Three Types of UFO – Foo Fighters Reported During The War

"There are three kinds of 'Foo Fighters," said Liet. Donald Meirs of Chicago. "One is red balls of fire which appear off our wing tips and fly along with us, the second is a vertical row of three balls of fire which fly in front of us and the third is a group of about 15 lights which appear off in the distance–like a Christmas tree up in the air–and flicker on and off."

A United States Night Fighter Base, France, Jan. 1.–AP–The Nazis have thrown something new into the night skies over Germany–the weird, mysterious "Foo-Fighter," balls of fire which race alongside the wings of American Beaufighters flying intruder missions over the Reich.

By The Indianapolis Star 1-2-1945

United States pilots have been encountering the eerie "Foo Fighter" for more than a month in their night flights. No one apparently knows exactly what the sky weapon is.

The balls of fire appear suddenly and accompany planes for miles. They appear to be radio-controlled from the ground and manage to keep up with planes flying 300 miles per hour, official reports reveal.

"There are three kinds of 'Foo Fighters," said Liet. Donald Meirs of Chicago. "One is red balls of fire which appear off our wing tips and fly along with us, the second is a vertical row of three balls of fire which fly in front of us and the third is a group of about 15 lights which appear off in the distance–like a Christmas tree up in the air–and flicker on and off."

The pilots of this night fighter squadron – in operation since September, 1943–and three fiery balls the weirdest thing they have as yet encountered. They are convinced that the "Foo Fighter" is designed to be a psychological weapon as well as military although it is not the nature of the fire balls to attack planes.

"A 'Foo Fighter' picked me up recently at 700 feet and chased me 20 miles down the Rhine valley," Meiers said. "I turned to starboard and two balls of fire turned with me. I turned to the port and they turned with me. We were going 260 miles per hour and the balls were keeping right up with us."

"On another occasion when a 'Foo-Fighter' picked us up, I dove at 360 miles an hour. It kept right off our wing tips for awhile and then zoomed up into the sky."

"When I first saw the things off my wing tips I had the horrible thought that a German on the ground was ready to press a button and explode them. But they don't explode or attack us. They just seem to follow us like will-o-the-wisps."

(An Associated Press report from Paris Dec. 13 said the Germans had thrown silvery balls into the air against day raiders. Pilots then reported they had seen these objects both individually and in clusters, during forays over the Reich).

Among pilots at this base who have encountered "Foo Fighters" is Lieut. Henry Bockstige of evensville, Ind.

See Also:

	'U.S. Pilots … Gave Chase to the Foo Fighters'
	Foo Fighter 'Most Puzzling Secret Weapon' | UFO CHRONICLE – 1945
	Do Foo Fighter Images Represent 'The Real Foo Fighters?'

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Tom Delonge's UFO Organization (TTSA) Offers Mea Culpa and Explanation for Misinformation Faux Pas

An update from Lue Elizondo: "During the last four months, TTS Academy has conducted extensive collection efforts throughout the U.S. and internationally. Most recently, we returned from a trip to Italy where we successfully established

By Luis Elizondo TTSA 11-1-18

new relationships with government personnel there and in other European organizations.

[...]

While providing general background, I indicated that one particular slide contained real photographs of UAPs over Washington DC. It did not. The slide was intended to be illustrative but was presented as factual and with the help of a few individuals, I quickly realized the error. I acknowledge the misstatement and sent an immediate "mea culpa" note to my TTS Academy team and would like to share it with you. Although I would like to attribute my mistake to a lack of sleep and no Cuban coffee that morning, sadly it was an oversight on my part, and it will not happen again. It is our commitment to remain fact-based in all studies, statements, and conclusions. We cannot be drawn in by speculation or opinion. Our mission is to be the authority for relevant and substantiated information on an elusive and complex subject. We will continue to work toward that goal."

Continue Reading ►

See Also:

Tom Delonge's UFO Organization (TTSA) Accused of Spreading Misinformation

Tom DeLonge Exhibits His Naiveté Re Ufology in Joe Rogan Interview

Joe Rogan Bashes Tom Delonge, Says His UFO Commentary is 'Ridiculous' | VIDEO

"Tom DeLonge ... Believes Practically Every Crazy UFO Story He Hears"

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Tom Delonge's UFO Organization (TTSA) Accused of Spreading Misinformation

"To The Stars" Shares Its Misinformation with Italian Colleagues

On October 22, Tom DeLonge, founder of To The Stars Academy (TTSA, which has been the absolute center of UFO attention for the past year), posted the following enigmatic message to his Facebook page: Tom DeLonge October 22 at 7:17 AM · @tothestarsacademy has been invited into private meetings with a particular European Government on UFOs. I am on my way this morning to discuss some very interesting cooperation opportunities with a few International partners. :) #TECHNOLOGY #DATA #DISCLOSURE

By Robert Sheaffer Bad UFOs 10-31-18

Accompanying it was a photo of an airliner taken through the window of an airport terminal. Obviously, DeLonge was flying to Europe, and he wanted it to seem all mysterious. But the "mystery" was solved on the following day when he posted, "#ROME Any Italian fans here today? I’ll be walking around enjoying the amazing history."

