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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Bremen, Germany, on November 26, 1943:

Case number:

ACUFO-1943-11-26-BREMEN-1

Summary:

Ufology sources in the 2000's noted a case which would have occurred on November 26, 1943, in Bremen, Germany.

The meager information says that green rings of flame of 2-3 feet in diameter corkscrewed through a formation as if they were floating in the air.

It is said that this came from the file of the 8th Air Force of the US Army, as a report titled “Unusual Objects and Missiles Encountered on missions”, dated February - May 1945; so we understand that the “formation” in the report was a formation of US planes on mission over Bremen, Germany.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	November 26, 1943
Time:	About noon.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	May 1945
Reporting delay:	Hours, 2 years.

Geographical data:

Pays:	Germany
D partement/ tat:	Bremen
Commune ou lieu:	Bremen

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	?
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Military report, Project 1947.
Visibility conditions:	Day.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	"Corkscrew" flight.
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: ? [ ] Airborne radar: N/A. [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	DD
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 7.62 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Unidentified, possible distress flares.

Sources:

[Ref. prt4:] JAN ALDRICH - "PROJECT 1947":

N - 1943.11.26 - Bremen, Germany

“Rings of flame 2 or 3 feet in diameter, green, corkscrewed thru formation, as (if) floating.” (Data on Unusual Objects & Missiles Encountered on Missions, 8th Air Force files, Feb-May 1945.)

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 23
November 26, 1943

Bremen, Germany

Green Rings of flame of 2-3 feet in diameter, corkscrewed through formation as if they were floating in the air.

Sources: Project 1947, Jan Aldrich / Data on Unusual Objects and Missiles Encountered on missions, 8th Air Force Files, Feb-May 1945

Aircraft information:

The planes were either B-17 or B-24 heavy bombers of the US Army Air Forces.

Discussion:

Historical records of WWII confirm a raid on Bremen on November 26, 1943: “Mission 138” with an initial fleet of 390 B-17s, 110 B-24s attacked the port area of Bremen at 11:45 12:28 a.m.

The information that the “rings of flames” “corkscrewed” made me think of missiles or fireworks behavior when they are out of control, or misfired. Several cases in ufology were of such “spiraling” luminous or flaming phenomena and were explained as rockets whose guidance failed, for example.

In 1943, the German had no missiles that could have been fired at US bombers. But both fighter and bomber crews of the Luftwaffe were carrying “Fluegerleuchtpistole”, i.e. pistols to fired flares used for signaling, after parachute landing or the pilots.

Now, the idea that several of them were fired in the air ahead of the US bomber formation seems a bit far-fetched to me, of course. It would require at least one German fighter plane pilot to have fired the several flares he wore on his belt, for no apparent reason. But maybe one fighter pilot jumped off of his fighter plane, maybe because it failed, and unexpectedly started to fire his “Fluegerleuchtpistole”, for whatever strange reason.

On the other hand, I do not see how the phenomenon here could be interpreted as a flight of extraterrestrial craft or devices.

Thus, I would just label this report as of something “unidentified, possible distress flares.”

Evaluation:

Unidentified, possible distress flares.

Sources references:

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

[mil1] ? "Data on Unusual Objects and Missiles Encountered on missions", 8th Air Force, February - May 1945.
[prt4] * "ACUFOE in World War II", catalogue by Jan Aldrich, Project 1947, USA, October 9, 1999, at http://www.project1947.com/47cats/acupdt.htm
[dwn2] * "The Foofighters Files (1) Catalogue of Unconventional Aerial Phenomena Reported by Allied pilots during WW II (1943-1945)", catalogue by Dominique Weinstein, France, October 2009.

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	October 9, 2023	Creation, [prt4], [dwn2].
1.0	Patrick Gross	October 9, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on October 9, 2023.