ACUFO:

MISSION REPORT

UNIT REPORTING: 415TH NIGHT FIGHTER SQUADRON

MISSIONS: 10 MISSIONS 10 SORTIES DATE JANUARY 1/2

REPORT:

1. 1740/1800 - INTRUDER. Returned because of engine trouble.

2. 1750/1820 - INTRUDER. Returned because R/T [radar target] being U/S [American].

3. 1810/2010 - PATROL. North and East of base Was vector toward Bogey [suspected enemy plane radar detection] - no contact. No other incident.

4. 2000/2030 - PATROL. Returned because R/T was U/S.

5. 2045/2145 - PATROL. Saw red flares off port wing 10 miles south of base. A.I. [onboard radar] went U/S; so returned to base.

6. 2140/0015 - PATROL. Vectored on to Bogey. Had A.I. contact at 2250 hours, lost contact when Bogey dove.

7. 0100/0315 - PATROL. SAVERNE GAP AREA. Nothing to report.

8. 0230/0600 - PATROL. Vectored on to Bogey when angels 11 [altitude 11 000 feet.] Could not get closer than 7 miles. Lost contact when Bogey entered IAZ.

9. 0445/0515 - PATROL. Had to return as A.I. was U/S.

10. 0530/0725 - PATROL SAVERNE GAP AREA. Nothing to report.

[...]

Archives personnel provided a large cardboard box holding three feet of file folders of the 415th NFS and affiliated bomber groups. The period covered was late September 1944 - April 1945. It was obvious that I would spend at least a full day scanning this bunch. The records were not in the best condition, a fact which should be of great concern to those interested in the contents of old files, not just on this but on any subject. Many of the papers were onion-skin copies, very fragile and yellowing. Other reports were on coarse, brown paper which was very brittle, flakes of which were coming off on my hands. It was no longer surprising why quite often when CAUS would request and receive government files the copies were difficult, and sometimes impossible, to read. We are in a race against time as many government records are literally self-destructing on the shelf. With the millions of copies for which the National Archives is responsible, there is simply not enough staff or resources to take care of it all.

What also became clear is that the staff of the National Archives are not absolute authorities on the records that we have obtained regarding UFOs. The response I had to a request for help in locating a particular Air Force document with an identifying number was, “Good luck, we don't know.” Not that they were being fresh but that the Air Force had lost the inventory to that group of documents. I had a new appreciation for the time delays in responding to FOIA requests as well. It took me the best part of a day just to scan one box thoroughly. I was in a room with about thirty to forty people, all of whom had their own agenda and own piles of paper to scan. Factor in mail requests and the demands on the staff must be terrific. I heard a complaint by one of having to pull hundreds of boxes himself to fulfill researchers' requests just for that day.

The 415th's mission reports tended to be brief in their descriptions of everything. There were reports of aircraft destroyed, buildings bombed, flak, vehicles destroyed; etc. Then, scattered amongst the information, were reports of strange lights in the sky.

January 1/2, 1945 - Mission 5 - 2045/2145 - Patrol. Saw red flares off port wing 10 miles south of base. A.I. (air intercept radar -ed.) went U/S; so returned to base.

One frustrating feature of these reports is their brevity. It is difficult to form a hypothesis on the origin of Foo-Fighters when such fragmentary information is available. It is sometimes hard to tell whether reports of “lights” by the pilots were in the air or on the ground so one should exercise caution when reading reports where this is not clear.