ACUFO:

ACUFO is my comprehensive catalog of cases of encounters between aircraft and UFOs, whether they are “explained” or “unexplained”.

The ACUFO catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file.

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Germany or Holland, in June 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-06-01-GERMANYHOLLAND-1

Summary:

The American ufologist Peter Davenport set up in the 2000s a website, the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), allowing people to submit, anonymously or not, their testimony of UFO sightings, which were then recorded in a database and visible on this website.

There is a testimony received on May 28, 2000, and published on December 2, 2000, about an observation of a “Cigar-shaped” object which would have occurred in June 1945 around noon, local time, over Germany or Holland, from a bomber, during a bombing raid during World War II.

The shape of what was seen is given as a “circle”, the duration of observation as brief and the number of observers as 10.

The narrative told:

“We were returning from a mission to Berlin. The object pulled up alongside of our B-17 and appeared to just observe us. One of our gunners ran a string of 50cal bullets down the length of the object, but we didn't see any effect on the craft. Thereupon the object left our vicinity, rapidly. We had departed England for the run at about 0800 Many other crews sighted these objects during WWII.”

Peter Davenport specified that the witness described himself as a retired engineer.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	June 1945
Time:	Noon.
Duration:	Brief.
First known report date:	2000
Reporting delay:	6 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	Germany or Holland
State/Department:
City or place:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	10
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	By the Web to NUFORC.
Visibility conditions:	Day.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	Yes.
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
UFO action:	Came to plane, went away fast.
Witnesses action:	Fired with machine gun, without effect.
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	UFO

Classifications:

Sensors:	[X] Visual: 10. [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	DD
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 11 7.62 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Possible extraterrestrial craft, unknown credibility.

Sources:

[Ref. nuc11:] "NATIONAL UFO REPORTING CENTER":

NUFORC Sighting 12974

Occurred: 1945-06-01 12:00:00 Local
Location: Germany or Holland (from bomber), , Germany
Shape: Circle
Duration: Short
No of observers: 10
Reported: 2000-05-28 00:00:00 Pacific
Posted: 2000-12-02 00:00:00

Sighted Cigar shaped Object while on a bombing run in WW2

We were returning from a mission to Berlin. The object pulled up alongside of our B-17 and appeared to just observe us. One of our gunners ran a string of 50cal bullets down the length of the object, but we didn't see any effect on the craft. Therupon [sic] the object left our vicinity, rapidly. We had departed England for the run at about 0800 Many other crews sighted these objects during WW11

NUFORC Note:

Date is approximate. Witness describes self as a retired engineer. PD

[Ref. pre1:] PHILIP R. RIFE:

Another American bomber returning to England from a raid on Berlin the following year (1945) had a more eventful aerial encounter with a cigar-shaped object near the German-Dutch border. One of the aircraft's crewmembers described what happened: “The object pulled up alongside of our B-17, and appeared to just observe us. One of our gunners ran a string of 50-caliber bullets down the length of the object, but we didn't see any effect. Thereupon the object left our vicinity rapidly”. (271)

The source was described as: "271. Internet posting"

Aircraft information:

The US B-17 “Flying Fortress” was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.

Discussion:

There is no “technical error” in the report, the B-17s had a crew of 10 men and 0.50 caliber machine guns. This is obviously not enough to rule out the possibility that this report is invented.

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial craft, unknown credibility.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

[nuc1] * Witness Web report to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) of Peter Davenport, USA, posted February 12, 2000, at https://nuforc.org/sighting/?id=12974
[pre1] * "It Didn't Start With Roswell: 50 Years of Amazing UFO Crashes, Close Encounters and Coverups", book by Philip L. Rife, Writers Club Press publishers, USA, 2001.

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	January 27, 2024	Creation, [nuc1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	January 27, 2024	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	July 27, 2024	Addition [pre1].

This page was last updated on July 27, 2024.