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.

< Previous case Next case >

Belgium or the Netherlands, between 1942 and 1943:

Case number:

ACUFO-1942-00-00-BELGIUMNETHERLANDS-1

Summary:

In the years 2013 - 2024, the English version of the online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia published a few brief sighting reports in the page about the WWII Foo-Fighters phenomena.

One of the cases presented was said to come from the 2006 book "32 Co Pilots - Combat Men of the 2nd Air Division" by Charles R. Bastien.

The summary told that Charles R. Bastien of the US Eighth Air Force reported "one of the first encounters with foo fighters" over the Belgium - Netherlands area; he described them as "two fog lights flying at high rates of speed that could change direction rapidly." It is told that during debriefing, his Intelligence Officer told him that two RAF nightfighters had reported the same thing, and that it was later reported in British newspapers.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	Between 1942 and 1943
Time:	Probable night.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1942 - 1945, 2006
Reporting delay:	Hours, 6 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	Belgium or the Netherlands
State/Department:
City or place:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1 to 5
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	1

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Newspapers, Historical book by witness.
Visibility conditions:	Probable night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Fly, veering fast.
Witnesses action:	?
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Sensors:	[X] Visual: 1 to 5. [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. wia1:] "WIKIPEDIA EN":

Charles R. Bastien of the US Eighth Air Force reported one of the first encounters with foo fighters over the Belgium/Netherlands area; he described them as "two fog lights flying at high rates of speed that could change direction rapidly". During debriefing, his intelligence officer told him that two RAF nightfighters had reported the same thing, and it was later reported in British newspapers. (24)

The source (24) is described as: "Bastien, Charles R. (2004). 32 Copilots. Trafford Publishing. p. 205. ISBN 1-4120-1729-7."

Aircraft information:

The Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" (photo below) was an American heavy bomber used during World War II by the Allied air and naval forces.

By April 1944, some B-24s had been equipped with H2X radars. Its long range of action had allowed it roles as maritime patrols, anti-submarine patrols, and reconnaissance, in the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Discussion:

Charles R. Bastien was 1st Lt. in the US Army Air Forces in 1942 - 1945, he served as co-pilot of a B-24J Liberator bomber with the 492nd and 445th Bomb Groups of the 8th US Army Air Force generally based in RAF North Pickenham, Norfolk, England. He participated in 33 missions over occupied France, Poland and Germany and an air drop to re-supply paratroopers during Operation Market Garden.

After the War he searched what had happened to his comrades, living and dead, and published it in his book "32 Co Pilots - Combat Men of the 2nd Air Division" in 2006.

By accumulating the case files on the Foo-Fighters of World War II, it becomes more and more obvious to me that cases mentioned in written memoirs of witnesses have remained unknown in the ufological literature.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[cbn1] ? "32 Co Pilots - Combat Men of the 2nd Air Division", book by Charles R. Bastien, page 205, Trafford Publishing, Canada, 2006.
[wia1] * "Foo fighter", entry of the online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia, EN version, as of 2024, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter

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	April 21, 2024	Creation, [wia1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	April 21, 2024	First published.

This page was last updated on April 21, 2024.