ACUFO:

The first [German UFO case in WWII] emanates from the secret air base at Banak (Finnmark Province), Norway, and is addressed to: à the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe at Berlin; on March 14, 1942, at 5:35 p.m., the lookout post rings the alarm; the men go to their combat stations, the pilots to their combat positions; their aircraft. Through the binocular, observers see a craft approaching silently. Hauptmann Fischer (civilian engineer) takes off on a Messerschmitt 109 (fighter plane) to intercept it. At an altitude of 3,500 m he approaches it, observes it, and gives a description of it by the radio: it is an enormous tapered body, without any wings of support, without any visible opening; its length is approximately 100 m and its diameter is approximately 15 m; à one end (the front?) a group of stems resembling radar antennas. The “aerial whale”, as Captain Fischer immediately nicknamed it, maintains itself horizontally; suddenly it rises vertically to high speed and disappears; the pilot concluded that it could not be a machine manufactured by human hands. Signed report from Captain Fischer, countersigned of the base commander. When, in Berlin, Air Marshal Hermann Goering learned of it he concluded that the harsh solitude of the Far North had played a dirty trick on the pilot.

An “aerial whale”

For their part, the Germans are not remaining inactive.

In 1944, the Wehrmacht asked the Oberkommando of the Luftwaffe (aviation) to set up an office responsible for bringing together the various testimonies on the mysterious celestial objects. It is Sonderbüro No. 13 which, until the German defeat, will scrupulously fulfill this office.

The short time period during which this commission will operate will prevent it from reaching conclusions, but it will collect an impressive amount of information.

The first observation studied by the Sonderbüro dates back two years and came from Hauptmann Fischer, a civilian engineer. March 14, 1942, at 5 p.m. 35, Fischer took off from the secret air base in Banak, Norway.

The radar spots, at that moment, a luminous object and asks Fischer to identify it. Having reached an altitude of 3,500 meters, the pilot can observe the object and give a description of it by radio to the base: an enormous tapered body approximately 100 meters long and 15 meters wide. The “aerial whale”, according to Fischer's expression, remains horizontal for a long time before rising vertically and disappearing at high speed.

“It is not a machine built by the hand of man”, Fischer will specify in his report.

As for Air Marshal Hermann Gœring, after reading the report, he concluded that the “loneliness of the north hardly benefits the pilot”!

Henry Durrant, a French journalist, learned in 1966 from the British Air Ministry that Project Massey had been officially classified - i.e. declared secret - in 1944. Strangely enough, the double agent mentioned was denounced in the same year and shot in the spring of 1944 (Durrant 1970, p. 83).

Reports of 'foo fighters' increasingly alarmed the German leadership. One of the first reports came from a secret air force base in Banak, Finnmark province, in Norway. On March 14, 1942, at 5:35 p.m., a guard raised the alarm; the men ran to their positions and the pilots climbed into their planes. Through the binoculars, a flying machine could be seen approaching the air force base silently. Captain Fischer, a civil engineer, took off in a Messerschmitt 109 to intercept the unknown flying object. At an altitude of 3500 m he was close enough to be able to give a precise description. The alien machine resembled a rocket of enormous size. No wings or openings were visible. It was probably about 100 meters long and about 15 meters in diameter. At one end, antenna-like rods protruded, which were perhaps - it was assumed - used for radar purposes. The “whale” floating in the air, as Fischer called the thing, initially remained horizontal. Suddenly it turned vertically, rose upwards at high speed and disappeared. The pilot was completely surprised and thought it impossible that this device could have been built by human hands.

His report to the High Command of the Air Force in Berlin was signed by him personally and by the commander of the air force base. The counter-espionage center in Bolzano also received this text, which was addressed to Admiral Canaris1, and forwarded it to the III Department of the military intelligence service SIM (Servizio Informazioni Militare). When Hermann Göring read this report, other people, including technicians, pilots and trained air observers, are said to have observed the object. According to this source, it seems hardly conceivable that all these experienced people succumbed to a mass hallucination (Coppetti 1979).

