ACUFO-1944-09-00-GERMANY-1
The US ufology group National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), in the 1960's, recorded in their archive an article in the newspaper The Houston Post for July 7, 1947, about a WWII veteran who explained that the "flying disk" so much talked about in July 1947 were not a new thing for him, as he had knwledge of the "nazi aerial devices" or "foo fighters" he encountered over Germany, in daytime, during the Fall and Winter of 1944-45.
The veteran was introduced by the newspaper as Charlee Odom, former B-17 pilot living in Houston, 23, 8210 Garland.
He told that the devices "looked like crystal balls, clear, about the size of basketballs," that they were seen often over Vienna, Munich, and other larger target areas.
He told they would approach to within 300 feet of plane formation, "then would seem to become magnetized to our formation and fly alongside. they never came closer than 300 feet," and "after a while, they would peal off like a plane and leave."
| Date: | Fall and Winter 1944-1945 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Day. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | July 7, 1947 |
| Reporting delay: | 3 years. |
| Country: | Germany, Austria |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | |
| City: | Munich, Vienna |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | Several. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Reporting channel: | Newspaper. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Day. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Approach, fly along, go away. |
| Witnesses action: | |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | German devices. |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: Several.
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed. 5 7.62 mm machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 3 |
| ACUFO: | Possible extraterrestrial craft. |
[Ref. nip1:] NICAP:
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Houston Post, Monday, July 7, 1947 p 1:
DISCS REMIND VETERAN OF NAZI AERIAL DEVICE (Paraphrase)
(Charlee Odom, former B-17 pilot living in Houston, describes his encounters with "foo fighters" over Germany, during the Fall and Winter of 1944-45. Odom, 23, 8210 Garland, says they "looked like crystal balls, clear, about the size of basketballs," and were seen often over Vienna, Munich, and other larger target areas.
(They'd approach to within 300 feet of plane formation, "then would seem to become magnetized to our formation and fly alongside. they never came closer than 300 feet."
("After a while, they would peal off like a plane and leave."
(While Some AAF men aaw them only at night, Odom says he saw them during the daylight hours.)
[Ref. jvb1:] JOHANNES VON BUTLAR:
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After the end of the Second World War, a former B-17 pilot, Charles Odom, described his encounters with foo fighters in the autumn and winter of 1944-5 over Germany. 'They looked like crystal balls, clear and about the size of basketballs,' he said. They were observed particularly often over Munich, Vienna and other important bombing targets. They would approach to within 300 feet of a bomber formation, then 'would seem to become magnetized to our formation and fly alongside. They never came closer than 300 feet. After a while they would peel off like a plane and leave.'
[Ref. nck1:] NICK COOK:
A B-17 pilot, Charles Odom, flying on a daylight raid into Germany, described them as being "clear, about the size of basketballs." They would approach to within 300 feet, "then would seem to become magnetized to our formation and fly alongside. After a while, they would peel off like a plane and leave."
See here for comments about the theory in this book.
The US B-17 "Flying Fortress" was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.
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The sighting by Kenneth Arnold on June 24, 1947 while he was piloting his plane over Washington state had been a trigger for an enormous press interest in what were then called "flying discs"; it was in this context that Charlee Odom also recounted his experiences, like many others who declared having seen mysterious flying machines before Kenneth Arnold, but had often said nothing about it, such events being beyond any reference.
The report is obviously not very detailed as to dates and places; the journalistic context then did not have these kinds of requirements. We will therefore note that a B-17 pilot of the US Army Air Force testified by name to observations of the presence in the skies of Germany in autumn - winter 1944 - 1945 of unidentified flying objects, in the form of shiny balls, in broad daylight, which approached the bombers, accompanied them, then left. These objects were obviously not "Nazi devices", although it is not surprising that this was assumed at the time.
Possible extraterrestrial craft.
* = 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 | October 26, 2023 | Creation, [nip1], [jvb1], [nck1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 26, 2023 | First published. |
