ACUFO-1944-11-22-KOBLENZ-1
American ufologist Jan Aldrich noted a case of November 22, 1944, between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., in Koblenz, Germany:
The 422nd Night Fighter Squadron reported 4 to 6 “jet planes” including "three on line abreast."
Aldrich says this came from the Summary of Operations No. 167 by the 9th Tactical Air Command.
| Date: | November 22, 1944 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | 1944 |
| Reporting delay: | Weeks, months. |
| Country: | Germany |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| City or place: | Coblence (Koblenz) |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | ? |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | Military summary operation report. |
|---|---|
| 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: | Jet planes. |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 1 or more.
[ ] Airborne radar: Not reported. [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | ? |
| Armed / unarmed: | Armed, 4 Hispano 20 mm cannons, 4 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 3 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 1 |
| ACUFO: | Probable German jet planes. |
[Ref. prt4:] JAN ALDRICH - "PROJECT 1947":
N - 1944.11.22 - 1900-2200 hours, Germany, Coblenz.
422d Night Fighter Squadron (NFS), 4-6 “jets” reported, 3 on line abreast. (9th Tactical Air Command (TAC) Operation Summary (Opsum) #167)
[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
1944, November 22
Germany, Koblenz
At 7 p.m. the USAAF pilot (422nd NFS) sees 4 to 6 objects, 3 in the front line (PROJECT ACUFOE, Catalog 1999, Dominique Weinstein)
The Northrop P-61 “Black Widow” was a high performance American night fighter plane used in WWII.
It was twin-engined, with a maximum speed of 589 km/h, 3,060 km range. The crew was of three men.
It was equipped with a radar set and armed with 4 Hispano 20 mm cannons in the fuselage and 4 Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns in the remotely controlled upper turret.
|
Above: a P-61 of the 422d Night Fighter Squadron in 1944.
|
422d Night Fighter Squadron of the 9th Tactical Air Command was equipped with P-61 Black Widow during April and May 1944. At the time of this report, they were operating from an airfield in Florennes / Juzaine in Belgium.
This is a report with no strangeness, since the report named the objects “jets”.
Several two-seat trainer variants of the Messerschmitt Me-262, the Me-262 B-1a, had been adapted as night fighters, with on-board FuG 218 Neptun high-VHF band radar. Those served with 10. Staffel Nachtjagdgeschwader 11, near Berlin. In fact, the unit was clearly ordered to care only for the defense of Berlin, so that it is not very plausible that they would be flying near Coblence in November 1944.
But the Arado Ar-234 “Blitz”, designed as a twin-jet-powered bomber, had been adapted for other roles, including as a night fighter. In late 1944, aerial reconnaissance missions had occurred over enemy lines by Ar-234's. It is thus plausible that the P-61's of 422d Night Fighter Squadron spotted them near Coblence on November 22, 1944.
Probable German jet planes.
* = 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 30, 2023 | Creation, [prt4]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 30, 2023 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | November 4, 2023 | Addition [gvo1]. |