It turns out that DeLonge's comment "@tothestarsacademy has been invited into private meetings with a particular European Government on UFOs" was quite disingenuous. In fact, TTSA's presentation was sponsored by the Italian UFO group CUN, which has been in existence since 1967. It is a private UFO group much like MUFON, and has no official government connections.

Before TTSA's presentation on October 27, a panel of Italian UFOlogists spoke, talking mostly about UFO history in fairly conventional terms. We hear about Project Blue Book, the UN UFO session, Carl Jung, J. Allen Hynek, Edward Ruppelt, etc. The whole session, almost four hours long, was recorded and posted to YouTube, unedited. (Approximately the first 30 minutes of the video are empty, waiting for the program to start).

Elizondo spoke first, to explain "why we are here." Unfortunately, "technical difficulties" prevented him from showing his slides, so he handed the microphone to DeLonge, to tell the story behind TTSA. DeLonge said:

"To The Stars has created a private company with a perpetual funding mechanism. We work with government partners to achieve the revolutionary change in mankind's destiny...[TTSA has] the first set of major motion pictures and television series in development... [also] a multi-year program plan to launch satellites into space with lasers.. and a robust program plan to achieve the engineering of the space-time metric, and most people people would call that 'anti-gravity'."

DeLonge did not explain exactly how, or when, these engineering miracles would be accomplished.

Elizondo finally got his slides to work, and continued with his version of UFO history. A full transcript of TTSA's comments has been prepared by UFO Joe (thanks, Joe!).

On October 27, UFO researcher Curt Collins posted to the Facebook page for his Blog Blue Blurry Lines:

Elizondo claimed that this photo was "real."
(from Ray Palmer's magazine).

The Italian UFO group CUN hosted a presentation in Rome by Tom DeLonge on the TTSA, and Luis Elizondo on AATIP. Elizondo discussed the famous 1952 Washington, DC saucer event saying :

"In the early 1950s, the United States had another very significant event over our nation’s Capitol. Once again, these objects were identified both with the naked eye and again on radar, and unlike Roswell, many people had cameras and were able to take photographs. And what you see here are real photographs, along with the story - the headline story that came out."

Elizondo's picture is from the YouTube preview image for "UFO Sightings over Washington D.C. and The White House in 1952" by FindingUFO. It's a frame from a CGI-animated version of a picture of lens flares, and an image from an EC comic book found in the files Project Blue Book.

"Photo Fakery: Washington, DC Flying Saucers 1952," goes into detail on the history of this bogus UFO photo.

Other problems with Elizondo's presentation were quickly noted:

• Elizondo presented a slide promoting the supposed UFO from STS-48, even suggesting that the Space Shuttle crew witnessed it. James Oberg has thoroughly debunked this claim, back in 1992.

•He also cited the supposed UFO from STS-80, which Oberg has also shown to be baseless.

• Elizondo showed a photo of a supposed "foo fighter" allegedly taken during World War II, which he said "was actually taken by a pilot in World War II.". It is almost certainly a hoax, its provenance is unknown. No authentic photo of a supposed "foo fighter" is known to exist.

• In Elizondo's overview of UFO history, he said, "later, in the 1940s, we had the Roswell incident. I’m not going to speculate in this room what crashed at Roswell. But those of you who are familiar with the world of intelligence, know that a military response is usually symmetrical to the incident. A crashed weather balloon does not usually merit the response of a colonel, several flat bed, military vehicles and an armed force." These claims are completely unsupported. There is no proof for the claim that "a colonel" was involved, or any military vehicles or guards.

• In response to a question about alleged "force fields" surrounding supposed UFOs, Elizondo replied: "We can. In some cases if we know what to look for, we can actually see a distortion around these craft, surrounded it. We believe it’s a result of the propulsion that’s being used. In essence, an event horizon is created. Imagine a bubble being created around the vehicle and if you are bending space time in a localized area, one can expect electromagnetic energy to behave differently inside that event horizon than outside." This is preposterous. The so-called "glowing aura" (so named in the headline of the original New York Times story about TTSA) seen in the TicTac and Gimble UFO videos is simply a processing effect of the infrared imaging circuit. This was pointed out long ago, and it is amateurish to claim otherwise.

