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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Cologne, Germany, on October 30, 1944:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-10-30-COLOGNE-1

Summary:

U.S. ufologist Jan Aldrich, head of the Project 1947 Historical ufology Website, noted circa 2000 a case in Germany, on October 30, 1944:

At 09:25 p.m., leaving Cologne, Maurice Juberley, flight engineer, and the crewmen of a Halifax III of the 640th Squadron of the Royal Air Force, had just completed a bomb mission and were flying at 19,000 feet, above the clouds, when the rear gunner suddenly reported that a ball of fire was following them, on a heading of 107 degrees.

He described it as “a circular, pale orange, clean edge light, dead astern and which appeared to be closing. The pilot took evasive action (a corkscrew to port) and the crew lost contact with the light. A few seconds later a British aircraft flying nearby caught fire.”

The source was said to be the collection of Foo Fighters testimonies of British ufologist Andy Roberts.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	October 30, 1944
Time:	09:25 p.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	2000's
Reporting delay:	6 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	Germany
State/Department:	North Rhine-Westphalia
City or place:	Cologne (Koln)

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	Several.
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Testimony to ufologist.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	Yes.
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Follows, approaches.
Witnesses action:	Escape maneuver.
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 or more. [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 7 to 9 7.62 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Insufficient information.

Sources:

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

N - 1944.10.30 - 2125 hours, Germany.

Leaving Cologne, Halifax III, 640 RAF Squadron, flight engineer and gunner, saw a ball of fire following the aircraft that was on a heading of 107 degrees. It appeared to be closing. Aircraft took evasive action and the light was lost. A few seconds later an aircraft on port caught fire. (Letter, Andy Roberts' collection)

[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1944, October 30

Germany, near Cologne

At 9:25 p.m. the flight engineer and a gunner aboard a Hallifax [sic] II from the 640th squadron saw a ball of fire following the plane which made evasive maneuvers. (PROJECT ACUFOE, Catalog 1999, Dominique Weinstein)

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 53

October 30-31, 1944

Cologne, Germany

At 2125, leaving Cologne, Maurice Juberley (flight engineer) and the crewmen of a Halifax III (RAF 640th Squadron) have just completed a bomb mission, flying at 19,000 feet above the clouds. Suddenly, the rear gunner reported that a ball of fire was following the aircraft that was on a heading of 107 degrees. It described it as “a circular, pale orange, clean edge light, dead astern and which appeared to be closing. The pilot took evasive action (a corkscrew to port) and the crew lost contact with the light. A few seconds later a British aircraft flying nearby caught fire.”

Sources: Project 1947, Jan Aldrich / Andy Roberts' Collection / Strange companies, Keith Chester, 2007

[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":

[1944] Oct. 30/31, 1944; Cologne, Germany

A ball of fire; circular, pale orange, clean edged light. (Page 86 Ref.1)

The reference 1 is described at the end of the document as “Strange Company (2007), Keith Chester”.

[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:

Date: Oct. 30/31, 1944

Location: Cologne, Germany

Time:

Summary: A ball of fire; circular, pale orange, clean edged light.

Source:

[Ref. get1:] GEORGE M. EBERHART:

1944

[... other cases...]

October 30

Late night. RAF Flight Engineer Maurice Juberley of the 640 Squadron is returning from a bombing mission over Köln, Germany. His Halifax III is flying at 19,000 feet above the clouds when the rear gunner reports a ball of orange fire closing in on them. He orders an evasive maneuver and loses the light. (Strange Company 86)

[... other cases...]

Aircraft information:

The British Handley Page Halifax (photo below) was a bomber of the Royal Ari Force in WWII. It had a crew of 7.

It was armed for its defense with 6 or 8 7.62 mm Browning machine guns, 2 or 4 on the back, 4 on the belly, and a 7.62 mm Vickers machine gun in the nose.

Discussion:

Historical sources confirm that the RAF No 640 Squadron was equipped with Halifax III bombers at the time of the sighting. They were then based at RAF Leconfield.

The report as available seems very poor, we do not know whether Maurice Juberley was a witness or if he just heard the gunner report the “light”.

Overall, the report is clearly comparable to the typical “Foo Fighters” reports of the night bombers of the Royal Air Force from 1942 to 1945, but its strangeness seems weaker.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[ars1] ? Collection of U-K. ufologist Andy Roberts.
[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.
[kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, page 86, 2007.
[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.
[nip1] * "UFO Sighting Chronology - 1939-1945; The WWII Years & 'Foo-Fighters'", on the ufology Website The NICAP Website, USA, created December 18, 2006, updated December 5, 2017, at http://www.nicap.org/chronos/1939-1945.htm
[tai1] * "1944: UFO & Alien Sightings", web page of the Think About It Website, USA, January 1, 2016, at https://www.thinkaboutitdocs.com/1944-ufo-alien-sightings
[get1] * "UFOs and Intelligence: A Timeline", electronic document compiled by George M. Eberhart, 2022.

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 31, 2023	Creation, [prt4], [dwn2], [nip1], [tai1], [get1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	October 31, 2023	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	November 4, 2023	Addition [gvo1].

This page was last updated on November 4, 2023.