights were seen not only at night, but occasionally during the day. A P-47 pilot, while west of Neustadt, saw “a gold-colored ball, with a metallic finish, which appeared to he moving slowly.” It was impossible to tell whether it was reflecting sunlight or the light came from within. Another pilot reported “a phosphorescent golden sphere, three to five feet in diameter, flying at 2,000 feet.”

In a rare daylight sighting, a P-47 pilot was able to describe a “Foo-fighter” that appeared to be constructed of metal. West of Neustadt, Germany, in 1944, the pilot observed “a gold-colored ball with a metallic finish” moving slowly through the air. The sun was low in the sky, making it impossible to tell whether the sun reflecting off the object or a light source from within was responsible for the weird lighting. A similar “foo-fighter”, “a phosphorescent golden sphere,” estimated to be 3 to 5 feet in diameter and flying at 2,000 feet was reported in the same area by another P-47 pilot.

At Air Group level a more somber view set in pilots flying the P-47 Thunderbolts reported an increasing number of objects in the air they described as “golden balls”. Since the P-47s flew only daytime missions the phenomena being seen could not be tricks of light in the darkness.

Similar objects [flashing luminous balls] were observed in broad daylight in the Neustadt area by an American pilot flying a P-47.

He made the following report:

"As we flew west of Neustadt, we saw a golden sphere glowing with a metallic sheen moving slowly across the sky. As the sun was not high in the sky, it was not possible for us to determine whether the object was bright by itself or whether it was reflecting. the sun's rays."

The second pilot of the plane also saw this golden or phosphorescent ball, or perhaps another similar object. The craft "appeared to be approximately one meter in diameter and was flying at an altitude of 1,600 meters."

However, all of the “foo-fighter sightings” (derived from the Smokey Stover comic-strip philosophy that “where there's foo, there's fire”.) were not nocturnal. A P-47 pilot contributed his daytime encounter with “a gold-colored ball, with a metallic finish.”

The glowing structures were occasionally observed during the day. A P-47 pilot noticed a golden ball that seemed to be slowly gliding through the air. It was difficult to say whether the ball glowed from within or was simply illuminated by the sun.

Another P-47 pilot told of a phosphorescent golden ball that was said to be about 1 to 15 m in size and flew at an altitude of 2000 feet.

1944/Neustadt, Germany/Arnold-Palmer, Lore-Deneault

Fifteen glowing objects followed the airplane with their lights winking on and off. A gold colored ball was also seen moving slowly in the daylight.

Later that same year [1944], American fighter pilots told of meeting up with a similar aerial phenomenon near the German city of Neustadt. Said one: "(It was) a gold-colored ball with a metallic finish. (It) appeared to be moving slowly through the air. As the sun was low, it was impossible to tell whether the sun reflected off it or the light came from within". Another described the foo fighter as "a phosphorescent golden sphere, three-to-five feet in diameter, flying at 2,000 feet." (275)

A P-47 fighter pilot also reported seeing a “gold-colored ball with a metallic finish” west of Neustadt in broad daylight [...]

West of Neustadt, a P-47 pilot saw “a gold-colored ball, with a metallic finish, which appeared to be moving slowly through the air. As the sun was low, it was impossible to tell whether the sun reflected off it, or the light came from within.” Another P-47 pilot reported “a phosphorescent golden sphere, 3 to 5 feet in diameter, flying at 2,000 feet.”

Chronology of sightings drawn up by Dr. Domenico Pasquariello of CEIFAN (Centre for Investigation of Anomalous Phenomena).

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- Also in December 1944 the pilots of two American P-47 planes described in detail the sighting of luminous spheres west of Neustadt. The golden sphere shone with a metallic glow, suddenly appearing and moved slowly across the sky.

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