Elizondo's photo of supposed "foo fighters," almost certainly a hoax.

All along one frustration has been that TTSA has released little, if any, information about the cases they are promoting. But with this unedited two-hour-plus presentation by DeLonge and Luis Elizondo, we start to understand what is happening. Both DeLonge and Elizondo are Babes in the Woods when it comes to UFO claims. (We knew about DeLonge's UFO foolishness for quite some time, but until now we knew relatively little about Elizondo.) Neither of them has any real understanding of the difference between credible and non-credible sources of information concerning UFOs. Neither of them seems to have any "filter" for baseless UFO claims, and neither seems to understand the prevalence of misinformation in UFOology. (Indeed, Elizondo has previously boasted that he had purposely stayed away from reading UFO books, so as not to prejudice himself about it, meaning he knows practically nothing on the subject.) They seem to believe every UFO claim they hear. The longtime Canadian UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski posted to the Facebook group UFO Updates, "I am more concerned every day that anyone affiliated with the TTSA has limited knowledge about the subject, beyond pop culture and sensational tabloid material." Indeed.

On October 28, DeLonge posted to Facebook:

Thank you to the Italian Government for the security you provided to me and my team all week, and thank you for having your AIR FORCE Generals, UNITED NATIONS Officials, INTELLIGENCE Operatives and VATICAN representatives attend the @tothestarsacademy briefing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and the ADVANCED AERIAL THREAT IDENTIFICATION THREAT PROGRAM here in Rome, Italy. It was my pleasure to represent the United States and start the international conversation here, in such a wonderful country.

Here DeLonge sounds like a cross between Stephen Greer (claiming to need protection while presenting dramatic UFO revelations) and George Adamski (claiming to meet with VATICAN representatives). Let's hope that, assuming these distinguished persons actually were present, they realize that they've been fed a line of pure, old-fashioned amateurish UFO misinformation. They might as well be listening to Stanton Friedman. In fact, as much as it pains me to say this, I think that Friedman is more credible than DeLonge, however slightly. Friedman wouldn't fall for the Capitol Dome UFO photo, or the unsourced Foo Fighters one.

VISIT ROBERT'S SITE ►

See Also:

Tom DeLonge Exhibits His Naiveté Re Ufology in Joe Rogan Interview

Joe Rogan Bashes Tom Delonge, Says His UFO Commentary is 'Ridiculous' | VIDEO

"Tom DeLonge ... Believes Practically Every Crazy UFO Story He Hears"

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

In Search Of 'Progress' in UFOlogy - At the End of the Road?

Every so often, a cry goes out from some well-known UFOlogist about the lack of "progress" in UFOlogy. The cry is often echoed by others, typically with great wailing and gnashing of teeth. Solutions are proposed, but ultimately nothing changes. As those of you who follow the UFO Blogs and postings already know, the most recent cry of this kind comes from the Spanish UFOlogist Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos. Olmos has been researching UFOs for fifty years now, and since the year 2000 has been

By Robert Sheaffer badufos.blogspot.com 6-19-17

concentrating his efforts on FOTOCAT, a world-wide catalog of UFO photo events. Many researchers have assisted with this collection, myself included. Olmos is well-respected among UFO Realists (those who attempt to adhere to facts (more or less) in investigating UFOs, as opposed to the Unrealists who are always ready to believe exciting UFO stories with little or no proof). In Jacques Vallee's autobiographical Forbidden Science (Volume 2), he mentions in an entry for 1970 that he has been corresponding regularly with Olmos concerning reported Spanish landing cases. In fact, Vallee mentions Olmos several times in that volume. You won't find anyone with better UFO street cred than that.

[...]

Continue Reading ►

See Also:

UFO Waves - An International Bibliography

The Singular Adventure of Mr Kenneth Arnold

Flying Saucers and Kenneth Arnold

Project Grudge: Report On Incident 17
By J. Allen Hynek - Primary Witness - Kenneth Arnold

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

When Flying Discs Invaded Our Skies For The First Time | 70th Anniversary of The Beginning of a New Epoch

This month is the 70th anniversary of the beginning of a new epoch, when the flying discs invaded our skies for the first time…officially. For some, it began in 1946 with the “ghost rockets” in Sweden, or in the IIWW theatre with the “foo fighters”, or with the “phantom airplanes” of 1912-1913, whilst others would go back to the “airships” of the late XIX century, or to ancient times. But, we all know that it was since the US press attached the “flying saucer” tag to this subject that a large-magnitude phenomenon emerged. One that has had a heavy impact on the general population all over the world. The way I wish to commemorate this ephemeris is by writing down my present vision about the UFO phenomenon, after 50 years of personal

By Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos UFO FOTOCAT BLOG 6-9-17

study, centering on the nature of the supposed evidence that has been collected in all these 70 years of UFO phenomenology. These are the views of a sincere investigator of a mystery that seems to play with us, until we realize that we have simply allowed ourselves to be led astray by a number of surrounding circumstances and influences. What seems at first sight absurd, really is illogical, irrational, incoherent ... finally inadmissible.

