ACUFO-1944-12-27-FRANCE-1
Ufology sources on the Web in the 2010's indicate that in the 2007 book “Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II” by Keith Chester, we are told that on December 27, 1944, in France, a report told of “orange lights, singly and in pairs, suspended in air, moving slowly before disappearing.”
| Date: | December 27, 1944 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ? |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | 2007 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, months, 6 decades. |
| Country: | France |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | |
| City or place: |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | ? |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | UFO book Keith Chester. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Night. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Hover, drift slowly, go off. |
| Witnesses action: | |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: ?
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | ? |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, probably machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 1 |
| ACUFO: | Totally insufficient information, possible flares. |
[Ref. rwd1:] FRED B. RINGWALD, INTELLIGENCE, U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES:
Note: the document that follows was retrieved by Jan Aldrich's historical ufology effort Project 1947, at www.project1947.com/fig/1945a.htm
Only the header, the footer and the part related to the case documented in this file are shown.
Only other cases are removed, as they are shown in their own case file in this catalog.
|
S E C R E T
1st W/Ind
D-W-2
HEADQUARTERS XII TACTICAL AIR COMMAND, APO #374, U.S. Army, 23 January 1945.
TO: S-2, 415 Night Fighter Squadron.
Forwarded for compliance with paragraph 2 of 1st Ind.
[Signature]
LEAVITT CORNING, JR,.
Lt. Colonel, G.S.C,.
A/C of S, A-2.
2nd W/Ind
415th. NIGHT FIGHTER SQUADRON, APO #374, U. S. Army, 30 January 1945.
TO: AC of S A-2. XII Tactical Air Command, APO 374, U. S. Army.
1. In compliance with paragraph 2 of 1st. Ind., the following extracts from the Sortie reports of various pilots who have encountered the Night Phenomenon are submitted for your information.
[... other cases...]
|
[... other cases...]
Night of 27-28 December 1944 - “While on North heading in patrol area noticed in vicinity of Q-1378 lights suspended in air moving slowly and would then disappear. Were orange in color. Lights appeared singly and in pairs. Observed these lights four or five times during period.”
[... other cases...]
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2. In every case where pilot called GCI Control and asked if there was a Bogey A/C in the area he received a negative answer.
[Signature.]
F. B. Ringwald
Captain, A.C.
Intelligence Officer
* Foofighters is the name given these phenomenon by combat crews of this Squadron.
S E C R E T
[Ref. kml1:] KEVIN MCCLURE:
This ufologist quotes from the American Legion Magazine article for December 1945, “titled 'The Foo Fighter Mystery', and written by one Jo Chamberlin:”
Through January, 1945, the 415th continued to see the “foo-fighters,“ and their conduct became increasingly mysterious. One aircrew observed lights, moving both singly and in pairs.
[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:
At night, a crew of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron while patrolling on north heading noticed lights suspended in the air moving slowly and would then disappear. They were orange in color. The lights appeared singly and in pairs. The crew observed these lights four or five times during the same period.
Sources: USAAF, Report from Captain F.B. Ringwald, Intelligence Officer, 415th Night Fighter Squadron, To AIC of S, A-2 XII Tactical Air Command, January 30, 1945, NARA/ Strange Company, Keith Chester, 2007
(Ref. nip1:) "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
(1944) Dec. 27, 1944; France
Orange lights, singly and in pairs, suspended in air, moving slowly before disappearing. (Page 108 Ref.1)
The reference 1 is described at the end of the document as “Strange Company (2007), Keith Chester”.
[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:
Date: Dec. 27, 1944
Location: France
Time:
Summary: Orange lights, singly and in pairs, suspended in air, moving slowly before disappearing.
Page 108 Ref.1
I have no information about the aircraft so far; of course the context indicates they were Allied military planes, fighter, night fighters or bombers.
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All kinds of information essential for an evaluation are missing from this report; and at first glance, if one does not want to bias it unnecessarily, one could think that it is a description of various flares, “suspended in the air, move slowly before disappearing.”
There is also no indication that the witnesses would have interpreted them differently. In the many military reports of this era, there has generally been no attempt to discriminate between ordinary things and “Foo-Fighters.”
We thus found descriptions of artillery or anti-aircraft fire, ground lights, fires, flares, V-2 rockets, among which were also the more interesting descriptions. This is probably not one of the latter.
Totally insufficient information, possible flares.
* = 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 | November 15, 2023 | Creation, [nip1], [tai1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | November 15, 2023 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 12, 2024 | Addition [kml1]. |