But this report was by no means the only one; strange objects are said to have appeared over the bases of Heligoland, Hamburg, Wittenberg and Neustrelitz. On December 18, 1943, these bases were successively flown over by an unknown aircraft whose average speed must have been 3000 km/h. Two Focke-Wulf 190 aircraft spotted the object at around 11:15 a.m. over Hamburg at an altitude of around 12,000 meters. The thing was cylindrical and had a tip like a rocket at the front. At the back you could see a large opening from which a number of convex-shaped rings were protruding. One of the pilots immediately reported his observations to ground control and followed the object for several kilometers until the device disappeared at high speed.

[... other cases from Durrant...]

- The latest reports cited here were written by French journalist Henry Durrant, who was able to use historical sources from the British intelligence service. The author's inquiries with German military history institutes have not yet yielded confirmation. Apparently, these reports remained unknown to the vast majority of the general staff and were accessible only to a small circle of the intelligence community.

An informant who worked as a graduate engineer in Rechlin from 1935 to 1945 had never heard of the “Foo Fighters” or a U 13 investigation group. An inquiry to the general director of the Task Force for defense research in Stuttgart was equally negative (Hümmelchen 1978). The Federal Military Archive in Freiburg also did not know that a special office No. 13 had been established to investigate reports of the “Foo Fighters” (Albinus 1978). Requests for information from Lieutenant General Dipl.-Ing. Frodl, retired Major General Adolf Galland (former fighter pilot general), retired General Josef Kammhuber (night fighter general from 1940 to 1943, Commander-in-Chief of the 5 Air Fleet in Norway/Finland from North from 1943 to 1944 and general representative of jet aviation from February 1945 until the end of the war), of Dipl.-Ing. Carl Francke (head of Heinkel development of the HE 162 and technical director of the Rechlin test center until the end of the war) and Dipl.-Ing. Wolfram Eisenlohr, a retired Luftwaffe general engineer, also did not provide information confirming this information. Even General Wehnelt, Deputy Commander of Allied Air Forces in Central Europe until June 30, 1976, had no knowledge of such events (Frodl, Galland, Kammhuber, Francke, Eisenlohr, Wehnelt 1978).

The only clue came from an inquiry with engineer Carl G. Henze, a writer specializing in military aviation and defense technology. During his many years of service in the old Lutfwaffe, he had heard of the unknown missiles in question, but knew nothing of a special office that investigated these reports (Henze 1978).

Another clue was provided by a Stuttgart professor who had previously worked on defense under Canaris. In fact, it could be Professor Georg Kamper, who had created a special U13 group. Scientists in this department have themselves developed models and conducted research on information theory (hyperspace, etc.). At the same time, this group was responsible for evaluating reports of unidentified enemy missiles (Walter 1979).

Rolf Engel, rocket engineer, space historian and advisor to Office VI of the Abwehr under Schellenberg in 1944, was also aware of the existence of a special office 13 without knowing its task in more detail.

French journalist and historian Henry Durrant reports that Special Bureau No. 13 worked under the code name “Operation Uranus” and was composed of flight officers, aeronautical engineers and scientific advisors. During the last years of the war, the department compiled numerous reports, photographs and films of strange flying objects. During test flights with the Messerschmitt 163, also called “Komet” or “Kraftei”, it is said that in two cases it was even possible to film very large “flying cigars” (Durrant 1970, p. 86).

It is difficult to judge whether these statements are true; Professor Kamper and other direct witnesses are no longer alive today.

There are some fantastic stories circulating about German secret weapons and “UFOs” that some authorities of the Third Reich are said to have observed. Studies are said to have been undertaken on this subject by experts from the Peenemüde [sic] base, it is said. The opinion of the incriminated experts is edifying. Let us first recall “the facts” as they are generally presented.

It is said that in 1943 reports of “unexplained flight incidents” began to pile up at the German General Staff.

