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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Bologna, Italy, on February 27, 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1945-02-27-BOLOGNA-2

Summary:

In 2011, the excellent historical ufology Website Saturday Night Uforia indicated in a WWII "Foo Fighters" article that in the daily Operations Report for February 27, 1945 of the 414th Night Fighter Squadron, there was:

"Between 2200 hours and midnight Lt. Gordon and F/O Gigerich, L. Dohrman and Lt. Beam saw balls of fire north and northwest of Bologna ranging from 10,000 to 5,000 ft."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	February 27, 1945
Time:	Between 10 p.m. and midnight
Duration:	?
First known report date:	February 27, 1945
Reporting delay:	Hours.

Geographical data:

Country:	Italy
State/Department:	Emilia-Romagna
City:	Bologna

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	2

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Military operations report, Saturday Night Uforia.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
UFO action:	Escaped.
Witnesses action:	Tried onboard radar and visual intercept.
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 2. [ ] Airborne radar: Negative. [X] Directional ground radar: Yes then lost. [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 4 7.62 mm Browning machine guns and 4 20 mm Hispano cannons.
Reliability 1-3:	2
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	Insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. sua1:] WEBSITE "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA":

And from the 414th Night Fighter Squadron's daily Operations Report for February 27, 1945...

Between 2200 hours and midnight Lt. Gordon and F/O Gigerich, L. Dohrman and Lt. Beam saw balls of fire north and northwest of Bologna ranging from 10,000 to 5,000 ft.

Aircraft information:

The de Havilland DH.98 "Mosquito" was a British multirole aircraft, which served as a fighter-bomber, torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The code name for these missions was "Bluestocking".

Its armament was 4 7.62 mm Browning machine guns and 4 20 mm Hispano cannons.

Its pilot and its navigator were seated side by side, the navigator being shifted back about thirty centimeters for shoulder width.

Discussion:

The 416th Night Fighter Squadron was first established in February 1943, at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida for training. The 416th was among the first Army Air Forces dedicated night fighter squadron formed. By April 1943, the squadron settle briefly in United Kingdom for training under VIII Fighter Command, attached to the Royal Air Force for familiarization in theater night fighter techniques. It was then equipped with RAF Bristol Beaufighters.

The unit then moved to North Africa for operations with XIIth Air Force. It carried out defensive night patrols over Allied held territory during the North African campaign, and then move with other allied forces into Italy in September 1943, performing intruder sweeps over Sardinia, Corsica, Italy and Southern France in 1945.

At the time of this sighting, they were operating from airfields at Pomigliano Airfield, Italy, with detachments at Tre Cancello Landing Strip, Italy.

The 416th Night Fighters Squadron of the US Army Air Forces did use british-built de Havilland DH98 Mosquito NF MK 30 in Ialy in 1945.

As is often the case in reports of Allied night fighters from this period over Italy, there is not the slightest indication that the crew thought they were encountering anything out of the ordinary.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[aaf1] ? Daily Operations Report, 414th Night Fighter Squadron, US Army Air Forces, February 27, 1945.
[sua1] * "the foo fighters of world war II - Part Three of Three Parts", web page on the Saturday Night Uforia website, 2011, at https://saturdaynightuforia.com/html/articles/articlehtml/foofightersofworldwariipartthree.html

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	December 25, 2023	Creation, [sua1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	December 25, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on December 25, 2023.