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 ▶

Florence, Italy, on March 18, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-03-18-FLORENCE-1

Summary:

In the 2000's, ufology sources indicated that in the 2007 book “Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II” by Keith Chester, this author told that on March 18, 1945, in the night, a crew of the 416th Night Fighter Squadron was flying their Mosquito 25 miles northwest of Florence, Italy. They experienced no antiaircraft flak and encountered no enemy aircraft.

Suddenly, they realized that something else was flying with them. A “light” is all that was visible. The radar operator checked his air intercept screen, but it was blank, offering no indication of anything in the light's position. When the operator checked to see whether his radar unit was operating properly, the ground radar station asserted that it also had no contact on its screen.

The mystery light was moving at about 13,000 feet. Changing from patrol mode to intruder mode, the pilot turned his Mosquito in the direction of the light to fire at it. For the next 30 minutes, the pilot kept right on the light's tail, racing along at 260 mph and climbing up at 16,000 feet. Throughout the chase, the crew clearly saw the light.

Then, suddenly, “the light disappeared”.

The source is said to be the 416th Night Fighter Squadron Daily Operations Report of March 18, 1945.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	March 18, 1945
Time:	Night.
Duration:	30 minutes.
First known report date:	March 18, 1945
Reporting delay:	Hours.

Geographical data:

Country:	Italy
State/Department:	Tuscany
City or place:	Florence (Firenze)

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Military operations report.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
UFO action:	Follows, escapes.
Witnesses action:	Direct plane to UFO to shoot it.
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Sensors:	[X] Visual: 2 [ ] Airborne radar: Negative. [ ] Directional ground radar: Negative. [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 4 7.62 mm Browning machine guns and 4 20 mm Hispano cannons.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources:

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 107

March 18, 1945

Northwest of Florence, Italy

On the night, a 416th NFS crew was flying their Mosquito 25 miles northwest of Florence (Italy). The Mosquito experienced no antiaircraft flak, nor encountered any enemy aircraft. Suddenly, they realized that something else was flying with them. A “light” is all that was visible. The radar operator checked his air intercept screen, but it was blank, offering no indication of anything in the light's position. When the operator checked to see if his radar unit was operating properly, GCI asserted that it, too had “no contact” on its screen. The mystery light was moving at about 13,000 feet. Changing from patrol mode to intruder mode, the pilot turned his Mosquito in its direction for the kill, bearing down on the lone glow. The chase was on. For the next 30 minutes, the pilot kept right on the light's tail, racing along at 260 mph and climbing up at 16,000 feet. Throughout the chase, the crew clearly saw the light. Then, suddenly, “the light disappeared” and the pilot was chasing darkness.

Sources: USAAF 416th Night Fighter Squadron Daily Operations Report, 18 March 1945 / Strange Company, Keith Chester, 2007.

(Ref. nip1:) "THE NICAP WEBSITE":

March 18, 1945; Florence, Italy

Chased light, no radar contact, then light disappeared. (Page 148 Ref.1)

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

[Ref. sua1:] WEBSITE "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA":

And the situation would remain ambiguous with the last reported strange encounter over Italy. On March 18, 1945, a Mosquito pilot and his navigator of the 416th were patrolling an area in northwest Italy when they spotted and chased a moving “light” for 30 minutes. The chase began at 13,000 feet altitude and climbed to 16,000 feet, but even at hundreds of miles per hour the light eluded them, until suddenly it seemed to simply extinguish.

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

Date: Mar. 18, 1945

Location: Florence, Italy

Time:

Summary: Chased light, no radar contact, then light disappeared

Source:

[Ref. get1:] GEORGE M. EBERHART:

March 18 - Night. A 416th NFS crew is flying a Mosquito 25 miles northwest of Florence, Italy. Suddenly a light is flying alongside them at 13,000 feet. It does n't appear on the radar screen. The pilot turns the plane toward the light, keeping on its tail, pursuing at 260 mph and climbing to 16,000 feet. Suddenly the light disappears. (Strange Company 148)

Aircraft information:

The de Havilland DH.98 “Mosquito” was a British multirole aircraft, which served as a fighter-bomber, torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The code name for these missions was “Bluestocking”.

Its armament was 4 7.62 mm Browning machine guns and 4 20 mm Hispano cannons.

Its pilot and its navigator were seated side by side, the navigator being shifted back about thirty centimeters for shoulder width.

Discussion:

At the time of this sighting, the 416th Night Fighter Squadron was stationed at the Pisa Airdrome, Italy.

The observation is of relatively moderate strangeness, but can hardly be explained by an enemy aircraft since two different radars had been unable to detect it.

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources references:

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

[aaf1] ? 416th Night Fighter Squadron Daily Operations Report, US Army Air Forces, March 18, 1945.
[kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, page 148, 2007.
[dwn2] * "The Foofighters Files (1) - Catalogue of Unconventional Aerial Phenomena Reported by Allied pilots during WW II (1943-1945)", catalogue by Dominique F. 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
[sua1] * "the foo fighters of world war II - Part Three of Three Parts", web page on the Saturday Night Uforia website, 2011, at https://saturdaynightuforia.com/html/articles/articlehtml/foofightersofworldwariipartthree.html
[tai1] * "1945: March UFO & Alien Sightings", web page on the Think About It Website, USA, June 22, 2016, at https://www.thinkaboutitdocs.com/1945-march-ufo-alien-sightings
[get1] * "UFOs and Intelligence: A Timeline", electronic document by George M. Eberhart, USA, May 31, 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	December 3, 2023	Creation, [dwn2], [nip1], [get1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	December 3, 2023	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	December 25, 2023	Addition [tai1].
1.2	Patrick Gross	April 22, 2024	Addition [sua1].

This page was last updated on April 22, 2024.