ACUFO-1944-12-30-OCHEY-1
In his report of January 30, 1945, to the Tactical Air Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces, the intelligence officer of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, which was operating in Alsace and southwest Germany at that time, Fred Ringwald, had compiled observations by this unit of what were called “foo fighters”, and indicated for this one:
“Night of 30-31 December 1944 - 'Saw a group of lights flying through the air 30 or 40 miles East of base while flying at Angels 9 - 10.'”
Ringwald pointed out that in all the cases he listed where the pilot called the ground radar station and asked whether there was an aircraft detected in the area, he received a negative answer.
| Date: | December 30-31, 1944 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Probable night. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | January 23, 1945 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, weeks. |
| Country: | France |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Meurthe-et-Moselle or Moselle or Vosges |
| City or place: | Sector of Lunéville - Dieuze - Raon-l'Etape |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 or 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 or 2 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | Military Foo-Fighters summary report. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Probable night. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| UFO action: | Flew. |
| 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: 1 or 2.
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | NL |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, four 20 mm cannons and 6 7.62 mm machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 3 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 1 |
| ACUFO: | Insufficient information. |
[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.
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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...]
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[... other cases...]
Night of 30-31 December 1944 - “Saw a group of lights flying through the air 30 or 40 miles East of base while flying at Angels 9 - 10.”
[... 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. bgd1:] BARRY GREENWOOD:
Barry Greenwood, in an article about the “Foo-Fighters” documents in the U.S. military archive, said:
A summary of incidents [reported by airmen of the U.S. Army Air Forces 415th Night Fighter Squadron] was prepared by Captain F. B. Ringwald, Intelligence Officer with Headquarters 12 of the Tactical Air Command to advise S-2 of the “Night Phenomenon” encountered by the pilots and dated January 30, 1945.
Barry Greenwood then cited 13 cases from Ringwald's report, including this one:
“Night of 30-31 December 1944 - Saw a group of lights flying through the air 30 or 40 miles East of base while flying at Angels 9-10.”
Barry Greenwood commented about these reports:
It is noteworthy to point out that these pilots made a distinction between the usual flak bursts sent up by anti-aircraft fire and what they were seeing in these incidents. One might expect that due to technical advances during the war, eventually one side may develop a new sort of anti-aircraft weapon that could behave in an intelligent manner in pursuit of enemy planes. The problem with this here is that there are no known reports of “Foo Fighters” bringing down aircraft of either side. The objects that seemed to be “under perfect control at all times” didn't seem to do damage but merely accompany planes on their respective missions without interference.
To end the summary, Ringwald said that in each case where the pilot called GCI control to ask if “Bogey A/C” were in the area, he received a negative answer. It was also noted, perhaps more of interest to modern audiences, that these objects were called “Foofighters.” One word only, which should we call it? Chamberlin added his own written footnote for another sighting on February 28: "Returning, 45 miles East of Base (Loral Ochey) sighted foo fighters to rear starboard. Orange red in color. Turned to have a look and it disappeared. Near Luneville, SECRET north of Strasbourg. Lt. Buscio & Krasner RO.”
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.
The Beaufighter Mk VIF was fitted with the Mark VIII radar.
Below: Beaufighter Mk VIF of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron.
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The Beaufighters served with the U.S. Army Air Forces until the end of the war, but most were replaced by the P-61 “Black Widow” beginning on March 20, 1945.
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As of December 30, 1944, the base of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron was, since November 30, 1944, in Ochey in France. The lights were located according to the report between 30 or 40 miles east of the base, therefore somewhere in the Lunéville - Dieuze - Raon-l'Etape sector, on the Vosges mountains probably, on France very probably, at 60 - 80 kilometers west of the Rhine, the border with Germany.
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“Angels 9 and 10“ means “9,000 and 10,000 feet.“
As for what was reported, “a group of lights” flying in the air, the strangeness seems nil, it is mainly due to the fact that the sighting was considered intriguing enough to be included in the report on “Foo-Fighters” by the unit's intelligence officer, Fred B. Ringwald.
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 | April 18, 2024 | Creation, [rwd1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | April 18, 2024 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 9, 2024 | Addition [bgd1]. |