[...]

As early as 1942, irrefutable observations had been made in flight, but Berlin persisted in not taking them seriously. Thus the observation by Captain Fischer made on March 14, 1942, in Banak in Norway, reached Reich Marshal Hermann Goering. It did not attract his attention and was the subject of jokes. Six years later, Captain Thomas Mantell would make an identical observation. It would be necessary to wait until 1943 to see the UFO problem entrusted, henceforth, to an unofficial organization of the Luftwaffe.

In 1943, the German General Staffs were stunned.

The intelligence services of Admiral Canaris quickly provided a disconcerting answer: these could not be secret Allied weapons! The Allies, for their part, were convinced that these were secret German weapons with which Hitler had threatened Europe. The supreme command of the Luftwaffe then set up a service permanently mobilizing three hundred experienced pilots, aeronautical engineers and many scientists specialized in both fluid mechanics and the resistance of materials. Called Sonder Büro No. 13 and codenamed “Uranus”, this service centralizes all strange reports, studies them and attempts a draft analysis.

Created in the middle of the war, “Uranus” works in close collaboration with the German intelligence services led by Admiral Canaris, but also with the documentation services of the German Navy and the marginal networks of the Abwehr. It remains operational until the collapse of Nazism in May 1945. The archive of the “Uranus” office, recovered by the English and American military authorities, are carefully combed through, and certain Luftwaffe specialists are immediately attached to the Pentagon's intelligence services. The American Air Force, having inherited almost the entire file, refuses to disclose it in its entirety. “It is sometimes too disturbing”, they state... This is the kind of story that is generally current in UFO literature. There are many others. The Russians also managed to secure the help of some Peenemüde [sic] engineers, prisoners of war. They allegedly got hold of the plans for secret weapons invented by the Germans.

[...]

Decided to get information directly from the sources, I wrote in 1977 to Professor Hermann Oberth, an expert in astronautics and head of the German program during the Second World War, master of Werner Von Braun, with whom he worked at the Redstone arsenal on behalf of the CAA1 in 1952. Hermann Oberth is generally considered the father of modern astronautics.

I asked Professor Oberth for any details and references relating to possible work carried out on the subject of UFOs by the Peenemüde [sic] experts. Mentioning the case of the Kummersdorf observation in front of Goebbels, I asked for possible confirmation. I tried to obtain the references of documents emanating from the intelligence services of Admiral Canaris proving that these could not be secret Allied weapons. I asked Hermann Oberth about the destination of the Sonder Büro documents after the Second World War. Finally, knowing that the German Democratic Republic has currently undertaken a study on the UFO question at the Stralsund base, I wanted to know if he had heard of the existence of particular documents and if he could, if possible, give me the references. I received the following reply dated October 18, 1976:

Dear Sir,

Unfortunately, I cannot answer your questions. During the years 1941-43 when I worked at the Peenemüde [sic] base, there was never any question of UFOs in the services with which I was in contact. The code name “Uranus” is also unknown to me.

I first heard of UFOs in 1953. Mr. Heinz Grösser, chairman of the Peenemüde [sic] alumni association, may be able to help you with this.

With my best regards, Hermann Oberth

Following was the address of Heinz Grösser, whom I naturally contacted as soon as possible, submitting the same list of questions. On December 14, 1976, Mrs. Sallar, Heinz Gr&ocuml;sser's secretary, sent me the following letter:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your kind letter of November 8, 1976.

Unfortunately, it is extraordinarily difficult for us to answer your questions.

The subject of UFOs is not one of our usual concerns. We have not yet gathered extensive details on this subject... etc...

After telling me that she would try to find out, and that it was in my interest to contact the DDR about the research undertaken in Stralsund, Mrs. Sallar said she was sorry that she could not help me further. However, she said, “We are ready to clarify this matter in our literary circle. We will let you know the results, but you will have to wait at least three more months.”

