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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Nagoya, Japan, on April 7, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-04-07-NAGOYA-1

Summary:

Ufology sources in the 2000s indicate that according to the 2007 book “Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II” by Keith Chester, on April 7, 1945, at night, a raid by the 21st Bomber Command was carried out against targets in Nagoya, Japan, and crews reported seeing “a ball of fire” change color from “orange to red” and move parallel to their aircraft as they headed over the water towards the coast of the main Japanese islands. It was 500 feet below them and changed course with their plane.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	April 7, 1945
Time:	Night.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	April 7, 1945
Reporting delay:	Hours.

Geographical data:

Country:	Japan
State/Department:	Aichi
City or place:	Nagoya

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Military operation report, UFO book Keith Chester.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Flies under planes, turns with planes.
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: Several. [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 12 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 120

April 7, 1945

Nagoya, Japan GR

At night, a 21st Bomber Command raid was conducted against targets in Nagoya. Crews reported seeing “a ball of fire” changing colors from “orange to red” and moving parallel to their aircraft as they headed over the water in the direction of landfall with the main Japanese Islands. It was 500 feet below them and changed course with their aircraft.

Sources: Incoming message, subject: Final mission report eradicate 7, Mission 59, 7 April 1945, from XXI Bomber command to Commanding general 20th Air Force / Strange Company, Keith Chester, 2007

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

April 7, 1945; Nagoya, Japan

Ball of fire changing colors; orange to red. (Page 161 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: Apr. 7, 1945

Location: Nagoya, Japan

Time:

Summary: Ball of fire changing colors; orange to red.

Source:

Aircraft information:

The Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” was the heaviest bomber of the U.S. Army Air Forces, used in operations from May 8, 1944 and on. Its maximum speed was 574 km/h.

Its defensive armament was 12 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns.

Discussion:

The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. They were operating B-29 bombers.

The report is one of many that remain hard to assess because the strangeness seems moderate but not null, because information is missing (the duration for example), etc.

It does resemble many “Foo Fighters” reports of that time, for example, if it was an enemy aircraft, why did it not attack the bombers?

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[aaf1] ? Incoming message, subject: Final mission report eradicate 7, Mission 59, April 7, 1945, from XXI Bomber command to Commanding general 20th Air Force, U.S. Army Air Forces.
[kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, page 161, 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
[tai1] * "1945: April UFO & Alien Sightings", page web du site Think About It, USA, June 22, 2016, at https://www.thinkaboutitdocs.com/1945-april-ufo-alien-sightings

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 5, 2023	Creation, [dwn2], [nip1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	December 5, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on December 5, 2023.