I have prepared an essay on the foundation of what can only be a portent or a chimera: the true level of certainty, proof and conviction, that is, the evidence. And I have asked Indiana University emeritus professor Thomas Bullard to accompany me in this global evaluation of the UFO problem with his own thoughts. We agree for the most part but we also have a degree of disagreement. But we both recognize that advancement and progress in this study will only happen when ideas are confronted in a framework of respect and tolerance.

For bibliography quotation purposes, the formal reference to this article will be as follows:
Ballester Olmos, V.J. & Bullard, T.E. (2017), “The Nature of UFO Evidence: Two Views,”

THE NATURE OF UFO EVIDENCE: TWO VIEWS

Part I

It is exactly 70 years since the society of the United States was thrilled and shaken by the first report of “flying saucers”. This was the early sighting by Kenneth Arnold on June 24, 1947. It also started a phenomenon ufologists would later call “wave”, a huge avalanche of reports throughout all the nation’s newspapers. It was short-lived and profiled as a sharp Gaussian curve developed over only three weeks: following the initial sighting’s press coverage, news interest ignited, peaked, reached a saturation point and quickly declined. This aftermath triggered two important developments: (1) the stories were disseminated all over the globe, taking on a life of their own in every country, and (2) the Army Air Force (later, USAF) jumped on the matter, beginning to investigate the visions of flying saucers (later, unidentified flying objects or UFOs).

Seven decades of UFO history have provided countless facts and histories, actions and reactions, military and civilian initiatives, Congress and Parliamentary hearings, symposia, scientists and laypersons declarations, and countless UFO-related portrayals in media, cinema, television, publishing and advertisement, daily bombarding and influencing the citizens. Not to mention the millions of supposed UFO reports that emerged from the public and the feedback they yielded. Not to neglect the important effect produced by thousands of UFO proponents all over the globe, people that James Carrion, ex-CEO of MUFON, the top UFO organization in the world, characterized as “self-proclaimed investigators or investigation journalists, whose modus operandi is to perpetuate the mystery, not to solve it”. Seen from a European perspective, this diagnostics is right on target.

[...]

* English language editing: Martin Shough

Continue Reading ►

See Also:

UFO Waves - An International Bibliography

The Singular Adventure of Mr Kenneth Arnold

Flying Saucers and Kenneth Arnold

Project Grudge: Report On Incident 17
By J. Allen Hynek - Primary Witness - Kenneth Arnold

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

'U.S. Pilots … Gave Chase to the Foo Fighters'

Tweet

Foo Fighters, revisit your namesake

By Billy Cox De Void 2-3-16

     Psst Dave Grohl –

Since you’re a “UFO fanatic” – obviously nobody in the biz knew what foo fighters were until you came along – just wanted to tip you off to some new cool stuff online about your band’s namesake. OK, check that, it’s not new, right, we’re talking Second World War. But it’s the latest accessible material from Keith Chester, posted in December at "U.F.O Historical Revue."

You did read Chester’s book, right? Back in ’07? Strange Company: Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II?Um, maybe not, you’re pretty busy. Anyway, this guy, Keith Chester, he pays about a hundred visits to the National Archives and Records Administration over the years. He collects, like, two shelf-feet of pertinent military records and comes back with a gold mine, man: official memos, debriefing accounts, after-action reports, you name it. I mean, who does this stuff anymore?

Now, dude, I know you know how foo-fighter encounters first broke in the U.S. press big-time in late 1944-early 1945, and how the guys on the front lines thought official attempts to blow it off as ball lightning and/or St. Elmo’s fire was a big joke. (Hell, a 415th Night Fighter Squadron veteran right here in Sarasota chuckled in contempt a few years back when he recounted the contortions ...) But were you aware that what the Allies began referring to as “phenomena” started turning heads from the very beginning of the war? And that before they were dubbed foo fighters late in the game, there were reports of “stove pipes,” “cylinders,” “orange crates,” “pie-plate discs,” “flying doughnuts,” “fire extinguishers,” “ball and chains,” “egg shapes,” “soap bubbles,” “resembling Zeppelins” and “balloons,” even when they moved against the wind? Thank god foo fighters was the name that stuck, ay? I'm guessing you wouldn't have gone from Nirvana to The Flying Doughnuts.

