ACUFO-1944-06-00-FLORENCE-1
In a catalog by Jan Aldrich, of the historical ufology website Project 1947, around 1999, appeared a report dated June 2 or 5 or 8, 1944 - the day was not certain.
Around midnight, southwest of Florence in Italy, on the road from Florence to Rome, from a Beaufighter Mk X, a bright red light was seen that followed the plane for about 5 to 10 minutes. Escape maneuvers by the aircraft were vain.
Jan Aldrich says the case comes from British ufologist Andy Roberts' collection of letters and report forms.
In a 2014 book, Italian ufologists Roberto Pinotti and Alfredo Lissoni summarized the case, but added "English pilot Eric Myring" as a witness name.
| Date: | June 1944 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Midnight. |
| Duration: | 5 minutes. |
| First known report date: | 1999 |
| Reporting delay: | Decades. |
| Country: | Italy |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Tuscany |
| City: | Florence |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 or 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Reporting channel: | Letter or observation report to Andy Roberts. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Night. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| UFO action: | Follows despite evasive maneuvers. |
| Witnesses action: | Evasive maneuvers. |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 1 or 2.
[ ] Airborne radar: ? [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | NL |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 4 20 mm canons, machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 3 |
| ACUFO: | Possible extraterrestrial craft, insufficient information. |
[Ref. prt4:] JAN ALDRICH - "PROJECT 1947":
N - 1944.06. (2nd, 5th, or 8th unsure of exact date),
About 0000 hours, Italy, southwest Florence over the Florence/Rome road, Beaufighter Mk X saw a bright red light that followed them for about 5-10 minutes. Evasive action did not work. (Letters and report forms, Andy Roberts, Collection)
[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
1944, June
Italy, southwest of Florence, the pilot of an RAF Beaufighter sees a red light following his aircraft; his evasive maneuvers are useless. (PROJECT ACUFOE, Catalog 1999, Dominique Weinstein)(vog: duplication with the case of April 30?)
[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:
At midnight, the pilot of a RAF Bristol Beaufighter flying over the Florence - Rome road observed one bright red light which followed his aircraft. The pilot did several evasive actions with no result.
Source: List of Cases prior to 1947, Jan Aldrich
[Ref. rpl1:] ROBERTO PINOTTI AND ALFREDO LISSONI:
These Italian ufologists indicate that during the Second World War, according to case studies collected by ufologists, mysterious foofighters have been seen on several occasions by military pilots, including one case in which English pilot Eric Myring saw a "flying red light" over the Florence area in the first days of June 1944.
The Bristol Type 156 "Beaufighter", nicknamed "Beau", was a British multi-role aircraft developed during WWI. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber; it proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain.
Originally, armament consisted of four 20mm cannons and six 0.303-in machine-guns but many variants were built; for example, versions had the ability to additionally carry eight rocket projectiles, some had a Vickers 'K' gun, Beaufighter TF.Mk X was used for anti-shipping operations and was be fitted with AI Mk VIII radar.
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The "Mk X" version would correspond to the Beaufighter TF Mk X, anti-ship version equipped with 1770 hp Hercules engines, a search radar, a torpedo and light bombs or rockets.
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I was unfortunately unsuccessfull in searching for the indicated primary source, unsuccessfull in finding RAF and other military records about the name Eric Myring. It must be said, though, that Andy Roberts is a "skeptical" ufologist, quite unlikely to make up stories of this sort.
The report in itself is very typical of the other reports of "foo fighters" of that time.
Possible extraterrestrial craft, insufficient information.
* = 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 | OCtober 22, 2023 | Creation, [prt4], [dwn2], [rpl1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 22, 2023 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | November 4, 2023 | Addition [gvo1]. |
