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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Frankfurt, Germany, on February 8, 1944:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-02-08-FRANKFURT-1

Summary:

In 2011, the ufology Website Saturday Night UFOria indicated that a military report told of a sighting on February 8, 1944, of a "ball like object, appeared silvery, hung in air at 30,000 feet. No chute was observed to be attached to the object, and it remained under observation for approximately fifteen (15) minutes by the crew while in the target area. The crew did not see the object fired from the ground."

Other sources apparently used this information, locating the incident on Frankfurt, Germany, probably because the Saturday Night UFOria had also reported on a similar previous incident of February 4, 1944, over Frankfurt.

I determined that in both cases the same unit, 303rd Bomb Group (Heavy) indeed raided Frankfurt, by day: so that this location is very plausible.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	February 8, 1944
Time:	Day.
Duration:	15 minutes.
First known report date:	2007
Reporting delay:	Hours, 6 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	Germany
State/Department:	Hesse
City:	Frankfurt

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Probable military report, UFO book by Keith Chester.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Stationary.
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: 1 or more. [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	?
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 5 7.62 mm machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	1
ACUFO:	Probable weather balloon.

Sources:

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

This Website indicates that in February 1944, four days after the report from Frankfurt, there was a report of "Ball like object, appeared silvery, hung in air at 30,000 feet. No chute was observed to be attached to the object, and it remained under observation for approximately fifteen (15) minutes by the crew while in the target area. The crew did not see the object fired from the ground."

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

Date: Feb. 8, 1944

Location: Frankfurt, Germany

Time:

Summary: Silver-colored ball-like object changing stationary.

Page 59 Ref.1

Aircraft information:

The US B-17 "Flying Fortress" was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.

Discussion:

It is historically verified that on February 4, 1944, the 303 Bomb Group of the US Army Air Force bombed the Frankfurt city, by day. This was the group's mission 107.

The bombers were Boeing B-17F et B-17G.

The mission encountered very heavy flak, and 9 enemy fighter planes, 8-Fw 190 and 1 Me-109.

We have a ball of "silver appearance, suspended in the air at 30,000 feet", "remaining under observation for approximately fifteen (15) minutes."

Weather balloons were used, obviously, to obtain weather information. Nothing in the report argues against this explanation; there were no maneuvers, chases, impossible effects or any other strange things.

There is no indication that the phenomenon was interpreted as unusual by the crew or any other military authority at the time.

Evaluation:

Probable weather balloon.

Sources references:

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

[kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, page 59, 2007.
[sua1] * "The foo fighters of world war II", part 2, on the Website Saturday Night Uforia, 2011, at http://www.saturdaynightuforia.com/html/articles/articlehtml/foofightersofworldwariiparttwo.html
[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 15, 2023	Creation, [sua1], [tai1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	October 15, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on October 15, 2023.