ACUFO-1944-00-00-GERMANY-1
In the 2000's, the NICAP Website in the US published extracts of an article of the newspaper Dallas Times-Herald for July 10, 1947, in which appeared a letter sent to them by the former tail gunner with the 398th Bomber Group S/Sgt. C. A. Smith, 4327 Frank street, who reported having seen clusters of discs on two separate bombing missions over Germany during WWII, probably during the Winter of 1944-45. Smith wrote:
"These disc-shaped objects would be in clusters until they reached a certain altitude and then would break up and attach themselves to bomber formations as if a metallic force drew them toward the bombers."
"I saw these disc-shaped objects only twice during my tour of duty, but both times we drew an unbelievable flak... into our formation, which accounted for several bombers."
Smith said the action of the discs led them to believe they were some German radio-controlled radar devices.
"It was useless to try to lose them by a sudden burst of speed, or by evasive actions, because when attached to your formation and you couldn't shake them until the bombs were away. Then thev would disappear at incredible speeds."
Smith said the discs he saw appeared to be 5 or 6 feet in diameter and 2 or 3 feet thick.
| Date: | Winter 1944 - 1945 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Probable day. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | July 10, 1947 |
| Reporting delay: | 3 years. |
| Country: | Germany |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | |
| City: |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | ? |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Reporting channel: | Newspaper. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Probable day. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Fly along, go away. |
| Witnesses action: | |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 1 or more.
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 5 7.62 machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 3 |
| ACUFO: | Possible extraterrestrial craft, sparse information. |
[Ref. nip5:] "DALLAS TIMES-HERALD", FROM THE NICAP ARCHIVE:
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(Flying discs are old stuff to a Dallas Army Air Forces veteran, etc. etc...)
In a letter to the Times-Herald, ex S/Sgt. C. A. Smith, 4327 Frank street, reported seeing clusters of discs on two separate bombing missions over Germany during the War (probably during the Winter of 1944-45, when other "foo-fighter" sightings were made). "These disc-shaped objects would be in clusters until they reached a certain altitude and then would break up and attach themselves to bomber formations as if a metallic force drew them toward the bombers," the former tail gunner with the 398th Bomber Group wrote.
"I saw these disc-shaped objects only twice during my tour of duty, but both times we drew an unbelievable flack... into our formation, which accounted for (the loss, I auppose--trb) several bombers."
Smith said the action of the discs (led them to believe they were some German radio-controlled radar devices.) "It was useless to try to lose them by a sudden burst of speed, or by evasive actions, because when attached to your formation and you couldn't shake them until the bombs were away. Then thev would disappear at incredible speeds."
Smith said the discs he saw appeared to be five or six feet in diameter and two or three feet thick.
He had suggested that the discs (reported recently in the U.S. might be radio-controlled range-finders developed by the Army.)
The US B-17 "Flying Fortress" was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.
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The 398th Bomb Group of the 8th US Army Air Force 1st Air Division was one of many B-17 Bomb Groups during WWII. It was formed in the United States in 1943 and was stationed in Nuthampstead, England from April 1944 until June 1945.
The sighting by Kenneth Arnold on June 24, 1947 while he was piloting his plane over Washington state had been a trigger for an enormous press interest in what were then called "flying discs"; it was in this context that C. A. Smith, like others, also recounted his experiences, like many others who declared having seen mysterious flying machines before Kenneth Arnold, but had often said nothing about it, such events being beyond any reference.
The report is obviously not very detailed as to dates and places; the journalistic context then did not have these kinds of requirements. We will therefore note that a B-17 pilot of the US Army Air Force testified by name to observations of the presence in the skies of Germany in the winter 1944 - 1945 of unidentified flying objects, in the form of shiny balls, in broad daylight, which approached the bombers, accompanied them, then left. These objects were obviously not "Nazi devices", although it is not surprising that this was assumed at the time.
Possible extraterrestrial craft, sparse information.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | October 29, 2023 | Creation, [nip5]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 29, 2023 | First published. |