Anyhow, the documents Chester recovered are loaded with so many incidents of bombers and fighters trying unsuccessfully to shake their spooky and infuriating maneuverability, you start losing track after awhile. If I were going to Hollywood this thing, I’d cast Richard Pryor – yeah, I know it’s not accurate or feasible – as an excitable ball turret gunner finding the range – “Whoa mother*#!%errrrr! My turn now, MY turn!” – and raking the sky with twin .50s. Then I’d zoom in on the bug-eyed disbelief. Because shooting these things was useless.

While crossing Holland on 6/25/42, RAF bomber pilot Lt. Roman Sabinski tells his tail-gunner to “Give it a blast” when a full moon-sized copper-colored object jumps from just off the left wing to the right at instantaneous speed; tracer rounds indicate direct hits, to no effect. Shortly after D-Day, British Lancaster bomber pilot George Barton reports being followed home following a raid over Germany by a cluster of “spheres”; neither evasive tactics nor gunfire deter the ultimately harmless pursuers (if that’s indeed what they were).

In August 1944, after striking oil refineries in Sumatra, numerous crews with the 468th Bombardment Group are rattled by what they regard as “a bizarre and confusing type of new weapon.” One bomber reports being “under continuous attack for 1 hour and 10 minutes” by a swarm of baseball-sized reddish-orange spheres that tend explode into four to five smaller balls without inflicting any damage. No ground or ocean flashes are detected, and “on one occasion,” states a report, “the course was altered sufficiently to allow tail guns to bear in the direction of the bursts, but 20-mm and 50-cal. fire from the B-29 had no visible effect.”

Anyway, man, I’m guessing if any foo fighters had killed any our guys, you might’ve chosen a different name for your band. But De Void likes the title of this report: “Additional Information On The Observation Of Silvery Colored Discs On Mission to Stuttgart, 6 Sept. 1943,” prepared by the 384th Bombardment Group for the 1st Bombardment Wing. During an air battle with German planes, two B-17 crews watched as a third was descended upon by a “cluster” of silver colored objects that may have been as long as 75 feet, and 20 feet wide. Nobody saw attack planes dropping ordnance. They noted only that some of it collided with a B-17 and “the wing immediately started to burn,” which resulted in the loss of the bomber.”

Nazi tech or something else, this stuff couldn’t be ignored, and by January ’45, a secret report, subject matter “Night Phenomenon,” reached XII Tactical Air Command from one of the Air Force intelligence officers: “We have encountered a phenomenon which we cannot explain; crews have been followed by lights that blink on and off changing colors etc. The lights come very close and fly in formation with our planes. They are agitating and keep the crews on edge when they encounter them, mainly because they cannot explain them.”

On and on it goes. Bottom line, the latest installment of the history nobody knows is available online now at http://greenwoodufoarchive.com/uhr/uhr17.pdf It describes another couple of futile shooting incidents, but De Void likes the part where U.S. pilots tried to turn the tables and gave chase to the Foo Fighters, which then tried to lure the warplanes into “a concentrated flak area.” Those who suggested the airmen were being duped by St. Elmo’s fire invited this pilot response: “Well, let the sons of bitches come over and fly a mission with us.”

Want more links?

http://www.project1947.com/fig/1943a.htm

http://www.project1947.com/fig/1944a.htm

http://www.project1947.com/fig/1945a.htm

http://www.project1947.com/47cats/usnavydraft1.htm#1850

Getting a little long-winded here, Dave. Sorry. Only reason I bring it up is that with Hillary Clinton and campaign manager John Podesta stating they want to “get to the bottom” of this UFO thing, the Foo Fighters should consider contributing an anthem to nudge it along. It doesn’t really matter who you’re voting for. It’s about reminding them to keep their eyes on the ball. 'Til then, see you at the Devil's Tower.

Continue Reading ►

See Also:

The Foo Fighter Mystery

Foo Fighter 'Most Puzzling Secret Weapon' | UFO CHRONICLE – 1945

Allies Say 'Foo Fighters' Were Secret Nazi Weapon

Foo Fighters: New Nazi Weapon is Noticed at Front
12-13-1944

Veteran Talks of The 'Foo Fighters'

Believe Clue Found To New Nazi Fireballs
1-7-1945

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Foo Fighter 'Most Puzzling Secret Weapon' | UFO CHRONICLE – 1945

Tweet

By Northern Times
6-29-1945

See Also:

The Foo Fighter Mystery

Allies Say 'Foo Fighters' Were Secret Nazi Weapon

Foo Fighters: New Nazi Weapon is Noticed at Front
12-13-1944

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Do Foo Fighter Images Represent 'The Real Foo Fighters?'

