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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Aachen, Germany, on February 19, 1944:

Case number:

ACUFO-1944-02-19-AACHEN-1

Summary:

In his 2007 book "Strange Company" about the military pilots UFO encounters during WWII, author Keith Chester indicated that there was a sighting on February 19, 1944, over Aachen in Germany.

It was reported that the object seen had a line of windows along its bottom.

The source was indicated as a summary report of flak liaison officers of the US Army Air Force dated March 7, 1944.

The Website Saturday Night Uforia, in the 2010's, reported on this sighting, indicating that it occurred a few miles South-West of Aachen, that the object was a "silver cigar-shaped object like an airship,", and that it was stated that there appeared to be a line of windows along the bottom of the object.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	February 19, 1944
Time:	Probable day.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	March 7, 1944
Reporting delay:	Hours, weeks.

Geographical data:

Country:	Germany
State/Department:	North Rhine-Westphalia
City:	Aachen

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Military summary report by the US Army Air Force.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:
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:	DD
Armed / unarmed:	?
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	3
ACUFO:	Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources:

[Ref. dwn2:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Case 33

February 19-20, 1944

Coblenz and Aachen, Germany

A silver cigar-shaped object like an airship was observed in Coblenz at a distance of 2-3,000 yards. It flew on a parallel course, at the same altitude and gradually dropping eastern. It appeared to turn towards the aircraft, passing from starboard to port. In Aaachen [sic], it was reported that the object a line of windows along its bottom.

Sources: Consolidated Flak Liaison Officer report, 7 March 1944, N 205/ Strange company, Keith Chester

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

The website indicates that on the night of February 19/20, 1944, which saw massive raids against multiple cities in Germany, came "many reports of unusual phenomena" described in the Consolidated Liaison Flak Officer Report of March 7, 1944. Most "phenomena" reports in this summary undoubtedly related to conventional anti-aircraft weapons. But there were two intriguing incidents.

One occurred a few miles SW of Aachen, it was a "silver cigar-shaped object like an airship, "It was stated that there appeared to be a line of windows along the bottom of the object.

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

Date: Feb. 19/20, 1944

Location: Coblence and Aachen, Germany

Time:

Summary: Silvery cigar-shaped object like an airship; appeared to be a line of windows along the bottom of the object.

Page 60 Ref.1

Aircraft information:

No information on the involved plane(s) is available. But US Army Air Force raids over Germany in those times were performed mostly using Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" or Consolidated B-24 "Liberators"; both by daytime, both armed with a number of machine guns for defense against enemy fighter planes.

Discussion:

The information is meager; which is only normal since it apparently came from a "Summary" report aimed at collecting German flak operations during the US bombers raid.

One may think, given the description, that this was a "Zeppelin" airship. But the Germans did not use or build any such airship in WWII.

On May 6, 1937, the "Hindenburg" Zeppelin caught fire when it landed at Lakehurst, USA: thereafter, no Zeppelin or other airship were built again until long after the end of WWII.

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial craft.

Sources references:

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

[usa1] ? Summary report of flak liaison officers, US Army Air Force, March 7, 1944.
[kcr1] ? "Strange Company - Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II", book by Keith Chester, Anomalist Book publishers, USA, page 60, 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.
[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 16, 2023	Creation, [dwn2], [sua1], [tai1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	October 16, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on October 16, 2023.