Since I did not receive a reply, I sent a new letter to this circle on May 2, 1977. This time, Heinz Grösser himself replied:

Dear Mr. Pinvidic,

Thank you very much for your letter of May 2, 1977.

Regarding your questions: no answer could be given by the members of this circle. No one can provide any clarification.

The secret weapons of the Allies are as unknown to us as UFOs.

On the other hand, all the experts who were in Peenemüde [sic] in 1944 had already left Kummersdorf six years ago. Therefore the alleged sighting of Goebbels and the 200 authorities in Kummersdorf are not known to us. We are sorry that we cannot provide further details on what you asked about.

With my best regards, Heinz Grösser

If the Kummersdorf event had taken place, the experts from Peenemüde [sic] would have been among the first to be informed and the Reich would have demanded numerous and precise comments from them. This is not the case. The myth of the “German experimental UFO weapon” must be destroyed. On June 13, 1977, Hermann Oberth was to confide to me that his opinion on UFOs had never changed. He still considers them to be extraterrestrial spaceships...

Cheating:

Cheating is, for example [...] it is again Durrant inventing the story of Sonderburo No. 13 of the Luftwaffe and who only admitted it after my investigation in Germany. He narrowly escaped by claiming that he had set up this hoax to trap ufologists who, as usual, repeat information without verifying it. One gets by as best one can, and I even have serious doubts on this subject which I will come back to one day. In any case, everyone who has read “Les dossiers des S.V.” but have not read “Le nœud gordien” will continue to take the thing at face value, as several authors happily did who happily repeated Durrant.

Henry Durrant responds

Mr. the Editor-in-Chief, No. 27 of September 1983, of “OVNI-Presence” reached me this morning, and I thank you very much for it. I note, in the article “amateurism...” signed by Mr. Pinvidic Thierry, the following passage (pp. 7 and 8):

“Cheating is ... again Durrant inventing the story of Sonderburo No. 13 of the Luftwaffe and only admitting it after my investigation in Germany. He got away with it correctly by claiming that he had set up this hoax to trap ufologists who, as usual, repeat information without verifying it. One gets away with it as best one can, and I even have serious doubts on this subject to which I will come back one day. In any case, all those who have read “Les dossiers des S.V.” but did not read “Le nœud gordien” will continue to take the thing at face value, as several authors happily did who happily copied Durrant.”

Without claiming the right of reply (our relations are excellent), although having been cited by name, I ask you to kindly publish this corrective text, in extenso, in your very next issue no. 28. Mr. Pinvidic Thierry actually asked me for information on the Sonderburo Nr. 13 of the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, by telephone and AFTER the release of his very interesting book “Le nœud gordien” (For confirmation, see GEPO-Information, no 29, January-March 1983); So I did not have to admit that it was a hoax, Mr. Pinvidic Thierry not having played the investigating judge that day; I simply explained to him that it was a trap for copiers or looters, and I explained to him the origins: my past difficulties, with less than honest colleagues (I'm summarizing!), regarding translations of articles, when I was a professional journalist, years ago.

Mr. Pinvidic Thierry acted “as several authors happily did who happily copied Durrant”, although he too published the same story in conditional mode (I reread his text) (!). If Mr. Pinvidic Thierry had telephoned me BEFORE the publication of his book, he would have been aware of the trap, would not have fallen into it, and would have spared himself the trouble of practicing conditional cheating himself, which would is more serious; because it was by ignoring the details that I provided him that he was able to allow himself to accuse me of cheating and claim that “I narrowly escaped by pretexting that...”

Mr. Pinvidic Thierry says he carried out an investigation in Germany. Very good. The result of this having been negative, a double question arises: did he investigate, to verify information, BEFORE writing his book, and, in this case, why does he use the conditional instead of frankly denouncing “cheating”?

