ACUFO-1945-05-23-TOKYO-1
Circa 1999, the U.S. ufologist Jan Aldrich reported on his historical ufology website Project 1947 a case he found in the History of the 444th Bombardment Group of US Army Air Forces.
From a B-29 bomber of this unit, “Three balls of fire” were reported.
In 2024, I found the case in the XXIst Bomber Command Tactical Mission Report for Mission 181, of the U.S. Army Air Forces, for May 23-24, 1945.
This mission was a B-29 air raid over the Tokyo urban area, Japan, on May 23-24, 1945. In the Intelligence section of the report, in the enemy flak activities sub-section, it was said:
“4. Various “Balls of fire” were reported. Some seemed to approach aircraft and then dive to the ground. One plane reported a flak burst which broke in 2 streams of flames, descended, and then burst with a tremendous flash.”
| Date: | May 23, 1945 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ? |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | 1999 |
| Reporting delay: | Decades. |
| Country: | Japan |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Kanto |
| City or place: | Tokyo |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 to 11 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | Unit History, ufologist Jan Aldrich. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | ? |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| UFO action: | ? |
| 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 to 11.
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | ? |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 12 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 1 |
| ACUFO: | Totally insufficient information. |
[Ref. aaf1:] U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES:
The report's header is:
|
S E C R E T
HEADQUARTERS
XXI BOMBER COMMAND
APO 234
Field Order No. 78
Mission No 181
Target: Tokyo Urban Area
Japan
23-24 May 1945
The foreword summarizes the mission:
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Foreword
This tactical Mission Report covers XXI Bomber Command Mission No. 181, flown on 23-24 may 1945 against Tokyo Urban Area, South. Final damage assessment for this strike is included in Tactical Mission Report No. 183, covering the attack on the Tokyo Urban Area flows on 25 May 1945.
The report's relevant section documents enemy airplanes opposition and attacks, searchlights activities. In the flak activities, it said:
|
S E C R E T
4. Various "Balls of fire" were reported. Some seemed to approach aircraft and then dive to the ground. One plane reported a flak burst which broke in 2 streams of flames, descended, and then burst with a tremendous flash.
[Ref. prt4:] JAN ALDRICH - "PROJECT 1947":
N - 1945.05.23 - Night, Tokyo, Japan.
B-29, 444th Bomb Group, “Three balls of fire” reported. (444th Bombardment Group history.)
[Ref. fge1:] FRANK L. GRUBE:
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On May 23 and 24, 1945, 520(42) of 562 B-29s sent against Tokyo bomb an urban-industrial area south of the Imperial Palace along the west side of the harbor; 5 other B-29s hit targets of opportunity. Three balls of fire are reported. Seventeen (2) B-29s are lost.
[Ref. dwn1:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:
During a bomb raid on Tokyo, a formation of USAAF B-29 were chased by 15 metalic grey saucer-shaped objects. They performed many maneuvers at great speed.
Source: Charles Fort and UFOs, Loren Gross p.60
[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:
At night, during a bombing mission of B-29s from the 444th Bomb Group, crews reported the sightings of about 20 “balls of fire”.
Sources: Project 1947, Jan Aldrich / 444th Bombardment Group History
The Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” was the heaviest bomber of the U.S. Army Air Forces, used in operations from May 8, 1944 and on. Its maximum speed was 574 km/h.
Its defensive armament was 12 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns.
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To me, the information is totally insufficient to make any determination of what the “three balls of fire” were.
During raids by bombers of the XXIst Bomber Command of the US Army Air Forces over Japan in 1944 - 1945, balls of fire were sometimes reported with enough information to exclude more trivial “balls of fire” such as searchlights, air-to-air phosphorus bombs, flares etc. But it is not the case here.
Totally 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 | January 11, 2024 | Creation, [prt4], [dwn1], [dwn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 11, 2024 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 1, 2024 | Addition [aaf1]. In the Summary, addition of the information of [aaf1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | June 16, 2024 | Addition [fge1]. |