Tweet

By Gilles Fernandez
skepticversustheflyingsaucers.blogspot.frl
1-21-15

     Foo-Fighters are aerial phenomena (usually one or more white balls of light, yellow or red) reported on numerous occasions by the crews of the Allied air forces or Axis during the Second World War ( Wiki ).

I emphasized "reported" because all the research I have done to date leads me to note that no newspaper articles, military documents from the forties, i.e., any or all historical/graphical sources that have been made available—are not accompanied by a picture whatsoever. In other words, one would find that the evidence, i.e., reports, briefs etc., are just text, and there weren’t any photographs associated therein.

However, now with the onset of computers and the web, just type "foo fighters" in your favorite search engine and there are numerous vintage photographs illustrating or intended to illustrate the phenomenon.

In other words, when I became interested about 2010 in Foo-Fighters, since they are a recurring theme of ufology, I wondered if these photographs had not been added retrospectively by ufologists, while in no case do they actually represent the phenomenon.

Continue Reading and See Photos . . .

See Also:

Saucers May Be 'Foo Fighters' Flier Suggests

The Foo Fighter Mystery

Foo Fighters: New Nazi Weapon is Noticed at Front
12-13-1944

Flying Saucers, Foo Fighters and Green Fireballs

Allies Say 'Foo Fighters' Were Secret Nazi Weapon

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Grant Cameron Reveals Dr. James McDonald Foo Fighters Documents | UFO NEWS

Tweet

By Grant Cameron www.presidentialufo.com 3-31-12

     One key thing that has been ignored in the 65 years o UFO research, is the fact that there is a distinct pattern of unfolding events in the UFO events that have taken place. Many researchers mistakenly think that abductions, crashed saucers, crop circles, and mutilations have always been around. They have not. In the same way many researchers have forgotten the fact that things like angel hair, saucer nests, ground trace cases, little aliens of various descriptions seen near landed crafts, and other UFO events of the past have stopped or have dropped dramatically in number.

It is as if the aliens (or intelligences for those who think that if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quakes like a duck, it still might be something else) are turning the pages of a book, changing things as time goes along, showing us only one chapter at a time, and leading us towards some unknown conclusion.

One of these forgotten phenomena is Foo Fighters. They appeared during World War Two and were reported by all parties in the war – United States, Canada, England, Germany, and Japan. Each military quickly investigated the phenomena thinking that it might be secret weapon from their enemy in the war. U. S. Army intelligence was one of the American units that investigated. They were investigating to see if it was a German secret weapon and adding that if it wasn’t, “We’ll be all set for Section Eight psychiatric discharges.”

. . . More


See Also:

The Foo Fighter Mystery

Flying Saucers, Foo Fighters and Green Fireballs

Veteran Talks of The 'Foo Fighters'

Allies Say 'Foo Fighters' Were Secret Nazi Weapon

SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

HELP SUPPORT THIS SITE    ABOUT DONATIONS

↑Grab this Headline Animator

Saucers May Be 'Foo Fighters' Flier Suggests

Tweet

- click on image(s) to enlarge -

By Olean Times Herald
7-8-1947

See Also:

The Foo Fighter Mystery

Allies Say 'Foo Fighters' Were Secret Nazi Weapon

Flying Saucers, Foo Fighters and Green Fireballs

Veteran Talks of The 'Foo Fighters'

SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE


HELP SUPPORT THIS SITE

ABOUT DONATIONS

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

The 'Real X-Files' Pt 6

By Dr David Clarke
drdavidclarke.blogspot.com
8-1-10

     The facts about some of Britain’s best-known UFO mysteries are revealed in the sixth collection of ‘X-files’ released by Britain’s National Archives.

At the TNA's UFO website you can download all the files - free of charge for the first month - along with a highlights guide and updated background briefing. As the TNA's consultant for the release programme, I have recorded a special podcast with journalist Clare Jenkins, available as a download, where I discuss some of the more quirky stories included in this tranche.

The release includes 18 files containing 5000 pages of correspondence and Parliamentary briefings created by the Ministry of Defence between 1995 and 2000. The documents provide a unique historical snapshot of the extraordinary beliefs, legends and rumours that were held and spread by UFOlogists around the time of the 50th anniversary of the birth of the subject in 1997.These files contain hundreds of letters addressed to the MoD and politicians that cover every conceivable rumour circulating just before the millennium: UFO crashes, alien abductions, animal mutilations, demonic entities, crop circles, remote viewing, mind-control and government conspiracies.