Did he investigate AFTER the release of “The Gordian Knot”? As he does not specify this, I would like to point out to him that: 1) Investigating BEFORE without taking into account the result is aberrant, and that 2) investigating AFTER is investigating too late. (2) Mr. Pinvidic Thierry is not very sure of his references: it is not the “Dossiers des S.V.” (3) (title he writes falsely), but from the “Livre Noir des Soucoupes Volantes” where Sonderburo Nr. 13 is mentioned on p. 81.

The trap had therefore been set since 1970, and it took thirteen long years for Mr. Pinvidic Thierry to decide to write about it... perhaps also because the first list of looters began to spread and that this tickle him? I can't believe it.

To this first argument confirming my good faith, I will add another proof: the list, as up to date as possible, of “those who happily copied”. Am I going to make so many enemies? What does it matter! as the other said: “Molto nemici? Molto onore!”. Your readers will then be able to verify two elements passed over in silence by Mr. Pinvidic Thierry: 1) the dates of publication of the books cited prove that I did not wait for the release of “le nœud gordien” to “barely escape in claiming that...”; 2) readers who have the works cited will only have to refer to the pages indicated to ensure that I am telling the truth. Mr. Editor-in-Chief, you absolutely must forgive me for the sweet habit I have, that of always providing others with the possibility of controlling me. Not everyone can do it!

• FREDERICK Robert, “A la recherche des extra-terrestres”, Bordas-Poche, Paris-Bruxelles-Montr al 1973, page 42.
• NAUD Yves, “Les OVNI et les extraterrestres dans l'histoire”, Fran ois Beauval distribution, Famot publisher, Geneva 1977, Vol. IV, page l49.
• GARDES François, “Chasseurs d'OVNI”, Les chemins de l'impossible, Albin Michel, Paris 1977, page 193.
• PINVIDIC Thierry, “Le Nœud Gordien, ou la fantastique histoire des OVNI”, France Empire, Paris 1979, page 223. (The 300 confirmed pilots, added by this author, though being on the conditional, I did not write this!)
• DOREY Stéphane, “OVNI, les dossiers secrets du Troisième Reich”, NOSTRA no 403, 26.12.1979/1.1.1980, pp. 12 to 14 (about “Nœud gordien” and after Press service).
• SCHNEYDER Philippe, “Quand les astronomes voient des OVNI”, AAMT Bulletin, no 34, 1st quarter 1981, page 7.
• DE BROUWER Louis, “Les Portes de la lumière”, L. B. De Brouwer publisher, Millau 1982, page 203.
• P.S. (SCHNEYDER Philippe), “Les Astronomes et les OVNI”, Conscience no 2, 1st quarter 1983, page 4 (4).

To the brief mention of Sonderbüro Nr. 13 that I made in 1970, one author adds Admiral Canaris (in 1977), another adds 300 confirmed pilots (in 1979) (5), and we arrived at the Führer himself (conversation of 09.10.1982): in psychoanalysis, this progressively additive phenomenon is called “Ulysses' lie”. So, if I had a slightly devious mind, I could deny the entire and exclusive authorship of my copycat trap. Because I could consider that my looter trap has been so perfected and embellished by the copiers themselves, that I now have complete freedom to throw this screaming baby away with the dirty water of his bath. But why should I avoid this responsibility, since it has the advantage of revealing so much joy to us?

In UFOLOGIE-CONTACT n 8, from the ex-SPEPSE, Mr. Pinvidic Thierry expressed a completely different opinion, with regard to Durrant, than that of today; it is true that the first partial list of copiers was not in circulation. In psychoanalysis, how could we define such a reversal?

Conflating a “copycat trap” with dishonesty has never been a serious procedure; it's at most an old trick of a crooked politician. On the other hand, ah! how I would have liked to see at least as much “vigor” shown towards copiers; My disappointment is great, because I haven't read anything about it yet. In morality, what is it called?

