ACUFO-1945-01-30-WISSEMBOURGLANDAU-1
The historian of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron wrote in the “War Diary” of this unit of the U.S. Army Air Forces some observations of “Foo-Fighters”, these mysterious lights often reported by pilots of this unit above the Rhine valley near the end of WWII.
He noted that halfway between Wissembourg and Landau, yellow lights at 2000 feet had been seen in the night from January 29 to January 30, 1945. One light was 20 to 50 feet above the other, and lasted for about 30 seconds. It was estimated that these lights were about a foot in diameter, 1000 feet away, and followed the Bristol Beaufighter night fighter.
These lights had disappeared when the Beaufighter turned towards them.
A summary report of such observations by the intelligence officer of the squadron, Fred B. Ringwald, on January 30, 1945, specified that it had happened at 0:10 a.m. The “Foo-Fighter” was off to the right of the plane and in its back to a location coded “Angels 2” (2000 ft.). The Beaufighter had the code “Travel 34”.
| Date: | January 30, 1945 |
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| Time: | 00:10 a.m. |
| Duration: | 30 seconds. |
| First known report date: | January 30, 1945 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours. |
| Country: | France |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Bas-Rhin |
| City or place: | Wissembourg |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 or 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 or 2 |
| Number of named witnesses: | ? |
| Reporting channel: | Military operations report. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Night. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Follow, go away when planes turn at them. |
| Witnesses action: | Approach. |
| 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: | 2 |
| ACUFO: | Unidentified. |
[Ref. aaf1:] U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES 415TH NIGHT FIGHTER SQUADRON:
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[...Unrelated information...]
30. Major Bob Johnson, 24, of the 81st Fighter Bomber Squadron spoke for a half hour before the picture, describing in cryptic language, the work and tactics of his outfit. Foo-Fighters were at it again last night. This is The Operations report: “Halfway between Wissembourg and Landau sighted amber lights at 2000 feet. One light was 20 to 50 feet above the other and of about 30 seconds duration. Lights were about a foot in diameter, 1000 ft. away and following Beau. Lights disappeared when Beau turned into them.”
Squadron Historian.
[...Unrelated information...]
Note: The report was located in the US National Archive and provided to CUFON by Barry Greenwood, veteran UFO researcher, for many years the Editor of the bulletin Just Cause.
[Ref. aaf2:] FRED B. RINGWALD, U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES:
The 415th Night Fighter Squadron of the U.S. Air force was formed in February 1943 and it carried out patrols in the Mediterranean and then North-west Europe during World War II.
From December 1944 on, members of the 415th made multiple reports of what they called “Foo-Fighters”, as recorded in a January 30, 1945 report to Tactical Air Command by intelligence officer Fred Ringwald.
Here are the parts of that report about the sighting in their case file:
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1. In compliance with paragraph 3 of 1st Incl., the following extracts from the Sortie Reports of various pilots who have encountered the Night Phenomenon are submitted for your information.
[... Other sightings ...]
Night of 29-30 January 1945 - “At about 00:10 hrs. sighted a Foofighter about half way between Weissenbourg [Sic, “Wissembourg”] and Landau. Foofighter was off to the starboard and rear at Angels 2. Lights were amber and one was 20 - 50 ft. above the other and of about 30 seconds duration. Foofighter was about 1000 feet away and following. The lights were about a foot in diameter. Lights disappeared when Travel 34 turned into them.”
2. In every case where pilot called CGI Central and asked if there was a Bogey A/C in the area he received a negative answer.
F. B. RINGWALD [Fred B. Ringwald, the unit's S-2 Intelligence Officer.]
Captain, [Illegible]
Intelligence Officer
Note: the report lists several other sightings in Alsace, those have their own case files. It also lists several sightings whose location is unknown to me as they were coded such as “Q-9050”, “Q-1378” etc... these locations may have been over Alsace, over elsewhere in France, or over Germany. As I did not find the meaning for these locations codes, I cannot include these other sighting in ALSACAT for now.