By contrast, alongside this feast of weirdness are the MoD’s increasingly exasperated attempts to pour cold water on topics they regarded as irrelevant at best and a nuisance at worst. But they could not stem the flood of correspondence that led to a doubling of the UFO desk’s workload. During 1996 – the year before the Roswell anniversary – the MoD received 609 UFO reports, 343 letters from the public and 22 inquiries from MPs.

The files demonstrate how far official policy towards UFOs changed after the end of the Cold War. Back in 1950s the Government really was concerned by a spate of incidents involving unidentified objects tracked by radars and on occasion aircraft were scrambled to investigate them. Possibly the best known example is the famous RAF Bentwaters-Lakenheath incident of 1956.

As a direct result the subject of “aerial phenomena” appeared on the agenda of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), at Whitehall. One set of the JIC papers from 1957 are included in this release and they reveal the Air Ministry could not explain four incidents involving UFOs on radar (see DEFE 24/2013, pgs 257-60).

But in 1996 Don Valley MP Martin Redmond tabled a Parliamentary Question that asked how many times RAF aircraft had been scrambled to investigate UFOs. The background briefing given by the RAF is in my view one of the most interesting documents in this release (you can see the original papers in DEFE 24/1983, pages 53 and 40-48).

This document reveals that before 1991 – which saw the collapse of the Soviet Union – RAF aircraft were scrambled on average 200 times every year to investigate unidentified objects seen by UK air defence radars. The vast majority of these were identified as Soviet reconnaissance aircraft probing NATO defences in the North Atlantic. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall the frequency of these scrambles reduced to zero. There were none recorded between September 1991 and the summer of 1996 when Redmond tabled his question in the Commons.

Contrast that zero figure with the number of UFO reports made by members of the public and logged by the MoD during exactly the same period. Between 1991 and 1996 there were almost 1200 sightings recorded. Few, if any were corroborated by a radar contact and just a handful were investigated in any depth – mainly as a result of pressure from MPs or the media.

Since 1959 the subject of UFOs has never reappeared on the agenda of the Joint Intelligence Committee. This is a sure sign that the subject is now regarded as of no consequence to the military and intelligence services in Britain at least.

What all this indicates to me is that by the 50th anniversary of the UFO industry in 1997, the British Government was no longer interested in UFOs as a defence problem. By then they saw it purely as a public relations issue. Each year they received hundreds of reports from the public but none that contained any evidence of a threat to the defence of the UK. The inevitable consequence of that change in policy was the closure of the MoD’s UFO hotline at the end of last year.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FILES
RAF Rudloe Manor features heavily in the files as the obsessive focus of UFO conspiracy rumours during the 1990s (see for example DEFE 24/1978, 1982, 1993 and 2004). Some UFOlogists became so convinced the government was hiding wreckage of crashed flying saucers that attempts were made to break into the facility. Other stories spread that a secret MoD ‘Men In Black’ unit was based at Rudloe that investigated close encounters and conducted secret research. But as the MoD’s Kerry Philpott pointed out to letter-writers, Rudloe was at that time the HQ for the RAF’s Flying Complaints Flight who are responsible for investigating reports of ‘low flying aircraft.’ Inevitably some UFO reports ended up in the RAF’s low-flying inbox at Rudloe Manor. But these were simply collected, put in an envelope and sent to the MoD’s UFO desk in London for follow-up. Quite how this plain fact became transformed into stories about spacecraft and aliens hidden in secret tunnels remains the real mystery.

Berwyn Mountains incident. DEFE 24/2045 contains copies of official papers from 1974 that discuss the Berwyn Mountains UFO ‘crash’ in North Wales. This story was resurrected by UFOlogists at the time of the 50th anniversary and quickly became transformed into Britain’s answer to the Roswell incident. But the contemporary records reveal a far less sensational story. MoD received just five reports describing bright fireballs falling to earth, but none of these came from Wales. On the same night, villagers living near the mountains called emergency services to report “a brilliant ball of light apparently coming down over the hills, accompanied by a flash and an immense bang.” A search of the hills by a RAF rescue team found no sign of any impact and astronomers quickly identified the fireballs as part of a meteor shower. Shortly afterwards the British Geological Survey identified the “immense bang” as an earth tremor originating on the Bala faultline. The complex Berwyn case is the subject of a book, UFO Down, by FT writer Andy Roberts, published this month by the CFZ.