Apart from its immediate usefulness, what can the introduction of copier traps in books mean? We can respond: to sanitation (6), to the moralization of UFO “literature”; that is to say to a very specific field arising from ufology. Now, Mr. Editor-in-Chief, your readers no doubt remember, in the first part of his article “On amateurism...”, Mr. Pinvidic Thierry pulls no punches (and I 'approve!) to castigate the vices of ufologists, and to try to clean up, to moralize what is not yet (fortunately!) a profession. It would therefore seem that our approaches are the same, if not similar. So why conflate a looter trap with “cheating”? In psychoanalysis, what is such a contradiction called?

Could it be because Durrant “acted” while Pinvidic only “wrote”? I can't believe it. Could it be because we cannot claim to “moralize”, when we ourselves...? I can't believe it. As for deceiving the reader (The Sonderbüro Nr. 13 is neither a case nor a ufological incident), if Mr. Pinvidic Thierry knows a recipe for making an omelette without breaking eggs, it is with pleasure and profit that I will assimilate his lesson. Has life not yet taught him that, too often, between two evils he must choose the lesser?

Mr. Editor-in-Chief, let's get serious again: “Le Livre Noir des Soucoupes Volantes” contains two traps, one of which is now known; two traps also exist in “Les Dossiers des OVNI”; two traps also exist in “Premières enquêtes sur les humanoïdes extraterrestres.” To the wise, hello!

There are many of us, extremely many of us, who deplore the fact that, in all UFO publications, vain controversy too often replaces fresh news, interesting information, solid documentation. Believe me, I was truly saddened to have been obliged to take up so much editorial space from you in order to re-establish the strict truth, and thus avoid the misinformation (or intoxication, as you choose) of your readers. (7)

I think I didn't abuse it, unlike some who didn't deprive themselves of it. It is in this hope that I remain, Mr. Editor-in-Chief, very cordially yours:

Henry DURRANT

Editorial notes:

(1) In fact, investigative elements are gathered in “Le nœud gordien” but are however insufficient to demonstrate the non-existence of Sonderbüro Nr 13.

(2) The investigative elements found in “Le nœud gordien” were obviously collected BEFORE publication!

(3) The exact title is “Les dossiers des O.V.N.I.”.

(4) We must at least add to this list SCORNAUX Jacques and PIENS Christiane, “A la recherche des OVNI”, Marabout 1976, p. 159.

(5) It is in fact Henry Durrant himself who quotes Admiral Canaris in “Le livre noir des soucoupes volantes” on page 85!!! Maybe if he reread himself, he would also discover the origin of the 300 confirmed pilots?!

(6) For sanitation, it's a failure!

(7) We learn with astonishment that Henry Durrant, as a defender of freedoms, morality, and detoxification, published two copycat traps in each of his books. Given the already long list of copiers, one might wonder how one could qualify the publication of such misleading pseudo-information. Henry Durrant proposes the term sanitation. Perhaps... If then all the authors of ufological books sanitized in the same manner, then ufology must indeed be transparent in its clarity!

'Foo Fighters' of W.W. II

(Editor's note. My thanks to Editor Duncan Roads of Australia's NEXUS magazine for permission to reprint the following artcile).

During World War II, the accumulation of sightings of mysterious celestial objects finally started to worry the military authorities. In both camps high ranking officials of the intelligence services started to study these strange objects and investigation committees composed of military and scientific personnel were set up in various countries. They had a double purpose, first of all to determine the nature of these flying objects, and then to see if they constituted a threat to the security of the nation.

During World War II the allies, just like the Germans, noticed the presence of these enigmatic flying objects above their secret bases. The first reaction of each side was obviously to suspect espionage on the part of their enemy. In 1943, the English were the first to set up a special group to enquire into the question of these objects. They set up a small organisation to collect evidence. This was headed by Lieutenant General Massey and was inspired by reports from a spy who in fact, was a double agent operating under the orders of the mayor of Cologne. He had confirmed that the "Foo Fighters" were not German devices, but that the Germans thought that they were Allied weapons which of course, the British knew was not so. Later in 1966, it was learned from the British Aviation Minister that project Massey had been officially classified in 1944. Perhaps it was pure coincidence, but the double agent was denounced and executed at the begining of that year.