[Ref. jce1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "JUST CAUSE":
The bulletin of “Citizen Against UFO Secrecy” (CAUS) published that they managed to get the first Foo Fighters official reports in the War diaries of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron. Extracts were cited, such as:
January 30 [1945] - “Foo-Fighters were at it again last night. This is the operations report: 'Halfway between Wissenbourg [sic] and Langau [sic] sighted amber lights at 2000 feet. One light was 20 to 50 feet above the other and of about 30 seconds duration. Lights were about a foot in diameter, 1000 feet away and following Beaus. Lights disappeared when Beaus turned into them.'”
[Ref. bgd1:] BARRY GREENWOOD:
A very last case from the “War Diary” of the 415th appears in photo 1619:
January 30: “The Foo-fighters did it again last night. Extract from the operations report: “Halfway between Wissembourg and Langau [sic], we saw amber lights at 1000 feet. One was 20 to 50 feet above the other and lasted about 30 seconds. The lights flew in pairs, about a foot in diameter, at a distance of 1000 feet and followed the Beaus. They disappeared when Beau engaged them.”
[Ref. bgd2:] 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 29-30 January 1945 - At about 00:10 hrs. sighted a Foofighter about half way between Weisenbourg and Landau. Foofighter was off to the starboard and rear at Angels 2. Lights were amber and one was 20-50 ft. above the other and of about 30 seconds duration. Foofighter was about 1000 ft. away and following. The lights were about a foot in diameter. Lights disappeared when Travel 34 turned into them.”
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.”
[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:
At about 1 h00, a crew of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron noticed a foofighter which was off the starboard and rear at Angels 2. The lights were amber and one was 20-50 feet above the other and about 30 seconds duration. The “Foofighter was 1,000 feet away and following. The lights were about a foot in diameter. The lights disappeared when Travel 34 turned into them.”
Sources: USAAF, Report from Captain F.B. Ringwald, Intelligence Officer, 415th Night Fighter Squadron, To A/C of S,A-2 XII Tactical Air Command, January 30, 1945, NARA / Strange Company, Keith Chester, 2007
[Ref. sua1:] "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA" WEBSITE:
[...] December, 1944 members of the 415th would be making multiple reports, as recorded in a January 30, 1945 report to Tactical Air Command by intelligence officer Fred Ringwald...
“Night of 29-30 January 1945 - “At about 00:10 hrs. sighted a Foofighter about half way between Weissenbourg [Sic, “Wissembourg”] and Landau. Foofighter was off to the starboard and rear at Angels 2. Lights were amber and one was 20 - 50 ft. above the other and of about 30 seconds duration. Foofighter was about 1000 feet away and following. The lights were about a foot in diameter. Lights disappeared when Travel 34 turned into them.”
“2. In every case where pilot called CGI Central and asked if there was a Bogey A/C in the area he received a negative answer.”
“F.B. RINGWALD
Captain, (Illegible)
Intelligence Officer”
(Ref. nip1:) "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
Jan. 29, 1945; Bt. Wissembourg and Landau, Germany
Two amber colored lights about one foot in diameter. (Page 129,131 Ref.1)
The reference 1 is described at the end of the document as “Strange Company (2007), Keith Chester”.
[Ref. get1:] GEORGE M. EBERHART:
January 30 - 12:10 a.m. A 415th Night Fighter Squadron crew observes two amber-colored lights in the air at 2,000 feet between Wissembourg, Bas-Rhin, France, and Landau, Germany. They seem to be about a foot in diameter and 20 50 feet apart. The lights follow their Bristol Beaufighter, closing in to about 1,000 feet before disappearing. (Strange Company 129)
[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:
Date: Jan. 29, 1945;
Location: Wissembourg and Landau, Germany
Time:
Summary: Two amber colored lights about one foot in diameter.
Source:
The Bristol Type 156 “Beaufighter”, nicknamed “Beau”, was a British multi-role aircraft developed during WWII. 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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The report itself seems of moderate strangeness; it should probably be appreciated as one of the manifestations of a global phenomenon at this period and in this area.
Unidentified.
* = 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 | February 25, 2018 | Creation, [aaf1], [aaf2], [nip1], [sua1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 25, 2018 | First published in ALSACAT. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | April 25, 2024 | Additions [bgd1], [dwn2], [get1], [tai1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | April 25, 2024 | First published in ACUFO. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | June 11, 2024 | Addition [bgd2]. |
