UFOs in the daily Press:

"Balls of Fire" – New Nazi Secret Weapons of Sky?

A U.S. Night Fighter Base, France, Jan. 2 - (AP) - American fighter pilots engaged in flying night intruder missions over Germany report the Nazis have come up with a new "secret weapon."

Intelligence reports seem to indicate the mysterious "balls of fire" race alongside their planes for miles, like will-o'-the-wisps.

Yank pilots have dubbed them "foo fighters," and, at first thought they might explode, but so far there is no indication that any planes have been damaged by them.

Some pilots have expressed belief that the "foo fighter" was designed strictly as a psychological weapon. The mysterious "balls of fire," which seem to be radio-controlled from the ground, can keep pace with planes flying 300 miles per hour.

Lt. Donald Meiers of Chicago said there are three types of "foo fighters" - red balls of fire that fly along at wing tip; a vertical row of three balls of fire which fly in front of the planes; and a group of about 15 lights which follow the plane at a distance, flickering on and off.

Others at this base who have encountered a "foo fighter" include Anderson Henshaw, Carrier Mills, Ill., and Capt. Fritz Ringwald, staff officer from East St. Louis, Ill., who went along on a flight after hearing the numerous reports of the "foo fighter."

"I saw lights off the right and told the pilot, who said, 'Oh, those are lights on a hill,'" Ringwald reported. He added: "I looked in that direction a few minutes later and then told him, 'Well, that hill is considerably closer to us now.'"

Floating and plane-following balls in fire-like color, added to the silver globes encountered over the German lines by American airmen, might not be as mysterious as would seem, a cable dispatch to C.S. Butterfield, veteran editor, says.

This is just a guess, but on the little information available, the colored and glowing globes might well be added elements in attempts to interfere with radio signals and radar detection.

While dispatches hint that they are radio-controlled, the fact that they travel along with a plane or stay at a certain distance ahead would tend toward the belief that they instead are magnetic. Thus, the metal of a plane would attract them, at the same time holding them at a distance. Radio control from the ground or another plane would not permit such apparent accuracy in control.

The glow, coupled with the possible magnetic action, might come from the type of gas they contain to aid in their electrical qualities and to add to their buoyancy.