Intelligence Review of “Ghost Rocket” Incidents, 1947

This is a feature article from the War Department Intelligence Division's secret intelligence review, dated January 1947, on the 1946 "ghost rocket" reports over Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. It covers witness descriptions, including one from a Swedish Air Force pilot, and says Swedish Defense Staff statements on the objects contradicted each other. It concludes there were perhaps only 2 to 10 real incidents of low-flying V-1 type missiles. The high-altitude sightings, it says, were probably meteors or fireworks.

From the source: Release of 2026-08-07 Incident: 1/9/47, Sweden. This document is a U.S. Department of War General Staff intelligence review assessing incidents involving unidentified “Ghost Rockets” reported over Sweden and other Scandinavian countries beginning in May 1946. The review includes an analysis of observational reports, statements from the Swedish government, and reporting from the U.S. military attaché in Stockholm. The review highlights the inconclusive nature of the contemporary evidence available to substantiate reports from civilian and military observers. The review also documents a change in the public stance of the Swedish Defense Staff, which privately attributed the objects to Soviet V-1 missile tests launched from Peenemünde. Peenemünde is a then-occupied municipality in northeastern Germany that had been associated with the development of the V-1 and V-2 rocket program during World War II. The Swedish assessment publicly shifted from an unknown technological origin to one of a “celestial origin.” The review suggests that this shift was a deliberate effort to avoid diplomatic conflict with the Soviet Union. The report’s final assessment concludes that while most reported incidents were likely misidentified natural phenomena, the “best evidence” suggested a small number of “real incidents” involving low-flying V-1 type missiles, likely attributable to Soviet tests of captured German technology.

GHOST ROCKETS ..sBORB'F
layman is that of a Swedish Air Force pilot. On 14 August,
at 1000 hours, he was flying at 650 feet over central Sweden
when he saw a dark, cigar-shaped object about 50 feet long
and 3 feet in diameter flying 200 feet above and approxi
mately 6,500 feet away from him at an estimated speed of
400 m. p. h. The missile had no visible wings, rudder, or
other projecting part; and there was no indication of any
flame or Jight as has been reported in the majority of other
sightings. His report states that the missile was maintaining
a constant altitude over the ground and, consequently, was
following the large features of the terrain. The last state
ment casts doubt on the reliability of the entire report be
cause of the inability of a missile, without wings, to maintain
a constant altitude over hilly terrain. However, the pilot
does imply that there may have been wings which he was
unable to see, because he stated that it could not have been
a Swedish jet plane as there was none flying in the vicinity
at that time.
The Scandinavian press, with the exception of the Com
munist papers, initially reported the incidents in some detail
and openly attributed them to missiles fired by the U. S. S. R.
In August, a partial censorship was imposed on the press,
restricting the publication of exact details or localities where
missiles were seen. The Communist press has continued to
ridicule the entire matter and claims that there was no basis
for the reports that the missiles were of Soviet origin. In
fact, a charge was made that they came from the United
States and that Gen. Doolittle was sent over to observe the
effects of the missiles I
Official Investigations
Official investigations of these reports were begun by the
Swedish authorities in June. The Defense Staff requested
the public to report any unusual observations, and by the
18 SECRET