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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Anzio, Italy, on April 30, 1944:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-04-30-ANZIO-1

Summary:

Around 1999, US ufologist Jan Aldrich noted on his Project 1947 historical ufology website a case which occurred on April 30, 1944, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., near Anzio, Italy.

The pilot and radar officer of a Bristol Beaufighter, of the Royal Air Force No. 600 Squadron, saw an orange red glow following their aircraft, without radar contact.

All evasive maneuvers, even going into a cloud, did not stop the object from pursuing them. Finally, a dive into a cloud bank lost the object.

Jan Aldrich indicated that the source is ufologist Andy Roberts, who has a letter and data from the flight log book.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	April 30, 1944
Time:	Between 9 p.m. 10 p.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1999
Reporting delay:	Hours, 6 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	Italy
State/Department:	Latium
City or place:	Anzio

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Letter and log book communicated to ufologist Andy Roberts.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Followed plane despite evasive actions.
Witnesses action:	Took evasive actions in vain.
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Sensors:	[X] Visual: 2. [ ] Airborne radar: Negative. [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 20 mm cannons, machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	3
ACUFO:	Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources:

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

N - 1944.04.30, between 2100-2200 hours, Night, Italy, near Anzio

Beaufighter, RAF 600 Squadron, pilot and radar officer saw a orange red glow following the aircraft. No radar contact. All evasive maneuvers, even going into clouds did not stop the object from pursuing them. Finally, a dive into a cloud bank lost the object.(Letter (data from logbook). Andy Roberts' collection)

[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1944, April 30

Italy, near Anzio, in flight

The pilot and radar officer of an RAF Beaufighter see a bright red light following the plane and making evasive maneuvers (PROJECT ACUFOE, Catalog 1999, Dominique Weinstein)

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 40

April 30, 1944

Near Anzio, Italy

Between 2100 and 2200, the pilot and the radar officer of a Bristol Beau fighter of the RAF 600 Squadron sighted an orange red glow following their plane. All evasive maneuvers, even going into clouds did not stop the object from pursuing them. Finally a dive into a cloud bank lost the object. No radar contact.

Sources: Project 1947, Jan Aldrich / Letter and data from logbook, Andy Roberts' Collection.

Aircraft information:

The Bristol Type 156 “Beaufighter”, nicknamed “Beau”, was a British multi-role aircraft developed during WWII. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber; it proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain.

Originally, armament consisted of four 20mm cannons and six 0.303-in machine-guns but many variants were built; for example, versions had the ability to additionally carry eight rocket projectiles, some had a Vickers 'K' gun, Beaufighter TF.Mk X was used for anti-shipping operations and was be fitted with AI Mk VIII radar.

All the pictures I found of Beaufighters of 255 Squadron show that it had no radar antenna.

Discussion:

This case is entirely typical of those cases called “Foo-Fighters” by American pilots. There is a light there, which follows an airplane for a certain time, despite the pilot's escape maneuvers.

It should be noted that the Beaufighter was equipped with a radar, and that it is specified that there was no detection of the “thing” by this radar - which is still an almost systematic trait with the “Foo-Fighters” reports.

Another systematic feature is that the “thing”, often interpreted as a certain German “new weapon” at the time, would have been a useless weapon since in this case again, it caused no damage to the plane, there is not the slightest sign of an attempt to attack the plane.

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources references:

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

[prt4] * "ACUFOE in World War II", catalogue by Jan Aldrich, Project 1947, USA, October 9, 1999, at http://www.project1947.com/47cats/acupdt.htm
[gvo1] * "Chronologie OVNI", electronic catalogue compiled by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, circa 1999.
[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 20, 2023	Creation, [prt4], [dwn2].
1.0	Patrick Gross	October 20, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on October 20, 2023.