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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France, on January 28, 1944:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-01-28-FRANCE-1

Summary:

Reportedly, Keith Chester, in his 2007 book "Strange Company", indicated that in a Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force (MACAF) report for January 28, 1944, a pilot of 23 Squadron reported:

"Airborne red light seen dead astern. Mosquito orbited, but made no contact. Continued on course and was seen again astern, and was seen several times, but the Mosquito was unable to trace any aircraft."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	January 28, 1944
Time:	Probable night.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	January 28, 1944
Reporting delay:	Hours.

Geographical data:

Country:	France
State/Department:
City:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Military operation report.
Visibility conditions:	Probable night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Follows plane.
Witnesses action:	Circles around UFO.
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 [?] Airborne radar: Not reported. [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 4 20 mm Hispano cannons, 4 7.62 mm Browning machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 30

January 28, 1944

Over France

The crew of a British Mosquito night fighter (23rd Squadron) observed airborne red lights seen dead eastern. The Mosquito orbited but made no contact. The lights were seen several times but the pilot was unable to trace any aircraft.

Sources: Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force (MACAF) report 28 January 2008 / Strange Company, Keith Chester, 2007

[Ref. snu1:] "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA" WEBSITE:

This website indicates that an incident appears in a January 28, 1944, report partially titled Report from Headquarters, MACAF, and concerning a pilot from No. 23 Squadron:

"Airborne red light seen dead astern. Mosquito orbited, but made no contact. Continued on course and was seen again astern, and was seen several times, but the Mosquito was unable to trace any aircraft."

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

[1944] Jan. 28, 1944; Somewhere over France

Airborne red light. (Page 56 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: Jan. 28, 1944

Location: Somewhere over France

Time:

Summary: Airborne red light.

Page 56 Ref.1

Aircraft information:

The De Havilland DH 98 Mosquito was a British bomber, fighter-bomber, ground attack aircraft, and night fighter.

In its night fighter version (NF.Mk II, photo below), it was armed with 4 20 mm Hispano cannons in the fuselage and 4 7.62 mm caliber Browning machine guns mounted in the nose. It was equipped with a Mk IV/Mk IV interception radar (AI).

Discussion:

Between 1942 and 1944, 23 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was based in Malta; it returned to England in May 1944. His range of action was 2300 km maximum; he could therefore have been anywhere in France, but he was probably in the south of France.

The observation seems moderately strange to me, although not totally ordinary. No information is given on possible detection with the Mosquito's radar.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[maf1] ? Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force (MACAF) report, Royal Air Force, January 28, 1944.
[kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, 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.
[snu1] * "The foo fighters of world war II, web page of the Saturday Night UFOria website, 2011, at https://www.saturdaynightuforia.com/html/articles/articlehtml/foofightersofworldwariiparttwo.html
[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

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 13, 2023	Creation, [dwn2], [snu1], [nip1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	October 13, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on October 13, 2023.