For their part, the Germans did not remain inactive. In 1944 the Wehrmacht asked Oberkommando of the "Luftwaffe Aviation" to set up a centre to collect information on all the various sightings of these mysterious celestial objects. This was known as the Sonderburo No 13, which until the time of the German defeat, scrupulously applied itself to its job. The short time that this commission was in existence, prevented it from coming to any definite conclusions, but it collected an impressive amount of information. The first sighting studied by the Sonderburo, went back two years and came from a Hauptmann Fischer, an engineer in civil life, on March 14th, 1942, at 5.35pm, Fischer landed at the secret air base at Banak Norway.

At that instant the radar picked up a luminous object and Fischer was asked to go up and identify it. At about 10,000 feet, the pilot caught sight of the object and gave a description by radio to the base: an enormous streamlined craft about 300 feet long, and about 50 feet in diameter. The aerial whale, which was Fischer's title for it, stayed horizontal for a long moment before rising vertically and disappearing at great speed. It was not a machine constructed by the hand of man, Fischer stated in his report. On reading the report, Air Marshall Hermann Goering concluded that the solitude of the north does not seem to have done much for this pilot.

The report of another interesting incident was carefully preserved in the archives of the German Investigation Committee; that of the launching of an experimental rocket on February 12th 1944, at the Kummersdorf test centre. On that day, the Minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels, S.S. Reichsfuher Himmler and S. Gruppenfuhrer Heinz Kammler, were present at the launching which was being filmed.

Some days later, the authorities at the base organised a showing of the film. The astonished spectators could see very clearly, a spherical body which followed the rocket and circled around it.

The authorities immediately suspected Allied espionage. However, an agent informed Himmler that the English were themselves, victims of the same sort of phenomenon, and thought that it was a new type of German prototype craft. However, the most convincing evidence filed away by the Sonderburo came from a military flying ace.

On September 29th, 1944 at 10.45 am, a test pilot was trying out a new Messerschmitt jet ME 262 Schwalbe, when his attention was suddenly caught by two luminous points situated on his right. He shot at full speed in that direction, and found himself face to face with a cylindrical object more than 300 feet long, with some openings along it's side, and fitted with long antennae placed in front up to about halfway along it's length. Having approached within about 1,500 feet of the craft, the pilot was amazed to see that it was moving at a speed of more than 1,200 m.p.h.

1942, March 14

NORWAY, Banak (Finnmark)

Observation report from the secret Banak air base, addressed to the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe in Berlin. At 5:35 p.m. the lookout post sounded the alarm; the men go to their combat stations, the pilots to their aircraft. Through the binocular, observers see a craft approaching silently. Hauptman Fischer (civil engineer) takes off on a Messerschmitt 109 (fighter) to intercept it. At an altitude of 3,500 m he approaches it, observes it, and gives a description of it by voice: it is an enormous tapered body, without any support plane, without any visible opening; its length is approximately 100 m and its diameter is approximately 15 m; at one end (front?) a group of rods resembling radar antennas. The aerial whale, as Captain Fischer immediately nicknamed it, maintains itself horizontally; suddenly it rises vertically at high speed and disappears. The pilot concluded that it could not be a human-made machine. Report signed by Captain Fischer, countersigned by the base commander. When Hermann Gœring read it in Berlin, he concluded that the harsh solitude of the Far North had played a dirty trick on his pilot. (Henry DURRANT: “Le livre noir des S.V.” - Laffont 1970 - p.84) (IN REALITY: the whole affair would only be a HOAX for the needs of the author... UFO PRESENCE, 28/Dec 1983, 30 /Jun 1984. Liljegren: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF REFERENCES TO UFO INCIDENTS DURING WORLD WAR II., 1987, 8. Listing by Ole Johny Braenne)