Winston Churchill 'foo-fighter' incident. DEFE 24/2013 contains a letter sent to the MoD in 1999 that claims Winston Churchill ordered a cover-up of a wartime UFO sighting by the crew of a RAF reconnaissance aircraft over the English coastline. The letter-writer says he heard the story second-hand via his grandfather, who claimed to have been present at a secret meeting between Churchill and Eisenhower when the incident was discussed, in the later stages of the war. Although merely an anecdote, there may be a grain of truth in the story. Winston Churchill's interest in unexplained aerial phenomena dates back to 1912. As First Lord of the Admiralty, he answered questions in the Commons following sightings of a "phantom airship" over the naval base at Sheerness in Essex. Again in 1952 he wrote his famous memo to the Air Ministry demanding to know the truth about flying saucers following a flap of sightings over Washington DC. In 1999 the MoD were sufficiently interested by the contents of the letter they received to check wartime cabinet minutes. Although no written record of the wartime meeting appears to survive, Air Ministry files from 1942-45 do contain accounts of mysterious sightings reported by aircrew - including RAF Bomber Command. Air Ministry classified these reports as "night phenomena" and "balls of fire" and believed some were caused by German secret weapons such as the Me262 jet fighter. United States Army Air Force aircrew called them "foo fighters". See my review of Keith Chester's book for more details of WW2 UFO sightings.

Mystery object caught on film during launch of Blue Streak rocket, Australia, 1964. DEFE 24/1983 contains the MoD’s reaction to claims made by UFO writer Jenny Randles in a 1996 documentary shown on BBC2, summarized here. When MP John Fraser asked about a “missing” can of film that was said to show a mysterious “spaceman” during a Blue Streak rocket launch at Woomera, desk officers were forced to reopen archived files from 1964. Inquiries discovered copies of the "missing" Woomera film were held by the Imperial War Museum and had been widely circulated by the media at the time. The contemporary papers show that British Pathe, who distributed the film, identified the 'object' (not a spaceman) as "an internal camera reflection."

Persistent Correspondents. While some UFO legends do have a factual basis, the files expose others as based entirely on rumour and gossip or, like the ‘alien autopsy’, as hoaxes. Nevertheless, some persistent letter writers who believed these legends targeted Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair with demands for confirmation the Government had proof aliens really had landed in the UK. One asked Blair if he could confirm that films and TV shows like The X-Files and Independence Day were part of “a strategy by Western governments to prepare the population for the admission that there has indeed been contact from aliens, extraterrestrials, trans-dimensionals and/or time travellers.” Another made a 100-1 bet with bookmakers Ladbrokes that “aliens would be found on earth dead or alive before the end of the century”. After reading about the Roswell incident and the ‘alien autopsy’ he approached the government during 1999 for evidence to support his claim when Ladbrokes refused to pay out. Unfortunately for him, the MoD said they were open-minded about extraterrestrial life but had no evidence of its existence (DEFE 24/2012).

Nick Pope. The former MoD 'UFO' desk officer proclaimed his belief in UFOs in 1995 and published a book, Open Skies Closed Minds, that was cleared for publication in the following year. Pope's book and his media interviews generated a number of questions both from MPs and members of the public. In response MoD said his views were his own opinions and did not reflect or represent that of MoD. But the media publicity surrounding its publication added to the workload of his successor Kerry Philpott who told inquirers Sec(AS) was "not a strange phenomena section" of MoD. She said Pope worked in a junior management grade "but neither he nor indeed am I the head of any 'UFO' section" (see DEFE 24/1983). The MoD have redacted a number of references to Pope’s activities in these files but in 1996 David Alton MP was told that media coverage "tended to exaggerate the MoD interest in UFO matters and the role of the post" (DEFE 24/1983).

In 1999 Scottish UFOlogist James Easton in his "An Open Letter" addressed to Pope, posed a series of questions to the MoD. These included: "What were his main duties? Approximately how much time was spent on 'UFO'-related investigations? and 'have the MoD ever, as Pope states, investigated to any significant extent a single case where a 'crop circle', 'alien abduction' or 'animal mutilation' has been reported and if so, what was the outcome?'

UFO desk officer, Gaynor South, responded on 29 September 1999:

“The main duties of the post concern non-operational RAF activities overseas and diplomatic clearance policy for military flights abroad. A small percentage of time is spent dealing with reports from the public about alleged ‘UFO’ sightings and associated public correspondence. The MoD has not investigated a claim of alien abduction, crop circle formations or animal mutilation.” (DEFE 24/1978)

More . . .

See Also:

UFO NEWS: "The National Archives Has Released the Fifth Collection of UFO Files From the Ministry of Defence (MoD)"

UFO Files Make Headline News

SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE


HELP SUPPORT THIS SITE

ABOUT DONATIONS

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Believe Clue Found To New Nazi Fireballs 1-7-1945

- click on image(s) to enlarge -

By New York Times
1-7-1945

See Also:

Foo Fighters: New Nazi Weapon is Noticed at Front
12-13-1944

Allies Say 'Foo Fighters' Were Secret Nazi Weapon

SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

↑ Grab this Headline Animator