ACUFO index ▶ Home ☰

Cette page en français

ACUFO:

◀ Previous case Next case ▶

Saint-Quentin, France, on February 25, 1944:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-02-25-SAINTQUENTIN-1

Summary:

The 2007 book “Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II” by Keith Chester is said to indicate that there was a sighting on February 24-25, 1944, southwest of Saint-Quentin, in France.

The report indicated that during a night operation against targets in Schweinfurt, Germany, three silver objects, about 30 feet long were seen 1,000 feet below and 600 meters eastern of the observers. They were described as looking like Zeppelins and moving in formation independently of the wind. They were apparently not interconnected. The report apparently stated that “a closer view was obtained” bit there still “remained confusion over the object's identity.”

The report apparently ruled out that the objects were balloons or dirigibles.

The sighting also appeared in a military summary report about German flak operations for March 7, 1944, found and publiched by U.S. ufologist Barry Greenwood in 1998.

“Southwest of St. Quentin three silver objects about 30 ft. long were seen 1,000 ft. below and 600 yds astern of the observers. They were described as resembling Zeppelins and, altough moving in unison independently of the wind, were apparently not interconnected. Similar phenomena were described in Consolidated FLO report No. 205 and although on this occasion a closer vew was obtained there is no explanation at present of the purpose they may serve.”

Data:

Temporal data:

Geographical data:

Witnesses data:

Ufology data:

Classifications:

Sources:

[Ref. bgd1:] BARRY GREENWOOD:

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

[Ref. snu1:] "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that the following sighting occurred on the night of February 24/25, 1944, being described in a March, 1944 Military Attache Report:

“Southwest of St. Quentin, three silver objects about 30 ft. long were seen 1,000 ft. below and 600 yards astern of the observers. They were described as resembling Zeppelins and, although moving in unison independently of the wind, were apparently not interconnected. Similar phenomena were described in Consolidated FLO report No. 205 and, although on this occasion a closer view was obtained, there is no explanation at present of the purpose they may serve.”

[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":

The reference 1 is described at the end of the document as “Strange Company (2007), Keith Chester”.

[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:

[Ref. get1:] GEORGE M. EBERHART:

Aircraft information:

There is no aircraft information in the available report. But we are told the sighting occurred over France, by night, after a raid on Germany; this would mean that the aircraft was, or were, Royal Air Force heavy night bombers, for examples Avro Lancasters or Vickers Wellingtons.

Discussion:

At the beginning of World War II, the German had barrage balloons. They were egg-shaped and had four fins at the tail end: a top fin, two side fins, and a bottom fin. When inflated, the shape of the balloon could be likened to a short fat cigar, with a tail like a Japanese goldfish. These balloons were of course unmanned.

The main purpose of these German barrage balloons, like their Allied counterparts, was to hold a steel cable suspended vertically in the air. Thus, below the operating height of the balloon, this cable obstacle presents both a physical and mental hazard to enemy pilots attempting to enter that space.

The description of the objects in the report is very compatible with German WWII barrage balloons (photo below).

The report apparently ruled out that the objects were balloons or dirigibles, but we do not know why; at least, whereas it is certain that they were not piloted airships, we do not know why barrage balloons would have been excluded.

I even appears quite odd that the allied military would have had “no explanation” in 1944 “of the purpose they may serve” when the English coasts and cities had been protected by barrage balloons since the “Battle of Britain” in the summer of 1940.

This explanation of the sighting by barrage balloons is thus not validated, but cannot be totally excluded.

Update on June 28, 2024:

With the source [bgd1] that I found now, it appears that the balloon explanation was ruled out due to the observation that the movement of the objects was independent of the wind, and that the objects seemed to stay together without attachments being seen, which suggests a certain duration of observation. I therefore change the assessment which was "Possible German barrage balloons, insufficient information".

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources references:

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

• [usa1] ? Summary report of flak liaison officers, U.S. Army Air Forces, March 7, 1944.
• [bgd1] * UFO Historical Revue, historical ufology bulletin, Barry Greenwood editor, No. 1, page 9, June 1998.
• [kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, page 60, 2007.
• [dwn2] * "The Foofighters Files (1) Catalogue of Unconventional Aerial Phenomena Reported by Allied pilots during WW II (1943-1945)", catalogue by Dominique Weinstein, France, October 2009.
• [sua1] * "The foo fighters of world war II", part 2, on the Website Saturday Night Uforia, 2011, at http://www.saturdaynightuforia.com/html/articles/articlehtml/foofightersofworldwariiparttwo.html
• [nip1] * "UFO Sighting Chronology - 1939-1945; The WWII Years & 'Foo-Fighters'", on the ufology Website The NICAP Website, USA, created December 18, 2006, updated December 5, 2017, at http://www.nicap.org/chronos/1939-1945.htm
• [tai1] * "1944: UFO & Alien Sightings", web page of the Think About It Website, USA, January 1, 2016, at https://www.thinkaboutitdocs.com/1944-ufo-alien-sightings
• [get1] * "UFOs and Intelligence: A Timeline", electronic document compiled by George M. Eberhart, 2022.

File history:

Authoring:

Changes history:

Feedback  |  Top  |  Back  |  Forward  |  Map  |  List |  Home

This page was last updated on June 28, 2024.