Documents / Official release
This file from SHAEF Air Staff, dated between January and March 1945 and closing with an 18 March 1945 letter, collects wartime correspondence about "night phenomena" that 415th Night Fighter Squadron crews called foofighters. It includes the squadron's sortie extracts from December 1944 and January 1945 describing lights that followed aircraft near Strasbourg and elsewhere, plus a report of an aluminum-colored cylinder that pilots attacked. The Air Ministry suggested Me 262s and flak rockets as explanations but admitted the matter remained a mystery.
From the source: Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: 3/18/45, Germany. NARA Record Group 331, catalogue id 120752. This file contains SHAEF messages and memorandums related to "night phenomena (foofighters)," flak rockets, unidentified cylindrical objects, and blinking lights. The documents include multiple references to the observations of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
HEADQUARTERS XII TACTICAL AIR COMMAND (ADV), APO #374, U.S. Army, 4 February 1945. SIAEFMAIN TO: Commanding General, First Tactical Air Force (Prov) APO#374, U.S. Army. Attn: A/C of S, A-2. Attention is invited to 2nd W/Ind. for John E. Woolley LEAVITT CORNING, JR., Lt. Colonel, G. S. C., A/C of S, A-2. 3rd Ind. D-Y-1 HEADQUARTERS, FIRST TACTICAL AIR FORCE (PROV), APO 374, U S Army, 5 February 1945. TO: Chief Intelligence Officer, Air Staff SHAEF, APO 757. 1. Forwarded for your information. 2. This headquarters has no further information or explanation in connection with these phenomena. 3. It is believed that further investigation is warranted. Since appropriate technical personnel are not available within the First Tactical Air Force, the matter is forwarded for such further investigation as may be advisable. 1 Incl. #1 - 1st & 2nd W/Ind, 23 Jan 45 and 30 Jan 45. 7 x 0 SHAEF MAIN AIR - 8 FEB 1945 REGISTRY. Calloung . C. A. YOUNG, Colonel, AC, AC of S, A-2 SECRET
Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 17 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.