Even more UFO activity was reported in the war's European combat areas. On the Axis side, these included the strange object that appeared over a German air base in Norway one day in 1942. When radar revealed the presence of the unknown intruder, a fighter was sent aloft for a closer look. The pilot radioed back that he established visual contact with a luminous object at about 10,000 feet. He described it as a streamlined vessel some 300 feet long and 50 feet in diameter. The UFO, which was flying horizontally when first sighted, suddenly rose vertically and disappeared from view at a tremendous speed. (261)

454: 1942/03/14 17:40 5 24:59:00 E 70:03:00 N 3333 WEU SCN NRW 6:6
nr BANAK,NORWAY:GND RDR+GERMAN PILOT:100M CGR 15M diam HOVERS:^^/IMPOSSIBLY:
Ref# 40 CUFON / NAT'l UFO REPORTING CENTER Page No. 0: IN-FLIGHT

PROJECT URANUS

In another careful analysis of a dubious element of UFO history, Andy Roberts says:

We have at least one outright hoax in foo-fighter lore. For years rumours had been flying round that the Germans had been fully aware of the foo-fighter phenomenon and that they had a special study group formed to look into the problem under the name of “Project Uranus”, backed by a shadowy group by the name of Sonderburo 13. This was first detailed in La Livres Noir De Soucoupes Volantes (The Black Book of Flying Saucers – 1970) by French ufologist Henry Durrant. The rumour spread in Europe and eventually took physical form in the English language in Tim Good's acclaimed book Above Top Secret where it is used to help substantiate further vague rumours of an Anglo/American foo-fighter study. Good had not checked his facts and had in fact just copied the information direct from Durrant's book.

When I checked this out with Durrant he informed me that the whole “Project Uranus” affair was a hoax which he had inserted in his book precisely to see who would copy it without checking. The hoax apparently had been revealed in France some years before but hadn't percolated its way through to English speaking ufologists. Perhaps other foo hoaxes await discovery. (37)

March 1942

17:35 At the secret air base of Banak (Finnmark province, Norway) the lookout post sounds the alarm; the men go to their combat stations, the pilots to their aircraft. Through the binocular, observers see a craft approaching silently. Hauptmann Fischer (civil engineer) takes off on a Messerschmitt 109 (fighter) to intercept it. At an altitude of 3500 m he approaches it, observes it, and gives a description of it by voice: it is an enormous tapered body, without any plane of support, without any visible opening; its length is approximately 100 m and its diameter is approximately 15 m; at one end a group of rods resembling radar antennas. The aerial whale, as Captain Fischer immediately nicknamed it, maintains itself horizontally; suddenly it rises vertically at high speed and disappears; the pilot concludes that it cannot be a machine made by human hands. The report is signed by Captain Fischer, countersigned by base commander 2. When, in Berlin, Air Marshal Hermann Gœring reads it, he concludes that the harsh solitude of the Great North has played a dirty trick on his pilot. (3 4 5).

March 14, 1942; Banak, Europe, Norway

5:35 PM. Radar/visuals, Ground radar and German pilot. 100 meter long cigar, 15 meter diameter, hovered, shot straight up at impossible speed. (Source: UFOCAT)

Wehrmacht - Perplexed!

The Allied Military Chiefs suspected that Foo Fighters were, in fact, enemy secret weapons but the Germans were also mystified by the strange objects. In 1944 the German Wehrmacht requested that the Luftwaffe set up a section which would collect information on what the allies called Foo Fighters.

This section was known as Sonderburo 13 (Special Office 13) and was meticulous in its allotted task until the invasion of Germany in April 1945. An impressive amount of data was collected, including the sightings of some rather strange aerial objects:

14th March, 1942, Pilot Hauptmann Fischer was investigating a blip on the radar of a secret air base in Banak, Norway. It was 17-35 hours. At an altitude of around 3,000 metres he observed a strange object and immediately radioed a report back to base. In his report he described an enormous, streamlined craft, approximately 90 metres long and 15 metres in diameter. Fischer called the object “this aerial whale”, reporting that it stayed horizontal for several seconds before rising vertically and disappearing at great speed.